Careful Words

ask (n.)

ask (v.)

ask (adj.)

  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

New Testament: Matthew vii. 7.

And what its worth, ask death-beds; they can tell.

Edward Young (1684-1765): Night thoughts. Night ii. Line 51.

  Ask me no questions, and I 'll tell you no fibs.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): She Stoops to Conquer. Act iii.

Shall I ask the brave soldier who fights by my side

In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree?

Thomas Moore (1779-1852): Come, send round the Wine.

Ask where's the North? At York 't is on the Tweed;

In Scotland at the Orcades; and there,

At Greenland, Zembla, or the Lord knows where.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Essay on Man. Epistle ii. Line 222.