Xem mẫu
- 446 type
slangy phrases like “reading-type mate- set up in type”) or the metallic blocks
rial” in lieu of type of reading material. producing them in traditional printing.
Type can serve as an adjective when it
2. TYPE and KIND; other meanings pertains to printing, as in type style and
Used strictly, type fits a clearly defined type faces, or when it is united with a
group (“Citrine is a type of quartz”) technical term, as in Type AB blood. As
while kind or sort has more general ap- a verb, type (present participle typing)
plication. (“That is the kind of weather I can mean to operate a typewriter or
like.” / “She is the sort of person who computer keyboard (“She types eighty
gets along with everyone.”) Strict users words a minute”) or to classify (“They
appear to be in the minority. typed him as a vagrant”).
The noun type can also denote printed See also KIND OF.
characters (“The manuscript has been
- U
ULTIMATUM. An ultimatum is not preclude its use. However, the officials’
just any demand. This noun, along with proposition carried no threat of forceful
the adjective ultimate, stems from the action and was not final. The next sen-
Medieval Latin ultimatus, meaning final. tence says, “But discussions that began
An ultimatum is the ultimate demand or last week produced a less severe solution
proposition or statement of terms pre- yesterday.” So no “ultimatum” was is-
sented by the government of one coun- sued, even stretching the word to the
try to the government of another bursting point.
country before launching war or using The South Korean government issued
force. The threat of hostilities is ex- a statement asking the United States to
pressed or implied in the statement. Ulti- clarify news reports of official spying on
matum is too important a word to be the Korean president. A story about the
treated in the casual way it often is. statement starts out with a contradic-
“Iran issued an ultimatum to tion: “The State Department yesterday
Britain,” a newscaster announced on rejected another South Korean ultima-
television. Iran’s demand, that Britain tum, the second in two days.” Aside
ban a book, was backed by the threat of from the Koreans’ obvious reluctance to
severed relations but not hostilities. wage war on the United States, the fact
Therefore calling it an “ultimatum” is is that they made two successive de-
not a precise use of the word. At least mands, so the first cannot be truly
the demand had an element of finality. recorded as an “ultimatum.”
Not so in the next instance, reported in a A front-page headline: “Vatican Is-
newspaper article: sues an Ultimatum. . . . ” According to
the story, the Vatican’s envoy to Panama
“delivered an ultimatum” to General
When city officials discovered that
Manual Noriega, the Panamanian
[an unauthorized street clock] last
leader, during the U.S. invasion: His
month, they issued an ultimatum to
sanctuary at the embassy would expire.
the restaurant’s owners. If you want
What the envoy delivered was more like
permission to erect the clock . . . you
an eviction notice. The idea of the small-
must first remove it.
est state in the world threatening mili-
tary violence is ludicrous.
There “ultimatum” is evidently sup-
UNDESCRIBABLE. See
posed to be humorous, so its irrelevance INDE-
to international relations does not alone SCRIBABLE, UNDESCRIBABLE.
undescribable 447
- 448 unemployed, unemployment
UNEMPLOYED, UNEMPLOY- the word appeared twice in a news story
MENT. See JOBLESS. about a tribute to a baseball player:
[Jackie Robinson] lived a career so
UNEXPRESSIBLE. See Verbal un- compelling and unique its retelling
mentionables. once again riveted. . . . The obvious
presence of such people of color un-
UNINTERESTED. See DISINTER- derscored the unique relationship
ESTED and UNINTERESTED. baseball has had with minorities since
1947. . . .
UNIQUE. “It is absolutely the most Robinson’s career was unique—not “so”
unique place in the world,” a secretary unique, though so unusual, so extraordi-
of the interior said about the Grand nary, etc. would be correct. The second
Canyon. A scientist said about mam- sentence is grammatically sound, though
moths, “They were very unique ani- the aptness of “unique” may be debated.
mals.” An orchestral manager was Minorities are in other sports. Journal-
quoted as saying, “Ojai is something so ism need not ape the advertising indus-
unique among festivals.” try, which tries to persuade us that every
Unique (adjective), from the Latin product is “unique.” (Another error in
unicus, only or single, means being the the first sentence is the intransitive use of
only one of its kind or without an equal. “riveted.” Rivet is a transitive verb: “its
The Sun, as a star, is unique in the solar retelling riveted the audience.” See also
system but not in the universe. RACE and NATIONALITY, 3.)
To call something or someone “the Surely an educator should be expected
most unique” is as meaningless as calling to know the proper usage of words. A
it “the most only one.” Uniqueness can- high school supervisor in the Southeast
not vary in degree. So adverbial quali- told a television interviewer that not ev-
fiers like “most” / “very” / “so” / eryone was capable of teaching. “It takes
“rather” / “more” / “somewhat” cannot a very unique individual. . . . ” (One who
apply to unique. Some of them may ap- speaks properly?)
ply to weaker adjectives such as excep-
tional, extraordinary, outstanding, rare, UNLESS AND UNTIL. The phrase
remarkable, or unusual. A very rare bird “unless and until” befits a legal docu-
has a few specimens; only the final speci- ment. Separately, unless and until have
men will be unique. It is possible to qual- different meanings. Together, they are
ify unique with adverbs like truly, really, usually excessive in normal prose.
nearly, most nearly, or more nearly, The conjunction unless means if not,
which do not purport to change the de- or except when. The conjunction until
gree of unique. means up to the point that, or up to the
But the speakers quoted above are not time of. When combined in “unless and
in the word business. Those in the mass until,” they add up to an overblown
media should know better, should they phrase. Usually one word or the other,
not? depending on the context, can be
On television a newscaster said, “The scrapped with no loss of meaning. This
budget bill was rather unique,” and an sentence, from a book, illustrates the
announcer described “America’s most two words in combination:
unique travel adventures.” A magazine
Those laws [governing matter un-
said that “the most unique mail order
der very extreme conditions] are im-
items” were not the most expensive. And
- unthinkable 449
portant for understanding how the fiers and the ambiguous “which.” See
universe began, but they do not affect Modifiers, 4; THAT and WHICH. (An-
the future evolution of the universe, other mistake is a noun-verb disagree-
unless and until the universe recol- ment in number: It should be “buses
lapses to a high-density state. feature.” Flxible is a brand, not a mis-
take.)
Unless is enough. The universe will con-
tinue to evolve, if it does not recollapse. 2. Comparability
To use “until” alone might suggest that The prepositions unlike and like are
recollapsing is a sure thing. The addition opposite in meaning but alike grammati-
of “and until” is unnecessary and more cally. Whereas like likens one thing to
legalistic than scientific. another, unlike contrasts one thing with
Sometimes “or” replaces “and,” another. Either way, the things need to
yielding the phrase “unless or until.” be comparable to make complete sense.
