Xem mẫu
- 38 belly
the other: “The ‘night float’ began in Was he really so deep in thought or just
most New York State hospitals as a gru- amused by the thought?
eling rite of passage ended.” Begun In a similar book, another author re-
would be right. (Commas or dashes calls a visit to an oil company’s camp in
should precede it and follow “passage” the Sahara during a choking dust storm.
to set off the explanatory matter. By the
way, “night float” was a thirty-six-hour The Europeans working there asked
shift for new doctors.) whether we would like showers and
then some lunch. Such questions were
BELLY. See STOMACH. almost bemusing after weeks in the
desert.
BEMUSE, BEMUSED. Some writ-
ers confuse “bemuse” with amuse. The Later he describes the privation after
meanings of the two words are not at all weeks of desert travel and adds:
similar now, although they once were.
The -muse part of each can be traced to Then there is a town; and the abun-
the Medieval Latin word for snout, dance of everything is almost bemus-
musum. ing.
Bemuse (verb, transitive) means (1) to
daze or muddle someone, or (2) to cause “Bemusing” fits neither context. Amus-
one to muse or be deep in thought. It ing fits each.
may take the form of bemused (past In the excerpt below, from a financial
tense and past participle) and bemusing newspaper, the meaning is not clear.
(present participle). Examples: “He
blamed the alcohol for bemusing his “You can’t find anyone to bribe
head.” / “Bemused by his equations, the here,” says a bemused American de-
professor paid no heed to the bell.” veloper, Joseph T——, who is negoti-
Amuse (verb, transitive) now means ating to build a hotel on the Red Sea
to entertain or appeal to one’s sense of and apartment blocks in Asmara.
humor. At one time it meant to beguile
or bemuse. The context gives no reason why the de-
An autobiography describes a gen- veloper should be stupefied or en-
eral’s reaction to a barroom brawl. grossed. Was he amused, confused,
surprised—or what?
Gunfighter must have noticed that
BESIDE and BESIDES. See Confus-
several of his officers sported shiners,
bruises, and puffed lips. He said noth- ing pairs.
ing. But I detected on his seamed face
BESIDES and AS WELL AS. See
a bemused smile.
AS, 5.
Could it have been “an amused smile”?
BEST. See AS BEST; BETTER and
Another book of recollections tells of
a motor trip in Africa. To get fuel to BEST (etc.).
cross the Sahara, the author willingly de-
BETTER and BEST, WORSE and
toured for several days.
WORST. The rule is simple, though
I thought, bemused, of the times in often disregarded in conversations and
my pre-Africa life I had fumed and by ring announcers who say “May the
ranted over late planes and traffic best man win”: When the merits of two
jams. things are compared, one thing is better
- between 39
and one is worse (unless they are equal among Canada, Mexico, and the United
in merit). Only when there are three or States,” all three are meeting together.
more items for comparison can one be Similarly, one may have many pieces
the best and another the worst. Thus of cheese to sandwich between many
these sentences, uttered by a political slices of bread. The bread slices are con-
candidate and by a senator (who used to sidered as pairs. The same sandwich
be a journalist) are wrong: principle permits “He paused between
sentences” and “Commercials are
Which of the two candidates for your broadcast between innings.” (But see 2,
nomination is best qualified to be below.)
president of the United States? Between can refer to the combined
possession of two people or other enti-
The policies of the president are the ties. “John and I had fifty dollars be-
best of the two [sets of policies]. tween us.” Use among when speaking of
three or more. A TV newscaster was
Correction: “is better qualified” / “are talking about three baseball-playing
the better of the two.” brothers: “Between them the Alou
See also AS BEST; Comparative and brothers played forty-seven major-league
superlative degrees. seasons.” Change “between” to among.
BETWEEN. 1. AMONG and BE- 2. “BETWEEN EACH” or “EVERY”
TWEEN. 2. “BETWEEN EACH” or Although it is fairly common in collo-
“EVERY.” 3. “BETWEEN . . . OR” or quial use to pair between with “each” or
“TO.” 4. “BETWEEN YOU AND I.” “every,” it is absurd from a logical
standpoint. That such a combination ap-
1. AMONG and BETWEEN pears occasionally in serious literature
In school many of us were taught to does not make it any more sensible. Ex-
distinguish between the prepositions be- amples: “He paused between each sen-
tween and among: The former applies tence” and “Commercials are broadcast
only to two things, the latter to more between every inning.”
than two. That is so in a good many Something cannot be “between” one
cases. “It was a conversation between thing. Between generally applies to two,
Tom and Dick.” / “The two talked only sometimes to more than two. Each and
between themselves.” But “It was a con- every are singular words, meaning one
versation among Tom, Dick, and of a group considered individually. In the
Harry.” Each converser addressed the examples, change each “between” to af-
other two. The Constitution authorizes ter; or follow “each sentence” or “every
Congress “To regulate commerce . . . inning” with and the next; or use plural
among the several States. . . .” forms (see 1, above).
The rule is too sweeping, however.
