A Dictionary of Cont..

intensive pronoun in a that clause is always
placed at the end, as in a man that had seel? it
himself. A man that himself had is contrary to
the literary tradition and contrary to presentday
speech habits.
In current English, a reflexive pronoun. is
often omitted where formerly it would h#ave
been expressed. In the population doubled and
the fog lifted a reflexive itself is understood.
Similafly, a yozzrself is understood in prepare
fo die and don’t bother. We say the child
behaved well although a reflexive was required
here until recently. A reflexive is still required
after some verbs, including perjure. We must
say he perjured himself although with the
present-day meaning of this word he could not
possibly perjure anyone else.
At one time the -self words and the personal
pronouns could be used interchangeably.
Today, the -self words are preferred in some
constructions and the personal pronouns in
others.
In older English, personal pronouns were
often used as reflexives, as in let every soldier
hew him down a bough, I could accuse me of
such things, and arm you. This is still standLard
English after prepositions showing direction, a.~
in we looked at the stars above us and she drew
it toward her. There is still a tendency to use
personal pronouns as reflexives when the word
is an indirect object, as in I will get me one.
This construction is condemned by many grammarians
and seldom appears in print, but it is
heard frequently in the speech of educated
people. A personal pronoun may still be used
reflexively as the object of the verb lay, as in
I lay me down at night to dream, but in general
a -self word is required for the true object of
a verb. We no longer say I will wash me or
I will dress me. A personal pronoun is still very
effective when used as an intensive, as in the
bells they sound so clear. This construction is
condemned by most grammarians on the
grounds that the pronoun is redundant, but the
device is too forceful to be given up, either in
speech or in line writing.
Formerly, the -self words were often used
non-reflexively, that is, in sentences where they
did not reflect the subject of the verb, as yourself
in I am inviting yourself and your wife. In
current English these words have an old
fashioned tone and the personal pronouns, in
this case you, are generally preferred. Myself
is an exception and is still often used in place
of I or me. See myself.
reflexive verbs. A verb is said to be reflexive
when its subject and object represent the same
thing, usually a person, as feed in the baby can
feed himself now. See transitive verbs.
reft. See reave.
refuse. This word may be followed by an intiitive,
as in he refused to see me. It is also hleard
with the -ing form of a verb, as in he refused
seeing me, but this is not standard.
refute; confute; deny. To refute is to prove, by
argument or countervailing evidence, that
415 register
something asserted as true is false or erroneous,
to overcome in argument, to prove to be in
error, to show that allegations or charges are
groundless (An insinuation is dificult to refute,
for it rarely makes a specific charge that can be
closely examined). To confute is to prove to be
false, to overthrow by evidence or stronger
argument (Ten yards of string and a stone were
suficient to confute the local belief that the
well was bottomless). Confute is confined to
arguments, theories, reasoning, sophistries.
Refute applies to arguments and charges. Both
words, by the way, convey the suggestion of a
quick as well as a thorough answer.
Deny is a much weaker term. It simply means
that one asserts that an opinion or a charge is
false or erroneous (He denied the allegation
and defied the alligator). A denial does not
necessarily carry any supporting argument or
evidence; a refutation or a confutation carrks
overwhelming proof.
regal. See kingly.
regard; regards. The singular noun regard is used
in the compound prepositions with regard to, in
regard to, in regard of. These all mean “with
reference to” and they are all standard English,
although the last is not used as much today as
formerly. The plural noun regards should never
be used in these phrases.
As regards is a verbal phrase meaning “as
far as it relates to” and the third person singular
form ending in s, regards, should always be
used.
The verb regard cannot be followed by an
infinitive. We cannot say I regard it to be an
honor; nor can we use an objective complement
and say I regard it an honor. Idiom requires
the use of as here, as in I regard it as an honor.
The noun regard is properly a mass noun
and does not have a plural form. The plural
regards, like the plural noun respects, is used
only in formal expressions of good will, as in
give my regards to your mother.
regarding; respecting; relating; concerning; with
regard to; etc. Many writers will go to great
lengths to avoid using the prepositions about
and on. If all the memoranda beginning Let
me have your comments regarding/ respecting/
relating to/ with regard to . . . were laid end
to end they would reach to a wastebasket on
the moon. See also re; in re.
regimen of a preposition. See object of a preposition.
register. In its broadest and earliest sense register
is to enter formally in a register (The spaniel’s
pedigree was fully registered). Usage has established
as standard the more specialized sense of
“record,” that is to indicate by record or to indicate
as records do. From this it was only a
step to “show,” to indicate, as on a scale. And
from this has come the popular figurative
meaning of showing emotion as by facial expression
or by action (She registered all
pleasant emotions by smirking and all unpleasant
ones by frowning or pouting). This is
a vague use, which the careful writer will