LANGUAGE TIP OF THE
WEEK
(
Dictionaries disagree
on whether “historic” and “historical” have overlapping definitions.
But if you’re looking
for a clear distinction, they offer some good guidance.
“Historic,” they say,
means “significant or momentous.” Today’s
meeting was a historic event.
“Historical,” they
say, means primarily “pertaining to history.” The
museum has on display a number of historical documents.
American Heritage
lets you use “historical” to mean “historic,” but that’s not their preference.
(And, yes, some say
you can use “an” before either—an historic event—but I’m on record as preferring “a.”)
Previous Tip
Be careful when
writing “hearken.”
It’s a common mistake
to spell it “harken,” but most dictionaries prefer
the spelling “hearken.”
Previous Tip
Don’t worry if you
don’t always know what to capitalize (Listen here, Captain/captain) and what to
hyphenate (that water-skier has new water skis). If you need to get it right,
consult a copy of the
But usually, writers
aren’t expected to know every instance of capitalization and hyphenation.
Previous Tip
Be careful when choosing between “flounder”
and “founder.”
To flounder, according
to Webster’s New World College Dictionary,
means “to struggle awkwardly to move, as in deep mud or snow” or to “plunge
about in a stumbling manner.”
To founder means “to stumble, fall, or go lame;
to become stuck as in soft ground … to fill with water, as during a storm, and
sink: said of a ship or boat.”
That last definition is the one some style
guides say to focus on. They say it’s best to think of “founder” as meaning
just “to sink.”
Previous Tip
When trying to decide
between “was” and “were” in a sentence like, “I wish I was/were taller,” ask
yourself: Is this “contrary to fact”? Something that just
isn’t so?
If so, you’re in the
subjunctive mood, which means you should choose “were.”
A full explanation of
subjunctive mood is here.
But the most important thing to remember that real possibilities can take “was” — I was watching you — but if it’s
“contrary to fact,” change “was” to “were”
— If I were watching you, then I could stop
wondering what you’re doing.
Previous Tip
Many traditionalists
say uninterested means “not
interested,”
but disinterested means “impartial.”
Some experts say
that’s not valid. But, either way, it’s good to know!
Previous Tip
Can you use as to mean because? Yes!
Contrary to a myth
out there, both Webster’s New World
College Dictionary and the fourth edition of American Heritage Dictionary include because as a definition of as.
Previous Tip
A “concerted effort”
does not mean a determined or strenuous effort.
It means an effort by
multiple participants —working in concert.
Wrong: “I made a
concerted effort to get this right.”
Right: “We made a
concerted effort to complete the project.”
Previous Tip:
Experts disagree on
whether “to” is part of the infinitive.
Many style and
grammar books say it is, and distinguish between the
full infinitive —
“to go” — and the bare infinitive
“go.”
Regardless, all agree
that the so-call split infinitive is perfectly okay: “to boldly go.”
Previous Tip:
The comma’s power to
organize an unwieldy sentence is limited.
Frankly, John, the man, teacher, and friend, wanted, more
or less, to meet Larry, Curly, and Moe, but not, remarkably, Shemp.
Consider omitting any
unnecessary information or breaking it up into smaller sentences.
John was a teacher and a close friend. For years he had
wanted to meet Larry, Curly, and Moe. He
wasn’t as keen on meeting Shemp.
Previous Tip:
Some verbs are both “linking” (copular)
and non-linking.
Take act.
In, “He acts bad,” the verb is a linking verb because it talks about the
subject. That’s why the word that comes after is an adjective.
In, “He acts badly,”
the verb is not linking. Therefore the
adverb “badly” is the right choice to describe the action -- not the person
performing the action (most likely that guy from “Jumper”).
Previous Tip:
The expression is, “To
wait with bated breath.” Not “baited.”
Per Webster’s New World College Dictionary:
bate
1. to abate, lessen, lower, etc.
2. [Archaic] to deprive (of)
‘with bated breath’ -- with the breath held in because of fear, excitement, etc.
* Previous Tip *
If you’re going to
use a comma before Inc., also use one
after.
Style guides disagree
on whether commas are necessary to set off Inc. But the rules of commas say that, in this
situation, you can’t use just one.
OK: I work
for Globalglob Inc. as an accountant.
