A Dictionary of Cont..

sions that are difficult to explain but which are
nevertheless standard English. Let ulone may
mean “not to mention,” as in he Imd never owned
a white mouse, let alone a white elephant. When
an object stands between let and alone, as in let
the cat alone, the compound means “stop annoying.”
The expression let go of is impossible to
analyze grammatically, but it is standard English
for “take your hand off.”
Let is also used to form a peculiar imperative
that includes the speaker along with the person
addressed, as in let us be true to one another.
This is sometimes called the first person plural
imperative. In spoken English this let us is usually
contracted to let’s, as in let’s wash the dishes.
The uncontracted form let us is always used
when let is a regular imperative followed by us,
that is, when let us wash the dishes means “allow
us to” and is addressed to somebody not included
in the “us.” This is a valuable distinction
that is made in speech but very often lost in
print, largely because of the mistaken notion
that contractions are undignified.
When let is used as a regular imperative it
cannot be followed by a subjective pronoun.
That is, we say let John and me wash the dishes
and not let John and I wash them. According
to the theoretical rules of grammar, the same
thing holds true for the peculiar imperative with
let’s. The contracted us is an objective pronoun
and presumably should be repeated by the objective
me, and not the subjective I, in a sentence
such as let’s you and me wash the dishes. But in
actual practice, the subjective I, as in let’s you
and I wash the dishes, is preferred by many people,
including some of our best writers. This
could be defended, academically, on the grounds
that let’s is here merely a sign of the imperative,
that the true imperative is wash, and you and Z
its subject. In any case, let’s you and I is heard
too often not to be called standard. Let’s you
and me is preferred by purists, but both forms
are acceptable.
Us is sometimes used after let’s, as in let’s us
try it out. This construction is not often seen in
print and is condemned by many grammarians
as redundant, although it is hard to see why us
is any more redundant than you and me.
let the cat out of the bag. As a term for disclosing
a secret, usually inadvertently, to let the cat
out of the hap is hackneved. The origin of the
phrask is uncertain. Some think it may refer to
revealing the fact that a cat had been substituted
for a pig in a sack (pig in a poke), but this is
not established.
liable. In Great Britain liable means subject to or
exposed to some undesirable change or action,
as in the adventure is liable to end sadly and
some of the colors are liable to fade. Lord Chesterfield
wrote in 1749: You know, I suppose,
that liable can never be used in a good sense.
But in older English it was used at least in an
indifferent sense and meant subject to any kind
of action, good or bad. This usage survives in
the United States and an American might say
we are liable to be in Chicago next week with-
273 libel
out meaning that that would be a calamity.
Liable also has the legal meaning of bound by
law or legally answerable for.
Americans who see no reason to question
their own speech habits often use liable in the
sense of likely. This is true of many public officials
and highly respected citizens. Anyone who
wants to use the word in this way is in good
company. But on the other hand, a great many
people know that there is some question about
this word, without knowing what the question is.
These people are likely to think that liable is not
standard, even when it is used in the purest
British manner. Anyone who wants to avoid
giving offense in any quarter will have to avoid
the word entirely, except in its purely legal uses.
liaison; alliance. In military terminology liaison
is the contact maintained between units in order
to ensure concerted action. In cookery liaison is
a thickening for soups, gravies, and so on. In
phonetics it means the running together of
words in their pronunciation. In personal relationships
it describes an illicit intimacy between
a man and a woman (He [Byron] has a permanent
sort of liaison with Contessa Guiccioli).
These are the accepted meanings of liaison. It
should not be used to mean any combination or
alliance. An alliance is a regularized connection
entered into for mutual benefit (A marriage is
an alliance, not a liaison. The alliance between
the Western powers and Russia could last only
so long as they were threatened by a common
enemy).
libation; drink. A libation is a pouring out of
wine or other liquid in honor of a deity or th,e
liquid so poured out. The ancient Greeks made
libations to their gods as a part of their worship
(Aeschylus’s play, The Libation Bearers, begins
with libations at the grave of Agamemnon). The
word is not a synonym for drink and if so used
jocularly is a tedious affectation.
libel; slander; scandal; calumny; defamation. The
blanket term to describe the wrong of injuring
another’s reputation without good reason or justification
is defamation. Calumny is a seldom
used term to describe a false and malicious
statement designed to injure someone’s reputation
(Be thou chaste as ice, as pure as snow,
thou shalt not escape calumny).
In the legal sense, libel (from the Latin word
meaning a little book) means defamation by
written or printed words, pictures, or any form
other than spoken words or gestures (When in
Smith’s article Jones was alluded to as a petty
mobster, Jones sued him for libel). Slander
designates defamation by oral utterance (Had it
not been for his senatorial immunity, he would
have fallen afoul the laws of slander). In popular
speech libel and slander are used synonymously
for defamation, though libel usually
implies a somewhat more serious charge. It is
best, however, to keep the legal distinction between
the two words in mind.
Scandal, in so far as it is synonymous with
libel and slander, means defamatory talk or malicious
gossip. But it is a milder word than the