A Dictionary of Cont..

tally, a cylindrical cloth or leather case for carrying
the kit or outfit of a soldier, especially of a
cavalryman or artilleryman (The officer commanding
a piquet will decide if patrols are to
wear valises or not). In the United States the
word continues to have its old meaning of a
traveler’s case for holding clothes and toilet articles,
now especially one of leather, of moderate
size, for carrying by hand, a traveling bag (I
usually carry my valise myself and leave the
heavier suitcases for the porter).
valuable; valued. Valuable applies to whatever
has value, but especially to what has considerable
value either in money or because of its
usefulness or rarity (He kept a valuable edition
of Comus locked in his private safe). That is
valued which is highly regarded or esteemed,
estimated or appraised, or has had its value specified
(His was a highly valued opinion. The car
was valued at not more than fifty dollars). Something
which is valuable may not be valued, and,
conversely, something which is valued may not
be valuable.
valuable asset seems, on first thought, to be redundant,
since asset itself, a useful thing or
quality, a property, is regarded as valuable. Yet
where there are many assets one may be valuable
compared to the others or even a single asset
may have a special value. It’s illogical, but it is
serviceable and standard usage to refer to a
valuable asset. (Moore is a valuable asset to the
department; we wouldn’t want to lose him).
vanish into tbin air. Since our ancestors knew
very little about the varying density of air, thin
air was simply an intensive for air which was
thin compared to the other substances they knew.
When Prosper0 in The Tempest said that the
actors in his pageant were all spirits and/ Are
Melted into air, into thin air, he was simply
using (and, what’s more, going back and repeating
himself in order to do so) what was even
then a hackneyed phrase, for ghosts invariably
melted or vanished into thin air. The phrase,
now not used of ghosts so much as, usually in a
tone of irritation, lost articles, is hackneyed.
vanity. See pride.
vantage and advantage were once interchangeable
but are now distinct. Advantage means any
state, circumstance, opportunity, or means specially
favorable to success, interest, or any desired
end (He had the advantage of familiarity
with the terrain); benefit, gain, profit (It is to the
advantage of any young man to learn to depend
on himself) : superiority or ascendancy (The fact
that the one wrestler weighs thirty pounds more
than the other gives him an unfnir advantage).
It is an interesting reflection on the highly competitive
nature of our society that the amenities
and cultural pleasures of a well-to-do home are
so frequently referred to as advantages or, often,
every advantage (The child’s had all the advantages,
coming from a nice home like that and in
one of the best suburbs, tool).
Vantage describes a particular sort of advantage.
If advantage means opportunity, vantage
means particular, special opportunity. It applies
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to a position or condition affording superiority,
as for action (He operated from the vantage of
the New York publishing centers. Henry Tudor
at Bosworth Field had the vantage of wind, sun,
and ground). It may also mean position likely
to give superiority: literally this may be used
to describe a man looking over the countryside
from the vantage of a hill or tower; figuratively,
it might describe, for example, a poet reading
new poetry from the vantage of his own knowledge
of the art.
vapid; insipid. Vapid means savorless and insipid
means tasteless. Both words, that is, refer to
something without or with very little taste, flat,
without sharpness or distinction in savor. Insipid
is more often used in the literal sense (Those
shiny red apples look fine but the taste is insipid).
In figurative terms, both words mean
without animation or spirit, dull, uninteresting,
tedious, as in talk, writing, or persons. Vapid has
more of the suggestion of stupidity (This vapid,
meaningless talk. Ninety-nine percent of all that
appears in newspapers is vapid stuff). Insipid
simply means without distinction, interest, or
attractive qualities (The verse in ladies’ magazines
is usually free from technical faults, but it
rarely has any passion or even sensuousness and
avoids any serious ideas. It’s insipid). In America
insipid is used in all senses far more often
than vapid.
varicolored and variegated mean practically the
same thing in the United States. Varicolored
means having various colors, variegated in color,
motley; and, more loosely, varied, assorted.
Variegated means varied in appearance or color,
marked with patches or spots of different colors:
and, more loosely, varied, diversified, diverse.
The words are used similarly in England, though
some recent authorities insist that varicolored
must be used in reference to color and that
variegated should be. This would leave only
varied to designate assorted or diversified.
variety (in writing). See repetition.
various. See different.
varlet, for a low fellow or rascal, is now relegated
to fraternity-house rodomontade.
varmint; varmit. See vermin.
vastly means to a great extent or in great proportions,
especially when part of a comparison
(He spoke in a vastly larger hall and found it
disconcerting), but it may also be used to mean
much, greatly, to a great degree (The Dean was
vastly annoyed at the committee’s delay). The
English regard this last use as an affectation.
Vastly amused is almost a clichC.
venal and venial look and sound much alike but
they are quite different. Venal has implications
of corruption, while venial, a word of mild reproach,
means excusable.
Venal, as applied to a person, means ready to
sell one’s services or influence unscrupulously,
accessible to bribery, corruptly mercenary (Many
city politicians are not venal, but honest aldermen
are in the minority). As applied to a thing,
it means purchasable like mere merchandise, but
always with a suggestion that there is something