OK: I work for Globalglob, Inc., as an
accountant.
NOT
OK: I
work for Globalglob, Inc. as an accountant.
This is the job of
the comma often described as “setting off parenthetical information.”
Also, notice how the
last example sounds if read aloud with the comma as a pause. It sounds almost
like:
I work for Globalglob. … (deep breath) Inc. as an accountant.
(Of course, this only applies if the Inc.
appears midsentence. At the end of a sentence, the
period in Inc. is all the terminal
punctuation you need.)
The same principle
applies to years in dates!
RIGHT: I was there on Dec. 31, 1999, waiting for you.
WRONG: I was
there on Dec. 31, 1999 waiting for you.
* Previous Tip *
The expression is,
“We’ll just have to make do,” not “make due.”
* Previous Tip *
“Oneself” and “one’s
self” are both acceptable, according to Webster’s
New World College Dictionary.
But the one-word
version is preferred.
* Previous Tip *
Choose
“nerve-racking,” not “wracking.”
The reason: Style
guides distinguish between the two words by saying that “rack” means to torment
while “wrack” means to destroy completely. The well-known figure of speech
means to torment the nerves, not to wreck them completely, which is why the
accepted expression is: a nerve-racking test.
Could you say
“nerve-wracking” if you really wanted to? Yes, if that’s really what you mean.
But anyone who knows better will assume you’re making a mistake.
* Previous Tip *
Danglers are
dangerous.
“A
well-known figure in comedy, Rodney Dangerfield’s fans still enjoy Caddy Shack.” This sentence has a dangler
because, technically, it suggests that Rodney Dangerfield’s fans were a
well-known figure. Recast the sentence.
“Rodney Dangerfield
was a well-known comedy figure. His fans still enjoy Caddy Shack.”
Or
“A well-known comedy
figure, Rodney Dangerfield left behind many fans who
still enjoy Caddy Shack.”
The possibilities are
almost endless.
* Previous Tip *
To find the true
subject in a sentence like, “It is the loyal nature of dogs that make/makes
them good pets,”
try looking for
prepositional phrases. The job of a prepositional phrase is to modify something
else,
so that means it’s not
the subject. Start by looking for a preposition.
Of is a preposition. Dogs is the object of that
preposition. That means it’s not working in our
sentence as a subject. It’s
working as an object that’s part of a larger modifying phrase, “of dogs.”
What is that phrase
modifying? Nature.
Therefore, our true
subject is nature. And now that we
have nailed down our subject,
we know how to make our
verb agree. Nature is singular, so
the correct sentence is:
“It is the loyal
nature of dogs that makes them good
pets.
* Previous Tip *
Be careful when
choosing between titled and entitled.
AP says of entitled: “Use it to mean the right to
do or having something. Don’t use it to mean titled.”
Of course, the
Chicago Manual of Style and a lot of dictionaries disagree. So you can go
either way, just beware that some will cringe if they hear you say, “The book
is entitled …”
* Previous Tip *
Most dictionaries prefer ambience to ambiance, though both are okay.
* Previous Tip *
Don’t use forego when you mean forgo.
If you’re abstaining from something, overlooking it or
passing it up, you want
the one without the e: forgo.
The one with the e – forego – means “to precede.”
* Previous Tip *
On further and farther.
The style guides say there's a difference. Dictionaries allow some
overlap.
If you want to play it safe, the style guides' advice is:
Use farther for
physical distances, further for
figurative distances.
I live farther away than any of my co-workers. Yet I have pushed
our company further toward its goals than anyone else here.
* Previous Tip *
Use "In regard to"
instead of "In regards to."
The style guides all hate, hate, hate that "s."
* Previous Tip *
The relative pronoun
"that" is often optional.
"I told her
that I'd be there" and "I told her I'd be there" are both
perfectly grammatical choices. When you leave the "that" out, the Oxford English Grammar calls it the
"zero relative," because you're omitting the relative pronoun
"that." And, according to
Just remember to
keep "that" whenever it's needed to avoid confusion.
In, "The
president said the 'Pledge of Allegiance' should be recited by all school
children," the absence of a "that" makes it look like the
president, himself, was saying the pledge. But as long as you watch out for
these situations, "that" is usually a choice.
