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Grammar Tip of the Week
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Ken, Moderator
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Apr 20, 2015 11:58AM
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censor (n.); censer; sensor. "The first is one who suppresses; the second is either the vessel in which incense is burned or the person who carries that vessel; the third is something that detects."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
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cannot "should not appear as two words, except in the rare instances when the not is part of another construction (such as not only... but also) -- e.g. 'His is among very few voices that can not only get away with numbers like "You Are So Beautiful to Me" and a reggae/salsa remake of "Summer in the City," but actually make them moving.' Jamie Kastner, 'Joe Cocker Proves He Can Still Rock 'N' Roll,' Toronto Sun... Cannot is preferable to can't in formal writing."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
Newengland wrote: "Thurs., April 23cannot "should not appear as two words, except in the rare instances when the not is part of another construction (such as not only... but also) -- e.g. 'His is among very few vo..."
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This is a good one.
Yet, this makes me wonder why there is no "donot" or "couldnot" or "willnot" or "shallnot", etc?
It also helps avoid sentences with double negatives or ending in prepositions.
"I can not not go to the store." (Of course you can go to the store.) So, you have to say, "I can not go to the store not." or else use the "cannot" antonym.
Thanks
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infer vs. imply
"Properly used, infer means "to deduce from evidence; to reason from premises to a conclusion".... Writers frequently misuse infer when imply (= to hint at; suggest) would be the correct word....
"Remember: a speaker or writer implies something without putting it expressly. A listener or reader infers beyond what has been literally expressed. Or, as Theodore Bernstein put it, 'The implier is the pitcher; the inferrer is the catcher.' The Careful Writer 227 (1965).
"Don't be swayed by apologetic notes in some dictionaries that sanction the use of infer as a substitute for imply. Stylists agree that the important distinction between these words deserves to be maintained."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
The example I like is by A P Herbert:“If you see a man staggering along the road you may infer that he is drunk, without saying a word; but if you say ‘Had one too many?’ you do not infer, but imply, that he is drunk.”
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Ha! Yes, I'm oh-so-British. Or given that yesterday was St George's day, maybe I should say oh-so-English.
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-AGOG(UE)
"This suffix derives from the Greek word meaning "to lead; drive." Traditionalists prefer retaining the -ue -- hence demagogue (lit., 'a leader of people') and pedagogue (lit., 'a leader of children'). Among other advantages, these spellings prevent any possible confusion with the adjective and adverb agog (= intensely excited) (all agog over the Christmas presents).
"William Safire has predicted the demise of -ue forms: 'Note the lack of a u in...[what] most of us would until recently spell [read have spelled] as demagoguing. But we live in a non-U world; just as catalogue and dialogue have been dropping their ue endings, so too will demagogue soon enough be spelled demagog, with its gerund demagoging.' William Safire, 'On Language,' N.Y. Times... For now, the traditionalist will continue to use the -ue forms -- and their disappearance, if Safire is right, will be gradual enough that no one will get all agog over it."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
demagogue becomes demagoging? Oh, the humanity!!!
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delineate "(lit., 'to draw or sketch') means figuratively 'to represent in words; to describe.' It is sometimes misused for differentiate--e.g.:
'But considering the individuals involved, it's difficult to delineate [read differentiate] between fact and fiction.' Dave Luecking, 'Bowman, Keenan 2 -- Man Head of Bureau of Minds,' St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
Newengland wrote: "Hmn. We may need a primer on the difference between "British" and "English." Is the former all the isles of GB and the latter England alone?"In simplified terms, "yes".
The nation is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. So Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. But the Channel Islands and Isle of Man complicate matters.
If you prefer visuals:
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Newengland wrote: "Love visuals. And whenever I hear people say, "I'm a visual learner," I say, "Isn't everybody?""Now there is one to think about. Visual (usually a verb) could or might mean more than optical relay. Auditory and tactile also are sensory response collectors, but each are described with a different word. Could visual also infer how the gained information is assembled into packets of information that can be synthesized into objective form even though by ethereal construction so that it can be visual(ized) without the benefit of the two dimensional optical feed?
Sometimes as in poetry a visual perception that is surreal is created through description by language or illusion. In that case "visual" is an adjective.
Doug wrote: "Visual (usually a verb)..."Usually a verb?!
I visual, you visual, he/she visuals?
