so…to = so … as to : E 216 ‘so obliging occasionally to put it to a better use’. S S 189 ‘so barbarous to bely me’; 240 ‘so good to say … they should always be glad to see me’.
solicitude is common : P P 35 civil enquiries … amongst which she had the pleasure of distinguishing the much superior solicitude of Mr. Bingley’s. S S 104 her mother and sisters were spared much solicitude on her account (anxiety).
sort : E 23 very good sort of people.
speak : N A 168 every thing seemed to speak the awfulness of her situation. P P 161 She had heard nothing of Lady Catherine that spoke her awful. E 94 ‘Papa is only speaking his own regret’ ; 189 his … eyes … were speaking a very different conviction.
speak for : M P 180 ‘suppose you speak for tea’. E 128 the bell was rung, and the carriages spoken for.
spirits : used more generally than to-day ; the plural sometimes approximates to the modern sense of the singular : P P 286 ‘tolerably well … though her spirits are greatly shaken’ ; 293 ‘in such a hurry to be gone, and his spirits so greatly discomposed’. M P 69 ‘I was sure she would ride well.…Her figure is as neat as her brother’s.’ ‘Yes, and her spirits are as good, and she has the same energy of character.’
stand up (with), of dancing : P P 300, M P 118.
stander-by : M P 363.
start : E 135 her first idea on the subject, … the first start of its possibility ; 168 the highly probable circumstance … which she had so naturally started to herself. N A 221 took the first opportunity … to start forth her obligation of going away very soon.
stay : N A 102 ‘I would not stay for the servant’ ; 107 ‘you took the volume into the Hermitage-walk, and I was obliged to stay till you had finished it’. (= wait.)
stretch : P 183 ‘The horror and distress you were involved in—the stretch of mind, the wear of spirits !’
strike hands : S S 154 ‘let us strike hands upon the bargain’.
strong : M P 438 some strong indiscretion. P 55 strong and recent alarm ; 251 strong felicity. E 147 ‘fix his interest stronger’.
succeed to, of something for which one has had to wait : S S 175 succeeding to chairs (at an evening party) ; 220 the counter which seemed to promise the quickest succession.
superior : E 36 [Mrs. Weston] ‘She is not the superior young woman which Emma’s friend ought to be’ ; 104 [Isabella Knightley] ‘Jane Fairfax one knows to be so very accomplished and superior !’
talking : M P 47 a talking pretty young woman. E 156 the quiet neat old lady … and her more active, talking daughter. In P 166 the first edition reads : The high-spirited, joyous talking Louisa Musgrove, and the dejected, thinking, feeling, reading Captain Benwick.—Modern editions print joyous-talking, but joyous, talking seems more probable.
tattered : S S 98 ‘ruined, tattered cottages’
the is often used contrary to modern idiom : M P 94 ‘in the comparison’. E 35 quite the gentleman ; 458 [William Larkins] ‘could hardly ever get the speech of him’. M P 79 when she would give him the hearing. E 159 ‘wrote … to press their coming over directly, and they would give them the meeting in