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Bechtel, John Hendricks, 1841-

"Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking"


"I don't want any," or, "I do not want any," or, "I want none," are
correct equivalents for the first sentence; "I haven't anything," or,
"I have nothing," should take the place of the second; and, "He can't
do any more," or, "He can do no more," or "He cannot do more," will
serve for the third.
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196
Not--Hardly
"I cannot stop to tell you hardly any of the adventures that befell
Theseus." Change cannot to can. "I have not had a moment's time to
read hardly since I left school." Say, "I have hardly a moment's
time," etc.
No--no
"The faculties are called into no exercise by doing a thing merely
because others do it, no more than by believing a thing only because
others believe it," says George P. Marsh. He should have used any
instead of the second no.
Nothing--nor
"There was nothing at the Columbian Exposition more beautiful, nor
more suggestive of the progress of American art, than Tiffany's
display." Change nor to or.
Can't do nothing
"He says he can't do nothing for me.


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