Loaded: Furniture's much more than you think

Tag : Furniture Hardware

By Richard Creed | retired Journal Editor
Published: June 29, 2008
Updated: 06/27/2008 07:25 pm
From Randell Jones of Winston-Salem, an author of history-themebooks: "You recently wrote about regional pronunciations offurniture. That brought to mind my recent encounter with an unusualuse of that word.
"A dictionary definition applies, of course, but our modern use ofthis word has made its usage in another era seem rather odd, Ithink.
"Writing about his experiences during the American Revolution, Maj.William R. Davie wrote, ‘They took sixty valuable horses withtheir furniture and one hundred muskets and rifles….' Herefers, I'm sure, to the saddles, bridles, etc.
"I wonder if any readers are familiar with this usage of furniturefrom some time more recent than 230 years ago."
I had not heard or seen this or any similar use of furniture untilnow, but several dictionaries I consulted say that one archaicmeaning is the necessary equipment for a saddle horse.
Besides the most familiar meaning, the furnishings in a house,furniture can mean any equipment that is necessary, desirable oruseful for any number of things.
Some examples: all movable equipment of a ship, such as rigging,sails, spars and anchors; the equipment needed by a falconer;hardware needed to enable a latch or a lock to work; shelves andposts used in loading a kiln; in the U.S. military, the mountingsof a rifle; and equipment for streets and other public areas, suchas lighting standards, signs, benches and litter bins.
Among the most recurrent reader comments that have appeared in this space havebeen those about the frequent use of nominative case pronouns -- I,she, he and the like -- when grammar clearly requires the objectivecase -- me, her, him and the like.
The result, as I wrote in a previous column, is such expressions as"Tom invited she and I to the party" (incorrect) instead of "Tominvited her and me to the party" (correct).
Sometimes the reverse is true. People often use the objective whenthe nominative is called for, causing such errors as this: "Tom andme went to a movie."
That sort of error never occurs when the speaker or writer mentionsonly one instead of two or more people. No one would think ofsaying "Tom invited she to the party" or "invited I to the party."Still, many people say "invited she and I to the party."
Similarly, no one would say "Me went to a movie."
Anneeliza K. Thorne of Winston-Salem recognized this phenomenon when she recentlywrote:
"I have a question about the use of me and I. ‘Rich gave theapples to Joan and me.' ‘Joan and I are going to thetheater.'"
Those sentences are grammatical, but Thorne's point is that manypeople would say instead "to Joan and I" in the first sentence and"Joan and me" in the second. Both would be ungrammatical. Shewrote:
"I was taught that however many people precede I or me the useremains the same as if there were no one preceding: ‘Richgave the apples to me' or ‘I am going to the theater.' Hasthis changed? Maria Shriver, who is well educated, while speakingat the memorial service for Tim Russert, used I when she shouldhave used ‘me.'"
Shriver is far from alone in making that kind of error. It hasbecome so common that it seems to be the standard among anincreasing number of people.
From Theodore R. Buddine of Glendale Springs: "Headline on the Pets column on page E7 ofthe Sunday (June 22) Winston-Salem Journal : ‘Vet's recommended vaccinations ignore the most recentprocotols.'
"Next time, should your headline writer consult a procotologistfirst?"
The intended word, which the article used, was protocols . In the headline, it was done in by a typographical error.
From Jack James of Vilas: "I just tripped across your column in today's Sunday Winston-Salem Journal (June 22).
"I was amused when I read the closing note from a reader unhappywith your move from Saturday to Sunday. I wrote you or the Journal almost the same note some years back when you moved from Sunday toSaturday.
"I receive only the Sunday paper. Glad to have you back on Sunday."
■ Richard Creed is a retired Journal editor. He can be reached at richcreed@triad.rr.com