The Make-up of the English Vocabulary

W e should think twice before using the verb abide. Similarly w e may
hesitate before using the im personal w ord behove. Perhaps that is a
pity. It behoves m e to give you a grave w arning lays emphasis on the
duty and responsibility of the speaker, depersonalizing the rebuke. The
comparable impersonal verb befit remains in use, but is subtly different
from behove. W hat is befitting is appropriate. W hat is behoveful is
needed, called for. Like befit, the w ord beholden remains in use while
carrying a faintly archaic air. I am greatly beholden to you means I am
greatly obliged, or indebted, to you.
A few archaisms survive in com m on usage because they are found in
m em orable quotations. We still hear the expression hoist w ith his ow n
petard, deriving from Shakespeare. Hamlet speaks o f the irony o f seeing
an enginer Hoist w ith his ow n petar, that is struck by his ow n machine
w hich is meant to blow a hole in a wall w ith gunpow der. This quotation
has only recently been rendered disposable by the equally useful phrase
about scoring an ow n goal. Another interesting survival is the use o f
the w ord cudgel w hen w e say I m ust cudgel my brains, meaning
struggle to remember. A cudgel was a stick that could be used for beating
people. The noun has gone but the verb lingers on in this one expression.
There is possible cause for regret over the loss o f a w ord from general
parlance only w here it is not replaceable. Here w e may cite the gradual
disappearance o f the w ords w hence and w hither. W hence is the
equivalent o f from w here and w hither is the equivalent o f to w here.
We have replaced W hence have you com e? by W here have you come
from ? (the change adding a w ord). We have replaced W hither are you
going? firstly by W here are you going to? and then by W here are you
going?
The w ord w here was once used in various com pounds w hich have
mostly ceased to be used. They include w hereat, w hereby, w herefore,
w herefrom , w h ereo f, w hereto and w herew ithal. We still use the
w ords w hereas, w hereupon and w hereabouts. We use the w ord
w herew ithal in a sem i-ironic tone o f voice w hen we are short o f cash
( I havent got the w herew ithal). But otherwise it is chiefly in legal
docum ents that the words survive. The usefulness o f some o f these w ords
is made evident by the way lawyers fall back on them w hen seeking the
m axim um clarity o f definition. It is also made evident w hen we ask
ourselves w hat has replaced them. The means whereby I live has to
become The means by w hich I live.
W hat applies to the w ord w here also applies, in different degrees, to