The result is the same. In the use of unlike, we encounter the
A comparable phrase is “if and same problem of false comparison that
when.” If means in the event that. When was shown in the use of like.
means at the time that. Here too one This remark was made on a national
word or the other, depending on context, telecast: “Unlike thirty years ago, we
usually can stand alone. A variation of now have sunscreens to shield us from
the phrase is “when and if.” Such daily exposure.” A time in the past and
phrases can be left to lawyers. what we now have belong to different
See also Twins. categories. “Unlike what we had thirty
years ago . . .” is a correction.
UNLIKE. 1. Clarity. 2. Comparability. Unlike occasionally serves as an ad-
jective: “the unlike duckling.”
1. Clarity See also LIKE, 2.
Unlike can be clearer than
not . . . like: “Campbell is not a college UNMENTIONABLE. See Verbal
graduate, like his predecessor, Morgan.” unmentionables.
Was Morgan graduated from college or
not? If he was, a better way to begin is UNQUALIFIED. See DISQUALI-
“Unlike his predecessor. . . . ” But if he FIED and UNQUALIFIED.
was not, a better way is “Like his prede-
cessor. . . . ” See also LIKE, 1; NOT, 1E. “UNQUOTE.” See QUOTE and
Users of unlike must make it clear just QUOTATION.
what they are contrasting. The con-
trasted elements need to be isolated and UNSPEAKABLE. See Verbal unmen-
not obscured by modifiers. In this sen- tionables.
tence from a newsletter, nine modifying
words precede the noun “lift”: UNTHINKABLE. Two dictionaries
offer the identical opening definition of
Unlike other GGT buses, the new Flx-
unthinkable: “Not thinkable; inconceiv-
ible buses features an Americans with
able.” Such a definition is paradoxical.
Disabilities ACT (ADA) approved
Anything you can think is thinkable.
front door wheelchair lift which al-
Anything you can conceive is conceiv-
lows for a 45-seat bus capacity.
able. Just to mention something, albeit
The extent of the difference between the to condemn it as wrong or impossible, is
buses is blurred by the pile-up of modi- to think of it.
- 450 until
This discourse is to reject, not the “prices were upped”—is scorned by
word, but the definition and inappropri- some critics, one of whom calls it “jour-
ate use of the word. When all four pan- nalese.” At least one expression of that
elists in a television discussion agreed sort has become established: to up the
that U.S. withdrawal from Saudi Arabia ante, meaning to increase the stakes, par-
was “unthinkable” (a word suggested by ticularly in a poker game.
the moderator), they all thought of it. To up (intransitive) is also to rise or
The proposition might have been called get up, or to act unexpectedly or sud-
unacceptable, undesirable, unfeasible, or denly: “She upped and walloped him on
unreasonable (or a good idea, had pan- the jaw.”
elists been selected who did not all think
alike), but was it really “unthinkable”? 2. In phrases
The same two dictionaries offer an When added to a number of verbs, up
identical second definition: “Not to be (adverb) forms distinctive phrases, in
thought of or considered.” That one is which up does not bear its literal mean-
more tenable. There may be certain con- ing: higher or the opposite of down.
cepts that, though they can be thought, Make up, for instance, can mean to
should not be thought. In that sense, dic- put together, form, arrange, complete,
tators regard democracy as unthinkable; compensate for, become friendly again,
and, in promoting their product, or put on (cosmetics). We bring up (chil-
cigarette companies regard the danger to dren or topics), get up (in the morning),
health as unthinkable. Normally you can keep up (an activity or appearance), look
think what you want in our society. Our up (information in a reference book),
laws restrict only what you do; thought- and turn up (something lacking).
control is generally unacceptable. Up may intensify verbs, adding an ele-
It is verbal profligacy to use “unthink- ment of completeness or thoroughness.
able” just to express disagreement with a Treasure-hunters dig, hoping to dig up
proposition, unless it is horrible or evil riches. To dress is less formal than to
beyond contemplation. To use it to de- dress up. To tear a book damages it; to
scribe something that actually exists or tear up the book destroys it. Clean up
has already been done (“the administra- and tie up are somewhat intensified ver-
tion’s unthinkable actions in Latin sions of clean and tie in literal senses,
America”) is preposterous. and they have respectively the additional
See also Verbal unmentionables. meanings of make a lot of money (collo-
quial) and delay or immobilize.
UNTIL. See TILL and “’TIL”; UN- Nevertheless, up goes unnecessarily
LESS AND UNTIL; UP, 2 (end). with some other verbs, making no differ-
ence in their meanings. Two professors
UNUTTERABLE. See Verbal un- wrote that “some of the resources freed
mentionables. up by pruning military outlays should
permit Democrats to advance the ‘pock-
UP. 1. As a verb. 2. In phrases. 3. Prefix etbook issues’. . . . ” No one is likely to
and suffix. miss “up” if it is removed from a sen-
tence like that or phrases like these: “end
1. As a verb up” (the meeting), “light up” (a cigar),
As a verb, up is more or less colloquial “finish up” (the job), “head up” (a com-
and not for all occasions. mittee), “make up” (the beds), “match
Using it in the (transitive) sense of up” (cloths), “open up” (the gate), “pay
raise or increase—to “up prices” or up” (the money), “write up” (an article).
- use to and used to 451
The “up” in “hurry up” / “join up” / agree what to hyphenate, and several
“wait up” adds nothing to hurry, join, dictionaries show no pattern behind
wait. their choices. For instance, one book
Instead of telling someone just to lis- runs wind-up, shakeup, and a choice be-
ten, it is fashionable (at this writing) to tween make-up and makeup. Another
tack on the appendage “up.” On a radio spells them windup, shake-up, and
news network, the remark “Listen up, makeup.
Steven Spielberg” prefaced a broadcast A usable rule of thumb for words
of a computer-generated portrayal of a with up suffixes (suggested by Roy H.
dinosaur cry. Copperud) is to follow the root word
Up is the first word in sundry phrases. with a hyphen if it ends in a vowel.
Among useful ones are up against, See also UPCOMING; PICK UP and
meaning confronted with; up for, pre- PICKUP; ROUND UP and ROUNDUP;
sented for (election, trial, etc.); up to, oc- SET UP and SETUP.
cupied in, capable of, or equal to; and up
UPCOMING. Upcoming dates back
to date, current. (“These accounts are up
to date” or “These are the up-to-date ac- to the fourteenth century. For about 500
counts.”) The “up” is redundant in “up years it was solely a noun, meaning the
until” or “up till,” inasmuch as until or action of coming up; for instance, “From
till means up to a point or time. the hill, we watched their upcoming.”
