A Dictionary of Cont..

go through with the encounter to which he was
committed. The expression is used to mean this
today but is also used loosely to mean up to
normal, doing as well as could be expected. In
either sense it is hackneyed.
up to the hilt. A dagger plunged into someone’s
body up to the hilt was, plainly, in as deep as it
could go. But one may be deeply involved in
many things of such a nature or in such a way
that the phrase is ludicrous. And, in any event,
it is a clich6.
upper; upmost. See up.
upset t6e applecart. The Romans had a saying
You’ve upset the cart, meaning “You’ve ruined
everything.” What genius in the eighteenth century
thought of making it an applecart will now
never be known, but it was one of those additions
to a homely phrase (like Shakespeare’s “son
and heir of a mongrel bitch”) that surprised
with a fine excess and caught the popular fancy
at once. Unfortunately the humorous vigor and
vividness of the amended expression had too
wide an appeal. It was soon overworked and is
now exhausted.
upward; upwards. Upward is the only form that
can be used to qualify a following noun, as in
nn upward movement. Either form may be used
in any other construction, as in he looked upwards
and he looked upward. The form upward
is generally preferred in the United States.
Both forms, upwards and upward, may be used
to mean “more than,” as in upwards of five hundred
people and upward of twenty years.
urbane.. See polite.
urge. This verb mav be followed bv an infinitive.
as in I urged him-to go, or by the-ing form of a
verb, as in I urged his going. It may also be followed
by a clause but the clause verb must be a
subjunctive or a subjunctive equivalent, as in I
urged that he go. The infinitive construction is
generally preferred.
us. See objective pronouns.
use; utilize; exploit; work. Use is the everyday
word for making something serve one’s purposes
(Use your eyes, child! It’s right there in front of
you!). When applied to persons, it has a selfish
and even sinister connotation (He’s only using
you). It would be more tactful, for example, to
say, I could use your help this afternoon than to
say, I could use you this afternoon; though where
the relationship is friendly the second wording
would be accepted as a mere shortening of the
first. The use of used as a commercial euphemism
for second-hand or worn has given it a
depreciatory meaning.
Utilize implies a practical or profitable use
and, in its stricter sense, making a practical or
profitable use of something when something else
more desirable is not available C Well. vou’ll iust
have to utilize what’s there. Such &s of-the
tongue are often utilized by unscrupulous men
when they luck anything definite to charge their
opponents with).
To exploit is to turn to practical account, to
use for profit (He exploited the concession to the
533 used to
last penny). It often means-and when applied
to persons invariably means-to use selfishly for
one’s own ends (They have exploited that child
mercilessly).
To work, as a transitive verb, in its serious
senses, is to expend labor upon (He worked the
soil. If the clay is worked in the hands it will
soon become soft and malleable). In loose speech
it is often used as a synonym for exploit and
utilize in their pejorative senses (She’s been
working him for forty years).
use; usage. Use is the act of employment or
putting into service (Have you any use for a
good set of matched irons?). Usage means either
a manner of use-often, in a derogatory sense,
rough and therefore somewhat damaging use
(These tools have had hard usage, friend: I can’t
give you much for them), or a habitual practice
which has served to create a standard, especially
in matters of language and the meanings of
words (A Dictionary of Modern English Usage).
It is in this last sense that the word usage is
employed in this volume.
used to. The verb use, meaning to make use of,
is perfectly regular with a past tense and participle
used, as in I used it yesterday. It is never
followed by a verb form and presents no problems.
The expression used to means something quite
different. When it is combined with a form of
the verb be it is followed by the -ing form of a
verb, as in he was used to sleeping late, and
means accustomed to or familiar with. In any
other construction used to is followed by the
simple form of a verb (or we might say used is
followed by a to-infinitive), as in he used to sleep
lute. Here it means “habitually did, at some unspecified
time in the past.” Would may also be
used to express habitual action, but with would
the time at which the action was habitual must
be specified. We may say I used to get up early,
but if would is used there must he some specifying
clause, such as when I was a child I would
get up early. Would in this construction suggests
endless repetition more strongly than used to
does and is a more literary form. When used in
ordinary speech it gives the impression that the
speaker is composing his memoirs rather than
giving a factual account of the past. Would cannot
be used in this sense with a verb that does
not imply action. We can say I used to like
chocolate but not when I was a child I would
like chocolate.
In speech the d of used merges with the t of
to and the two words are always pronounced
use to. But in the United States the form use to
never appears in print except after the verb did,
and there it is required.
In the United States, questions and negative
statements involving used to require the word
did, as in did there use to be owls here?, he didn’t
use to drink, didn’t you use to like her?. In Great
Britain, the auxiliary did is never used and
these American constructions are generally condemned.
Englishmen say used there to be owls