* Previous Tip *:
"Hello, Joe" takes a
comma.
Many style guides
say to use a comma with any "direct address" -- that is, calling
someone by his name or by any name, including stuff like "sir" and
"buddy." So, "Good Morning, ladies and gentlemen, and
welcome" takes a comma before the direct address, then, of course,
requires another comma before resuming the sentence.
* Previous Tip *:
It can be either "under
way" or "underway,"
depending on whose rules you want to
follow.
I just noticed an Atlantic article's mention that,
"The presidential campaign is under way. … It's been under way for
months." It reminded me of when I was city editor for the
Know that both are
okay, but since the dictionary says "underway" is a perfectly
acceptable adjective, I don't see any reason to cling to the two-word version.
* Previous Tip *
You can use "that"
in reference to people.
A lot of people
think "that" is for things, "the car that I was driving,"
and that you can only use "who" or "whom" for people,
"the man who called you." Not true. The major style guides all allow
"that" for people, "the man that called you," but say that "who" is often the better choice, anyway.
* Previous Tip *
Is it "supercede" or "supersede"?
Contrary to
popular belief (and to a wrong answer I once gave on a copy-editing test), the
one with the "s" is the correct one. Supersede. How can you remember
this? Well, the main definition comes from "to set," so just remember
the "s" in "set." The "s" in "supplant"
can do the job as well.
From Webster's: "1. to cause to be set
aside or dropped from use as inferior or obsolete and replaced by something
else. 2. to take place of in office, function, etc;
succeed. 3. to remove or cause to be removed so as to
make way for another; supplant."
* Previous Tip *
There's a piece of
writing advice out there that goes like this, "Avoid adverbs." But here's
my counter-advice: Don't start ditching
adverbs until you know what they are!
For example, can you spot the
adverbs in the sentence: "However, John didn't want to go there now
because he wasn't feeling well"?
However in this context is an adverb. There in this context is an adverb. Now is an adverb. Well,
in this context, is not an adverb. It's an adjective.
That adverb advice applies to
what are called "manner adverbs." And often it's great advice. But not always.
* Previous Tip *
"Voice mail" is probably a better choice than
"voicemail."
There's no one authority to tell you which is right and
which is wrong, but if you like to follow the example of leaders, consider
this:
* Webster's New
World College Dictionary spells it as two words, "voice mail."
* A New York Times archive search produces 81 hits for
"voicemail" but 45,343 for "voice mail."
* The Los Angeles Times seems about equally split in a
search of more recent articles.
* Previous Tip *
"Fortuitous" and "fortunate" are not
synonyms.
Think of "fortuitous" as meaning
"accidental." Think of "fortunate" as the correct choice
when you mean "lucky."
The Chicago Manual
of Style says, "Fortuitous
means 'by chance,' whether the fortune is good or bad. 'The
rotten tree could have fallen at any time; it was just fortuitous that the
victims drove by when they did.' Fortunate
means 'blessed by good fortune.' 'We were fortunate to win the raffle.'"
* Previous Tip *
Don't use "comprised of." The one you usually
want to use with "of" is "composed."
To "comprise" means "to be made up
of" or "to contain." So, The
Beatles comprise John, Paul and Ringo.
To "compose" means "to make up" and
is the one most commonly used in the passive - that is, with the
"of": John, Paul, Ringo and some other
guy compose the Beatles. Or, better yet, The Beatles are composed of
John, Paul, Ringo and some other guy.
* Previous Tip *
Which is right and which is wrong: "the media are
biased" or "the media is biased"?
Answer: Both and both.
As I wrote in next week's column (sorry to double up like
that but, you know, holiday and all), "media" is considered by some
to be in transition. Yes, it's originally a plural - the plural of
"medium." But most style guides now agree that it's become a sort of
mass noun - a singular entity of sorts. So they permit, "The media is
biased."
(Personally, after having worked in newsrooms for years,
I think media bias is mostly a bogeyman invented to instill paranoia in the
hearts of all Americans. But that rant doesn't belong here - at least not until
I can figure a way to work it into a spiel about verb conjugations.)
* Previous Tip *:
The period goes outside the parentheses when the
parenthetical stuff is part of a larger sentence:
Do it like
this (assuming you care).
The period goes inside the parentheses when the stuff
inside is a freestanding sentence.