There are exceptions, and our educators 3. “BETWEEN . . . OR” or “TO”
may have considered them too subtle for When between is followed by two
us. Between applies to three or more specified things, only and can connect
things when the relation is essentially be- them. Sometimes between is combined
tween pairs. For instance: “Conferences with “or,” pitting a dual word and a sin-
are going on between Canada, Mexico, gular word: “It’s a choice between right
and the United States to consider future or wrong.” Right and wrong, or else a
migration.” That means three separate choice of. The words choose, decide, and
two-party conferences are taking place. decision also lead people astray.
But when “A conference is going on From goes with to, just as between
- 40 bevy
goes with and. Sometimes those idioms and adverbs. Some are general words:
are carelessly confused. “Between 10 to bicycle, a pedal vehicle with two wheels;
15 percent of the population is believed bifurcate, to separate into two parts or
to be affected by the disease.” Either branches; bilingual, pertaining to two
change “Between” to From or change languages. Some are technical: bicuspid,
“to” to and. A variation of that error is having two points, and a tooth of that
to use “between” with an en dash: “He sort; bifocal, having two different focal
ruled between 664–600 B.C.” Make it lengths, and a lens ground that way; bi-
“from 664 to 600 B.C.” Merely changing valve, having two hinged shells, and a
the dash to and would correct the gram- mollusk of that sort.
mar but leave the meaning uncertain. The chief problems with bi- lie in des-
(See also Punctuation, 4C.) ignations of frequency. Bimonthly (ad-
jective and adverb) means appearing or
4. “BETWEEN YOU AND I” taking place every two months. A bi-
In speaking confidentially, no one is monthly is a periodical published every
likely to say “between I and you.” The two months. Biweekly means appearing
common version, with the pronouns or taking place every two weeks. A bi-
switched around, is essentially the same weekly is a fortnightly, a periodical pub-
mistake, a form of overrefinement. As lished every two weeks.
the object of a preposition, any personal Semimonthly is twice a month; semi-
pronoun following between must be in weekly, twice a week. At times “bi-”
the objective case: between you and me; words have been used instead.
between him and her; between us and “Loosely,” said The Random House
them. (You can be either subjective or Dictionary, first edition. “Nonstandard”
objective.) See also Prepositions, 1; Pro- was the label in The American Heritage
nouns, 10. Dictionary, first edition. Later editions of
those dictionaries and Webster’s Third
BEVY. A bevy of quail is a hunter’s contain no such labels. By including
term for a flock of those birds. This noun among their definitions of bimonthly and
is also applied to larks, roe deer, and biweekly “twice a month” and “twice a
some other groups. It may once have week” without qualification, they foster
meant a drinking group, after the Old confusion. “The ambiguous usage is con-
French noun bevee, an act of drinking. fusing,” The Oxford English Dictionary
Writers habitually mate bevy with the says. It offers semi-monthly, semi-weekly,
phrase “of beauties” in picture captions etc. (preferring hyphenated forms).
and television continuities pertaining to Biennial (adjective) means taking
displays of young females. In two install- place every two years or lasting two
ments of an entertainment news series, years. Biennially (adverb) is every two
co-hosts (female and male) referred to years. A biennium (noun) is a two-year
“this year’s bevy of beauties” at the Miss period. Twice a year is semiannual(ly) or
Universe pageant and said “James semiyearly. ( The Oxford gives half-
Bond’s back with a bevy of beauties.” yearly.)
Two other bi- words related to year
BI- and SEMI- prefixes. The prefix cause confusion and could well be aban-
bi- indicates two, double, or twice, de- doned: biannual, which is commonly de-
pending on the word it begins. It comes fined as twice a year; and biyearly, which
from the Latin bis, meaning twice, and is is sometimes defined as every two years
used in that very form as a musical in- and sometimes as twice a year (depend-
struction. ing on the dictionary).
Bi- is part of nouns, verbs, adjectives, All this can be perplexing. To make
- billiards and pool 41
sure of being understood, try doing Not a fragment of information would
without the bi- words that pertain to fre- have been lost if he had saved a word
quency, or at least explaining them. (and an unnecessary dash) and written:
While it may seem verbally expensive to “. . . a key tactic . . . is paying off big.”
speak of, say, “the meeting that is held Better yet: “. . . a key tactic . . . is paying
every two years” instead of just “the bi- off.”
ennial [or “biyearly”] meeting,” it The same expression, hyphenated, ap-
avoids misunderstanding. Similarly, a bi- peared in a banner headline about the
weekly or bimonthly does well to ex- success of a young Hollywood per-
plain that it is published “every two former: “Actor’s success now flowing
weeks” or “every two months.” big-time.” The use of the word “flow-
Semi-, as in “the semiannual meet- ing” is understandable in view of the ac-
ing,” should not cause any problem in tor’s then latest film, A River Runs
the context of time. Latin for half, semi- Through It. One might expect the
can mean half (semicircle, semiquaver) stream image to continue; for example,
as well as twice during a given period. “Actor’s success now flowing in
More often it means partly (semiauto- torrent.” To introduce instead that ex-
matic, semiclassical). pression from the vaudeville stage is al-
most to mix metaphors.