See also CAUGHT and CAUGHT Then it began to be used also as an ad-
UP. jective, in a similar sense, e.g., “the up-
coming travelers.”
3. Prefix and suffix Its adjectival use as a synonym for an-
Up- is joined as a prefix in many ticipated, approaching, coming, or forth-
words. Some of them, accenting the up-, coming, as in “the upcoming election,”
are upbeat, upbraid, upgrade, upkeep, began still later. The Oxford English
upright, uprising, uproar, upshot, up- Dictionary can trace that “chiefly U.S.”
start, and upward. Others, such as up- application only as far back as 1959.
heaval, uphold, upholster, and uproot, In its newest sense, upcoming has not
accent the second syllable. Still others won general acceptance. Use it if you
give about equal stress to both syllables: have to, but never as a replacement for
upside (down), upstairs, upstream, and coming up, the way a telecast of enter-
uptown. The stress may vary, as in upset: tainment news misused it: “With the
the noun is UP-set, the verb up-SET; the new season upcoming, optimism is
adjective goes either way. Dictionaries high.” The flavor is German, not En-
disagree on the pronunciation of some glish. Change “upcoming” to coming up
other up- words. or just coming.
Up is hyphenated in the adjectives up- A predecessor of the original upcom-
and-coming, meaning advancing toward ing, by about three centuries, was up-
success; and up-and-down, meaning come, a rare verb meaning to come up.
fluctuating in direction or vertical. See also Backward writing, 3.
As a suffix, -up may or may not be
US and WE. See Pronouns, 10.
joined by a hyphen. Examples are the
nouns breakup, buildup, holdup, setup,
USE. See UTILIZE, UTILIZATION.
windup, close-up, make-up, and shake-
up (all accenting the first syllable). As
USE TO and USED TO. Each of
verbs, each of the root words would be
separate from up. Dictionaries do not the samples below displays a wrong
- 452 utilize, utilization
tense of the verb use. Past should be pre- “Silicon was utilized in the computer
sent and present should be past. revolution.” In the examples below
“ ‘What did your name used to be?’ (from a book and a newspaper), “uti-
this reporter couldn’t resist asking.” lize” is used loosely.
Change “used” to use: “ ‘What did your
name use to be?’ ” You should be able to boost your
“I use to like people for what I could usual weekly or monthly sales figures
get out of them.” Change “use” to used: from time to time by utilizing one of
“I used to like people. . . . ” the more popular promotional tech-
Used to, indicating a former state or a niques.
former activity, often is correct. But
when did goes with a verb, it takes over If the techniques are already in popular
the job of casting the verb’s action in the use, using will do in place of “utilizing.”
past. In that way, use is no different from
other verbs. We say, “When did she To avoid becoming a rape victim,
leave?” (not “left”) or “I did not sleep” there are several precautions to follow
(not “slept”). as well as a variety of defenses to uti-
The fact that used to and use to sound lize if assaulted.
so similar can account for the confusion.
In the negative, two constructions are Again, use is enough. Utilize would be
possible. One may say either “He did the right word in speaking, for instance,
not use to drink much” or He used not of “a variety of common objects to uti-
to drink much.” The first is more com- lize as defenses.” (See also Crimes, 1.)
mon, especially in speech. The meaning A related noun is utilization, which at
of use to may be expressed in other times is forced to serve as a pretentious
ways: “He did not drink much in the synonym for the noun use. In a dictio-
past” or “in past years” or “in those nary article, a linguist describes a mil-
days.” lion-word sample of American writing
Used to can mean accustomed to. “I containing 61,805 word forms.
am used to hard work.” / “We were used
to walking barefoot.” That sense em- As already suggested in our discussion
ploys only used, the past participle, and of the frequency of words of different
only in the passive. length, word utilization in actual use
varies enormously.
UTILIZE, UTILIZATION. Utilize,
often conscripted as a high-flown syn- The sentence would be improved by
onym for use (verb, transitive), has its changing “word utilization in” to their.
niche. It implies putting to practical use Another synonym for use is employ
something that has not been practical so (verb, transitive), which has its own nu-
far, or making something more produc- ance: to apply or devote to an activity.
tive or profitable by finding a new use “She employed her time and energy in
for it. helping the poor.” Of course employ
These are appropriate examples: also means to hire or to use the services
“Many companies would like to utilize of an employee.
the natural resources of the Antarctic.” /
- V
VASELINE. Vaseline is a brand of held. When a lawyer requests a “change
petroleum jelly, used for medicinal pur- of venue,” he wants the trial moved else-
poses. As a trademark, it should be capi- where.
talized. Lately it has been used as a highfa-
A book of language instruction for lutin synonym for a variety of simple
newcomers prints the commercial names words, which would generally be quite
of several products in lower case. In adequate and often be more specific. It
sample dialogue, a customer tells a phar- has been particularly common in show
macist, “I’ll need some vaseline, too.” business, but some in other fields too are
Another commercial product that the forcing it into service. This is from a
book incorrectly mentions in lower case book about marketing (emphasis
is Q-Tips. See also BAND-AID. added):
H. L. Mencken, who refused to capi-
Still, consider if this [a newsletter]
talize Vaseline and many other trade-
is a good venue for you. . . .
marks, wrote that it had entered
But particularly for consultants
German and French dictionaries and, as
whose strong suit is not the written
fan-shih-ling, was among four “Ameri-
word, it [use of a newsletter service] is
canisms” borrowed by the Chinese.
a plausible venue.
(The others were p’u-k’e, poker; tel-lu-
feng, telephone; and ch’ueh-ssu-teng, Before “venue” began circulating pre-
charleston, the dance.) He described its tentiously outside the legal community,
origin: Robert A. Chesebrough coined it the writer might have used medium (first
in 1870 or so, drawing from the German sentence) and course (second sentence).
wasser, water, and the Greek elaion, oil, A weekly newspaper chose to use
for he believed that the decomposition “screening venue” rather than movie
of water gave rise to petroleum. theater. A restaurant reviewer preferred
“lunch venue” to lunchroom. A radio
VENAL and VENIAL. See Confus- commercial for language instruction
ing pairs. used “venues” in place of schools. And a
notice posted at a legitimate theater an-
VENUE. Venue is a legal term. It is nounced “EVENTS AT OUR OTHER
the locality in which a crime is commit- VENUS” (sic).
ted or the cause for a civil suit occurs. It
VERBAL. 1. Oral and verbal. 2. Pop-
is also the political division from which
a jury is called and in which a trial is ular definition. 3. Technical meanings.
verbal 453
- 454 verbal unmentionables
1. Oral and verbal confusion; one can tell the meaning from
A lawyer did not write this sentence, the context.
which is looser than it may seem. Contrarily, The American Heritage
Dictionary (first edition) cautioned
A written, detailed contract has the against the application of verbal to terms
virtue of specifically spelling out terms such as agreement, promise, commit-
and mutual obligations, but it also ment, and understanding; it can mean
binds a lot tighter than a verbal agree- what is written, while oral cannot. Ver-
ment. bal (says the third edition) “may some-
times invite confusion,” as in this
The opposite of a written contract is an example: Does “modern technology for
oral contract; that is, one that is spoken verbal communication” refer to devices
rather than written. All contracts or like radio and telephone or those like
agreements are verbal, because they have telegraph and fax?
to do with words, whether or not the Webster’s second edition said, in the
words are written down. main text under verbal, that “by confu-
Verbal (adjective) pertains to words. It sion” it was taken to mean spoken. Web-
can have any of these senses: ster’s Third drops that qualification.
