A Dictionary of Cont..

much 308
other title, except possibly honorable or reverend,
and should not be used before a name that
is followed by letters representing an academic
degree, such as B.A. or M.A.
The word Mrs. or missus is never used without
a proper name as a form of address. It is sometimes
used in speaking about the woman of the
house, as in the missus says, but this is usually
intended as humor. When it is not, it is dialectal.
Madam may be used in place of a woman’s
name in speaking to her. But it should not be
used without a name in speaking about her, as in
madam said. And it should not be used to avoid
saying you, as in does madam wish. In some
department stores this construction is supposed
to give a European or cosmopolitan air, but it
is inferior English.
A woman whose name one does not know
may be referred to as the woman or rhe lady.
Both words are acceptable, but well educated
people usually prefer woman. See also madam;
madame; ma’am.
much. The comparative form is more. The superlative
form is mosf.
The word much may be used as an adjective,
an adverb, or a noun. The adjective means a
great amount of. It can be used only with a singular
noun and only before the noun it qualifies,
as in there is much beast and some devil in man.
Much may also be used as a noun, as in much is
forgiven and this is not much. The noun much
is always singular. It is never qualified by the
article a but it may be qualified by other definitive
adjectives, as in this much is certain, and
we have each given our little or our much.
The adverb much means greatly or to a great
extent. It is used freely to qualify verbs, as in
he does not talk much, she complains much
about her health. Until recently much was used
to qualify the past participle of a verb used as
an adjective after some form of the verb to be,
as in he was much pleased, he was much
amused, but today very is generally preferred
in these constructions. (For a fuller discussion of
this, see very.) Much may also be used to qualify
a prepositional phrase, as in much at his
ease, much on his own.
Much is now limited in the kinds of adjectives
and adverbs it can qualify. It can always be used
with a word in the comparative form, as in it is
much clearer, he reads much faster. It is used
with the positive form of an adjective or adverb
that is already qualified by some word implying
degrees, as in much too fast. But it cannot be.
used with the simple positive form of these
words. We can no longer say much fast or much
unkind. At one time such combinations were
normaI English but much has here been replaced
by very. Words such as inferior, superior, anterior,
which are actually comparatives but do
not have the English comparative form, may be
used with either much or very. The word like
may also be used with either word. We may say
he is much like his father or he is very like his
father. Some people whp would use very Bke in
an affirmative statement feel that much like is
required in a negative, as in he is not much like
his father. But a great many more also use very
in a negative statement. Much may qualify the
article the, as in much the same, and in this way
may precede the superlative form of an adjective
or adverb, as in much the fastest. It may also
qualify the article a, as in she was very much a
lady.
The combination much of may occur in severa1
different constructions. In there is not much
of it, the word much is a noun meaning a great
amount and is being used in a normal noun construction.
In they were much of an age, the word
much is an adverb meaning to a great extent
and qualifies the prepositional phrase of an age.
In he was not much of a scholar, the word cannot
be interpreted in either of these ways. Here
the two words much of are being used as a single
adverb meaning much. Some grammarians say
that this is not literary English and that we should
say not much a scholar. But in the United States
much of is preferred to much in a negative statement
of this kind.
much in evidence is a wordy way of saying evident
or conspicuous.
muchly is an unnecessary adverbial form. It is
permissible English but never means anything
that would not be better expressed by much.
much obliged. See oblige.
mucilage is the American word for any of various
preparations for causing adhesion, particularly
of paper. In England the word is gum.
mulatto. The plural is mulattoes.
mulatto; half-breed; etc. A mulatto is the offspring
of parents of whom one is white and the
other a Negro. Half-breed is reserved in America
for the offspring of a white person and an American
Indian. A quadroon is a person who is onefourth
Negro, the offspring of a mulatto and
a white. An octoroon is a person having oneeighth
Negro blood, the offspring of a quadroon
and a white. All of these terms are now offensive.
The last two are rarely encountered any
more.
A half-caste is a person of mixed European
and Hindu or Mohammedan parentage. The
word is disparaging. Eurasian, a word for one of
mixed European and Asiatic parentage, was
coined to take its place and it does have more
dignity than half-breed or half-caste, but contempt
will always show through and Eurasian is
now also felt to be derogatory. Anglo-Indian was
substituted by some as a further euphemism, but
it is ambiguous since this term is (or was) applied
formerly to an Englishman who had spent
most of his life in India.
All racial designations illustrate the difficulty
underlying euphemism: contempt or disdain or
dislike cannot be made acceptable to its victims
by a mere change of words. See also creole and
African.
mulct is properly a fine (The state now receives
those mulcts which formerly accrued to the sovereign)
and to mulct means to levy a fine. Since
most people who are fined feel that they have
been unfairly dealt with, the word has come to