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- custom 89
1. Concerning crises eventually touched virtually every
A mayor was shot in Japan, and a agency. . . .
story in a New York newspaper included
this sentence: Change “culminate” to ended. The ex-
ample is wrong on two scores: To culmi-
The Mayor, Hitoshi Motoshima, nate does not mean to end or to be the
was reported in critical condition but outcome. Moreover, it is an intransitive
out of danger tonight after two hours verb, not transitive; one does not “cul-
of surgery. minate” something.
Although culminate(d) does belong in
If he was in “critical” condition, how the sentence below, the preposition that
could he be “out of danger” at the same follows it is not idiomatic.
time? Critical in such a context normally
means dangerous; it pertains to a crisis, a . . . A growing body of scientific
crucial point when the course of a dis- evidence on the dangers of so-called
ease—or anything else—can turn in ei- secondhand smoke has culminated
ther a favorable or an unfavorable with an influential Environmental
direction. Could the report have lost Protection Agency report declaring
something in translation? environmental smoke a “Class A Car-
cinogen.” . . .
2. Concerning criticism etc.
Critical (adjective) has an assortment Make it “culminated in.” The verb is
of other meanings, among them crucial, normally followed by in, not “with.”
decisive, perilous, and referring to im-
CUM. Cum, Latin for with, appears in
portant products or materials that are in
short supply. hyphenated combinations in this man-
In the sense of judging, critical is not ner: “En route, don’t miss St. Francis
necessarily negative. It can mean charac- Fountain, a Mission landmark lunch-
terized by careful and objective judg- counter-cum-candy shop, founded in
ment or it can pertain to formal 1918.” It becomes a high-flown substi-
criticism. Popularly it is more often con- tute for together with or simply and,
strued as judging unfavorably or in- mystifying many readers who would un-
clined to judge unfavorably. derstand “lunch counter and candy
A Nevada newspaper ran the headline shop.” (The piling up of two modifiers
“Man is critical after car goes into as well as the compound further compli-
canal.” The text beneath it indicated that cates the sample. See Modifiers, 4.)
the only person in the car was a woman. The u in cum may be pronounced the
Maybe that critical man was the owner. short way—inviting confusion with
See also CONDITION. come—or like the oo in book.
CRY. See -Y ending. CUSTOM. As an adjective, custom
means specially made for an individual
CULMINATE. To culminate means customer (a custom suit) or doing work
to reach the highest point or the climax to order (a custom tailor).
of something. How not to use this verb is A label and a leaflet accompanying a
illustrated by a press excerpt. mass-produced blanket say the product
was “CUSTOM LOOMED” by a cer-
The razing of the International tain manufacturer. As used in commerce,
Hotel . . . culminated a crisis that the word is usually empty puffery.
- D
Danglers. See Modifers, 1. “On the other hand, the data in the
archives doesn’t reveal the sense that
DARING. A radio network broadcast there’s a broad plan afoot to take over
this phrase: “A daring escape from a Eastern Europe.”
medium-security facility outside of
Pueblo.” It lacks Colorado and a verb. Is the sentence right or wrong? As a
(See Sentence fragment). The main trou- Latin plural, data traditionally was
ble, though, is that daring is a word of strictly a plural in English. Thus “The
praise; it commends one’s adventurous- data in the archives don’t reveal . . .”
ness, initiative, boldness, and fearless- Data are pieces of information, particu-
ness in a risky endeavor. Take the larly raw facts or figures used as the ba-
“daring young man on the flying sis for conclusions or judgments.
trapeze,” the subject of song since 1868. Many educated people, particularly
Although no adjective was really in the United States, now use the word
needed, a better one would have been as a collective singular (as the historian
brazen or imitative. (The method of es- uses it); many do not. You cannot go
cape, by helicopter, had been used before wrong construing data as plural, partic-
and, still earlier, portrayed in a movie.) ularly in any formal use.
In a comparable nonsentence, “A dar- The traditional singular of data is da-
ing daylight robbery on a busy San Fran- tum, which is used much less often than
cisco street” was reported on local circumlocutions like an item in the data.
television. The same crime was “a dar- “A data” will offend many pairs of eyes
ing holdup” on local radio. And when or ears. And “this data” can be ambigu-
criminals stealthily murdered a guard ous: Does it mean one item or all the
and wounded two people before rob- items? Fact or figure usually will do for a
bing a bank, a newspaper described “a singular.
daring holdup.” If those crimes required If you do choose to use data as a col-
an adjective, ruthless would have been lective singular, at least be consistent.
preferable, but why did the facts have to These two sentences appear in two con-
be embellished at all? secutive paragraphs in a scientific jour-
nal:
Dash. See Punctuation, 4.
The demographic data obtained
DATA. A historian is quoted, by a from the present updated sample is
book critic, on newly revealed records of very consistant with that found in the
the erstwhile Soviet Union: initial reports. . . .
90 danglers
- dehumanization 91
These data represent a two-edged ally to mean eliminate 10 percent. Nu-
sword. merous other verbs are available in place
of “been decimated” in the second sam-
After using “data” as a singular in that ple: diminished, dwindled, been cut,
write-up, the scientist changes his mind been reduced, been halved (omitting “by
and uses it as a plural. (He is consistent 50 percent”), and so on.
in his misspelling of consistent: A little A senator wrote a colleague that the
later he writes of “a consistant finding.”) latter’s “wish to decimate the bill by an
additional 20 percent cut in acreage is
Dative. See Pronouns, 10B. unacceptable.” Perhaps weaken or en-
feeble was meant.
DEBTOR. See CREDITOR and Decimate should not be used in lieu of
DEBTOR. annihilate or demolish or modified by
completely, totally, or the like; nor
DECIMATE. should it be applied to something ab-
stract or incalculable. To “decimate his
She [Princess Pauahi] saw native Ha- argument” or “decimate their enthusi-
waiians literally decimated—reduced asm” is meaningless.
in number from 400,000 to 40,000.
Declarative sentence. See Backward
writing; (-) EVER, 1.
If Hawaiians had been “literally deci-
mated,” as a speaker said on television,
DECRESCENDO. See CRES-
they would have been reduced in num-
CENDO.
ber from 400,000 to 360,000.
The literal meaning of decimate is to
DEER, plural. See Plurals and singu-
destroy a tenth part of something; specif-
lars, 2C.
ically, in Roman times, to kill one in ev-
ery ten of an army or a group, each
DEFAMATION. See LIBEL and
victim having been selected by lot. The
SLANDER.
word comes from Latin, in which dec-
imus means tenth. Decimal has the same
DEFEND. See Verbs, 1C.
source.
