Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/82

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A Desk-Book of

dissociate is from the Latin dis-, used with separative force, and socius. Disassociate is therefore nothing more or less than uniting to and at the same time severing from. The word, then, though used, is illogically formed and should be avoided.

distinguish. See discriminate.

divers, diverse: By inattentive persons not infrequently interchanged. Divers implies severalty; diverse, difference. Hence we say; "The Evangelists narrate events in divers manners," but "The views of the two parties were quite diverse."

do: Often used unnecessarily. Do not say, "I shall succeed as others have done before me." Here "done" is pleonastic. But do may be used where it is purely auxiliary to a missing verb, as "I shall succeed as others do" (succeed).

dock is not a synonym for wharf although it is often used as such. The dock is water, the wharf is the abutting land or landing.

Dock is by many persons used to mean a wharf or pier; thus: "He fell off the dock and was drowned .... A man might fall into a dock; but to say that he fell off a dock is no better than to say that he fell off a hole."— R. G. White, Words and Their Uses, ch. 5. p. 107.

donate: Incorrectly used as simply meaning give. As meaning to bestow as a gift or donation, it has been vehemently objected to by some critics, but