skilled labour down to a degree that would have been laughable enough, if it had only been less destructive.–Morley.
If Diderot had visited...Rome, even the mighty painter of the Last Judgment... would have found an interpreter worthy of him. But it was not to be.–Morely.
Mr. de Sélincourt has, of course, the defects of his qualities.–Times.
The beloved lustige Wien [Vienna, that is] of his youth had suffered a sea-change. The green glacis down which Sobieski drove the defeated besieging army of Kara Mustafa was blocked by ranges of grand new buildings.–Westminster Gazette.
19. Latin Abbreviations, &c.
No one should use these who is not sure that he will not expose his ignorance by making mistakes with them. Confusion is very common, for instance, between i.e. and e.g. Again, sic should never be used except when a reader might really suppose that there was a misprint or garbling; to insert it simply by way of drawing attention and conveying a sneer is a very heavy assumption of superiority. Vide is only in place when a book or dictionary article is being referred to.
Shaliapine, first bass at the same opera, has handed in his resignation in consequence of this affair, and also because of affairs in general, vide imprisonment of his great friend Gorki.–Times.
The industrialist organ is inclined to regret that the league did not fix some definite date such as the year 1910 (sic) or the year 1912, for the completion of this programnie.–Times. (This is the true use of sic; as the years mentioned are not consecutive, a reader might suppose that something was wrong; sic tells him that it is not so)
The Boersen Courier...maintains that 'nothing remains for M. Delcassé but to cry Pater peccavi to Germany and to retrieve as quickly as possible his diplomatic mistake (sic)'.–Times.
Let your principal stops be the full stop and comma, with a judicious use of the semicolon and of the other stops where they are absolutely necessary (i.e. you could not dispense with the note of interrogation in asking questions).–Bygott & Jones. (e. g. is wanted, not i.e.)
20. Unequal Yokefellows and Defective Double Harness
When a word admits of two constructions, to use both may not be positively incorrect, but is generally as ugly as to drive a horse and a mule in double harness.