3. Technical meanings
A. In words or through the use of words.
In grammar, verbal has some technical
Songs communicate in both musical
meanings. Verbal (adjective) means per-
and verbal ways.
taining to a verb, or having the function
B. Emphasizing words as such, without
of a verb, or used to form verbs (such as
regard to the ideas or facts that they
the verbal suffix -ize). A verbal (noun) is
convey. This is purely verbal criticism,
a word or phrase formed from a verb
not substantive.
that is used as a noun or adjective.
C. Word for word. A verbal translation is
Gerunds and at times infinitives and par-
literal, rather than literary.
ticiples may be called verbals.
Verbal unmentionables. Unmen-
Verbal and oral both come from
Latin, in which verbum means word and tionables is a euphemism for underwear,
oris means mouth. little used now, except in an attempt to
Oral has other mouth-related mean- be humorous. It was once applied to
ings. An oral vaccine is one that is swal- trousers. We are assigning the designa-
lowed. Oral hygiene is health care for tion of verbal unmentionables to a cate-
the mouth. gory of paradoxical expressions or
The adverbs related to verbal and oral words. What distinguishes each is that it
are verbally and orally. seems to discourage any reference to the
very thing it is used to refer to. If taken
2. Popular definition literally, it might not be used at all.
“Verbal” often serves in popular Expressions include it (or that) goes
speech as an antonym for written. Gen- without saying, needless to say, not to
eral dictionaries offer that loose use mention, not to say, to say nothing of,
among their definitions. But why choose and words cannot describe. Single words
a fuzzy word when using a precise one is include inconceivable, indescribable, in-
so easy? effable, inexpressible, unimaginable, un-
The Random House Dictionary adds mentionable, unsayable, unspeakable,
a note defending the use of “verbal” to unthinkable, and unutterable.
mean spoken: The practice dates from This quirk in our language is far from
the sixteenth century; it rarely produces new. In Eureka, an essay on the universe,
- verbosity 455
published in 1848, Edgar Allan Poe ter mode.” To announce that an epi-
wrote that “a certain inexpressibly great demic was going away, the director of a
yet limited number of unimaginably yet federal health agency said, “There is a
not infinitely minute atoms” had radi- downslope on the curve of occurrence.”
ated from a primordial particle; that A Tennessee school board considering
traveling from the star 61 Cygni, even at curricula decided that “pre-assessment,
an “inconceivable rate, light occupies post-assessment, learning alternatives
more than ten years”; and that stars give and remediation will be an integral part
“birth and death to unspeakably numer- of instructional modules within the
ous and complex variations” of life. framework of program development.” A
(Emphases are added.) collegiate dean in Wisconsin said she had
To hint at or mention something worked at “conceptualizing new thrusts
while feigning an unwillingness to men- in programming.”
tion it is a rhetorical device known as An artist wrote this of her abstract
apophasis (a-POF-a-sis), adopted from paintings: “A strong frontal progressive
the Greek word for denial. A guest on image of light through the layers declares
the air who says “I won’t plug my the present, which is, life existing in the
restaurant, Joe’s Eatery” is using it. now.” (See Punctuation, 3D.) A plaque
See also INDESCRIBABLE, UNDE- in an art gallery said of another abstract
SCRIBABLE; OF COURSE, 3; NOT artist, “Through the use of layering, her
TO MENTION; TO SAY NOTHING paintings invoke a sense of continuum, a
OF; UNTHINKABLE. present tense portrayal that reveals a
connection to our past as well as prepar-
Verbosity. Using many words or too ing ground for the future.” (See EVOKE
many words, either in writing or in and INVOKE.)
speaking, is verbosity or wordiness. Usu- The beginning of a study by two pro-
ally it means using more words than are fessors in a scientific journal is quoted
necessary to communicate one’s mean- below. The study deals with pigeons.
ing. Verbosity (pronounced vur-BOS-ih- Had it dealt with people, it might have
tee) can in addition imply an instance of been complicated.
speech or writing that is obscure,
In general, research on concurrent
pompous, or tedious; or a tendency to-
choice has concentrated on steady-
ward such speech or writing.
state relations between the allocation
A noun with similar meaning is pro-
of behavior and independent variables
lixity (pronounced pro-LIX-ih-tee), the
that are associated with reinforcement
quality of or tendency toward such ex-
or aspects of responding. The devel-
cessive length or elaboration in speech or
opment of quantitative models de-
writing as to be tiresome.
scribing stable-state choice has been
The related adjectives are verbose
successful, and is exemplified by the
(vur-BOAS), wordy, and prolix (PRO-lix
generalized matching law (see Davi-
or pro-LIX).
son & McCarthy, 1988, for a review),
Nouns pertaining to unnecessary rep-
which provides a description of the re-
etition are pleonasm, redundancy, and
lation between behavior-output ratios
tautology. See Tautology.
and reinforcer-input ratios when two
The prose of government, academia,
variable-interval (VI) schedules are
art, science, business, and other fields
concurrently available.
can be verbose, jargonal, or just windy.
