A Dictionary of Cont..

doubletalk 144
construction, chiefly because it was a standard
Latin construction. In Latin, two negatives in
the same sentence always amounted to an affirmation
and nobody does not believe was an
emphatic and elegant way of saying everybody
believes. In English, two negatives make an affirmative
when one directly qualifies the other,
as in I urn not unhappy. Even here the words do
not completely cancel each other. This double
negative expresses rather, the weakest possible
positive attitude.
doubletalk. See persiflage.
doubtless. See undoubtedly.
dove. See dive.
dove. See pigeon.
dower; dowry. Dower is a legal term for the portion
of a deceased husband’s real property
allowed to his widow for her life. A dowry is the
money, goods, or estate which a woman brings
to her husband at marriage. In former tiimes the
two words were often used interchangeably but
today they are kept to their separate meanings.
down is primarily an adverb meaning toward a
lower position, as in look down; but it may also
be used as an adjective to qualify a noun, as in
a down stroke. The adjective has a superlative
form downmost but no comparative. Down is
sometimes used as a preposition, as in down the
hill, and sometimes as a verb, as in he downed
them all.
Down has the same range of meanings that
lower has. It may mean physically lower, as in
step down, or it may mean lower in some other
sense, as in mark down the price, run down one’s
friends, call down the hired help. It is also used
as the opposite of up, to mean passing from
greater to less energy or from a stronger to a
weaker state, as in quiet down, tone down, soften
down. For differences between up and down,
see up.
Down is also used in speaking of geographical
directions. In Great Britain it may mean toward
the coast, as in I must down to the seas again; or
it may mean toward a place of less importance.
That is, one goes down from London or down
from any city to the country. In the United
States the first meaning survives in down East,
meaning the Maine coast, but otherwise is lost.
In general, down is used in this country to mean
“south,” or toward the bottom of an ordinary
map. People living in Kingston go “down” to
New York City.
down at the heel(s), like out at the elbow, as a
term for being destitute, is no longer descriptive.
downward; downwards. Downward is the only
form that can be used to qualify a following
noun, as in a downward glance. Either form may
be used in any other construction, as in he
glanced downwards and he glanced downwurd.
In the United States the form downward is generally
preferred.
dozen. Originally the word dozen was always joined
to a following noun by of, as in a dozen of eggs.
This construction is not considered standard
now except where it has been preserved as an
elegance, as in P dozen of sherry. In current
English, dozen is treated as if it were a numeral.
It stands immediately before a following noun,
as in a dozen eggs, except when it refers to a
part of some specified group, as in a dozen of
these eggs, in which case the of must be used.
Only the singular form dozen can be used after
a numeral. We say get three dozen and not get
three dozens.
The plural form dozens cannot be used after a
numeral and cannot be treated as if it were a
numeral. It must always be joined to a following
noun by of, as in dozens of eggs. The of is not
used before degree words, such as more, less,
too many, and we may speak of dozens more.
But we do not like to complete this expression
by adding another noun. We avoid saying dozens
more eggs.
Dr. See doctor.
draft; draught. Though draft and draught are
merely variant spellings, common usage has
fixed them to separate meanings. Draft is used
for a drawing or design, for the preliminary
form of a piece of writing, the act of drawing or
pulling or that which is drawn or pulled, the
taking of supplies, forces, or money from a given
source, the selection of persons for military
service, a written order drawing on another person
‘or a bank for money, a drain or demand
made on anything. Draft and draught are used
for a current of air. Draught is used for a device
for regulating the flow of air or gas, the drawing
of a liquid from its receptacle (as Beer on
draldght-though in American usage draft is
rapidly gaining in this sense), drinking, or a
drink or potion, a take of fish, the dnpth a vessel
sinks in water, and (in the plural construed as
singular) the game of checkers. When used as
another name for checkers, however, the word
takes a singular verb, as in draughts is played by
two persons. The preferred name for this game
in the United States is checkers.
drank. See drink.
draw. The past tense is drew. The participle is
drawn.
draw; drag; haul. To draw is to move something
by a force in the direction from which the force
is exerted (the draw of a magnet; chariots drawn
by horses. Drawing her father aside for a moment,
she begged him to leave). To drug is to
draw with great force some object over a surface
upon which it rests, the movement being hindered
bv friction (The bodv had olainlv been
drugged-across the‘yurd to ;he ditdh). To haul
is to transport a heavy object slowly with sustained
effort. Boats are hauled across land.
Heavy freight is hauled. The slang use of haul
as a noun (a rich haul) implies a heavy take, so
heavy that it would be difficult to move.
draw in one’s horns. To say of someone who at
a threat suddenly abates his truculence that he
has drawn in his horns is to employ a venerable
but not very sound metaphor, since the figure is
based on the sudden shrinking into its shell of
an alarmed snail, one of the least truculent of
creatures and one whose “horns,” the delicate
antennae or tentacles which bear its eyes, have