If the word “literally” and the num- Defining clause. See THAT and
bers had been left out, decimated could WHICH.
have been used in a looser sense: to de-
stroy a substantial part of something Dehumanization. A writer does not
measurable by number. consciously aim to dehumanize someone
This appeared in a letter to the editor: in writing but can do so through fuzzy
thinking that equates a human being
The shortsighted exploitation of a with an abstraction or a statistic. The ex-
rain forest like that of Sarawak—a ample is from a newspaper column:
160-million-year-old ecosystem that
has been decimated by 50 percent in Smith, by the way, was the first en-
only a few decades and will be gone dorsement under the new POA policy
forever in another 10 years—is not of polling all of the station houses be-
the right of any country. fore making a decision.
A person is not an “endorsement.” The
In the light of its origin, decimate should
sentence can be improved: “Smith, by
not go with a number—unless used liter-
- 92 deluged
the way, was the first person endorsed the part about “independence and
under . . .” or “Smith’s endorsement, by democracy.” Three concepts have been
the way, was the first under . . .” confused.
This is from a front-page news story Democracy, in theory, is a political
in another paper: system in which the people rule. The
term also denotes a system of govern-
He was the 14th homicide of the year ment by elected representatives of the
in the crack-ridden 34th precinct. people.
Freedom means the state of being free
“He was the 14th homicide victim of the from restraints or being free from official
year . . .” or “His killing was the 14th oppression or being able to do what one
homicide of the year. . . .” A victim is not wants.
a homicide. Homicide is the killing of one Independence means complete auton-
human being by another. (General dictio- omy, nationhood, not being under for-
naries contain a secondary definition of eign rule.
homicide as a person who kills another, a The world has many independent dic-
meaning that is nearly obsolete.) tatorships. Citizens of some autocracies
In an autobiography, a general draws have a degree of freedom, perhaps eco-
on military jargon to describe plans for a nomic or religious, without democracy.
bombing attack on Baghdad: Citizens of some politically free coun-
tries may lack certain democratic rights,
The hour was also selected to mini- such as the control of foreign relations.
mize collateral damage, since most And sometimes people democratically
Iraqis would be at home. . . . decide to curb some freedoms, say, for
certain businesses or offenders.
By “collateral damage” he means the
DEMOCRAT and DEMOCRA-
killing of civilian people.
TIC. It is ungrammatical to use the
See also DETERIORATE; FATAL-
ITY; FEWER and LESS, 2. noun in place of the adjective, yet it is
frequently done intentionally. A rhetori-
DELUGED. See INUNDATE, IN- cal question posed by a Republican
UNDATED. leader in the House of Representatives is
typical: “When did we start signing on
DELUSION and ILLUSION. See to any Democrat agenda?” Democratic.
Confusing pairs. The adjective ends in ic, whether we
use democratic (with lower case d), per-
DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM, and taining to democracy, or Democratic
INDEPENDENCE. The three words (with capital D), pertaining to the
are not synonymous, contrary to the im- Democratic Party. The word democrat is
plication of this sentence, from an edito- a noun only, meaning one who believes
rial: in democracy; the name Democrat is a
noun only, meaning one who adheres to
Students in communist China the Democratic Party.
sought a bit of independence and In the fifties, certain Republican
democracy and paid with their blood politicos began mangling the name of
to learn that freedom is not in a dicta- the opposition party by referring to the
tor’s dictionary. “Democrat Party” or the “Democrat
candidate,” on grounds that no one
The part of the sentence about “free- should think of it as the only democratic
dom” does not follow reasonably from party. So far the Democrats have not re-
- destiny 93
ciprocated the suffix-scrapping by speak- de, removal or reversal, desecrate (verb,
ing of the “Republic Party.” transitive) literally means to divest of sa-
The silliness has persisted and spread cred character or to use in a profane way
beyond Republican politics. A headline that which is sacred. A church has been
in a national newspaper read, “Demo- desecrated if it is turned into a private
crat Sluggers Are Benched.” There was house. A religious emblem has been des-
enough space to add two letters, so the ecrated if it becomes a T-shirt design. To
newspaper had no excuse for truncating treat with sacrilege, or lack of reverence,
the proper adjective. The normally non- also is to desecrate. A man who wears a
partisan moderator of a news forum on hat in a church (or no hat in a syna-
television wrongly referred to a “Demo- gogue) could be accused of desecrating
crat plan” instead of a “Democratic it. So could one who burns it.
plan” or a “plan by Democrats.” The opposite of desecrate is conse-
Actually, Americans give scant crate, to establish as sacred. The related
thought to any meaning behind the nouns are desecration and consecration,
names Republican and Democratic, respectively.
which offer no clue as to current ideo- When Congress discussed a proposed
logical differences. Both parties favor a constitutional amendment that would
democratic republic. The party that is authorize legislation “to prohibit the
now Democratic was called Democratic physical desecration of the flag of the
Republican in our republic’s youth, United States,” it was essentially consid-
when such terms had more meaning. ering the physical consecration of that
flag, its establishment as a sacred object.
DEMOLISH. When you demolish an One can desecrate only that which is sa-
object, you tear it to pieces, burn it up, cred. Probably what the sponsors had
or knock it into a shapeless mass. A meant was the malicious destruction or
qualification like “entirely,” in the fol- damaging of an American flag.
lowing sentence, or “completely” or “to-
DESERT and DESSERT. Desert is
tally” is superfluous; it is implied in
demolish(ed). “The front end of his car the sandy wasteland, pronounced DEZ-
is reported to be entirely demolished.” urt. When we insert an s, we get dessert,
Demolish (verb, transitive) implies vi- the sweet end of a meal. It is pronounced
olent destruction; destroy, completeness dih-ZURT, the same as the verb desert,
of ruin or wreckage and the ending of meaning to abandon.
something’s usefulness, if not existence; The words are mixed up sometimes.
raze, leveling to the ground; and ruin, In a manual of English for newcomers,
spoiling and badly damaging but not an- this was printed: “Waitress: What would
nihilating. you like for desert?” (The answer could
Demolition (noun) is a demolishing, a have been “sand tarts” but was not.)
destruction. A synonym, less common, is Later, a celebrated anchor man an-
demolishment. nounced that Gerald Ford, newly retired
See also DEVASTATE, DEVASTAT- as president, was visiting Southern Cali-
ING; RUIN and RUINS. fornia’s warm “dessert country.” (It was
not announced whether Ford was given
DEPRECATE and DEPRECIATE. an executive sweet.)
See Confusing pairs. See also SAHARA.
DESECRATE, DESECRATION. DESTINY. It is impossible to do what
The Latin sacrare, to make sacred, or these writings talk of doing. A political
holy, is the root of this word. Prefixed by ad: “Let the people of New York choose
- 94 destroy
their own destiny.” A history book: the The adjective deteriorating, becoming
world was “bereft of confidence in its worse, has six syllables (dih-TIER-ee-uh-
ability to control its own destinies.” An rate-ing).
article: an Iranian official affirmed “the Omitting the o syllable and the r
right of every nation to decide its own sound is a fault of some speakers: On
destiny.” (Making the final word future TV, a visitor to a zoo said “it started to
would have corrected each example.) deteriate” years ago and a senator said
Literally, one cannot choose, control, about the North Koreans, “They are a
or decide one’s destiny. Nor can destinies deteriating economy.” (They are not an
be withheld or changed. A book quoted economy. Better: “They have a deterio-
a professor as saying, “We have been de- rating economy.”)
nied our Polish destiny” (heritage?). A Deterioration, noun (dih-tier-ee-uh-
big headline proclaimed “HONG RAY-shn), is the process of deteriorating
KONG’S NEW DESTINY.” (There was or the condition of having deteriorated.
new rule, predetermined by two na-
DEVASTATE, DEVASTATING.
tions.)
