Grammar Isles

From the style guide to The Economist:

Some common solecisms

Acronym: this is a word, like radar or NATO, not a set of initials, like the BBC or the IMF. Aetiology is the science of causation, or an inquiry into something's origins. Etiolate is to make or become pale for lack of light. Aggression is an unattractive quality, so do not call a keen salesman an aggressive one (unless his foot is in the door or beyond). Agony column: when Sherlock Holmes perused this, it was a personal column, not letters to an agony aunt. Agree: things are agreed on, to or about, not just agreed. Aggravate means make worse, not irritate or annoy. Alibi: an alibi is the proven fact of being elsewhere, not a false explanation. Alternate, as an adjective, means every other. Alternative: strictly, this is one of two, not one of three, four, five or more (which may be options). Among and between. Some sticklers insist that, where division is involved, among should be used where three or more are concerned, between where only two are concerned. (So The plum jobs were shared among the Socialists, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats, while the president and the vice-president divided the cash between themselves.) This distinction is unnecessary. But take care with between. To fall between two stools, however painful, is grammatically acceptable; to fall between the cracks is to challenge the laws of physics. Anarchy means the complete absence of law or government. It may be harmonious or chaotic. Anticipate does not mean expect. Jack and Jill expected to marry; if they anticipated marriage, only Jill might find herself expectant. Apostasy and heresy. If you abandon your religion, you commit apostasy. If that religion is the prevailing one in your community, and your beliefs are contrary to its orthodoxy you commit heresy. Appeal is intransitive nowadays (except in America), so appeal against decisions. Appraise means set a price on. Apprise means inform. Assassinate is, properly, the term used not just for any old killing, but for the murder of a prominent person, usually for a political purpose. Autarchy means absolute sovereignty. Autarky means self-sufficiency. Beg the question means neither raise the question, invite the question nor evade the answer. To beg the question is to adopt an argument whose conclusion depends upon assuming the truth of the very conclusion the argument is designed to produce. All governments should promote free trade because otherwise protectionism will increase. This begs the question. Bellwether. This is the leading sheep of a flock, on whose neck a bell is hung. It is nothing to do with climate, prevailing winds or the like. Between: see Among and between. Blooded means pedigreed or initiated. Bloodied means wounded. Bon vivant, not bon viveur. Both...and: a preposition placed after both should be repeated after and. Thus, both to right and to left; but to both right and left is all right. Brokerage is what a stockbroking firm does, not what it is. Canute's exercise on the seashore was designed to persuade his courtiers of what he knew to be true but they doubted, ie, that he was not omnipotent. Don't imply he was surprised to get his feet wet. Cartel. A cartel is a group that restricts supply in order to drive up prices. Do not use it to describe any old syndicate or association of producers—especially of drugs. Cassandra's predictions were correct but not believed. Catalyst: this is something that speeds up a chemical reaction while itself remaining unchanged. Do not confuse it with one of the agents. Centred on, not around or in. Charge: if you charge intransitively, do so as a bull, cavalry officer or somesuch, not as an accuser (so avoid The standard of writing was abysmal, he charged). Circumstances stand around a thing, so it is in, not under, them. Coiffed, not coiffured Collapse is not transitive. You may collapse, but you may not collapse something. Compare: A is compared with B when you draw attention to the difference. A is compared to B only when you want to stress their similarity. ( “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”) Compound does not mean make worse. It may mean combine or, intransitively, it may mean to agree or come to terms. To compound a felony means to agree for a consideration not to prosecute. Comprise means is composed of. The Democratic coalition comprises women, workers, blacks and Jews. Women make up (not comprise) three-fifths of the Democratic coalition. Alternatively, Three-fifths of the Democratic coalition is composed of women. Confectionary: a sweet. Confectionery: sweets in general. Contemporary: see Current. Continuous describes something uninterrupted. Continual admits of a break. If your neighbours play loud music every night, it is a continual nuisance; it is not a continuous one unless the music is never turned off. Contract: see Subcontract. Convince. Don't convince people to do something. In that context the word you want is persuade. The prime minister was persuaded to call a June election; he was convinced of the wisdom of doing so only after he had won. Crescendo. This is not an acme, apogee, peak, summit or zenith but a passage of increasing loudness. You cannot therefore build to a crescendo. Crisis. This is a decisive event or turning-point. Many of the economic and political troubles wrongly described as crises are really persistent difficulties, sagas or affairs. Critique is a noun. If you want a verb, try criticise. Current