s w i f t s  &  s l o w s: a quarterly of crisscrossings

preposition/s under consideration
David Harrison Horton & Hidesaburo Saito

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FOR AND AGAINST
It is hard to swim against the current.
Be careful not to run against people.
Who is that man leaning against the wall?
I was compelled to do so against my will.
It goes against my principles to take it.
Public opinion was against me, but …
You can not go against human nature.
The people rose against the government.
More sinned against than sinning.
The papers protested against the measure.
It was impossible to contend against such odds.
His hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against his.
“Well, my boys, said the old gentleman; “I will be the judge. Here is the prisoner
(pointing to the wordchuck), and you shall be the counsel, and plead the case for
and against his life and liberty.”
The umpire decided in our favor.
The umpire decided against the other party.
His behavior prejudiced me against him.
I have provided against any such danger.
Keep your sword bright against the day of …
One should guard against the habit of …
They bravely defended the castle against …
Though poor, they are proof against …
Japan has 4 battle-ships against Russia’s 8.
The snow glitters like silver against the …
An exporter draws against goods shipped.

INTO, OUT OF, WITHN, WITHOUT, INSIDE, OUTSIDE
The child fell into the water, and was …
Lead enters into the composition of pewter.
A ball enters into the flesh.
They sat talking far into the night.
We pitched into each other for an hour.
I shall not enter into the details.
I entered into the conversation with …
They heartily entered into my views.
One post after another fell into the hands of the Japanese.
Man is liable to fall into error.
Heat changes water into steam.
It is Tom Brown, grown into a young man nineteen years old.
You can not talk me into doing such a thing.
Out of the frying pan into the fire.
I manage to keep out of debt.
He manages to get into scrapes, and then out of them, with equal facility.
I am out of patience with him.
His attainments are nothing out of the way.
They were delighted out of measure.
Difficulties may arise out of the affair.
They say such things out of envy.
The Japanese make many things out of paper.
Nine people out of ten will say so.
I chose ten out of the number.
We are delivered out of a great …
He will talk you out of your money.
You cannot talk me out of my resolution.
There are many such within these walls.
We must keep within bounds.
I manage to live within my means.
He lives within an easy distance of the town.
The ship went down within sight of land.
I shall come back within a week.
There is no living with thee or without thee.
He went out without saying a word.
Once can not succeed without working hard.
Without water, nothing would grow.
He can not speak English without making mistakes.
I can do very well without him.
I tried to dissuade him, but without success.
In Manila, people wear their shirts without their trousers.
His avarice seems to be without limit.

AMIDST, AMONG(ST), BETWEEN (-TWIXT)

I stood among them, but not of them.
He was in the world, but not of it.
Fifty have passed, myself among the rest.
He divided his property between his two sons.
He distributed the booty among his followers.
Please settle the account between yourselves.
They have settled the matter among themselves.
A man must sometimes choose between death and dishonor.
The relation between teacher and pupil is not what it used to be.
My time is taken up between teaching and writing.

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David Harrison Horton is a Beijing-based writer, artist, editor and curator. He is author of the chapbooks Pete Hoffman Days (Pinball) and BeiHai (Nanjing Poetry). His poetry has recently appeared in Spittoon and Otoliths, among others.

Hidesaburo Saito (1866-1929) was a Japanese linguist who did extensive research on the English language. The sentences from these works are taken from the model sentences appearing in his 1310-page tome Saito’s Monograph on Prepositions (Tokyo, The S. E. G. Press, 1932).