A Dictionary of Cont..

‘incorrect” and contrary to good usage, and
therefore indefensible.
3. The word being may also give trouble. If a
possessive pronoun or a noun in the genitive case
stands before being, the rules require a following
pronoun to be subjective, as he in think of its
being he! But if the preceding word is not a possessive
or a genitive, both the rules and good
practice require a following pronoun to be objective,
as him in think of it being him! (For the
kinds of pronouns that may be used before an
-ing verb form, see ing.)
When in doubt whether to use a subjective or
an objective pronoun, choose the objective form.
A wrong subjective pronoun suggests that the
writer is straining himself to appear superior to
other men, and proves that he does not understand
the rules of grammar. A wrong objective
pronoun proves nothing more than that he is
willing to use the language most of his countrymen
use.
links. See golf links.
Lion’s share. As a term for the largest or most
important share, usually of the rewards or profits
of some undertaking, the lion’s share is hackneyed.
The phrase derives from either of two versions
of a fable by Aesop. In one version a lion, an
ass, and a fox hunt together, agreeing to share
the spoils. A stag is killed and the ass does the
best he can to divide the carcass into three equal
portions. Whereupon the lion kills the ass and
asks the fox to apportion the proper shares. The
crafty, and enlightened fox takes a few bites for
his share and leaves the rest to the lion. In the
other version three other weaker animals join
with the lion. When the kill is made the lion divides
it into four fairly equal portions, takes the
first as his share by virtue of the agreement, the
second as his share by virtue of his courage, and
the third as his share by virtue of his strength.
The fourth share he assigns to his fellow hunters
but warns them that they touch it at their
peril.
liqueh liquidate. The sense of liquefy is clear
enough. It means to make or become liquid (In
great heat the metal will liquefy). It is liquidate
that makes trouble. In its primary sense it means
to settle or pay a debt or an account (No ejfort
should be suared to liquidate the National
Debt). It can mean to convert into cash (He
liquidated his assets) or it can mean to break up,
abolish, or do away with. And it is in this last
sense, now very much in vogue, that it must be
used judiciously because it covers too many
meanings. The liquidation of a company and the
liquidation of political opponents are actions so
diverse that it is putting any word, and especially
a word basically metaphorical and hence restricted
by the connotations of its literal meaning,
to an improper strain to make it describe
both. Our language is rich in words expressing
various ways of abolishing or doing away with
things and it is better to employ whichever of
them is closest to your meaning than, for the
mere sake of using a word in the vogue, using a
word so vague as liquidate.
279 literally
liquid refreshment. Even as a jocularity, making
fun presumably of a former elegancy and pretentiousness,
liquid refreshment is dreary and
affected.
liquorish. See lickerish.
list. To list is to set down together into a list, to
make a list of (The names are to be listed in
alphabetical order). By an understandable extension
it is often used to mean to add to a list
(Three new courses are listed in the catalogue),
but mention, include, or add would usually be
better. And surely the word has been carried
beyond its province when it is used to mean
merely to state or to say or to set down (in
such a sentence as She listed her occupation as
“Housewife”).
listen; hear. To listen is to pay attention in order
to understand the meaning of a sound or sounds
(Listen, my children, and you shall hear/ Of the
midnight ride of Paul Revere). To hear is to
have a perception of sound by means of the
auditory sense (One could heor the bell buoy out
in the harbor). One can liiten without hearing
(I listened carefully but couldn’t hear what they
were saying) and hear without listening (I
wasn’t li.rtcTning to lvhat they were saying but I
could hear them quarreling).
Incidentally, one listens at something only
when one applies his ear to or near the thing in
order to hear (Nel/y had lixtened at many a keyhole).
When one pays attention in order to understand
a sound. he listens to it (Listen to the
story of a woeful man).
listen to. These two words may be followed by
an object and the -ing form of a verb, as in
listen to it singing. In the United States they
may also be followed by an object and the simple
form of the verb, as in listen to it sing. In
Great Britain this is considered an American
barbarism, but it is standard usage in this
country.
lit. See light.
litany; liturgy. A litany is a ceremonial form of
prayer consisting of a series of invocations or
supplications with responses which are the same
for a number in succession. The Litany is the
general supplication of this form in the Anglican
Book of Common Prayer. A liturgy is more
extensive than a litany, for it is a form of public
worship, a ritual, a particular arrangement of
services. It includes prayer and, conceivably, a
litany or The Litany. The Liturgy is the name
for the service of the Eucharist, especially in the
Eastern Church, equivalent to the Mass in the
Western Church.
literally means in a manner which follows the letter
or the exact words (A figurative phrase if
translated literally is almost certain to be ludicrous),
or in a literal or strict matter-of-fact,
prosaic sense (He took the injunction literally
and renounced his mother and his brothers). It
has also come to mean actually, in strict accuracy,
without exaggeration (The effect of the
bombing was literally devastating. The attack
literally decimated the company; one-tenth of
the men lay dead).
Unfortunately this last meaning has led to the