An official in southern California re- Now some bedtime reading for stock-
ported that an earthquake was mild by holders, excerpts from a corporation’s
saying, “We have not activated the disas- annual report:
- 456 verbs
The portion of sales hedged is based tences sparingly and with clear, consis-
on assessments of cost-benefit profiles tent structure; and using grammar, sen-
that consider natural offsetting expo- tence structure, and vocabulary
sures, revenue and exchange rate carefully.
volatilities and correlations, and the Verbosity should not be confused
cost of hedging instruments. . . . For with verbiage, an instance of (not a ten-
foreign currency denominated bor- dency toward) an overabundance of
rowing and investing transactions, words. Verbiage can also denote a style
cross-currency interest rate swap con- of using words, such as legal verbiage in
tracts are used, which, in addition to a court document.
exchanging cash flows derived from Among pertinent entries are Active
rates, exchange currencies at both in- voice and passive voice; ADVOCATE;
ception and termination of the con- “AT THIS POINT IN TIME”; A
tracts. . . . Because monetary assets WHILE and AWHILE; BOTH; BU-
and liabilities are marked to spot and COLIC; CAUGHT and CAUGHT UP;
recorded in earnings, forward con- CHARACTER; Clichés; CONSENSUS;
tracts designated as hedges of the DEMOLISH; Expletives; FRACTION;
monetary assets and liabilities are also FREE; IDYLLIC; IN ATTENDANCE;
marked to spot with the resulting IN TERMS OF; IS IS; KNOT; LIKE, 3;
gains and losses similarly recognized MEAN (adjective); OFF and “OFF OF”;
in earnings. ON, 2; PEOPLE as a suffix; PERSON;
PERSONAL; PRESENTLY; REVERT;
Popular language has deadwood too. SITUATION; SUPPORTIVE; THAT,
“In spite of the fact that” can often boil ALL THAT; Twins; UP, 2; WITH.
down to although; “was in attendance
Verbs. 1. Basic facts. 2. Creation from
at” to attended; “for the reason that” to
because; “of a friendly (or cheerful etc.) nouns. 3. Mistakes in number. 4. Prob-
character” to friendly (or cheerful etc.); lems in using auxiliaries. 5. Shortage of
“is in possession of” to has; and so on. objects.
Recent decades have brought many
roundabout expressions, such as “I am 1. Basic facts
supportive of him” instead of I support
him; “at this point in time” instead of A. What is a verb?
now; “in terms of” and “all that” used A verb is typically a word of action. It
unnecessarily; “for” free and listen tells what someone or something does.
“up”; and “person” and “people” as “The boy works.” / “This monkey
suffixes. howls.” / “Paris fell on that day.”
Even a short piece can be too long if it The person, creature, thing, or ab-
has unnecessary components. A long straction—that is, the subject—need not
work is not necessarily too long if it is act overtly. The subject may just exist in
tightly composed. That means being some way, or something may happen to
concise and to the point; preferring ac- the subject. The verb tells us that. “I am
tive verbs to passive verbs and fresh ex- the captain.” / “They live in Detroit.” /
pressions to clichés; avoiding “The city was besieged for two years.”
highfalutin, obscure, or superfluous
words and phrases; not being too ab- B. Verb phrase
stract; illustrating generalities with spe- A verb may consist of more than one
cific examples; favoring simple sentences word, usually termed a verb phrase.
over complicated ones; using long sen- “The dog has eaten my manuscript.” /
- verbs 457
“The kettle is whistling.” / “I will re- would be more idiomatic. Reverse has
turn.” In each example, has or is or will also a general intransitive sense: “The
serves as an auxiliary verb (also called a machine reversed.”)
helping verb or just an auxiliary). It com- Confusion between the two categories
bines with the main verb (the word that comes up in ADVOCATE; CLINCH;
expresses the main action), e.g., the par- COMMIT, COMMITTED; CULMI-
ticiple eaten or whistling or the infinitive NATE; LAY and LIE; LIVE, 2; OBSESS
return, in a verb phrase. (etc.).
Many (composite or phrasal) verbs
have adverbial tails: burn down, check D. Predicate
in, hold up, and so on. Another important term is the predi-
cate, the part of a sentence (or clause)
C. Transitive and intransitive verbs that tells about the subject. It consists of
Verbs fall into two main categories: the verb and any object, modifier, or
transitive and intransitive. complement it may have. In the sentence
“Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on
• A transitive verb needs an object to a pony,” everything after “Yankee Doo-
complete the meaning. An object is dle” is the predicate.
that which (or one who) receives the
action or is affected by it. In “He E. Objects, direct and indirect
makes money,” makes is the verb; An object like dams in “He built
money is its object. In “Jenny plays dams” is a direct object. It tells what or
the harp,” plays is the verb; the harp who receives the action. A transitive verb
is its object. may have an indirect object too. It tells
• An intransitive verb completes its to whom (or what) or for whom (or
meaning without needing an object. what) the action is done. In “I gave my
“Jesse ran.” / “I hope.” / “Stop!” love a cherry,” my love is the indirect ob-
(The subject, you, is implied.) ject; a cherry is the direct object.
A given verb may fit both categories F. Linking verb
or just one of them. In most general dic- A special type of intransitive verb is a
tionaries, an abbreviation like v.t. (verb, linking verb (also known as a copula or
transitive) or v.i. (verb, intransitive) indi- a copulative verb). It links the subject
cates whether or not a verb’s particular with a word that identifies or qualifies it:
meaning needs an object to complete it. “Tubby is a cat.” / “We became fat.” /
(Some verbs that are commonly tran- “She seems happy.” Is links Tubby with
sitive [requiring objects] are used intran- cat. Became links we with fat. Seems
sitively [without objects] in legal writing. links she with happy. Note that it is not
A book on law says, “The owners . . . “happily.” The linking verb is not modi-
defended on the ground that . . .”; and fied. (The subjective complement, the
later, “The Supreme Court affirmed.” word linked to the subject, may be a
That is, the owners defended themselves noun, adjective, or pronoun.) See also
against an accusation; and the Supreme BAD and BADLY; FEEL; GOOD and
Court affirmed the judgment of the WELL; Pronouns, 10D.
lower court. Another book says, “The
Court of Appeals, after a careful review G. More
of the record, reversed.” Inasmuch as the Hundreds of word entries deal with
latter book is for laymen, reversed the verbs, from ABIDE and ABIDE BY to
judgment, a transitive use of the verb, ZERO IN. So do some topic entries be-
- 458 verbs
sides this one, including Active voice and was that makeshift verb? An accordion
passive voice; Complement; Infinitive; may be either pulled out or squeezed in.
Mood; Sentence fragment; Subjunctive; During telecasts of the Olympic
Tense. games, commentators like to say, for in-
stance, “I think she has great chances
2. Creation from nouns here to medal”—instead of win a medal.
A group that declares its opposition to They may find such a verb useful, but its
pollution says in a brochure, “Our staff general use should be discouraged.
attorneys and scientists . . . watchdog Sounding just like meddle, it has an in-
government and corporate actions. . . . ” herent potential for misunderstanding.
The staff members may watch those ac- A reporter spoke of the need “to inert
tions, but watchdog is a noun. They can fuel tanks” in airplanes. Did insert mis-
no more “watchdog” actions than lead her? Or is a national telecast an oc-
singers can “songbird” melodies. casion for experimenting with verbs that
The Weather Service announced on have not entered the dictionaries?
the telephone, “Please selection the ex- A columnist wrote, “If he doesn’t in-
panded menu for weather information.” come average, Mr. Lucky’s federal in-
Selection is a noun. Just as we cannot come tax alone will be $456,400.”
