[44]
If it
be defined merely as the practice of the majority,
we shall have a very dangerous rule affecting not
merely style but life as well, a far more serious
matter. For where is so much good to be found that
what is right should please the majority? The
practices of depilation, of dressing the hair in
tiers, or of drinking to excess at the baths, although
they may have thrust their way into society, cannot claim the support of usage, since there is something to blame in all of them (although we have
usage on our side when we bathe or have our
hair cut or take our meals together). So too in
speech we must not accept as a rule of language
words and phrases that have become a vicious habit
with a number of persons.
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