and contemporary mean at that time, not necessarily at this time. So a series of current prices from 1960 to 1970 will not be in today's prices, just as contemporary art in 1800 was not modern art. Contemporary history is a contradiction in terms. Cusp. This is a pointed end or a horn of, eg, the moon, or the point at which two brances of a curve meet. So it is odd to write, say, “Japan is on the cusp of a recovery,” unless you think that recovery is about to end. Deal. Transitively, this means distribute: “He was dealt two aces, two kings and a six.” Intransitively, deal means engage in business. Do not deal horses, weapons, drugs, etc; deal in them. Decimate means to destroy a proportion (originally a tenth) of a group of people or things, not to destroy them all or nearly all. Deliver is transitive. So if someone is to deliver, he must deliver letters, babies or the goods—whether groceries or what he promised. Demographics: no, the word is demography. Different from, not to or than. Dilemma. This is not just any old awkwardness, it is one with horns, being, properly, a form of argument (the horned syllogism) in which you find yourself committed to accept one of two propositions each of which contradicts your original contention. Thus a dilemma offers the choice between two alternatives, each with equally nasty consequences. Discreet means circumspect or prudent; discrete means separate or distinct. Remember that “Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are.” (Oscar Wilde) Disinterested means impartial; uninterested means bored. ( “Disinterested curiosity is the lifeblood of civilisation.”G.M. Trevelyan) Due to: when used to mean caused by, it must follow a noun, as in The cancellation, due to rain, of... Do not write It was cancelled due to rain. If you mean because of and for some reason are reluctant to say it, you probably want owing to. It was cancelled owing to rain is all right. Earnings: do not write earnings when you mean profits (try to say if they are operating, gross, pre-tax or net). Effectively means with effect; if you mean in effect, say it.The matter was effectively dealt with on Friday means it was done well on Friday. The matter was, in effect, dealt with on Friday means it was more or less attended to on Friday. Effectively leaderless would do as a description of the demonstrators in East Germany in 1989 but not those in Tiananmen Square. The devaluation of the Slovak currency in 1993, described by some as an effective 8%, turned out to be a rather ineffective 8%. Either...or. See None. Enormity means a crime, sin or monstrous wickedness. It does not mean immensity. Epicentre means that point on the earth's surface above the centre of an earthquake. To say that Mr Putin was at the epicentre of the dispute suggests that the argument took place underground. Ex- (and former): be careful. A Communist ex-member has lost his seat; an ex-Communist member has lost his party. Execute means put to death by law. Do not use it as a synonym for murder. An extra-judicial execution is a contradiction in terms. Factoid: something that sounds like a fact, is thought by many to be a fact (perhaps because it is repeated so often), but is not in fact a fact. Fellow: often unnecessary, especially before countrymen (“Friends, Romans, fellow-countrymen”?). Fewer (not less) than seven speeches, fewer than seven samurai. Use fewer, not less, with numbers of individual items or people. Less than £200, less than 700 tonnes of oil, less than a third, because these are measured quantities or proportions, not individual items. Fief, not fiefdom. Finally: do not use finally when you mean at last. Richard Burton finally marries Liz Taylor would have been all right second time round but not first. Firm. Accountants', consultants', lawyers' and other partnerships are firms, not companies. Huge enterprises, like GE, GM, Ford, Microsoft and so on, should, by contrast, normally, be called companies, though such outfits can sometimes be called firms for variety. Flaunt means display; flout means disdain. If you flout this distinction, you will flaunt your ignorance. Forgo means do without; it forgoes the e. Forego means go before. A foregone conclusion is one that is predetermined; a forgone conclusion is non-existent. Former: see Ex-. Frankenstein was not a monster, but its creator. Free is an adjective or an adverb, so you cannot have or do anything for free. Either you have it free or you have it for nothing. Fund is a technical term, meaning to convert floating debt into more or less permanent debt at fixed interest. Do not use it if you mean to finance or to pay for. Garner means store, not gather. Gender is a word to be applied to grammar, not people. If someone is female, that is her sex, not her gender. (The gender of Mädchen, the German word for girl, is neuter, as is Weib, a wife or woman.) Generation: take care. You can be a second-generation Frenchman, but if you are a second-generation immigrant that means you have left the country your parents came to. Get: an adaptable verb, but it has its limits. A man does not get sacked or promoted, he is sacked or promoted. Good in parts is what the curate said about an egg that was wholly bad. He was trying to be polite. Gourmet means epicure; gourmand means greedy-guts. Halve is a transitive verb, so deficits can double but not halve. They must be halved or fall by half. Haver means to talk nonsense, not dither, swither or waver. Healthy: if you think something is desirable or