Words and Phrases.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20508, 9 January 1935, Page 6

Words and Phrases.

"R 1 ? VAN WINKLE” writes: Can you tell me how long the men on warships, as distinct from the officers, have been known as ratings, and whether this is a good term to apply to any man? Rating is a word that has been used probably for a hundred years, if not more, for men of the lower deck. Their rating originally indicated the grade or position they occupied. It is certainly not a modern word. The omission of commas does not ordinarily make a sentence more difficult of comprehension, for the comma, after all, is used chiefly to indicate a rest in reading. A notable instance of ambiguity has come under “ Touchstone’s ” notice in an article by the famous Sir Wilfred Grenfell, of Labrador, who writes: “ When the sea began to freeze, we had to sail south, but my case-book showed 900 sufferers treated —and I could not but feel very inadequately treated.” Nobody who read this sentence intelligently would be conscious of a double meaning, but if it had read “ and, I could not but feel, very inadequately treated,” it would have been clearer. TOUCHSTONE.