Surely "visual" is an adjective or a noun, and the verb form is "visualise" or "visualize"?
I misspoke. I meant when used as a verb. :) Sorry. Optically, we visualize.I was trying to rationalize how a vision (a thought) can be formed when no optically sensed vision (seeing) has occurred although we use that word.
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That's exactly my point, however silly. You can "see" something in your mind without eyes but you must "visualize" it optically with your eyes. Except, however, you can also make a synthetic "visual" concept with memory or other senses that are not optical. That's my story and I am sticking to it.
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feel bad vs. feel badly
"When someone is sick or unhappy, that person feels bad -- not badly. In this phrase, feel is a linking verb, which takes a predicate adjective instead of an adverb. Most professional writers know this, but a few get it wrong... Not to excuse these errors, but they may result from the misplaced fear that feel bad somehow suggests wickedness or personal evil.
"But the same error crops up even with adjectives other than bad. Here it's miserable: 'Every couple of years, the American Bar Association's monthly magazine publishes an article detailing how miserably [read miserable] many lawyers feel.' Judson Hand, 'Writer Judson Hand Signs Off from Column,' Asbury Park Press."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
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would have liked
"This phrase should invariably be followed by a present-tense infinitive -- hence would have liked to go, would have liked to read, not would have liked to have gone, would have liked to have read. The erroneous phrasings are very common... Nor is it correct to say would like to have done, because the sequence of events is then off."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
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segue "is a noun (meaning 'a seamless transition') and an intransitive verb (meaning 'to transition smoothly'). (It's also a transitive verb, but only in music.) The misspelling segway is particularly embarrassing."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
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comprise and compose
"Correct use of these words is simple, but increasingly rare. The parts compose the whole; the whole comprises the parts. The whole is composed of the parts; the parts are comprised in the whole. Comprise, the more troublesome word in this pair, means 'to contain; to consist of'...
"The phrase is comprised of is increasingly common but has always been considered poor usage. Replace it with some other, more accurate phrase--e.g.:
'The Rhode Island Wind Ensemble is comprised of [read comprises or has] 50 professional and amateur musicians, ranging in age from 15 to 82'...
'This group is comprised of [read comprises or is made up of] the 160,000 uninsured residents of Nassau County and an estimated equivalent number of under-insured.'...
"If the whole comprises the parts, the reverse can't be true--e.g.
'Of the 50 stocks that comprise [read make up] the index, 40 had gains, 8 had losses, and 2 were unchanged...'
'The 18 countries that comprise [read constitute or make up] APEC represent some of the fastest growing economies in the world.'...
Comprise for are
"This is an odd error based on a misunderstanding of the meaning of comprise. E.g. 'They comprise [read are] three of the top four names in the batting order of the 30 most influential sports people in B.C. for 1997..."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
Newengland wrote: "Fri., May 1 "Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit"comprise and compose
"Correct use of these words is simple, but increasingly rare. The parts compose the whole; the whole comprises the parts. The whole is co..."
There are 21 members.
Newengland wrote:The misspelling segway is particularly embarrassing."Methinks you besmirch the coolest of two-wheeled electric vehicles, not to mention their ultra-cool helmeted navigators.
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Methinks you besmirch the coolest of two-wheeled electric vehicles, not to mention their ulta-cool helmeted navigators."
Never seen one. Pic?
Doug wrote: "Newengland wrote: "Fri., May 1 "Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit"
comprise and compose
"Correct use of these words is simple, but increasingly rare. The parts compose the whole; the whole comprises the par..."
The bottom line: avoid using "comprise."
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whilst
"Though correct British English, [whilst] is virtually obsolete in American English and reeks of pretension in the work of a modern American writer--e.g. 'Whilst [read While] I was on vacation last week, it seems the Bethlehem Police Force got off the hook for killing a young man, John Hirko, in April.' Paul Carpenter...Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)... But the word predominates in British English--e.g. 'Whilst president of the Royal Statistical Society, he told statisticians that government is about asking questions.' Ray Thomas...
"Like its sibling while, it may be used for although or whereas. But again, this isn't good usage in American English."
Newengland wrote: Never seen one. Pic?http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/n...
Cooler than a Corvette........ no?
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I saw two of these one passenger electric motorized vehicles on the walking, hiking, jogging path yesterday.
