A Dictionary of Cont..

happen 214
happen. This verb may be followed by an infinitive,
as in we happen to like her, or by a clause
when used impersonally, as in it happens we like
her. Huppen is sometimes used as the equivalent
of perhaps, as in htrppen you’ll 1iXe her, but this
is not standard now. See transpire.
happening; event; episode; incident; occurrence.
The use of happening as a verbal noun is unexceptionable
(Its happening when ii did served
to establish the man as a prophet). But its use
as a synonym for event or occurrence (These
are common happenings) has been strongly condemned.
Fowler calls it a “journalistic affectation”
and others have echoed his stricture. But
it has been so used for four centuries and must
be accepted as standard, especially for things
that just happen as against more important occurrences
which are more likely to be described
as events.
Events can be happenings of any kind (All
the events that make up an invalid’s trivial day)
but the word usually means an important happening,
especially one that is connected with and
comes out of previous happenings (The event
was eagerly awaited. The publication of a new
book by Sinclair Lewis was always an event).
An episode is one of a progressive series of happenings,
frequently distinct from the main course
of events and having a continuity and interest
of its own (Franklin’s visit to France was a
remarkable episode in a remarkable career). An
incident is a minor happening in connection with
an event or series of events of greater importance
(There was a delightful incident at Mrs.
Preston’s Christmas party). An occurrence is
simply something that happens, having no connection
with or causation by antecedent happenings
(His being ill at the very time Alexander
died was an occurrence for which Cesare had
made no preparation).
happily. See haply.
happiness; pleasure; felicity; bliss. Happiness and
pleasure both describe satisfaction but they differ
in range and duration. Pleasure describes a
state or feeling of satisfaction, usually of the
senses, which is of fairly brief duration (There
is a pleasure in the pathless woods. A witty answer,
opportunely given, affords great pleasure).
Happiness is a more settled state of contentment,
resulting from the attainment of what one
considers good. It is a broader term than pleasure
because it includes not merely satisfaction from
sensation but also from ideas of well-being and
good fortune (Life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness).
Felicity is a formal word for a state of being
happy in a very high degree, intense joy. When
the dying Hamlet besought Horatio to go on
living, saying Absent thee from felicity awhile,
the use of the word felicity conveyed the Prince’s
idea of death as an intense pleasure (or, rather,
by implication, of life as something intensely
repugnant). The choice of this word might be
said to be felicitous, which also means a happy
knack or choice, hitting the bull’s eye with
more precision than skill alone could ever hope
for. Bacon said that the painter or musician that
excelled did so by a kind of felicity and not by
rule.
Bliss is perfect joy, supreme felicity. It is
this that gives Gray’s Where ignorance is bliss, /
‘Tis folly to be wise such force. And since the
supremest of all joys, in the Christian conception,
was the state experienced in heaven, bliss
was often used to describe the heavenly state of
being (By the hope Z have of heavenly bliss).
harangue; tirade. A harangue is a noisy speech,
vulgar and vehement, addressed to a large audience
(These ceaseless harangues were resented
by those in the assembly who desired a more
temperate and injormed discussion of the real
issues). A tirade need not be addressed to a
number of persons; one auditor will suflice, and
while vulgar and vehement public speeches usually
are attacks on someone or something, a
harangue need not be an attack. It could be an
exhortation. But a tirade is always an outpouring
of vituperation or censure (Her table talk
consisted of endless tirades against her husband).
harass. See tantalize.
hard and fast line. As an affirmation of a fixed
intention, an unshakable resolve, to draw a hard
and fast line is now a clich6.
hard; hardly. Hard is as truly an adverb as it is an
adjective. Sometimes the form hardly is used to
mean difficult, as in his hardly earned reputation.
This is permissible, but it is not an improvement
on hurd. In a construction of this kind the
word hard would be clearer, and more literary.
Hardly means scarcely and has the force of a
negative. It should not be used in a negative
sentence, such as I haven’t hardly any. But many
people do use it in sentences that aren’t so obviously
negative, as in they left without hardly a
word. Technically, this is a double negative and
should be they left without a word or they left
with hardly a word. See double negatives.
Hardly may be followed by when, but not by
than. One can say he had hardly arrived when
it began to snow, but not he bud hardly arrived
than it began to snow.
hardly, barely, and scarcely all imply that something
was accomplished, and is being accomplished,
or will be accomplished by a narrow
margin. They are sometimes interchangeable,
but hardly usually serves to mark the difficulty
of the accomplishment (She could hardly keep
still until he had finished his sentence. We could
hardly get out of the house, the snow was so
deep). Barely serves to mark the narrowness of
the margin. It says the thing just squeaked by
(He barely made the train. It was moving when
he flung himself and his briefcase into the vestibule
of the last coach). Scarcely implies a
margin so narrow as to be below satisfactory
performance (You would scarcely believe what
nonsense he talks. The child can scarcely read
a line).
These words are restrictive in meaning and
therefore have the force of a negative. When
used with another negative word they may form
a double negative.