The Right Words and the Wrong Words

w ith something and to manage w ithout it. To dispose something was

basically to arrange it suitably, to settle it. (My Author and Disposer
M iltons Eve calls Adam in a m om ent o f wifely compliance.) To dispose
o f a matter was to deal w ith it finally and thus to get rid o f it. But
whereas to dispense w ith implies an attitude o f removing what is
superfluous or redundant ( After a successful operation for cataract, he
was able to dispense w ith his glasses), to dispose o f carries no such
overtones (He disposed o f his country house and bought a tow n
house).
The development in use o f the corresponding nouns, dispensation
and disposition, is noteworthy. W hereas the noun disposition is
now chiefly used o f a persons tem peram ent or frame of m ind (the
arrangement of personal idiosyncrasies), the noun dispensation tends
to be used of the public system of adm inistration (the ordering o f its
regulations). In T. S. Eliots Journey of the Magi the three kings, having
witnessed the new born Jesus, return to their kingdom s no longer at ease
here, in the old dispensation.
equable / equitable
Equable means unvarying and uniform . A generally calm and placid
person may be described as o f an equable tem peram ent. Equitable
means fair and just. W here equable relates to the w ord equality,
equitable relates to the w ord equity.
erupt I irrupt
To erupt is to break or burst out as a volcano does from time to time.
(On the appearance o f the Ghost in Hamlet Horatio foresees some strange
eruption to our state.) To irrupt is suddenly and forcibly to break in,
as an invading army m ight after besieging a stronghold.
exclude / preclude
To exclude is the opposite o f to include. It is to keep out, to prevent
from entering a place, or from taking part in an activity or celebration. The
dictionary definition o f to preclude is to make impossible, especially
beforehand. It is used o f disbarments made necessary by other factors
(Smiths parlous state o f health precludes him from taking part).
A consultative paper sent out to members [from Tory headquarters] excludes
a Prime Minister Hague restoring the hereditary principle to the Lords.