Inaugurate for Begin, Establish, etc. Inauguration implies some degree of formality and ceremony.
Incumbent for Obligatory. “It was incumbent upon me to relieve him.” Infelicitous and work-worn. Say, It was my duty, or, if enamored of that particular metaphor, It lay upon me.
Individual. As a noun, this word means something that cannot be considered as divided, a unit. But it is incorrect to call a man, woman or child an individual, except with reference to mankind, to society or to a class of persons. It will not do to say, “An individual stood in the street,” when no mention nor allusion has been made, nor is going to be made, to some aggregate of individuals considered as a whole.
Indorse. See Endorse.
Insane Asylum. Obviously an asylum cannot be unsound in mind. Say, asylum for the insane.
In Spite of. In most instances it is better to say despite.
Inside of. Omit the preposition.
Insignificant for Trivial, or Small. Insignificant means not signifying anything, and should be used only in contrast, expressed or implied, with something that is important for what it implies. The bear’s tail may be insignificant to a naturalist tracing the animal’s descent from an earlier species, but to the rest of us, not concerned with the matter, it is merely small.
Insoluble for Unsolvable. Use the former word for material substances, the latter for problems.
Inst., Prox., Ult. These abbreviations of instante mense (in the present month), proximo mense (in the next month) and ultimo mense (in the last month), are serviceable enough in commercial correspondence, but, like A.M., P.M. and many other contractions of Latin words, could profitably be spared from literature.
Integrity for Honesty. The word means entireness, wholeness. It may be rightly used to affirm possession of all the virtues, that is, unity of moral character.
Involve for Entail. “Proof of the charges will involve his dismissal.” Not at all; it will entail it. To involve is, literally, to infold, not to bring about, nor cause to ensue. An unofficial investigation, for example, may involve character and reputation, but the ultimate consequence is entailed. A question, in the parliamentary sense, may involve a principle; its settlement one way or another may entail expense, or injury to interests. An act may involve one’s honor and entail disgrace.
It for So. “Going into the lion’s cage is dangerous; you should not do it.” Do so is the better expression, as a rule, for the word it is a pronoun, meaning a thing, or object, and therefore incapable of being done. Colloquially we may say do it, or do this, or do that, but in serious written discourse greater precision is desirable, and is better obtained, in most cases, by use of the adverb.
Item for Brief Article. Commonly used of a narrative in a newspaper. Item connotes an aggregate of which it is a unit—one thing of many. Hence it suggests more than we may wish to direct attention to.
Jackies for Sailors. Vulgar, and especially offensive to seamen.
Jeopardize for Imperil, or Endanger. The correct word is jeopard, but in any case there is no need for anything so farfetched and stilted.
Juncture. Juncture means a joining, a junction; its use to signify a time, however critical a time, is absurd. “At this juncture the woman screamed.” In reading that account of it we scream too.
Just Exactly. Nothing is gained in strength nor precision by this kind of pleonasm. Omit just.
Juvenile for Child. This needless use of the adjective for the noun is probably supposed to be humorous, like “canine” for dog, “optic” for eye, “anatomy” for body, and the like. Happily the offense is not very common.
Kind of a for Kind of. “He was that kind of a man.” Say that kind of man. Man here is generic, and a genus comprises many kinds. But there cannot be more than one kind of one thing. Kind of followed by an adjective, as, “kind of good,” is almost too gross for censure.
Landed Estate for Property in Land. Dreadful!
Last and Past. “Last week.” “The past week.” Neither is accurate: a week cannot be the last if another is already begun; and all weeks except this one are past. Here two wrongs seem to make a right: we can say the week last past. But will we? I trow not.
Later on. On is redundant; say, later.
Laundry. Meaning a place where clothing is washed, this word cannot mean, also, clothing sent there to be washed.
Lay (to place) for Lie (to recline). “The ship lays on her side.” A more common error is made in the past tense, as, “He laid down on the grass.” The confusion comes of the identity of a present tense of the transitive verb to lay and the past tense of the intransitive verb to lie.
Leading Question. A leading question is not necessarily an important one; it is one that is so framed as to suggest, or lead to, the answer desired. Few others than lawyers use the term correctly.
Lease. To say of a man that he leases certain premises leaves it doubtful whether he is lessor or lessee. Being ambiguous, the word should be used with caution.
Leave for Go away. “He left yesterday.” Leave is a transitive verb; name the place of departure.
Leave for Let. “Leave it alone.” By this many persons mean, not that it is to be left in solitude, but that it is to be untouched, or unmolested.
Lengthways for Lengthwise.
Lengthy. Usually said in disparagement of some wearisome discourse. It is no better than breadthy, or thicknessy.
Leniency for Lenity. The words are synonymous, but the latter is the better.
Less for Fewer. “The regiment had less than five hundred men.” Less relates to quantity, fewer, to number.
Limited for Small, Inadequate, etc. “The army’s operations were confined to a limited area.” “We had a limited supply of food.” A large area and an adequate supply would also be limited. Everything that we know about is limited.
Liable for Likely. “Man is liable to err.” Man is not liable to err, but to error. Liable should be followed, not by an infinitive, but by a preposition.
Like for As, or As if. “The matter is now like it was.” “The house looked like it would fall.”
Likely for Probably. “He will likely be elected.” If likely is thought the better word (and in most cases it is) put it this way: “It is likely that he will be elected,” or, “He is likely to be elected.”
Line for Kind, or Class. “This line of goods.” Leave the word to “salesladies” and “salesgentlemen.” “That line of business.” Say, that business.