By definition, destiny is one’s in- “A devastating earthquake on Guam,” a
evitable lot; or, in a broader sense, a pre- newscaster announced on television (in a
determined course of events or a power nonsentence of the type so beloved by
that predetermines events. (Explaining newscasters). “Nobody was killed and
the meaning of destiny does not imply nobody was left homeless,” she added.
that there really is such a thing.) To devastate (verb, transitive) is to lay
Synonyms for destiny are fate and for- waste. Devastating (adjective) means ut-
tune. However, they have additional terly destructive. The two words imply
meanings that bypass the question of pre- widespread ruin and desolation. If an
determination. Fate, like destiny, often is earthquake took no lives or houses, how
used loosely to signify merely an out- could it be “devastating”?
come or final result or future; sometimes It was announced on another televi-
it specifically means an unfavorable out- sion program: “An American city has
come. Fortune often denotes good or bad been totally devastated.” A qualification
luck, particularly the good; it can also such as “totally” or “entirely” is super-
mean financial success or wealth. fluous; it is implied in devastated.
The verb destine (transitive), usually See also DEMOLISH; RUIN and RU-
used in the passive, destined, can imply INS.
predetermination, or it can suggest no
DEVOTE. See Gerund, 3A.
more than intend(ed) for a particular
end or head(ed) for a particular destina-
DIALECTAL and DIALECTIC.
tion. Destination occasionally means a
predetermined end or a destining. More See Confusing pairs.
often it is merely a place toward which a
DID. See DO, DID, DONE.
traveler or a moving object is headed.
See also INEVITABLE.
DIFFERENT. 1. The preposition that
DESTROY. See DEMOLISH. follows. 2. Unnecessary use.
DETERIORATE. The verb deterio- 1. The preposition that follows
rate, meaning to make (something) When a preposition follows different,
worse or to become worse, has five sylla- normally it is from. This usage is not
bles (pronounced dih-TIER-ee-uh-rate). standard:
- dilemma 95
New York City is different than other from or to” as the British way and “dif-
cities. . . . ferent than” as the American way. It is
not the standard American way.
. . . Tragedies . . . have led many South
Africans to suspect that the new South 2. Unnecessary use
Africa is no different than the old. Sometimes “different” contributes
nothing. Omitting it from an advertise-
Change “than” to from in both state- ment for a newspaper, posted on the side
ments (uttered by network television re- of transit vehicles, might have strength-
porters). Than generally follows only ened the message:
comparative words—bigger than, faster
than—and different is not one of them. It takes over a million different people
It is a positive adjective, except in rare over a million different places every
cases. day.
Grammatically, you cannot go wrong
with different from. Yet some writers Different emphasizes unlikeness: “The
and grammatical authorities have found French and the Germans are much dif-
different than acceptable under certain ferent people.” If multiplicity is to be
circumstances, perhaps even preferable emphasized, many, several, various, or a
from the standpoint of style. They allow number, like nine or a million, probably
than when a clause or implied clause fol- is a better adjective to use: “Many
lows and when using from properly knights attempted to slay the dragon,”
would result in a more complicated sen- not “different knights. . . .”
tence. For example: “The practice of
Digits spelled out. See NO WAY, 1;
medicine takes a different form in Japan
than [it takes] in the United States.” In- Numbers, 11.
stead of than, you could substitute
DILEMMA. A dilemma is a situation
“from that which it takes,” or something
of that sort, remaining technically cor- that requires a choice between two
rect but complicating the sentence. equally unpleasant alternatives. The
The choice is not just between from word was borrowed from Greek, di-
and than. The message can always be ex- meaning double and lemma meaning
pressed differently. “Japanese physicians proposition. Where is the dilemma in the
do not practice medicine in the same following sentence?
way that American physicians do.”
Few disagree that when we differenti- The social dilemma of teenage
ate individual nouns, noun phrases, or pregnancy is growing in Wyoming
pronouns—“Meteors are different from while the state ranks third in the na-
meteorites” or “Big cats are much differ- tion, according to a study initiated by
ent from little cats”—the only preposi- Wyoming’s Commission for Women.
tion to use is from, except in Britain,
where “different to” sometimes is used. Neither that sentence nor the rest of the
The adverb differently is likewise fol- article it is extracted from presents us
lowed by from: “Canadians do not with a “dilemma.” Teenage pregnancy
speak much differently from Ameri- may be a question, predicament, plight,
cans.” problem, or social ill, but the writer fails
In listing differences between British to explain why it is a “dilemma.” (Nor
English and American English, two En- does he explain in what way Wyoming
glish lexicographers present “different ranks third in the nation.)
- 96 diminuendo
DISASTER. A disaster is a great mis-
The paragraph below does present a
true dilemma, one faced by a political fortune, such as a destructive earth-
party in Israel, although the paragraph quake, famine, or flood. It is a
has other troubles. happening, typically sudden and unex-
pected, that causes extraordinary loss of
Political analyst Shlomo Avineri life or property.
foresaw a double-edged dilemma for A news magazine’s treatment of an at-
Labor: Leaving the government opens tempted coup in Moscow reduced the
the party to an unpredictable electoral word to triviality. It said of a press con-
test, he said, but staying in would ference by the conspirators, “Their per-
mean submission to its direct ideolog- formance was a disaster.” It was a failure
ical opposite, the right wing of Likud. or fiasco or an inept or bungling per-
formance or, in colloquial terms, a flop
“Double-edged” is superfluous; it de- or a dud. The article perfunctorily
scribes all dilemmas. (Moreover the two added, “Three demonstrators were left
alternatives are inconsistent in their dead. . . .”
moods. Either change “opens” to would A book comments on an airline com-
open or change “would mean” to pany’s change of name: “It was widely
means.) greeted as a disaster.” If that was an air-
See also HOBSON’S CHOICE. line “disaster,” the word has lost its
meaning. Its loose use to describe any
DIMINUENDO. See CRES- failure may be harmless in informal con-
CENDO. versation but is inappropriately trans-
ferred to serious writing or discussion.
DINE. When you dine, you eat dinner. Disaster (from the Old French desas-
When you eat breakfast, lunch, or sup- tre, from the Old Italian disastro), re-
per, you breakfast, lunch, or sup, as the flects a faith in astrology. Latin provided
case may be. In a magazine article about the negative dis- and astrum, from the
British tea drinking, this sentence ap- Greek astron: a star.
peared: See also TRAGEDY.