“adoption” or “perception,” neither can We will probably not see much of that
we “selection.” We can adopt, perceive, purported verb again, fortunately, for in-
or select. come averaging has since been abol-
This is not to say that a verb should ished.
never come from a noun, but those sup-
posed verbs are longer than the regular 3. Mistakes in number
verbs, fill no need, and just repeat the It is an elementary rule that a singular
nouns. subject takes a singular verb; a plural
Some verbs formed from nouns have subject takes a plural verb. Sometimes
gained full acceptance. Among them are people find it tricky to interpret or just
diagnose from diagnosis; donate from slip up.
donation; edit from editor; and scavenge The essential noun of the subject con-
from scavenger. Not everyone is com- trols the number of the verb. Do not be
fortable with burgle from burglar, emote distracted by any intervening words.
from emotion, and enthuse from en- That noun and its associated auxiliary
thusiasm. Most accept orate, from ora- verb are emphasized in these correct ex-
tion, in a contemptuous sense. Surveil, amples: “The information about the ar-
from surveillance, is fairly new to dictio- rests was released yesterday.” / “This
naries. book of new poems has just been pub-
A verb like those is called a back- lished.” In the next example, also cor-
formation, a word that seems to be the rect, the essential noun is plural and it
parent of another word but really devel- follows a qualifying phrase that fools
oped from the latter. some writers: “A total of 1.3 million
Escalate, a back-formation from esca- votes were cast for both candidates.” See
lator, came out of the Vietnam era. TOTAL.
Meaning to heighten (the war), the verb A cooking columnist and a news re-
served a purpose. It has a shortcoming porter should have known better but
that limits its value, however. Escalators may have been distracted by irrelevant,
go down as well as up. singular nouns:
Similarly, when a television reporter
said, describing a traffic accident, “The I like to serve it [a French fish dish]
car was accordioned,” how promising with croutons on top that is flavored
- verbs 459
with olive oil and crushed black pep- duced by the expression along with, as
per. well as, in addition to, together with, or
just with does not affect the number of
The layoffs, which trimmed the the verb. By that view, the expression ei-
party’s paid staff to 35, was just the ther is not a part of the subject or is a
latest indication of tough times for subordinate part. (Grammarians give
California Democrats. varying explanations.) For instance,
“The farm, as well as the house, is up for
The “croutons . . . are flavored. . . . ” sale.” A few critics allow a plural verb if
The “layoffs . . . were just the latest. . . . ” the items are supposed to get equal em-
This was reported in a radio newscast: phasis or if a plural feeling prevails.
Nouns with exotic endings account
Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of for many errors. A common error is to
Vermont, is among senators who is mistake a plural, like media or phenom-
opposed to calling witnesses. ena, for a singular. See Plurals and singu-
lars, which lists many pertinent entries.
Yes, he “is among senators,” but those At times a group may be either singu-
senators “are opposed.” See ONE OF, 3. lar or plural, but a sentence should not
Usually a subject made up of two or treat it in both ways. See Collective
more nouns or pronouns (or both) that nouns.
are connected by and demands a plural The functions of many common
verb. “Frankie and Johnny were lovers.” words and phrases are often misunder-
An exception is made when the nouns or stood. They include each, every, either,
pronouns express just one idea or iden- neither, or, and nor and words and
tify just one person: “The hue and cry phrases with (-)one. These examples
over this issue surprises me.” / “Our (like all those following in this section)
vice-president and general manager is are correct: “Each of the athletes is vy-
here.” The two examples that follow call ing . . .” / “Neither he nor I was cho-
for no exception. sen.” / “Everyone in these parts knows
A university president wrote that col- everyone else.” / “He’s one of the few
lege applicants need, not prestigious in- people who live here.” See Number
stitutions, but “the firm knowledge that (grammatical) for a list of many perti-
their education and growth as human nent entries.
beings depends on themselves alone.” Placing the verb before the subject
Change “depends” to depend. Educa- does not change the need for agreement:
tion and growth are two ideas. “In this square stand the county’s first
Another president—of the United residence and the original courthouse.”
States this time—said, “Democracy and When a fraction is followed by a
freedom is what the concept of the new prepositional phrase, the latter deter-
order is about.” Make it “Democracy mines the number: “One-fourth of our
and freedom are. . . . ” They are two taxes go to support government waste.”
ideas. See DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM, / “Two-thirds of the county lies under
and INDEPENDENCE. water.”
Contractions do not excuse errors in
number. “Here’s the pitching probables 4. Problems in using auxiliaries
for the three-game series against the Pi- Sometimes it works: letting two auxil-
rates . . . ,” a sports item said. “Here’s,” iary verbs (helping verbs) help one main
a contraction of “Here is,” should be verb. “We can and must win,” for in-
Here are. See Contractions, 1. stance, avoids repeating “win.”
Traditionally a phrase or clause intro- But sometimes this locution turns into
- 460 vertebra and vertebrae
a trap: “The fair shows what our county serves food.” Buys, cooks, and serves
can and is accomplishing.” To say share one object: food.
“can . . . accomplishing” is wrong, even If another word or phrase follows the
with the two words in between. A simple object, the verbs may or may not share
correction presents the main verb twice, the object. Here the verbs do: “We in-
in the two forms needed: “. . . can ac- vited and welcomed Ben in.” Both in-
complish and is accomplishing.” vited and welcomed fit both Ben (the
A similar example: “This department object) and in.
may—and occasionally has—looked This faulty sentence is another story:
outside for its leadership.” To say “may “He insulted and threw the people out.”
. . . looked” is wrong. A correction fin- Only the second verb accepts the object
ishes one idea before turning to the sec- (the people), because only that verb ac-
ond: “. . . may look outside for its cepts the tail word (out). Threw and out
leadership, something it has occasionally go together; the people is locked up be-
chosen to do.” tween them, unavailable to insulted. The
Several decades ago there arose a false defect may be fixed by relocating the
doctrine that declared a verb phrase to noun and inserting a pronoun: “He in-
be an indivisible unit; no auxiliary verb sulted the people and threw them out.”
might be separated from a main verb; A defective sentence in a biography
any adverb must go outside that unit. presents four verbs that are supposed to
By that rule, instead of saying “The be transitive. Only the last has an object
facts have long been known” (correct), (them).
one had to say “The facts long have been
For the younger ones, Emma was
known” (questionable). And not “The
their mother-figure, who fed, dressed,
vehicle is slowly gaining speed” (correct)
bathed, and put them to bed.
but “The vehicle slowly is gaining
speed” (questionable). The second sen- The verb put goes with to bed. The ob-
tence of each pair is less idiomatic than ject, them, is locked up in between. It is
the first, though clear. unavailable to the other three verbs,
It may not be as clear if instead of say- which do not go with to bed. A correc-
ing “He appears to have partly recov- tion is to insert another and and another
ered” (correct), one says “He appears them: “who fed, dressed, and bathed
partly to have recovered” (incorrect). them and put them to bed.”