good, say so. Do not call it healthy. Heresy: see Apostasy. Hoards: few secreted treasures (hoards) are multitudes on the move (hordes). Hobson's choice is not the lesser of two evils; it is no choice at all. Homogeneous means of the same kind or nature. Homogenous means similar because of common descent. Homosexual: since this word comes from the Greek word homos (same), not the Latin word homo (man), it applies as much to women as to men. It is therefore as daft to write homosexuals and lesbians as to write people and women. Hopefully: by all means begin an article hopefully, but never write Hopefully, it will be finished by Wednesday. Try With luck, if all goes well, it is hoped that... Hypothermia is what kills old folk in winter. If you say it is hyperthermia, that means they have been carried off by heat stroke. Ilk means same, so of that ilk means of the place of the same name as the family, not of that kind. Best avoided. Immolate means to sacrifice, not to burn. Inchoate means not fully developed or at an early stage, not incoherent or chaotic. Investigations of, not into. Key: keys may be major or minor, but not low. Few of the decisions, people, industries described as key are truly indispensable, and fewer still open locks. Lag. If you lag transitively, you lag a pipe or a loft. Anything failing to keep up with a front-runner, rate of growth, fourth-quarter profit or whatever is lagging behind it. Like governs nouns and pronouns, not verbs and clauses. So as in America not like in America. But authorities like Fowler and Gowers is a perfectly acceptable alternative to authorities such as Fowler and Gowers. Masterful means imperious. Masterly means skilled. May and might are not always interchangeable, and you may want may more often than you think. If in doubt, try may first. You need might in the past tense. I may go to Leeds later becomes, in the past, I might have gone to Leeds later. And in indirect past speech it becomes I said I might go to Leeds later. Conditional sentences using the subjunctive also need might. Thus If I were to go to Leeds, I might have to stand all the way. This could be rephrased If I go to Leeds, I may have to stand all the way. Conditional sentences stating something contrary to fact, however, need might: If pigs had wings, birds might raise their eyebrows. Do not write George Bush might believe in education, but he thinks the people of Greece are Grecians. It should be George Bush may believe in education, but he thinks the people of Greece are Grecians. Only if you are putting forward a hypothesis that may or may not be true are may and might interchangeable. Thus If George Bush studies hard, he may (or might) learn the difference between Greek and Grecian. Media: prefer press and television or, if the context allows it, just press. If you have to use the media, remember it is plural. Mete: you may mete out punishment, but if it is to fit the crime it is meet. Mitigates mollifies; militates does the opposite. Monopoly. A monopolist is the sole seller; a sole buyer is a monopsonist. Neither...nor. See None. None usually takes a singular verb. So does neither (or either) A nor (or) B, unless B is plural, as in Neither the Dutchman nor the Danes have done it, where the verb agrees with the element closest to it. Similarly, ••“Come live with me and be my love, ••And we will all the pleasures prove ••That hills and valleys, dales and fields, ••Or woods or steepy mountain yields.” (Christopher Marlowe) Nor means and not, so should not be preceded by and. Only. Put only as close as you can to the words it qualifies. Thus, These animals mate only in June. To say They only mate in June implies that in June they do nothing else. Overwhelm means submerge utterly, crush, bring to sudden ruin. Majority votes, for example, seldom do any of these things. As for the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, although 90% of the population, they turned out to be an overwhelmed majority, not an overwhelming one, until NATO stepped in. Oxymoron: an oxymoron is not an unintentional contradiction in terms but a figure of speech in which contradictory terms are deliberately combined, as in bitter-sweet, cruel kindness, sweet sorrow, etc. Per caput is the Latin for per head. Per capita is the Latin for by heads; it is a term used by lawyers when distributing an inheritance among individuals, rather than among families (per stirpes). Unless the context demands this technical expression, never use either per capita or per caput but per person. Per cent is not the same as a percentage point. Nothing can fall, or be devalued, by more than 100%. If something trebles, it increases by 200%. If a growth rate increases from 4% to 6%, the rate is two percentage points or 50% faster, not 2%. Percolate means to pass through, not up or down. Populace. This is a term for the common people, not a synonym for the population. Positive means definitely laid down, beyond possibility of doubt, absolute, fully convinced or greater than zero. It does not mean good. It was a positive meeting probably means It was a good, or fruitful, meeting. Practicable means feasible. Practical means useful. Presently means soon, not at present. (“Presently Kep opened the door of the shed, and let out Jemima Puddle-Duck.” Beatrix Potter) Pressurise. This is what you want in an aircraft, but not in an argument or encounter where persuasion is being employed. The verb you want there is press (use pressure only as a noun). Prevaricate means evade