The Scottish Enlightenment

Transcript

[pages 686-687]

Vol. xxii   Appendix 1760

Shall and will, these and those, &c. explained.

Scotticisms; with some English words explained.

SCOTTICISMS.

[ These Scotticisms were annexed to the Political Discourses of David Hume, Esq; printed at Edinburgh in 1752 [xiv. 56]; but are not continued in the later editions of that book.  As they may, however, be useful to such of our countrymen as would avoid Scotticisms in speaking or writing, we presume that our republishing them will be approved of. ]

Will, in the first person, as, I will walk, we will walk, expresses the intention or resolution of the person, along with the future event: in the second and third person, as, You will, he will, they will, it expresses the future action or event, without comprehending or excluding the volition.

Shall, in the first person, whether singular or plural, expresses the future action or event, without excluding or comprehending the intention or resolution:  but in the second or third person, it marks a necessity, and commonly a necessity proceeding from the person who speaks; as, He shall walk, You shall repent it.

These variations seem to have proceeded from a politeness in the English; who, in speaking to others, or of others, made use of the term will, which implies volition, even where the event may be the subject of necessity and constraint; and in speaking of themselves, made use of the term shall, which implies constraint, even though the event may be the object of choice.

Wou’d and shou’d are conjunctive moods, subject to the same rule:  only we may observe, that in a sentence where there is a condition expressed, and a consequence of that condition, the former always requires shou’d,  and the latter wou’d, in the second and third persons; as, If he shou’d fall, he wou’d break his leg, &c.

These  is the plural of this, those of that:  the former therefore expresses what is near, the latter, what is more remote; as in these lines of the Duke of Buckingham:

Philosophers and poets vainly strove,

In ev’ry age, the lumpish mass to move:  [THESE,

But THOSE were pedants if compar’d with

Who knew not only to instruct but please

Where a relative is to follow, and the subject has not been mentioned immediately before, those is always required:  Those observations which he made; Those kingdoms which Alexander conquered.

In the verbs which end in t, or te, we frequently omit ed in the preter-perfect, and in the participle; as, He operate, It was cultivate.  Milton says, In thought more elevate; but he is the only author who uses that expression.

Notice should not be used as a verb.  The proper phrase is take notice.  Yet I find Lord Shaftesbury uses noticed, the participle:  and unnoticed is very common.

Hinder to do, is Scotch.  The English phrase is, hinder from doing.  Yet Milton says, Hinder’d not Satan to pervert the mind.  Book 9.

SCOTCH	ENGLISH
conform to	conformable to
friends and acquaintances	friends and acquaintance
maltreat	abuse
advert to	attend to
proven, improven, approven	proved, improved, approved
pled	pleaded
incarcerate	imprison
tear to pieces	tear in pieces
drunk, run	drank, ran
fresh weather	open weather
tender	sickly
in the long run	at long run
notwithstanding of that	notwithstanding that
contented himself to do	contented himself with doing
tis a question if	tis a question whether
discretion	civility
with child to a man	with child by a man
out of hand	presently
simply impossible	absolutely impossible
a park	an inclosure
in time coming	in time to come
nothing else	no other thing
mind it	remember it
denuded	divested
severals	several
some better	something better
anent	with regard to
allenarly	solely
alongst	along (Yet the English say both amid and amidst, among and amongst.)
evenly	even
as I shall answer	I protest or declare
cause him do it	cause him to do it (Yet it is good English to say, make him do it.<)
marry upon	marry to
learn	teach
there, where	thither, whither
effectuate	effect (This word in English means to effect with pains and difficulty)
a wright	a carpenter
Yet it is good English to say, a wheel-wright &c
defunct	deceased
evite	avoid
part with child	miscarry
notour	notorious
to want it	{ to be without a thing,
{ even though it be
{ not desireable
to be difficulted	to be puzzled
rebuted	discouraged by repulses
for ordinary	usually
think shame	ashamed
in favours of	in favour of
dubiety	doubtfulness
prejudge	hurt
compete	enter into competition
heritable	hereditary
to remeed	to remedy
bankier	banker
adduce a proof	produce a proof
superplus	surplus
forfaulture	forfeiture
in no event	in no case
common soldiers	private men
big with a man	great with a man
bygone	past
debitor	debtor
exeemed	exempted
yesternight	last night
big coat	great coat
a chimney	a grate
annualrent	interest
tenible argument	good argument
amissing	missing
to condescend upon	to specify
to discharge	to forbid
to extinguish an obligation	to cancel an obligation
to depone	to depose
a compliment	a present
to enquire at a man	to enquire of a man
to be angry at a man	to be angry with a man
to send an errand	to send of an errand
to furnish goods to him	to furnish him with goods
to open up	to open, or lay open
Thucydide, Herodote, Sueton	Thucydides, Herodotus, Suetonius
butter and bread	bread and butter
pepper and vinegar	vinegar and pepper
paper, pen, and ink	pen, ink, and paper
readily	probably
on a sudden	of a sudden
as ever I saw	as I ever saw
for my share	for my part
misgive	fail
rather chuse to buy as sell	rather chuse to buy than sell
deduce	deduct
lookt over the window	lookt out at the window
a pretty enough girl	a pretty girl enough
tis a week since he left this	tis a week since he left this place
come in to the fire	come near the fire
to take off a new coat	to make up a new suit
alwise	always
cut out his hair	cut off his hair
cry him	call him
to crave	to dun, to ask payment
to get a stomach	to get an appetite
vacance	vacation

On this subject a correspondent writes, that the Scotch use the verb behove personally; whereas, for two hundred years, I behove (for it behoves me) has not been English.

To this we shall add Johnson’s explanation of this and two or three other words.

TO BEHOVE,  v. n.

To be fit; to be meet; either with respect to duty, necessity, or convenience.

It is used only impersonally with it.

NARRATE,  v. a.

To relate; to tell.  A word only used in Scotland.

NOTWITHSTANDING.  conj

[ This word is properly a participial adjective, as it is compounded of not and withstanding; and answers exactly to the Latin non obstante.  It is most properly and analogically used in the ablative case absolute with a noun; as, He is rich notwithstanding his loss.  It is not so proper to say, He is rich notwithstanding he has lost much.  Yet this mode of writing is too frequent:  Addison has used it.  But when a sentence follows, it is more grammatical to insert that; as, He is rich notwithstanding that he has lost much.  When notwithstanding is used absolutely, the expression is elliptical, this or that being understood. ]

1. Without hindrance or obstruction from.
2. Although.  This use is not proper.
3. Nevertheless; however.

TO PREJUDGE.  v.a.

To determine any question beforehand; generally to condemn beforehand.

PREJUDICE.  n.s.

1. Prepossession; judgement formed beforehand without examination.  It is used for prepossession in favour of any thing or against it.
2. Mischief; detriment; hurt; injury.  This sense in only accidental or consequential; a bad thing being called a prejudice, only because prejudice is commonly a bad thing; and is not derived from the original or etymology of the word:   it were therefore better to use it less;  perhaps prejudice ought never to be applied to any mischief which does not imply some partiality or prepossession.

TO PREJUDICE.  v. a.

1. To prepossess with unexamined opinions; to fill with prejudices.
2. To obstruct or injure by prejudices previously raised.
3. To injure, to hurt; to diminish; to impair; to be detrimental to.  This sense, as in the noun, is often improperly extended to meanings that have no relation to the original sense:  who can read with patience of an ingredient that prejudices a medicine?

TO SUCCUMB.  v. n.

To yield; to sink under any difficulty.  Not in use, except among the Scotch.

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