A Dictionary of Cont..

antonym 3 6
has the owl-eyed man describe Gatsby as an
impresario because he has real books in his
librarv: This fella’s a regular Belasco. Even
the most illiterate are likely to know that a
Jonah brings bad luck, a Scrooge is a tightwad,
a Shylock an extortionate usurer, a Solomon a
wise man, a Barney Oldfield a fast driver, an
Einstein a scientific genius, an Adonis a handsome
young man, a Romeo a romantic young
lover, a Casanova or a Don Juan a ladykiller,
a Mentor a teacher or adviser, a Micawber an
incurable optimist, a Hercules a strong man.
Very few women’s names have acquired
symbolic or generic stature. A Bernhardt, to
describe an actress, is one of the very few.
American literature has contributed surprisingly
few names to describe a general characteristic.
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom is
one, though Mrs. Stowe would be aghast to
learn that it is now an epithet of contempt.
Perhaps the best known is Sinclair Lewis’s
Babbitt. Faulkner’s Snopes, for a rising
Southern poor white, and Sartoris, for a declining
Southern gentleman, deserve currency.
antonym. An antonym is a word opposed in
meaning to another. Good is the antonym of
bad, hot of cold. Antonym is the antonym of
synonym.
anxious; eager. One who is anxious is full of
anxiety, troubled solicitude, uneasiness (Why
didn’t you telephone? You knew how anxious,
how frantic, Z was!) One who is eager is
ardently desirous (I am eager fo see the check.
He only said it would be “big”). Originally
eager meant pungent or sharp (Shakespeare
refers to condiments as eager compounds that
urge the palate, and there is the famous reference
in Hamlet to a nipping and an eager air
on the icy battlements of Elsinore). An element
of this sharpness still remains in the
strictly proper use of eager. The anxious person
is in a state of suspense. The eager person
strains in thought towards the coming event.
The anxious are fearful, the eager hopeful.
With such fundamental differences in meaning,
it would not seem likely that the two
words would ever become synonymous or confused.
But though eager is never used where
anxious is meant, anxious is often used for
eager (The child is anxious to go with you).
The use has been protested, but protests are
of little avail against usage and usage has a
psychological if not a linguistic justication
here: for all anxietv is eager for relief and all
eagerness, looking forward, has an element of
uncertainty, and in all uncertainty there is a
measure of anxiety.
any. This word may be used as an adjective
qualifying a noun, or as a pronoun standing
in place of a noun. When used as a singular
it means “one, no matter which.” When used
as a plural, it means “some, no matter which.”
As an adjective, it may qualify a singular noun,
as in any child, or a plural noun, as in any
children. As a pronoun, it could once be used
as a singular, as in unseen of any. This is now
archaic. In current English the pronoun any
is always treated as a plural, as in if any think
they are wise.
With certain limitations, any may also be
used as an adverb, to qualify words that are
not nouns. In Great Britain any is acceptable
before a comparative form, as in any nearer,
any less true, any the worse for it: before
too, as in any too much time; and before more,
as in have you any more money and he doesn’t
come here any more. In the United States any
may also be used alone with a verb, as in did
you sleep any? Here the pronoun any is being
used instead of the adverbial phrase at all.
This use of any is comparable to the use of
everyplace for everywhere and what time for
when. It is acceptable English in the United
States.
Any may be used as an adverb in a
question, an if clause, or a statement that is
negative at least by implication, such as I’m
surprised you come here any more. In literary
English it cannot be used in a simple affirmative
statement. In some parts of the United
States any is used in affirmative statements,
such as we go there often any more (where
any more means “now”). This is not standard
in most parts of the country.
anybody; anyone. These words are singular and
take a singular verb, as in has anybody called?
Since it usually isn’t known whether the
“anybody” spoken about is a man or a woman,
forms of the pronoun they are generally preferred
to forms of he when referring back to
anybody, as in if anybody calls tell them Z
have gone. This is less true of anyone. Forms
of they are used in speaking of anyone, but
forms of he are also heard frequently.
anyhow; anyhows. The only acceptable form is
anyhow. Anyhows is not standard.
anyone. See anybody.
anyplace. The use of anyplace as a substitute for
anywhere, as in Z could not find it anyplace, is
condemned by many grammarians because the
noun place is here being used instead of the
adverb where. This usage is not acceptable in
Great Britain but it occurs too often in the
United States, in written as well as in spoken
English, to be called nonstandard. It is acceptable
English in this country.
anytime. In Great Britain the word anytime is
never used as an adverb, as it is in the sentence
he will see you anytime, and a preposition is
required, as in he will see you at any time. But
the construction without at is standard in the
United States and can be heard in the most
impressive offices.
anyway; anyways; anywise. Both -way forms are
standard English in such constructions as if
you are anyway concerned and if they are
anyways useful. In the United States anyway
is preferred to anyways. The form anywise is
also standard English, but it is not often heard
in this country.
Some grammarians condemn the use of
anyway as a connective between sentences, as