Sometimes the words are actually akin to each other. _Continuous-
continual_ and _enormity-enormousness_ are examples. Sometimes
they merely look or sound much alike. _Mean-demean_ and _affect-
effect_ are examples. Sometimes the things they designate are more or
less related, so that the ideas behind the words rather than the words
themselves are responsible for the confusion. _Contagious-infectious_
and _knowledge-wisdom_ are examples. Let us distinguish between the
two members of each of the pairs named.
A thing is _continuous_ if it suffers no interruption whatever,
_continual_ if it is broken at regular intervals but as regularly
renewed. Thus "a continuous stretch of forest"; "the continual drip of
water from the eaves."
_Enormity_ pertains to the moral and sometimes the social,
_enormousness_ to the physical. Thus "the enormity of the crime,"
"the enormity of this social offense"; "the enormousness of prehistoric
animals."
_Demean_ is often used reproachfully because of its supposed relation
to _mean_. But it has nothing to do with _mean_. The word with
which to connect it is _demeanor_ (conduct). Thus "We observed how he
demeaned himself" implies no adverse criticism of either the man or his
deportment.
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