DISCHARGE. See LAY OFF and
Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bed-
ford, typically dined on a huge break- LAYOFF; LET GO.
fast, virtually no lunch, and then
DISCOMFIT and DISCOMFORT.
again at about eight o’clock.
Inasmuch as the two verbs look similar
One cannot “dine” on breakfast and and sound similar, it is not surprising
lunch, let alone “virtually no lunch.” that people confuse discomfit and dis-
(The sentence also contains a faulty se- comfort. But the words have different
ries: “breakfast . . . lunch [both nouns], meanings and different Latin roots via
and then again [adverbial phrase]. . . .” the old French desconfire, to defeat (past
And then again what? The misshapen participle: desconfit), and desconforter,
sentence breaks off, and we have to to discomfort.
guess whether another oversized repast Originally discomfit (verb, transitive)
or another bird’s portion was in store for meant to defeat (an enemy) completely
the duchess. See Series errors.) in battle. Its strictest use today is still to
defeat completely, though not necessar-
DISASSEMBLE and DISSEMBLE. ily in battle.
See Confusing pairs. It can also mean to frustrate (some-
- disinterested and uninterested 97
one), to foil one’s plans. Such an action is Two talk show hosts, intending to im-
likely to leave a person disconcerted, pugn statements made in a murder case,
perplexed, dejected, or humiliated. used that word instead of its antonym. A
Opinions diverge on whether (1) the de- TV host called a remark “a little bit in-
feat or frustration is essential to the genuous,” and a radio host said of an-
meaning or (2) the mental state alone is other remark, “That was ingenuous.”
enough. Both needed disingenuous: not can-
At the loosest level we find “discom- did, not straightforward, insincere.
fit” used as a mere variation of the verb Perhaps the in- (which can mean in as
“discomfort.” You be the judge of well as not in Latin) is a source of confu-
whether the latter d-word in this excerpt sion. Ingenuous comes from the Latin
from a book has any special reason for ingenuus, meaning native, free-born, no-
being: ble, or frank.
Ingenuous has been confused with in-
While most buyers of literature don’t genious, which means clever or cunning
think twice about ads that appear in and originates in the Latin ingenium: in-
magazines, they find the same ads dis- nate ability.
comfiting in books.
DISINTERESTED and UNIN-
TERESTED. What do a book on old
Discomfort (verb, transitive) means to
make uncomfortable, either physically Flemish painting and a situation comedy
or mentally; to distress mildly. It is also a have in common?
noun: an uncomfortable or mildly dis-
tressing condition or feeling. The oppo- He [Brueghel] rejected literal imita-
site is comfort (verb, transitive): to make tion of the Italians, ignored their sub-
comfortable, to soothe; and (noun): a ject matter, was disinterested in
comfortable or soothing condition or idealized beauty, had no more taste
feeling, or that which produces it. for nudes than for palatial architec-
The noun related to the verb discomfit ture.
is discomfiture: a state of being discom-
fited or, sometimes, the act of discomfit- No matter how disinterested I am, the
ing. In Shakespeare’s day the noun also driver won’t stop yapping away.
was discomfit. (This is from Henry VI,
Part 2: “. . . Uncurable discomfit / Reins The answer is the wrong use of “disin-
in the hearts of all our present parts.”) terested.” Change it to uninterested (or,
Comfit is not the opposite of discomfit in the first instance, to not interested):
but a type of confection, a sugared fruit “He . . . was uninterested in idealized
or vegetable. beauty . . .” (or “He . . . was not inter-
ested . . .”). / “No matter how uninter-
DISCREET and DISCRETE. See ested I am . . .”
Homophones. The prefixes dis- and un- both mean
not. Both adjectives, disinterested and
DISHONOR. See HONORABLE, uninterested, mean not interested. But
HONORARY, HONORED. two different meanings of interested ap-
ply:
DISINGENUOUS and INGENU- 1. The interested following dis-
OUS. Ingenuous (adjective) means means possessing a financial interest or a
candid, straightforward, unsophisticat- share or seeking personal gain or advan-
edly frank. tage (in or from something, either stated
- 98 dismiss
or implied). “All interested parties at- to a seat on the state supreme court had
tended the hearing on the proposed re- “received a ‘disqualified’ rating” from
zoning.” the state bar. Actually the bar’s rating
2. The interested following un- was unqualified; the governor was not
means having a fascination or curiosity obligated to observe it and did not.
or being concerned or absorbed (for, Disqualified means rendered unfit, de-
about, or by something). “She is inter- clared ineligible, or deprived of legal
ested in antique collecting.” right or power. (One is disqualified from
These are typical sentences using dis- entering a contest by being related to the
interested and uninterested: “Members sponsor. A prejudiced juror may be dis-
of a governmental board must be disin- qualified from service.) Unqualified, as
terested in its affairs.” / “She is interested used above, means lacking proper or
in antique collecting, but her husband is necessary qualifications. In another con-
uninterested.” text, it can mean not modified or with-
A synonym for disinterested is impar- out limitation (unqualified support) or
tial. A synonym for uninterested is indif- complete or downright (unqualified suc-
ferent. For 500 years indifferent meant cess).
impartial. Now it commonly means apa- Disqualified is the past participle of
thetic, not caring—which disinterested disqualify (verb, transitive). Unqualified
meant in the seventeenth and eighteenth (adjective) has no corresponding verb.
centuries. We change the quotations Its antonym is qualified (adjective).
again: “He was indifferent to idealized
DISSEMBLE and DISASSEMBLE.
beauty.” / “No matter how indifferent I
am. . . .” Indifferent can also mean See Confusing pairs.
mediocre: “Was the movie good, bad, or
Division of words. The division of a
indifferent?”
The noun related to interested is inter- word between lines slows down a reader
est. It has the meanings of both (1) finan- a bit. With few exceptions, it should be
cial or personal involvement and (2) resorted to only in typesetting or callig-
fascination or concern. The noun related raphy and only when the division is nec-
to disinterested is disinterest, meaning essary to justify the right-hand margin
lack of interest in the first sense. “Disin- (that is, to make it straight) without big
terest is an essential quality in a judge.” gaps in a line.
A noun meaning lack of interest in the In manuscripts for publication it is
second sense is indifference. “Our con- best not to divide words at all, lest it be
gressman displays indifference to his less unclear whether the hyphens belong in
affluent constituents.” print or not. To indicate that a hyphen at
the end of a line should be printed, an
DISMISS. See LAY OFF and LAYOFF; editor underlines the hyphen.
LET GO. Sometimes grotesque divisions are
seen in print. A newspaper divided boot-
DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE straps into “boots-” and “traps.” One
and WITHOUT PREJUDICE. See line should have contained boot- (the
WITH PREJUDICE and WITHOUT first syllable plus a hyphen) and the next
PREJUDICE. line straps. Nowadays words are usually
divided automatically by computers. An
DISMISSIVE. See SUPPORTIVE. editor can correct a bad division or dis-
regard it. No one corrected that one.
