A Dictionary of Cont..

apostrophe 3
plurals, see genitlve case. For the use of the
apostrophe in measure terms, see measures.
apostrophe (rhetoric). As a term in rhetoric
apostrophe designates a digressive address, the
interruption of the course of a speech or a
piece of writing to address some person or
persons, whether present or absent, real or
imaginary (At the close of his argument, he
turned to his client in an affecting apostrophe).
By extension it is also applied to any abrupt
interjectional speech. Lear, pleading passionately
with his daughters that it is not a question
of his physical needs, interrupts his argument
with an apostrophe to the gods: But, for true
need-/ You heavens, give me that patience,
patience I need!/ You see me here, you gods,
a poor old man,/ As full of grief as age;
wretched in both. . . .
apotheosis. The plural is apotheoses.
apparatus. The plural is apparatuses or apparatus,
not apparafi.
apparent; obvious; evident; patent. Obvious
meant, originally, that which stood in the way
and was, therefore, unavoidable to view or
knowledge. That which is evident is that which
is made unquestionable by demonstrable facts.
A thing or proposition which is patent is open
to the view or comprehension of all.
The difficulty with apparent is that it has
two meanings. It can mean capable of being
clearly seen or understood and it can mean
seeming (as opposed to real): It is apparent
that the apparent honesty of some criminals
is their greatest asset.
An heir apparent is one whose right to an
inheritance is indefeasible if he survives the
ancestor. The plural is heirs apparent.
A patent is a document conferring certain
privileges. The word means that it is open for
all to see, a public document, and since all may
see it no one can claim that he could not know
of its provisions. Yet because patents are taken
out to cover the manufacturing rights of proprietary
medicines and mechanical devices
whose construction before the issuing of the
patent was often a closely guarded secret, the
word has, in popular usage, the connotation
of secrecy, the exact opposite of its standard
meaning.
appeal. In American usage appeal is intransitive
and transitive. (She appeals to me. The convicted,
if dissatisfied with the verdict, can
appeal his case to a higher court.) In British
usage the transitive form is obsolete.
appear. This word may be followed by an infinitive,
as in he appeared to leave, but not by
the -ing form of a verb. Appear may be
followed by an adjective describing what
appears, as in he appeared sad, or by an
adverb describing the appearing, as in he
appeared suddenly.
appendix. The plural is appendixes or app,endices.
apperception. See perception.
apple of one’s eye (the pupil of the eye) was
formerly thought to be a solid, spherical body.
The phrase is an echo of the eighth verse of
the seventeenth Psalm (Keep me as the apple
of the eye) which, in turn, is probably an echo
of the tenth verse of the thirty-second chapter
of Deuteronomy (He led him about, he instructed
him, he kept him as the apple of his
eye). As a term for something exceedingly
precious and dear it has been worn to meaninglessness
by repetition. As an image, in fact,
it seems repulsively bloodshot and grotesque.
appointment ; assignment; office; post; station.
Appointment and assignment in the sense of a
position or a task to be performed are closely
synonymous, though Americans are inclined
to use assignment in many instances where the
English use appointment. A newspaper reporter’s
assignment and the daily assignment
allotted to a class, together with the assignment
of wages in payment of a debt are peculiarly
American uses.
An office, like a position, suggests an employment
of some trust and importance. O$ce,
with us, is largely confined to a political
position. Post in the United States means a
military or some other public position; in
England it is used almost as a synonym for
job. Station refers to the sphere of duty or
occupation (his station in life) or to the location
of the task (He was stationed at
Albuquerque).
appositive. A word, or group of words, which
follows immediately after another word or
group of words and which means the same
thing is called an appositive, as our first President
in George Washington, our first President,
lived in Virginia. An appositive may be set off
by commas. When commas are not used, as in
Peter the Hermit and the poet Keats, the
second word or group is sometimes called an
adherent. When there is no punctuation, the
second part is felt as closer to the first and
necessary to it. When commas are used, they
sometimes make the second element seem like
a parenthetical aside.
appositive adjectives. See position of adjectives.
appreciate means to form an estimate of, usually
favorable and marked by sensitivity and delicate
perceptions in the appreciator. It also
means to increase in value (Gold has appreciated
steadily for two hundred years). In this
sense it is the antonym of depreciate.
Originally appreciate, in the first of the two
meanings just given, meant to make an estimate,
even an unfavorable one. Burke said:
We must appreciate these dreadful hydras, and
it is to be hoped that college courses in
Musical Appreciation do not teach their
students to approve of every piece they hear.
But this meaning is now rare.
The word is used chiefly, in several ways, as
an elaborate and slightly grudging means of
saying Thank you or Z will thank you. Early
visitors to America were struck by the fact
that in the West, at least, people were reluctant
to say Thank you, preferring various
circumlocutions such as Much obliged, Well
now, that’s mighty good of you, and 1’11 do the
same for you some day. Apparently plain
thanks was felt to be undemocratic. Perhaps