Which verb the adverb belongs to may
VERTEBRA and VERTEBRAE.
not be immediately apparent.
Even conservative grammarians have A vertebra is any one of the thirty-three
no sympathy for that doctrine, which bones of the spine. It is pronounced
seems to have developed from the fear of VUR-tuh-bruh.
splitting infinitives. It is not only permis- Vertebrae is plural, using a Latin
sible to split verb phrases but desirable form. It is pronounced either VUR-tuh-
when idiom and meaning so demand. bree or VUR-tuh-bray. An alternative
Splitting infinitives is not necessarily plural is vertebras, VUR-tuh-bruz.
wrong either. See Infinitive, 4. Said on a television news program:
See also WHO, 3, concerning the per- “She has a broken vertebrae” (-bray).
son of a verb following I who or you Correction: “She has a broken
who. vertebra,” designating one of the bones,
not more than one.
5. Shortage of objects The spine is known also as the back-
Multiple verbs in a sentence may have bone, spinal column, or vertebral col-
the same object: “She buys, cooks, and umn.
- viable 461
VERY. 1. Limitations. 2. Overuse. (the very thought), necessary (the very
solution), precise (the very center), or ut-
1. Limitations ter (the very bottom).
Very is a very common word and a le-
gitimate one, classified as both an adverb
2. Overuse
and an adjective. Its use as an adverb is
An episode in an old comedy series on
limited and the subject of divided opin-
television depicted an intellectually defi-
ion.
cient anchor man straining to write a
Bearing the sense of extremely or
thoughtful essay. He could get no further
truly, very easily modifies words that are
than “Freedom of the press is very, very
solely adjectives: large, strong, brightest.
good and very, very important.”
Hardly anyone would try to say, “The
Inexperienced writers indeed tend to
medicine very helps him” or “The speak-
resort to very too freely. Speakers too,
ers very praised her.” Very does not
both amateur and professional, are
modify verbs, even though modifying
known to overdo it. A restaurant critic
verbs is a normal activity of adverbs. But
on the radio described a county’s restau-
may we say, “He is very helped by the
rants, “some of them very, very small but
medicine” or “She was very praised by
all of them very, very good.” A TV re-
the speakers”? In other words, may we
porter said, at the scene of a search for a
use very before a past participle, which is
missing person, “The bushes get very,
a verb used as an adjective?
very thick. It would be very, very easy to
Those with easy-going ears and eyes
lose someone out here.”
would say yes. Those who are more par-
A second very says nothing that the
ticular would probably give a qualified
first does not say. And if one very is inad-
no and disapprove of those examples.
equate, perhaps what is needed is an al-
Such critics have included seven-eighths
ternative adverb—or a stronger adjective
of The American Heritage Dictionary’s
and no adverb. For instance, an alterna-
usage panel, which rated “She was very
tive to “very, very small,” is extremely
disliked by her students” unacceptable
small or tiny.
in writing but approved “He seemed
very worried.” The difference is that dis-
VIABLE. Viable (adjective) means ca-
liked—like helped and praised—is not in
common use as an adjective. People do pable of living. A human fetus or a new-
not usually speak of “the disliked born is viable when it has developed to
teacher” any more than “the helped pa- the stage at which it can survive outside
tient” or “the praised woman.” But wor- the womb. Usually at twenty-eight
ried, as in “the worried parents,” is weeks it reaches the stage of viability
considered to be a full-fledged adjective (noun), the capacity to live and grow.
as well as a past participle. A viable seed is one that is capable of
When in doubt, a writer should re- taking root and growing.
word the thought. A participle may be The adjective or noun may be used
properly intensified in several ways, with figuratively for something that does not
or without very. “He is very much possess life or its potential, just as born
helped” or “greatly helped.” / “She was and live may be so used: “Many doubted
very highly praised” or “profusely that the new country could survive, but
praised.” it proved its viability.”
When very serves as an adjective, the The essential idea is the capability of
often precedes it, but not invariably. The existing and surviving. Where is that
adjective can mean actual (his very sense in the passage below, from an en-
words), identical (this very spot), mere cyclopedia?
- 462 vice and vise
The invention of the semi-conductor option.” / A headline: “Private fire dept.
device known as the transistor in may not be viable.”
1947 . . . ushered in what many have Feasibility, practicality, or a compara-
called the second industrial revolu- ble noun could have replaced “viability”
tion. After a decade of further devel- in an article: “. . . Giving the [Internet]
opmental work, the transistor became system a new purpose has unearthed
a viable alternative to the electron fundamental problems that could well
tube. . . . put off commercial viability for years.”
The English language adopted the
If the device could exist for a decade af- French viable, likely to live, derived from
ter its invention and 1947 was the year vie, life, which came from the Latin vita,
of its invention, 1947 was when it be- life.
came viable. It seemed to be viable See also VITAL.
enough then to start a revolution. If
commercial, durable, effective, feasible, VICE and VISE. See Homophones.
practical, practicable, or usable was
meant, the writer should have used it.
VICIOUS and VISCOUS. See Con-
A retired appellate judge, who used to
fusing pairs.
be expected to use words judiciously,
said of the jury system, “I’m beginning
VIRGULE. See Punctuation, 12.
to wonder about its viability.” How can
one doubt the viability of a system that
VIRTUAL, VIRTUALLY. Virtual
has existed for centuries? If the speaker
meant advantage, benefit, usefulness, (adjective) means being so-and-so in ef-
value, workability, or worth, he should fect or in essence, though not in actual
have said so. fact or name. This is a strict use:
Whether the age of a president mat-
tered to voters was a question on a tele- Gorbachev . . . has calmly accepted
vision panel. A panelist quoted Richard the dissolution of what had been a vir-
M. Nixon: tual Soviet empire of Communist
satellites in Eastern Europe. . . .