DISQUALIFIED and UNQUALI- Another newspaper divided probe
FIED. A TV panelist said an appointee into “pro-” and “be.” A one-syllable
- done 99
DIVORCÉ, DIVORCÉE, and DI-
word should never be divided. The divi-
VORCEE. See BACHELOR and
sion can throw readers off track, partic-
ularly when the pieces have other SPINSTER.
meanings, as pro- and be do.
Any word should be kept intact if di- DO, DID, DONE. The catch phrase
viding it might mislead readers. When “I dood it” belonged to the comedian
isolated, a part of a word like hasten and Red Skelton. Much later, a big-city po-
often tends to form a word in itself with lice chief said, “I think I’ve did a good
a different pronunciation (has-ten and job,” and a restaurant reviewer said,
of-ten). about meat that one could cut with a
A hyphenated compound, such as fork, “I know because I’ve did it.” Nei-
hang-up or send-off, should be divided ther man was being funny. Each proba-
at the hyphen and nowhere else. Yet one bly made a slip of the tongue and knew
was published as “han-” and “gup” and the correct form, “I’ve done it,” meaning
the other as “sen-” and “d-off” in two I’ve performed it or carried it out, and all
newspapers. A solid compound, such as these forms of the verb do:
nearsighted or woodpecker, is divided Present tense: I, you, we, they do; he,
between the two words of which it is she, it does. Past tense: I, you, etc. did.
composed. Future tense: I, you, etc. will do. Perfect
Two-syllable words should be divided tenses: I, you, we, they have or had done;
between the syllables. However, a single he, she, it has or had done.
letter is not split off from the rest of a A helping verb (such as has or is) usu-
word. A word like adroit should never ally precedes the past participle done.
be divided, inasmuch as its two syllables This broadcast sentence, “What he done
are a and droit. One newspaper divided was impossible to do”—instead of
that word into “adr-” and “oit.” “What he did” (dig out of an
The rules, and their exceptions, go on avalanche)—is ungrammatical. It is also
at length, dealing with prefixes, suffixes, contradictory; what is impossible cannot
consonants, vowels, and double letters. be done.
And the American and British systems When it is not ambiguous, done is ac-
vary. Words divided according to pro- ceptable as an adjective meaning com-
nunciation in the former (knowl-edge, pleted: “My work here is done.”
democ-racy) are divided according to However, in a sentence like “The work
derivation in the latter (know-ledge, will be done next month” it can be un-
demo-cracy). derstood to mean performed; so if com-
General dictionaries show possible di- pleted or finished is meant, it is better to
vision points by means of centered dots. use one of those words.
The dictionaries do not always agree on A facetious term for a mystery tale is a
where those points are, sometimes whodunit. This slang noun was coined
because pronunciations differ. It is from the ungrammatical phrase “Who
hi•er•o•glyph•ic in one dictionary, done it?” Had the coiner been more
hi•ero•glyph•ic in another; tel•e•phone scrupulous about his grammar, people
in the first dictionary, tele•phone in the might be reading or watching whodidits.
other. One dictionary makes it gon• See also DON’T and DOESN’T; USE
a•do•trop•ic, a second go•na•do• TO and USED TO (regarding did).
tro•pic, a third gonado•trop•ic, and a
fourth go•nad•o•trop•ic.
DOESN’T. See DON’T and DOESN’T.
Any division of abbreviations, initials,
or figures can be confusing and should
DONE. See DO, DID, DONE.
be avoided. See Numbers, 3.
- 100 don’t and doesn’t
DON’T and DOESN’T. A syndi- stands it, the result can sometimes be lu-
cated radio psychologist said she was dicrous, as in the illustrations below.
sad to return home from vacation, “but They include boners by seven newspa-
that don’t mean I don’t want to go pers, three advertisers, two television
home.” And a congressman disputed the networks, and others.
idea of encouraging everyone to vote: “I Among the words in double trouble
don’t want some damn fool idiot that are appeal, cut, crash, dog, liquidate,
don’t know the time of day marking a poach, spot, and spawn. The trouble
ballot.” Let us not argue any issues or may amount to an unperceived coinci-
judge who is an idiot but merely con- dence, the lurking of a literal meaning
sider why “that don’t” was wrong each behind a figurative use, an overambi-
time though “I don’t” was right. tious metaphor, the intrusion of a differ-
Don’t is the contraction of do not. It ent meaning for the same word, an
agrees with all plural nouns and with the unfortunate juxtaposition, a metaphoric
pronouns I, you, we, and they. “I don’t contradiction, or the emerging of a true
want” is correct in each quotation, for it meaning from a corrupted meaning.
is like saying “I do not want.” Similarly Take the contemporary newspaper
you, we, or they don’t want it, just as an- headline that said: “U.S. Grant Will
telopes, the Browns, or congressmen Help Vets in State Get Jobs.” How much
don’t want it. help can he give? He has been out of of-
The contraction of does not is doesn’t. fice since 1877.
It agrees with all singular nouns and A banner headline in another newspa-
with the pronouns he, she, and it per told of “Governor’s Plan to Cut Gas
and other singular pronouns except I Lines.” It appeared during a gasoline
and you. So “that [feeling] doesn’t shortage, when motorists were lining up
mean.” And there is an “idiot that at service stations. But one could visual-
doesn’t know.” Similarly, he, she, or it ize the governor, a critic of the gas com-
doesn’t know, just as an antelope, Mr. pany, wielding an ax and whacking
Brown, or a congressman doesn’t know. away at the company’s pipes.
Of course, the full does not may be used Telling of a $20 million show in New
instead of each doesn’t. York conducted by General Motors, the
The psychologist said, in a later automobile maker, a TV network re-
broadcast, “their child don’t look so porter said, “GM went on a crash pro-
good.” Doesn’t or does not. gram to put this one on fast.” It is
See also DO, DID, DONE. doubtful that the company appreciated
his use of the word “crash.”
“DON’T LET’S.” See LET, LETS, 2. After John DeLorean’s car company
had run up a $50 million debt, some 400
Double entendre. See Double mean- creditors petitioned for liquidation. One
ing. newspaper’s coverage of the story in-
cluded a picture of the gentleman and a
Double genitive. See Double posses- headline reading: “Judge asked to liqui-
sive. date DeLorean.” Shades of Stalinism!
The main headline in another newspa-
Double meaning. In choosing words per read: “PLO appeals to U.S.” But
and expressions, beware of the danger of probably few in the U.S. found the Pales-
double meaning. A sentence can be inter- tine Liberation Organization very ap-
preted in a way that was not intended. pealing.
