A Dictionary of Cont..

daw, as in I resent that he is here, but the
-ing construction, as in I resent his being here
is preferred.
reside; live; dwell. Live is the word to describe
the act of occupying a permanent home (There
was a jolly miller/ And he lived by the Dee).
Dwell is old-fashioned (the father of such as
dwell in tents), journalese (Mrs. Merrywea,fher-
Smythe is dwelling at the country club while
her Larchwood home is being completely) redecorated),
or poetic (I dreamt that I dwelt in
marble hulls). Reside is pretentious, unless it
describes the act of living in an important or
pretentious residence (The governor resides at
Albany) or is used, as of a quality, to mean to
inhere or to be inherent in (There often resides
a deep stubbornness in these quiet natures:).
residence. The house in which one resides is
legally one’s residence, regardless of its size
or condition. Otherwise, however, resia’ence
implies size and elegance of structure and surroundings
(Blenheim Palace, the residence of
the dukes of Marlborough). To use it as a
synonym for house (Ah, here we are, my
modest residence) is pretentious or forcedly
humorous. See also house; home.
residue. See balance.
residuum. The plural is residua.
resign may be followed by the -ing form of a
verb with the preposition to, as in I have resigned
myself to going, or by an infinitive, as
in I have resigned myself to go. Both forms are
acceptable in the United States but the -ing
construction is generally preferred.
resignation. See patience.
resin; rosin. Resin is the general name to describe
any of a class of nonvolatile, solid or semisolid
organic substances, such as copal and mastic,
obtained directIy from certain plants as exudations
or derived from various products by
special processes, and used in such things as
medicine and varnish. Resin properly describes
a substance in its natural state. Rosin, on the
other hand, describes the result of a process.
It is the hard brittle resin left after distilling off
the oil of turpentine from the crude oleoresin
of the pine, used in making varnish, for rubbing
on violin bows, billiard cue tips, the canvas floor
of boxing rings, and the like.
resist may be followed by the -ing form of a
verb, as in he resisted going. It is also lheard
with the infinitive, as in he resisted to go, but
this is not standard.
resolve. This verb may be followed by an infinitive,
as in he resolved to go. If the -ing form of
a verb is used it must be introduced by the
preposition on, as in he resolved on going. The
two forms are equally acceptable and th’ere is
no difference in meaning between them. See
decide.
resolve; resolution. These nouns are distinguishable.
A resolve is a conclusion, a determination
made, as to follow some course of action
(That’s an admirable resolve; I hope you’ll
stick to it). In certain contexts resolution is used
in the same sense, as in a New Year’s resolu-
421 responsible
iion. Primarily, however, resolution means a
formal determination or expression of opinion
of a deliberative assembly or other body of
persons (Resolutions as used in the practice of
the Ohio General Assembly are of two kinds:
House or Senate and Joint Resolution). Resolution
also means a solution or explanation, as
of a problem or a doubtful point, and is to be
preferred to resolve as the word for the mental
state or quality of being resolved, resolute, and
firm of purpose.
resort; resource. See recourse.
respectable; respectful. Respectable means worthy
of respect or esteem, estimable, worthy (No
respectable girl would associate with a man of
his reputation), of good social standing and
reputation (Her main consideration in renting
was to find a respectable neighborhood), pertaining
to or appropriate to such standing (He
had a quite respectable command of French).
It also means of moderate excellence, fairly
good (Though he was not brilliant, his lecture
was a respectable performance). Respectful, a
word with fewer uses, means full of, characterized
by, or showing respect (His very look drew
respectful attention from the company).
respective; respectively. The use of respective
and respectively can become a habit in speech.
It is one to be on the lookout for and to check
in time.
Respective is an adjective which means pertaining
individually or severally to each of a
number of persons or things. Respectively is an
adverb formed on this adjective. In certain
situations the words are desirable, even necessary,
as in Kit and Nick were given a pistol and
a teddy bear respectively. Here we must be
informed that it was Kit who got the pistol
and Nick who got the teddy bear. Without
“respectively” either one might have received
either gift or each might have received two
gifts. There are many circumstances, however,
under which respective and respectively are unnecessary.
For instance, respective is not needed
in the statement He gave each organization its
respective share of the total collection. It would
be just as effective to say He gave each organization
its share of the total collection. If the
shares were of different amounts and he saw to
it that each organization received the amount
it was entitled to (and that is often the sort
of idea that is intended to be conveyed by
respective in such contexts), the correct word
would be proper or due or agreed or something
like that. Even where respective and respectively
are used correctly they might be omitted and
the sentence rewritten more concisely and
clearly (Kit was given a pistol, Nick a teddy
bear).
response. See answer.
responsible. British authorities insist that responsible
be restricted to human beings. American
and English usage alike consider as basic senses
of responsible: answerable or accountable, as
for something within one’s power or control or
management-followed by to or for (The