He said he thought that the baby
boomers, having seen Clinton in While it was never officially called any-
there, would decide that was no thing like the “Soviet Empire,” it
longer viable to have somebody [like] amounted to that.
that. Often “virtual” or “virtually” (ad-
verb) becomes just a fancy way of saying
In “viable,” the panelist seems to have near or almost. Almost would be prefer-
meant nothing more than desirable. able to “virtually” as loosely used twice
For the four following uses, one could in this passage:
substitute feasible, practical, promising,
or a comparable adjective. Television: . . . Samuels has major expenses and
“For an engineer, the standard is virtually no income. . . . “Virtually
whether it works or whether it’s com- everybody who knows about this has
mercially viable.” / An editorial: “The called to volunteer”. . . .
voters . . . instructed our city officials to
develop a viable plan for the water- An editorial about a candidate for the
front.” / An article: “. . . Switching to U.S. Senate illustrates confusion about
computer programming is not a viable virtual:
- vital 463
VITAL. Vital (adjective), stemming
First, the notion that he is a “vir-
tual candidate” under the direction of from the Latin vitalis, of life, has essen-
his wife . . . is absurd and, frankly, tially the same meaning in English: relat-
misogynist. ing to life, characteristic of life, essential
to life, imparting or renewing life, or liv-
Let us postulate, for argument’s sake, ing. We speak of vital statistics, vital en-
that the man’s wife was the politically ergy, the vital organs, vital fluid. “When
ambitious one, was telling him what to I have pluck’d the rose, I cannot give it
do, and was doing things that a candi- vital growth again” (Shakespeare). In
date would do. Then she would be the creation “the Spirit of God . . . vital
virtual candidate. The husband would virtue infused and vital warmth
be the official candidate, perhaps a pup- Throughout the fluid mass” (Milton).
pet candidate, but not a “virtual” candi- By figurative extension, vital is used to
date. mean essential or indispensable to the
In computer applications, the adjective life or existence of something. “Water is
is used for simulated: “virtual reality.” vital to agriculture.” But the word is de-
See also VIRTUE. graded when it replaces needed, wanted,
important, significant, or less substantial
VIRTUE. Virtue usually denotes ei- adjectives.
ther good moral quality (in a person) or Those in the news business, enamored
merit (in a thing). It can also mean effi- of short and exciting words, have long
cacy, effective force, especially the power overused and trivialized vital. A copy ed-
to strengthen or heal: a drug’s virtue. itor will choose it for a headline over
A speaker was technically correct but needed, if not important, as a matter of
risked being misunderstood: “The great course. One TV reporter called Egypt “a
virtue of using that stuff is that it’s ubiq- vital American ally” and another said,
uitous. It’s available everywhere.” He “Helicopters are vital to modern military
was talking about the “virtue” of using operations”—meaning that the U.S.
the particular explosive that blasted the could not survive without Egypt or fight
World Trade Center in New York. Bet- without helicopters?
ter: “To the terrorists, the benefit of that The following samples, from a head-
stuff is. . . . ” line and two articles, may illustrate the
An obsolete meaning of virtue is that ultimate degradation of that word of life:
of manly merit, courage, or strength. its application to devices for the mass de-
Those are meanings of the Latin virtus, struction of life.
the source of virtual and virtuoso as well “How a Vital Nuclear Material Came
as virtue. Virtus stems from vir, a man or to Be in Short Supply” / “The shortage
male, the source of virile. Yet virtue and of tritium, a vital material for nuclear
virtuous, with the meanings of chastity weapons, arrived right on schedule.” /
and chaste, have often been applied just “The Savannah River Plant, near Aiken,
to women. is the nation’s only source of tritium, a
perishable gas vital to thermonuclear
VISCOUS and VICIOUS. See Con- warheads.”
fusing pairs. All the blame cannot be placed on the
news business. Prime Minister Margaret
VISE and VICE. See Homophones. Thatcher of the United Kingdom de-
clared that “Short-range nuclear missiles
VISITING FIREMAN. See -MAN-, are absolutely vital” (not just “vital” but
MAN. “absolutely vital”). The chairman of the
- 464 viz.
VIZ. (namely). See Punctuation, 2A.
Joint Chiefs of Staff proposed “a re-
duced but still vital nuclear force to deter
Voice. See Active voice and passive
nuclear adversaries.”
In the seventeenth to nineteenth cen- voice.
turies, vital could be legitimately used to
VULGARITY. See OBSCENE, OB-
mean destructive to life. A vital wound
would be a fatal wound today. When SCENITY.
news people or public officials speak of a
diabolic weapon as “vital,” let us think
of the word in that archaic sense.
See also VIABLE.
- W
WAITER, WAITRESS. See PEO- awaken, waken, or go back to sleep?
PLE as a suffix; PERSON, 1 (end); The (a)wake(n) verbs, Old English de-
WAIT FOR and WAIT ON. scendants, all mean to arouse from sleep
or a state like sleep, or to come out of
that state. The distinctions in usage are
WAIT FOR and WAIT ON. You
complicated. In general, wake is the util-
wait for a bus. A waiter waits on pa-
ity tool, good for most everyday use.
trons. To wait for something or someone
The other words are substituted in figu-
or some event is to remain inactive or in
rative or poetic use, in the passive voice,
anticipation until it or the person arrives
or for the sake of formality or meter.
or the event takes place. To wait on
Wake is the only one that goes with
someone is to serve the person.
up. The up does not affect the meaning.
Wait on is dialect or slang when used
You cannot go wrong with it. Tagging it
in place of wait for as a newscaster used
onto wake is common and idiomatic
it in speaking of a budget bill “that ev-
when wake is used as an intransitive
eryone is waiting on” and as a magazine
verb, especially so in the imperative and
did: “You don’t boot up your juicer or
the present tense: “Wake up!” / “We
even your video. So who wants to wait
wake up at 7 a.m.” In the past tense, up
on their PC?” (The plural “their” dis-
is optional: Either “I woke up at dawn”
agrees with the singulars wants and PC.
or “I woke at dawn” is acceptable.
See Pronouns, 2.)
When wake is used as a transitive
Among several obsolete or rare mean-
verb, it is just about as common and id-
ings of wait on is to pay a formal visit to
iomatic with the up as without it: “We
someone considered a superior. “He
should wake him” or “We should wake
waited on the king in his palace.”
him up.” / “Don’t wake the baby” or
See also ON, 2 (end).
“Don’t wake up the baby.”
Unlike the other three words, wake
WAKE, AWAKE, AWAKEN, has the additional sense of be or remain
WAKEN. 1. First choice: WAKE awake. It is commonly expressed in the
(UP). 2. The other verbs. 3. Past tense; phrase waking hours.
participle; other forms.
2. The other verbs
1. First choice: WAKE (UP) In figurative and poetic senses, the
When the alarm clock rings in the verbs starting with a—awake and
morning, do you wake, wake up, awake, awaken—are favored: “They awakened
wake, awake, awaken, waken 465
nguon tai.lieu . vn