Even when nobody actually misunder- In the Southwest, the efforts of a local
- double negative 101
emergency coordinator to warn of a tor- Far East was headed: “Save the Salmon
nado were the subject of a newspaper ar- From Poachers.” It raised an obvious
ticle, which reported: “He said his office question to gourmets: What’s wrong
sounded the sirens because it was alerted with poached salmon?
by 911 emergency telephone operators.” Another headline said, “Official rips
That is a lot of operators. textbooks under review.” One could
An article on caring for Christmas imagine her sitting at a desk and tearing
plants closed by advising, “Keep the soil pages from a pile of school books.
moist at all times, but reduce a bit during This was heard on a national TV
the winter.” And just below, a health spa newscast: “In the forefront of women’s
ad urged women to “SHAPE UP golf, fame is the name of the game.” I
NOW!” thought the name of the game was golf.
“HAVING AN AFFAIR?” a restau- Within several days, three com-
rant menu asks. “We cater all events . . . mercials for motor vehicles treated
pick-up or full service.” Just the place to the television audience to an unusual
take her or him. demonstration of truth in advertising.
A newspaper’s television critic wrote: An announcer said 2,000 Dodge vans
“I must confess that I find cooking were for sale, “but they won’t last long.”
shows addictive. There is something He did not state the precise life ex-
magical in the ‘act’ of taking a wide vari- pectancy of each vehicle. Another man,
ety of ingredients and—voilà!—later speaking for Acura, forecast an “old-
pulling from the oven a rabbit that bears fashioned, year-end blowout,” though
a remarkable resemblance to an presumably the tires would hold for
exquisitely broiled fish or a thoroughly most of the year. And a third said,
forbidding dessert.” A broiled rabbit “Chrysler Corporation announces an in-
that resembled a fish and could pass for credible lease opportunity on the
a dessert would be remarkable indeed, Chrysler Concord.” Some commercial
even to a nonaddict. claims are indeed incredible.
What did the Japanese prime minister See also Metaphoric contradiction.
report and why did an American news-
Double negative. 1. ANY, NO,
paper insult him? It ran a four-column
headline: “ ‘Womanizing’ reports dog NOTHING. 2. Carelessness. 3. Un-
Uno.” sound effects.
A news service reported that a five-
inch-long egg, laid by a condor at the 1. ANY, NO, NOTHING
Los Angeles Zoo, “was spotted early In some languages double negatives
Easter Sunday morning”—with colorful are considered proper. For instance, “I
polka dots for the day’s festivities? have no money” in Spanish is Yo no
In reporting on teenage pregnancy in tengo ningún dinero. The literal transla-
Wyoming, a newspaper told of activities tion is “I don’t have no money,” which
of the state’s Commission for Women: in English is considered ungrammatical;
“Conferences like the one in Riverton to make it grammatical, either scrap the
have spawned other action in Lovell, “don’t” or change “no” to any.
Cody, Riverton and Thermopolis.” Was The English-speaking tradition is that
the commission prepared for all that a double negative is vulgar and im-
spawning? proper, unless the speaker wants one
An article by an Alaskan senator negative to cancel the other and thereby
protesting the catching of salmon off produce a positive. A sentence like the
North America by fishermen from the sample above can have only one nega-
- 102 double negative
tive: either before the verb or before its tive, it is significant that he did not use it
object. in his own writing.
Thus a radio host, wanting listeners to See also BUT, 2, 3; NEITHER, 2.
stay tuned, erred by saying, “Don’t go
nowhere,” instead of anywhere. 2. Carelessness
An investigative correspondent was in The double negative is sometimes a
error when he told a television audience result of carelessness or hastiness, hence
that the cause of a plane crash did not understandably more common in speak-
appear to be mechanical; there was “no ing than in writing.
distress call, no ‘mayday,’ no nothing.” A television weatherman said, “I
Two decades earlier, Jimmy Carter had wouldn’t be a bit surprised if we didn’t
made a similar mistake during a debate find some anomalies there.” The literal
with President Ford: meaning of the sentence is that complete
normality (in the weather) would not
If the Arab countries ever again de-
surprise him at all. Probably he meant
clare an embargo . . . I would not
the opposite: “I wouldn’t be a bit sur-
ship . . . [them] anything—no
prised if we found some anomalies
weapons, no spare parts . . . no oil
there,” or “I would be surprised if we
pipe, no nothing.
didn’t find some anomalies there.”
In both instances, the last “no” should This was heard in television coverage
have been scrapped. (Another mistake is of rural fires: “No smoking bans were in
in mood. Either make “declare” de- effect.” It was ambiguous. If the “no”
clared or change “would” to will. See applied to “smoking bans,” the sentence
Subjunctive; Tense, 4C.) Carter’s gram- meant that no bans on smoking were in
mar did not noticeably hurt him; he was effect. If the “no” applied just to “smok-
narrowly elected. Ford’s verbal blunders ing,” there was a “ ‘no-smoking’ ban,”
had been worse. which, logically, would be the opposite
H. L. Mencken wrote: “Like most of a smoking ban. The newscaster prob-
other examples of ‘bad grammar’ en- ably meant to say, “Bans on smoking
countered in American, the compound were in effect,” which would have
negative is of great antiquity and was avoided the double negative of “no” and
once quite respectable.” Chaucer used it “bans.”
freely. It appears in some Shakespeare A university’s journalism dean was
plays. (Romeo and Juliet: “I will not criticized for hiring a prominent person
budge for no man’s pleasure.”) Mencken as a teacher. A newspaper trade magazine
had kind words for it: quoted the dean on his hiring practices:
Obviously, “I won’t take nothing” is We do not pay our outsiders nowhere
stronger than either “I will take noth- near what they are worth and in
ing” or “I won’t take anything.” And somewhat different amounts.
equally without doubt there is a pic-
“Not” and “nowhere” together make a
turesque charm, if not really any extra
double negative. Furthermore, the “not”
vigor in the vulgar American . . .
carries over to “in somewhat different
“She never goes hardly nowhere” [a
amounts,” negating the phrase. Omit-
triple negative] . . . and “Ain’t nobody
ting the “not” (or, better, “do not”) cor-
there. . . .”
rects both problems. Alternatively,
Note that Mencken’s own negative is change “nowhere” to anywhere; and af-
properly singular. Despite his finding of ter “and,” insert we pay them.
strength and charm in the multiple nega- See also NOT, 1G.
- double possessive 103
Double possessive. Joseph Priestley
3. Unsound effects
A newspaper story (about computer was a scientist and the discoverer of oxy-
interviews) carried the headline “I can’t gen. He was also a philosopher, politi-
get no interaction.” Perhaps the writer cian, and theologian, and in the 1760s
of the headline knew better and was try- he wrote The Rudiments of English
ing to achieve some kind of effect, be- Grammar. In clear prose that holds to
sides the effect of making the newspaper this day, he pointed out an accepted
seem illiterate and causing hundreds of anomaly of English usage:
English teachers to grimace in pain.
A two-word sentence fragment with In some cases we use both the genitive
two negatives was put in a column and a [possessive] and the preposition of, as,
book. (The column complained about this book of my friend’s. Sometimes,
the poor quality of television “pool” indeed, this method is quite necessary,
coverage of the U.S. invasion of Panama. in order to distinguish the sense. . . .
