A Dictionary of Cont..

WOdS 562
keep his promises and fulfill his obligations,
that his word is as good us his bond is to employ
a wornout expression. Bond here means a written
or signed agreement.
words cannot describe and words fail are hackneyed
as hyperbolic phrases of introduction. If
taken literally, the rest should be silence. If not
to be taken literally, they should be omitted and
the speaker or writer get on as best he can with
what words he can command.
wore. See wear.
work. The past tense is worked or wrought. The
participle is also worked or wroughf. When this
verb does not have an object, only the form
worked may be used for the past tense or the
participle, as in he worked all day. Wrought
may be used when the verb has an object, as in
he wrought happiness for many and see what
God bath wrought, but even here it has a
decidedlv bookish tone. Wrought is preferred
as an adjective in some expressions,- such as
wrought iron, but worked may also be used
here.
Work is sometimes used to mean “become,”
and in that cake may be followed by an adjective
describing what becomes, as in the hinge
worked loose. When not used in this sense it
may be followed by an adverb describing the
working, as in the hinge worked loosely. Sea
use.
work (for book). See volume.
worked to death has been worked to death. Let
it rest in peace.
workingman; working-man; working man; workman;
workmen. Working man is a general and
vague term. It simply describes any man who
works. English working-man, American workfngman
describe a man of the working class;
more specifically, a man, skilled or unskilled,
who earns his living at some manual or industrial
work (When Jurgis had first come to the
stockyards he had been as clean as any workfngman
could well be). Workman means specifically
a man employed or skilled in some
form of manual, mechanical or industrial work
(A workman’s compensation law was passed
lute in the century). Used in the plural, it differs
from workingmen in plainly implying some skill
(I got me cunning workmen. The workmen
always had their tools packed and were ready
to quit on the stroke of four. We have had
workmen in the house, papering, painting, plastering,
tiling, sanding!).
work one’s fingers to the bone. As an expression
for working very hard, used commonly in pitying
or self-pitying reproaches, to work one’s
fingers to the bone is a cliche. Applied originally,
in the nineteenth century, to seamstresses,
it had a hyperbolic meaning that is now pretty
well dissipated.
works. In Great Britain factories and industrial
shops are sometimes called works, as in the
steelworks south of the town, and opinion is
divided as to whether the word takes a singular
or a plural verb when used in this sense. The
problem does not arise in the United States
where we use the word plant instead. Plant is
clearly singular and takes a singular verb.
world. See earth.
world, the flesh, and the Devil. The world is the
sum of worldly things, as opposed to spiritual
matters. The flesh is human weakness with its
susceptibility to the allure of worldly things.
And the Devil is the tempter, always playing
upon that susceptibility. The phrase is from
The Book of Common Prayer. Used in any
context but its original one, it is now a cliche,
even when used humorously.
world of good, world of troth, world of trouble,
etc. World of is used for “a great deal of” in a
number of phrases. Most of them are now
hackneyed.
world is mine oyster. When Ancient Pistol (in
The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act II, scene 2,
lines 3-4) said that the world’s mine oyster,/
Which I with sword will open, he coined a metaphor
so ludicrous and at the same time so apt
that it caught the popular fancy and became a
saying and in time a cliche. It’s not quite so apt
anymore. Artificial pearls are now superior to
all but the very finest natural pearls and, as
0. Henry observed, a sword is a far more suitable
instrument than a typewriter for opening
oysters.
worldly. See earthen.
worn. See wear.
worn-out. See outworn.
worse, worst. See bad.
worship. See reverence.
worth; worthy. These words are both adjectives
and qualify nouns. Worth always follows the
word it qualifies and is itself followed by an
object. The object may be a noun, as in the book
is worth ten dollars, or it may be the -ing form
of a verb used with a passive meaning, as in
the book is worth reading.
The adjective worthy may stand before a
noun, as in a worthy cause. It may be followed
by an infinitive, as in he is worthy to take his
place. The compound worthy of may be followed
by a noun, as in worthy of his position,
or by the -ing form of a verb, as in worthy of
taking his place.
worth one’s weight in gold. As a way of saying
that something or someone is extremely valuable,
usually spoken of someone who is not only
efficient and industrious but exceedingly goodnatured
and willing as well, it or he is worth its
or his weight in gold is a cliche. When spoken
of persons, it loses some of its metaphorical
value from the fact that quite a few persons
(specifically anyone who owns more than $lOO,-
000 and weighs less than two hundred pounds)
are actually “worth,” in the meaning of possessing
that much wealth, their own weight in gold.
wot. The past tense is wist. The participle is also
wist. There was once a verb wit meaning know.
The infinitive survives in zo wit and the -ing
form in witting and wiffingly. It had a past tense
wot. Since there is very little difference between
once knowing and still knowing, wot came to
be felt as a present tense. Later a new past tense