Do it like this. (Or do it like this.)
* PREVIOUS TIP *
Experts say use "bring" to suggest a motion
toward the speaker or doer, and use "take" to describe a motion away
from the speaker or doer.
That's a no-brainer in most cases, but sometimes it's not
so obvious. "I can't bring you any chicken soup today because I have to
take some chicken soup to my sick aunt."
* Previous Tip *
According to Legal Times, not even Supreme Court justices
know whether to add an "s" when making a possessive out of a name
like Stevens or Thomas.
Thomas writes the possessive Kansas'.
Souter writes Kansas's. And Scalia has some internal rule book that causes him to
write, Ramos's in some cases but Stevens' in others.
The real rule? Well, there's no Supreme Court
of plurals. So there is no single rule.
Chicago and AP agree that with non-proper nouns, you
usually add the "s." "The class's pet
hamster." But they disagree on proper names. AP, which usually errs
on the side of fewer characters, says there's usually no "s."
"It's Stevens' ruling." Chicago requires the "s."
"It's Thomas's mistake."
There are lots of exceptions - too many to memorize. Just
know that you never have to feel bad for getting this one "wrong."
* Previous Tip *
"Enormity" is often used to talk about size,
which is perhaps why "Webster's New World College Dictionary" now has
a definition permitting this.
But the traditional definition tells us that
"enormity" isn't about big. It's about bad. "1. great wickedness [the enormity of a crime]; 2. a monstrous or outrageous act; very wicked crime; 3. enormous size or extent; vastness: in modern use, considered
a loose usage by some."
* * *
* Previous Tip *
Skip the
"of" in constructions like, "He's not too big a liar." The
all-too-common tendency to squeeze an "of" in there just happens to
be wrong, according to Garner's Modern
American Usage:
"The word 'of' often intrudes where it doesn't
idiomatically belong, as in 'not that big of a deal (read 'not that big a
deal'), 'not too smart of a student' (read 'not too smart a student'),
'somewhat of an abstract idea' (read 'somewhat an abstract idea')."
* Previous Tip *
A lot of experts
offer a "rule" for when to put a comma before a conjunction in a
sentence such as:
"I like beets,
but I don't like rutabagas."
The rule, they say,
is that a comma should be used when the conjunction comes between independent
clauses.
(Think of these as
groups that could stand on their own as sentences.)
So, yes, a comma in
"I like beets, but I don't like rutabagas."
But no comma in,
"I like beets but not rutabagas."
Like a lot of
"rules," this one's controversial and there's a lot of elbow room for
the writer to make the call.
But if you're playing
it safe, you might want to keep this in mind as a guideline.
* Previous Tip *:
If you say, "The
company expects between $2 and $3 million in
profits," your meaning
will be clear to
everyone. But if you write it that way, technically you're
saying that it will earn
between two dollars and three million dollars.
So unless you're engaged
in some Enron-style accounting, you'd be wise to follow
newspaper style and write
"million" after every numeral.
* Previous Tip *:
Your sense of taste
is your palate.
The board an artist
keeps paint on is a palette.
A wooden platform
used in a warehouse is a pallet.
It's not
"spitting image." It's "spit and image."
Or at least that's what it
was originally. It comes from the biblical idea that God created Adam from
spit. But so many people have been confused by this expression for so long,
calling it "spitting image," that a lot of dictionaries and style
guides allow it.
"Though
originally an error, it's so common today - some 50 times as common in print as
'spit and image - that most dictionaries fully countenance it without recording
'spit and image.'" - Garner's Modern American
Usage
* Previous Tip *:
Longtime, as a
modifier, is one word.
Long-term, as a
modifier, is hyphenated.
So, if you have a longtime companion,
you're in a long-term relationship. Of course, this only applies to these terms
in modifier form. As a noun, "long time" is two words - "I've
been seeing him for a long time" - and so is "long term" -
"Our strategy will prove beneficial in the long term."
Last week, I promised that
this week's tip would cover when to put punctuation inside of quotation marks.
Then I forgot that and wrote the above. Then I realized there's nothing wrong
with having two tips. So here goes.
In American English, periods
and commas always go inside of quotation marks: My favorite show is "The Simpsons." While watching "The Simpsons," always have your