The book looked askance at the popular This picture of my friend, and this pic-
use of a word.) ture of my friend’s, suggest very differ-
ent ideas. . . . Where this double
Amateur photographers subbing genitive, as it may be called, is not
for the big guys? Not hardly. necessary to distinguish the sense, and
especially in grave style, it is generally
I’m sure you are (it is, they will, omitted.
etc.). Is the sayer really sure? Not
hardly. The double possessive, also known as
the double genitive, remains idiomatic.
Hardly would have been enough, for in Literally the ’s in a phrase like that cat
such contexts it means probably not. Pre- of his sister’s is redundant, inasmuch as
ceding it with “not” doubled the negative. the of has already indicated possession,
Not all sentences with multiple nega- and a few writers on usage look askance
tives are no good; the present one is on the form. Roy H. Copperud advises
grammatical though graceless. “We are those finding a friend of my uncle neater
not unmindful of your problem, and more logical than a friend of my un-
but . . .” is not so much graceless as cle’s to use the former even though the
heartless. A brave, bleeding athlete re- latter is long-established idiom and not
marks, “It’s nothing,” and his coach re- considered wrong.
sponds correctly, “It’s not ‘nothing.’ ” Nobody minds when the possessive is
And an old song that went “No, no, a a pronoun instead of a noun: friends of
thousand times no!” got the negative mine and a dress of hers. Nobody is
message across effectively. likely to say “friends of me” or “a dress
Even when used correctly, perhaps as a of her.”
device for deliberate understatement, a In writing, (1) an opinion of the doc-
sentence with multiple negatives may not tor and (2) an opinion of the doctor’s
be instantly comprehensible. “I would have two different meanings. First, the
not be unhappy if the people did not en- opinion concerns the doctor; second, the
dorse his leadership” is more clearly ex- opinion is held by the doctor. In speak-
pressed in a positive way. “I would try to ing, the possessive form would be am-
remain cheerful if the people rejected his biguous, “the doctor’s” sounding like
leadership,” or other words to that effect, “the doctors.” Better: an opinion held by
would be easier to grasp. the doctor.
See also NO WAY. In the view of Eric Partridge, scrupu-
- 104 doubling of letters
lous writers avoid that form when the the drama is (a) the art or profession
possessive is a noun, especially a plural dealing with plays, (b) the theater as an
noun; they remember “the very sound institution, or (c) plays collectively. By
rule that a piece of writing should be as metaphoric extension, drama or a drama
clear to a listener as to a reader”; at least can mean either the nature of a play or a
a writer or speaker must be sure that the set of events like a play in action, con-
context makes the reference clear. flict, excitement, or story progression.
Dramatic (adjective) means pertaining
Doubling of letters. See Spelling, 3B. to drama (noun) or having its character-
istics. Dramatically (adverb) means in a
DOWN. See Numbers, 1. dramatic way or from the standpoint of
drama. For example, conflict between
“DOWNPLAY.” See PLAY DOWN characters is a dramatic device; a court
and “DOWNPLAY.” trial sometimes is more dramatic than a
stage play; the show last night was
DRAFT. Draft or draught (British thought-provoking but dramatically in-
spelling) comes from the Old English adequate; he orated and gesticulated
dragan, meaning to draw, pull. When ap- dramatically, like an old-time Shake-
plied to a beverage, draft is the drawing spearean actor.
of liquid from its receptacle, as beer or “Dramatic” verbiage has proliferated
ale from a cask. The beverage is avail- of late. That it does not take a drama
able on draft. critic to find things “dramatic” will be
“GENUINE DRAFT” as seen on beer amply illustrated below. First comes a set
cans and in ads is meaningless. To see a of extracts from a book by a leading
genuine draft, go to your nearest tavern. judge.
By definition, draft beer is not bottled or
canned. The country had changed dramati-
Draft has another connection with cally indeed from the time during the
fluid: Among many other meanings (like Civil War. . . . The income of individ-
an air current, a check for money, mili- ual farmers rose dramatically. . . . The
tary conscription, a preliminary text, stock-market crash . . . dramatically
etc.), it is a swallowing or the portion of slowed down industrial expansion.
liquid swallowed. . . . In the short run the effect of the
change in membership on the Court’s
DRAGGED and “DRUG.” The decisions was immediate, dramatic,
past tense of drag is dragged. A television and predictable. . . . When I
interviewer said two competing presi- moved . . . I was delighted with the
dential candidates went to Dallas, Texas, dramatic change in my view. . . . Fi-
and “drug along a bunch of advisers.” nally, both the commercial activity
His “drug” use was dialectal. and the population of the United
States continued to increase dramati-
DRAMA, DRAMATIC, DRA- cally. [Emphasis is added.]
MATICALLY. 1. “Drama” every-
where. 2. Alternatives. Within eight days, television reported
that a woman’s illness had “dramatically
1. “Drama” everywhere worsened,” that local test scores had
A drama is primarily a stage play, or a “dramatically increased from last year,”
literary composition that tells a story that “a dramatic shift in wind direction”
through dialogue and action. Drama or could imperil aircraft, that prosecutors
- due to 105
in a murder case had “unveiled some language field has dramatically mush-
dramatic photos,” that Miami had “cut roomed.” Would the field be any worse
crime against tourists dramatically,” and off if it just mushroomed?
that people could “dramatically reduce
DROVE. Drove is the past tense of
their risk of heart attacks.” In an ensuing
week, there came television reports that drive (verb, transitive and intransitive).
test scores in the nation’s schools had A drove (noun, from the same source,
“improved dramatically,” that a reser- the Old English drifan, to drive) is a
voir had “dropped dramatically,” that a group of animals being driven as a herd
woman with the AIDS virus who took or flock. Someone probably saw the re-
the drug AZT could “dramatically re- semblance between the moving animals
duce the chances of her baby getting and a moving crowd of people, for at
AIDS,” and that chicken was found to times drove is applied to the latter. Typi-
be “dramatically better than ham- cally the word applies to cattle or sheep.
burger” in leanness. “Mice appear to be flocking out of the
area in droves.” That was heard on a
2. Alternatives news-radio station. To flock is to gather
In most contemporary uses of “dra- or travel in a flock or crowd, so flocking
matic” or “dramatically,” one can either would suffice to get across the idea of
eliminate the word without detriment or multiplicity without “in droves.”
substitute a more accurate description.
“DRUG” and DRAGGED. See
Two lists that follow offer fifty replace-
ments. You may think of more. DRAGGED and “DRUG.”