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5 grand apiece...... ouch! (Britsh pounds no less).
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(And I don't mean on the right, either.)
Depends on whether it has right handgrip drive or left handgrip drive, I guess.
Ruth wrote: "I've seem tour guides leading a group of tourists, all using Segways. Seems a good idea to me."Yes, it's a good idea as long as no one SEES you.
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tu quoque (too KWOH-kwee) n. [Latin "you're another"]
In Rhetoric, "a retort in which one counter accuses the adversary of the same offense of which one is accused."
As little kids, we engaged in this rhetoric all the time: "You're an idiot!" "No, YOU are!" etc.
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
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arouse; rouse "In modern usage, arouse tends to be metaphorical (the speech aroused much interest), and rouse tends to be literal (the alarm clock roused everyone in the cabin)."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
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general semantics A field of study developed during the 20th century as a way to improve how people use language and other symbols, as well as their environment more generally... Its basic tenets are that (1) a word is not the thing it represents ("the map is not the territory"); (2) words cannot say everything about anything ("a map does not represent the entire territory"); and (3) words are self-reflexive in the sense that explaining them requires other words and others, and others ("a map would have to include a map of the map, which in turn would have to include a map of the map of the map, etc.")
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
Then I can tell the judge that the sign I ran meant, "sort of stop some place around here if you feel the meaning of it", and plead, "I was sort of in my lane when I side swiped another car doing in the neighborhood of twenty or fifty miles an hour where the speed limit sign suggested about 35 figuratively?
Newengland wrote: "Wed., May 6general semantics A field of study developed during the 20th century as a way to improve how people use language and other symbols, as well as their environment more generally... Its ..."
I remember reading a debate on this subject one time in which the jury was to decide on whether the accused was guilty of murder or not because the victim was only semantically dead.
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Perhaps if a word needs a field of study to determine it's abilities for usage, it is an unnecessary word, but some would say, that's my semantic opinion, if I am non-facetious. :)
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Thurs., May 7
consist of vs. consist in
"American writers often ignore the distinction. Consist of is used in reference to materials; it precedes the physical elements that compose a tangible thing. The well-worn example is that concrete consists of sand, gravel, cement, and water.
"Consist in (=to have as its essence) refers to abstract elements or qualities, or intangible things. Thus, a good moral characters consists in integrity, decency, fairness, and compassion. This construction is literary in tone and is not often seen today in general writing. Sad to say, it may now seem creaky to most readers...
"By traditional standards, consist of wrongly displaces consist in here: 'The beginning of wisdom consists of [read: consists in] recognizing that a balance needs to be struck.' Henry Kissinger, 'How to Achieve the New World Order,' Time, 14 March 1994, at 73, 73."
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
Newengland wrote: "Tues., April 28feel bad vs. feel badly
"When someone is sick or unhappy, that person feels bad -- not badly. In this phrase, feel is a linking verb, which takes a predicate adjective instead of ..."
Nice. Actually, the use of an adverb transforms the verb "to feel" from intransitive to transitive. That is why this sounds amusing - the lawyers would need to feel something in a miserable way for this to make sense.
My guess is that people sometimes make this kind of mistake because at least in theory, people are able to perform active actions, whereas objects cannot. This is probably the reason why I have never heard a native speaker say "this soup tastes well".
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Week of 18 May
good (adverb)
"You did good." "Yeah, I played good tonight. Practice is coming along real good."
These goods would once have been considered clearly nonstandard, even substandard. They're typical of dialect, the adverb being well -- not good. But in a few set phrases, the adverbial good cannot be replaced: among these are did it but good and a good many more.
Although adverbial uses appear frequently in print, they are almost always in reported speech...
While the adverbial good is rare in edited prose, it has become almost universal in sports, even when the speaker obviously knows the right word -- e.g: "St. Joe's coach Mark Simon, who had to laugh a little and shook his head as he reviews the Wolverines, [said]:'They shot the ball very good, they passed the ball inside very well." Keith McShea, "Falls Crushes St. Joe's with Third-Quarter Blitz," Buffalo News, 29 Jan., 2003.
Of course, real good (a common dialectal phrase) may also occur in standard English if good is a noun, as here: "I believe in what we do, especially in civil affairs. No one is in a better position to do real good," [Sgt. Anna] Grogan said.
source: Garner's Modern American Usage
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