A Dictionary of Cont..

fauna 174
implication of moral condemnation; it is there
simply an imperfection. But in all applications
to human beings (especially in the negative ZZ’S
not my fault) there is an element, weak or
strong, of condemnation. When the young man
in Erewhon who has been condemned to death
for having tuberculosis protests that it is not
his fault, the judge answers sternly, Though it
is not your fault, yet it is a fault in you.
Failing, foible, and weakness all seek to extenuate
or excuse the imperfection alluded to.
Failing can describe a fairly serious fault (Drink
is his failing. He just can? tell the truth; it’s his
failing). Weakness suggests a giving way to an
improper impulse, self-indulgence; yet it cannot
be applied to major faults. A man may be said
to have a weakness for liquor or pretty girls,
but it would be inappropriate or facetious to
refer to a weakness for taking other people’s
property. Foible (which is an obsolete French
word for weakness) is the mildest in its implied
reproof of all the& terms. It suggests that the
weakness is light and amusing, crotchety, more
an eccentricity than a fault (He loves to talk
about the Civil War; it’s his foible).
Vice is a strong word. It may include sin and
may describe a sin apart from him who has
committed it (the vice of swearing). It is severely
condemnatory.
fauna is a singular group name, meaning all the
animals of a certain place or time. It is usually
followed by a singular verb, but a plural verb
is also permissible. The plural, faunas or faunae,
means more than one such group.
favor; prefer. Weseen and Partridge insist that
favor must not be used as a synonym for prefer.
But since they grant that favor can mean to
have a preference for, the distinction is too
subtle to concern the common speaker or writer.
If it is said that so-and-so favors something,
it is not unreasonable to wonder in preference
to what and not ungrammatical to satisfy the
wonder in a comparison.
faze. See phase.
fear may be followed by an infinitive, as in they
fear to go, or by the -ing form of a verb, as in
they fear going, or by a clause, as in they fear
they will go. The three forms are equally acceptable.
The noun fear may be followed by
a clause, as in rhe fear fhat they will go, or by
the -ing form of a verb introduced by of. as in
the fear of going. The -ing form is generally
preferred.
fearful; fearsome. Fearful and fearsome are synonyms,
meaning causing fear, but fearsome is
now slightly archaic and literary. See also
horrible.
feasible. That is feasible which is capable of being
done (His plan is feasible, and I see no reason
why ii should not be put into operation immediarely).
And since whatever is doable is possible,
feasible can mean possible in one of possible’s
meanings. But many things are possible which
are not doable. It is possible, for example, but
not feasible that it will rain tomorrow. And the
true function of feasible (says Fowler) is to pre-
vent ambiguity among the uses of possible, by
making it clear, where the context may not do
so, whether something is doable or just likely to
happen. Certainly the use of feasible as a mere
synonym for possible serves no good purpose.
To say, He thought it quite feasible ihat at some
future date we might send rockets to the moon
is pompous or straining too hard to find an unusual
word for a usual one. Of course He
thought the sending of a rocker to the moon
quite feasible is a different thing.
feather in one’s cap. As a metaphor for a signal
accomplishment, something to be proud of, a
feather in one’s cap is now bedraggled and
droopy and no feather in anyone’s stylistic
cap.
feather one’s nest. As a term for taking care of
one’s self, slyly laying by for the future, lo
feather one’s nest is strictly for the birds.
feature. The use of feature as a verb, meaning to
give prominence to or to be prominent in (The
case was featured on every front page. Chaplin
featured in “The Gold Rush”) and as an attributive
noun (He writes feature articles for the
Sun-Times) or just an ordinary noun (When
does the feature go on, please?), though viewed
with alarm by the watchdogs of the language
for thirty years has advanced steadily and is
now solidly established in American usage. The
movies had need for such a word and as they
came to play such a large part in our civilization
the word, quite naturally, proliferated.
fed. See feed.
fee. See honorarium.
feed. The past tense is fed. The participle is also
fed.
feel. The past tense is felt. The participle is also
felt. When feel means know by touching it may
be followed by an object and the simple form of
a verb, as in I felt ii break, or by an object and
the -ing form of a verb, as in I felt it breaking.
When used in this sense the word cannot be
followed by a to-infinitive. When feel is followed
by a clause, as in 1 felt it was broken, it will be
understood to mean believe or have the impression.
In this sense feel may be followed by a
to-infinitive, especially in a passive construction,
as in it was felt to be wrong.
Feel may be followed by an adjective describing
the subject of the verb, as in I felt strong
and Z felt different. It may also be followed by
an adverb describing the action itself, as in 2
felt strongly and Z felt differently. Sometimes
the two forms mean different things and sometimes
they do not. According to the traditional
rules of grammar, 2 felt bad is the correct form
for what people mean when they say I felt badly.
But I felt badly is now also standard English in
just this sense. This construction may have originated
in the mistaken notion that a verb could
not be followed by an adjective. But it has
certainly been reinforced by the fact that to
many people bad means wicked. In order to say
that they are miserable without saying that they
are guilty, they are compelled to use badly.
There is no doubt that both forms, feel bad and