Adjectives: big, considerable, danger-
DUAL and DUEL. See Homo-
ous, drastic, encouraging, extreme,
great, high, huge, large, marked, mighty, phones.
noteworthy, precipitous, public, radical,
DUE TO. When to use the phrase due
remarkable, serious, sharp, significant,
stark, steep, striking, stunning, substan- to and when not to use it can be confus-
tial, vast. ing, although the publisher who wrote
Adverbs: considerably, dangerously, the sentence below should have known
drastically, encouragingly, extremely, far, better.
greatly, highly, hugely, markedly, might-
ily, much, precipitously, publicly, radi- This price increase has become nec-
cally, remarkably, seriously, sharply, essary due to the new state sales tax
significantly, starkly, steeply, stunningly, on newspapers and the increasing
substantially, vastly. costs associated with producting the
Saying that something is dramatic or IJ.
done dramatically does not make it so. If
it is so, such a label may be superfluous. All grammarians approve of due to
Sometimes the right choice of verb when it means caused by or attributable
makes any allusion to “drama” unneces- to and is helped by a form of the verb to
sary. For instance, “the rate dramatically be: “His back injury was due to a fall
increased” is a cumbersome way of say- from a cliff.”
ing the rate soared. A more precise way However, when due to means because
is to use a number, if it is known: the rate of and follows a clause, it is considered
doubled or increased 69 percent. taboo. “He suffered a back injury due to
These seven words made up a para- a fall from a cliff.” Among acceptable
graph in a newspaper: “The child phrases in this type of sentence are as a
- 106 dum-dum bullet
DUM-DUM BULLET. A newspa-
result of, because of, on account of, and
owing to. per quoted a public official who had re-
The grammarians have never satisfac- turned from the Middle East:
torily explained this rule. (They say that
due is an adjective and should modify a “I saw older men and women who
noun. In the taboo form of sentence, it had been beaten and had suffered
introduces an adverbial phrase, which from dumb-dumb bullets.”
modifies the verb. But owing also is an
adjective and owing to gets their ap- To avoid that dumb-dumb error, realize
proval in the same type of sentence.) that the dum-dum bullet, an outlawed,
Careful writers and speakers generally soft-nosed bullet that expands on im-
accept the rule, whatever its rationality. pact, originated in Dum Dum, India, a
As for the opening quotation: one town near Calcutta. Another spelling of
should expect a publisher to be careful the place is Dumdum and of the bullet is
enough to avoid a “due to” snare (and dumdum, never “dumb-dumb.”
delete an unneeded “t” from producing)
before he publishes a statement explain-
ing why a paper is worth more money.
- E
EACH AND EVERY. See Twins, 1. lows the subject immediately, merely
modifying or explaining it, the verb and
EACH, EACH OF. Each can be ei- any following object are plural. “The
ther an adjective, meaning every (“We boys each own cars.” / “We each should
follow each clue”); or a pronoun, mean- know our cholesterol levels.” (The arti-
ing every single one (“To each his cle beneath the headline did not say to
own”). Either way, singularness is the “love” them.)
essence of each. See also BETWEEN, 2; Nouns, 3;
When the subject of a sentence is or Pronouns, 2.
starts with each, the subject is consid-
EACH OTHER. Although each
ered singular. “Each has a car” or “Each
person has a car.” Note that the verb alone is singular, the phrase each other
(has) is singular too and so is the object (a reciprocal pronoun) is considered plu-
(car). ral. The following sentence, from a large
The same is true when the subject is ad by a government, goes astray in that
each of followed by a plural noun or respect and has four other flaws.
pronoun. Both of the sentences below
are in error. The first was part of a televi- Recently, the British Government
sion commentary; the second formed a which has a similar law [concerning
large newspaper headline. drugs], agreed with the Bahamian
government for the reciprocal en-
Each of these ladies this evening are forcement of forfeiture orders in each
going to be doing such difficult rou- others’ country.
tines.
The last word should be plural: coun-
Each of us should know tries. In addition, the apostrophe goes
and love our cholesterol level before the s in each other’s. (See Punctu-
ation, 1.) “Reciprocal” is redundant; ei-
In the first, change “are” to is and “diffi- ther it or the last four words should be
cult routines” to a difficult routine. In deleted. A comma belongs before
the second, just change “our” to his. An “which.” (See THAT and WHICH.) Fi-
alternative is his or her, which may be nally, the two governments deserve the
impractical for a headline. same kind of G or g.
There is another way: When the sub- Whether each other can represent
ject of a sentence is plural and each fol- more than two persons or things divides
each other 107
- 108 eager
grammarians. Some say to use each visionary (Roosevelt’s own words)
other for two, one another for three would have been more informative than
or more: “Agnes and John love each “effete”; so would ineffective or timid.
other.” / “The three friends visit one an- A review of a joint Russian and Amer-
other’s homes.” H. W. Fowler saw nei- ican art exhibit says, “The American
ther utility nor history on the side of painting, on the contrary, looks effete.
such differentiation. Anyhow the use of It’s so well-made that its life is gone.”
each other for more than two is not com- This time the passage offers a clue. By
mon. Using one another for two is more “effete,” the writer appears to mean life-
common. One another’s is the possessive less in creation, not depleted of life but
form. stillborn.
At times decadent, effeminate, fop-
EAGER. See ANXIOUS. pish, soft, weak, or even elite has been
loosely replaced by effete. Spiro Agnew
EATEN and ATE. See Tense, 5A. used it to describe the press corps. It is
seldom clear exactly what the user has in
ECLECTIC. Variety is the essence of mind.
this adjective. A descendant of the Greek Effete came from the Latin effetus,
eklegein, to select, eclectic means choos- that has produced young (from ex-, out,
ing or chosen from a variety of sources, and fetus, giving birth—the source of the
subjects, methods, points of view, or the English fetus).
like. “He was an eclectic student, with
EFFICACY and EFFICIENCY. See
broad interests.” / “The museum’s col-
lection is eclectic.” Eclectic says nothing Confusing pairs.
about merit or quality and does not
E.G. (for example). See Punctuation,
mean discriminating, as some people
seem to think. 2A.
In a newsletter, the director of an in-
EITHER. 1. As a conjunction. 2.
stitute wrote about a series of educa-
tional programs that “have featured a Other functions. 3. Pronunciation.
variety of eclectic programs. . . .” Either
“a variety of” or “eclectic” should have 1. As a conjunction
been discarded. Either fits four categories. In the sen-
tences below, from two restaurant re-
EFFECT. See AFFECT and EFFECT. views, it is meant as a conjunction, or
connecting word, but it is misused.
EFFETE. Effete (adjective, pro-
nounced like a FEAT) is one of those Dessert is either vanilla ice cream,
useful words that have been devalued by spumoni or a respectable caramel cus-
misuse and rendered often ambiguous. tard for $1.50 more.
Primarily it means no longer able to pro-
duce offspring or fruit. It can also mean . . . Other meals [include] . . . meat-
depleted of vitality, exhausted of vigor. sauced rice and country salads and ei-
An article about Thomas Jefferson ther five-spice chicken, imperial rolls,
says, “Theodore Roosevelt thought he or shish kebobs. . . .
was effete.” The adjoining sentences
(telling of others’ views of Jefferson) As a conjunction, either means one or
shed no light on the writer’s meaning. the other of two possibilities. Each sam-
Other sources suggest that incapable and ple sentence, however, tells of a choice
nguon tai.lieu . vn
