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Refused. “He was refused a crown.” It is the crown that was refused to him. See Given.

Regular for Natural, or Customary. “Flattery of the people is the demagogue’s regular means to political preferment.” Regular properly relates to a rule (regula) more definite than the law of antecedent and consequent.

Reliable for Trusty, or Trustworthy. A word not yet admitted to the vocabulary of the fastidious, but with a strong backing for the place.

Remit for Send. “On receiving your bill I will remit the money.” Remit does not mean that; it means give back, yield up, relinquish, etc. It means, also, to cancel, as in the phrase, the remission of sins.

Rendition for Interpretation, or Performance. “The actor’s rendition of the part was good.” Rendition means a surrender, or a giving back.

Reportorial. A vile word, improperly made. It assumes the Latinized spelling, “reporter.” The Romans had not the word, for they were, fortunately for them, without the thing.

Repudiate for Deny. “He repudiated the accusation.”

Reside for Live. “They reside in Hohokus.” Stilted.

Residence for Dwelling, or House. See Mansion.

Respect for Way, or Matter. “They were alike in that respect.” The misuse comes of abbreviating: the sentence properly written might be, They were alike in respect of that–i.e., with regard to that. The word in the bad sense has even been pluralized: “In many respects it is admirable.”

Respective. “They went to their respective homes.” The adjective here (if an adjective is thought necessary) should be several. In the adverbial form the word is properly used in the sentence following: John and James are bright and dull, respectively. That is, John is bright and James dull.

Responsible. “The bad weather is responsible for much sickness.” “His intemperance was responsible for his crime.” Responsibility is not an attribute of anything but human beings, and few of these can respond, in damages or otherwise. Responsible is nearly synonymous with accountable and answerable, which, also, are frequently misused.

Restive for Restless. These words have directly contrary meanings; the dictionaries’ disallowance of their identity would be something to be thankful for, but that is a dream.

Retire for Go to Bed. English of the “genteel” sort. See Genteel.

Rev. for The Rev. “Rev. Dr. Smith.”

Reverence for Revere.

Ride for Drive. On horseback one does drive, and in a vehicle one does ride, but a distinction is needed here, as in England; so, here as there, we may profitably make it, riding in the saddle and driving in the carriage.

Roomer for Lodger. See Bedder and Mealer–if you can find them.

Round for About. “They stood round.” See Around.

Ruination for Ruin. Questionably derived and problematically needful.

Run for Manage, or Conduct. Vulgar–hardly better than slang.

Say for Voice. “He had no say in determining the matter.” Vulgar.

Scholar for Student, or Pupil. A scholar is a person who is learned, not a person who is learning.

Score for Win, Obtain, etc. “He scored an advantage over his opponent.” To score is not to win a point, but to record it.

Second-handed for Second-hand. There is no such word.

Secure for Procure. “He secured a position as book-keeper.” “The dwarf secured a stick and guarded the jewels that he had found.” Then it was the jewels that were secured.

Seldom ever. A most absurd locution.

Self-confessed. “A self-confessed assassin.” Self is superfluous: one’s sins cannot be confessed by another.

Sensation for Emotion. “The play caused a great sensation.” “A sensational newspaper.” A sensation is a physical feeling; an emotion, a mental. Doubtless the one usually accompanies the other, but the good writer will name the one that he has in mind, not the other. There are few errors more common than the one here noted.

Sense for Smell. “She sensed the fragrance of roses.” Society English.

Set for Sit. “A setting hen.”

Settee for Settle. This word belongs to the peasantry of speech.

Settle for Pay. “Settle the bill.” “I shall take it now and settle for it later.”

Shades for Shade. “Shades of Noah! how it rained!” “O shades of Caesar!” A shade is a departed soul, as conceived by the ancients; one to each mortal part is the proper allowance.