Sir: For the third time within a year I have run across the expression, "put paid to the matter." The word "paid" was not in quotation marks, but the usage indicated that it meant put an end to or brought to a conclusion. Is this right? And if so, why?
- M. B.
Answer: Right. It's because, for example, when you're leaving the doctor's office and hand $5 to the secretary - oh, shoot, let's make this believable - when you hand $100 to the secretary, she writes "Paid" on the bill and hands it back so you can claim a tax credit. And she doesn't use quotation marks either.
Sir: Please settle a matter for me. I recently read an article that included the statement, "Two good Samaritans came to their help." I wrote a letter to the editor and said he was wrong because the word "Good" should have been capitalized, since Good Samaritan is a title. But the answer I received was that what they had written was correct. Was I wrong?
- Robert R.
Answer: Well, ole buddy, I have two answers for you. Answer No. 1: No, you were right. The adjective is part of the title and should have been capitalized. Answer No. 2: Yes, you were wrong, because you hauled off and told an editor he was wrong. A lifetime of experience has taught me you just don't get anywhere telling an editor he's wrong. Next time, be very apologetic and explain that of course this must have happened while he wasn't around.
Sir: My newspaper wrote of how some children "while away their hours." I see "while" used this way often. What do you think of it?
- Jim M.
Answer: I think it's right, don't you? It means to spend time pleasantly, and if you have the leisure for it, time-whiling is great sport. Occasionally you'll see or hear someone speak of the way people "wile away" the hours, and that's generally considered to be a mistake for "while away."
Neatest trick of the week, reported by K.H.:
"A traveler being interviewed on television was asked her impression of Germany. `Having had no preconceptions of what the country might be like,' she replied, `I was pleasantly surprised.' Try that sometime."
Send questions, comments, and good and bad examples to Lydel Sims, Watch Your Language, 366 S. Highland, Apt. 410, Memphis, TN 38111. If you quote a book, please give author, title and page number. Sorry, but questions can be answered only through this column.