the truth; procrastinate means delay. (“Procrastination—or punctuality, if you are Oscar Wilde—is the thief of time.”) Pristine means original or former; it does not mean clean. Propaganda (which is singular) means a systematic effort to spread doctrine or opinions. It is not a synonym for lies. Protagonist means the chief actor or combatant. If you are referring to several people, they cannot all be protagonists. Protest. By all means protest your innocence, or your intention to write good English, if you are making a declaration. But if you are making a complaint or objection, you must protest at or against it. Real. Is it really necessary? When used to mean after taking inflation into account, it is legitimate. In other contexts (Investors are showing real interest in the country, but Bolivians wonder if real prosperity will ever arrive) it is often better left out. Rebut means repel or meet in argument. Refute, which is stronger, means disprove. Neither should be used as a synonym for deny. (“Shakespeare never has six lines together without a fault. Perhaps you may find seven: but this does not refute my general assertion.” Samuel Johnson) Report on, not into. Reshuffle, resupply: shuffle and supply will do. Scotch: to scotch means to disable, not to destroy. (“We have scotched the snake, not killed it.”) The people may also be Scotch, Scots or Scottish; choose as you like. Scot-free means free from payment of a fine (or punishment), not free from Scotsmen. Second-biggest (third-oldest, fourth-wisest, fifth-commonest, etc): think before you write. Apart from New York, a Bramley is the second-biggest apple in the world. Other than home-making and parenting, prostitution is the third-oldest profession. After Tom, Dick and Harriet, Henry I was the fourth-wisest fool in Christendom. Besides justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude, the fifth-commonest virtue of the Goths was punctuality. None of these sentences should contain the ordinal (second- , third- , fourth- , fifth- , etc). Sensual means carnal or voluptuous. Sensuous means pertaining to aesthetic appreciation, without any implication of lasciviousness. Sequestered means secluded. Sequestrated means confiscated or made bankrupt. Simon Pure is the real person (or thing), and has nothing to do with Caesar's wife or driven snow. Soft is an adverb, as well as an adjective and a noun. Softly is also an adverb. You can speak softly and carry a big stick, but if you have a quiet voice you are soft—not softly—spoken. Soi-disant means self-styled, not so-called. Specific: a specific is a medicine, not a detail. Stationary: still. Stationery: writing paper and so on. Straight means direct or uncurved; strait means narrow or tight. The strait-laced tend to be straight-faced. Subcontract. If you engage someone to do something, you are contracting the job to him; only if he then asks someone else to do it is the job subcontracted. Systemic means relating to a system or body as a whole. Systematic means according to system, methodical or intentional. Target is a noun. If you are tempted to use it as a verb, try aim or direct. Targeted means provided with a shield. Testament is a will, testimony evidence. It is testimony to the poor teaching of English that journalists habitually write testament instead. Ticket, platform, manifesto. The ticket lists the names of the candidates for a particular party (so if you split your ticket you vote for, eg, a Republican for president and a Democrat for Congress). The platform is the statement of basic principles (planks) put forward by an American party, usually at its pre-election convention. It is thus akin to a British party's manifesto, which sets out its policies. Times: take care. Three times more than X means four times as much as X. To or and? To try and end the killing does not mean the same as to try to end the killing. Transpire means exhale, not happen, occur or turn out. Underprivileged. Since a privilege is a special favour or advantage, it is by definition not something to which everyone is entitled. So underprivileged, by implying the right to privileges for all, is not just ugly jargon but also nonsense. Unlike should not be followed by in. Like like, unlike governs nouns and pronouns, not verbs and clauses. Use and abuse: two words much used and abused. You take drugs, not use them (Does he use sugar?). And drug abuse is just drug taking, as is substance abuse, unless it is glue sniffing or bun throwing. Venerable means worthy of reverence. It is not a synonym for old. Verbal: every agreement, except the nod-and-wink variety, is verbal. If you mean one that was not written down, describe it as oral. Viable means capable of living. Do not apply it to things like railway lines. Economically viable means profitable. Warn is transitive, so you must either give warning or warn somebody. Which informs, that defines. This is the house that Jack built. But This house, which Jack built, is now falling down. Americans tend to be fussy about making a distinction between which and that. Good writers of British English are less fastidious. (“We have left undone those things which we ought to have done.”) While is best used temporally. Do not use it in place of although or whereas. Wrack is an old word meaning vengeance, punishment or wreckage. It can also be seaweed. It is not an instrument of torture or a receptacle for toast: that is rack. Hence racked with pain, by war drought, etc. Rack your brains—unless they be wracked.