BIBLE. See Clichés; COVET; Exple-
BIKE, BIKER. Bike is primarily a col-
tives; Infinitive, 4; -MAN-, MAN;
NONE, 1; NOR, 1; Subjunctive, 2; loquial shortening of bicycle, meaning
SUCH, 2; WHO and WHOM, 2. (noun) the pedal-operated, two-wheeled
vehicle or (verb, intransitive) to ride a bi-
BIG TIME. Big time is a colloquial cycle. Biker is the corresponding term
noun for the highest status in any busi- for bicyclist or bicycler, one who rides a
ness, occupation, or competitive field: bicycle.
“My athletic friend has made the big As a comparable term, motorcycle
time.” The phrase came out of vaude- and motorbike riders have borrowed
ville, where it denoted performances in bike for either of their motor-driven two-
the big cities, which offered relatively wheelers and biker for one who rides it.
high pay for few performances. A problem arises when someone uses
A related adjective, big-time, means bike (noun or verb) or biker without
successful or important or pertaining to making it clear which vehicle is meant.
the big time: “That contractor is a big- A news broadcast told of a gathering
time operator.” of “100,000 bikers,” repeatedly using
In recent years it has become a faddish that word and never once explaining
phrase, used in still another way: as an that they were motorcyclists. Bicyclists
adverb. The lead paragraph of a newspa- may gather in groups too. See NOT TO
per’s main story, about police powers, MENTION for a similar example.
said:
BILLIARDS and POOL. The scut-
As fear of crime continues to grip
tling of a “plan to locate a pool hall” in a
the public mind, there’s new evidence
mostly residential neighborhood was
that a key tactic of the get-tough-on-
summarized in the lead of a newspaper
crime campaign is paying off—big
story. The second paragraph said “the
time.
billiard parlor would have replaced a
What does “time” contribute to the sen- neighborhood restaurant.” Loath to re-
tence, except the superfluous message peat “pool hall,” the reporter chose “bil-
that the writer knows the latest slang? liard parlor” as a synonym.
- 42 billion
Many owners of pool halls or pool- hundred trillion years is not likely to af-
rooms, apparently aware of the seamy fect life on earth to any measurable ex-
reputation of those places, prefer the tent.
terms “billiards” and “billiard parlor,” The earliest use of billion quoted in
even though they may own no billiard The Oxford English Dictionary was by
tables, only pool tables. Both games use John Locke, 1690. The dictionary says
hard balls, rods called cues, and oblong, that billion, trillion, and quadrillion
green-felt-covered tables with raised, were purposely formed in the previous
cushioned edges. But pool usually has century to denote the second, third, and
six pockets and sixteen balls, whereas fourth powers of a million respectively.
billiards—or three-cushion billiards, the French arithmeticians later redefined the
favorite version—has no pockets and words so that billion represented a thou-
three balls. What the industry calls sand million, trillion a thousand thou-
pocket billiards, players call just pool. sand million, and so on. In the
nineteenth century, the United States
BILLION. Billion can be ambiguous, adopted the French system, and in 1948
especially in the United Kingdom. To France adopted the British system. In
Americans, it is a thousand million, or later decades there has been a trend to-
1,000,000,000, or 109. It is the unit that ward use of the U.S. values in Britain, es-
congressmen often toss around when pecially in technical writing.
discussing the federal budget. But a See also NANO- prefix.
British billion is traditionally a million
BIT. See MUCH.
million, or 1,000,000,000,000, or 1012—
what Americans call a trillion. What is
BIZARRE and BAZAAR. See Ho-
called a billion in the United States is a
milliard in the United Kingdom. mophones.
In a book, a cosmologist, physicist,
BLACKMAIL. See Crimes, 2.
and professor of mathematics presents
the theory of inflation in the early uni-
BLAME. 1. Blame ON and blame
verse, “an increase by a factor of at least
a billion billion billion. . . .” Later in the FOR. 2. BLAME or CREDIT?
book he suggests the possibility of the
universe’s “recollapsing in a hundred bil- 1. Blame ON and blame FOR
lion years or so.” The book was pub- The moving of industrial plants to
lished in the United States by an Mexico is “a factor Democrats blame on
American publisher for American read- the nation’s unemployment,” in the
ers, but the author is British and his dis- words of a local television newscaster.
cussion of the future of the universe is He got it backward. Nobody says U.S.
taken from a lecture at the University of unemployment causes plants to move to
Cambridge, England. Unless the book Mexico.
version was edited for American readers, You blame something for an ill. But
they may not be receiving exactly the in- you blame an ill on something, or, as an
tended message. alternative, place the blame for the ill on
Under such confusing circumstances, something. (Something or someone, that
it is well to specify which billion is is.)
meant, for example “a hundred billion Thus, “The moving of plants to Mex-
(U.K.) years . . .” or “1.7 billion (U.S.) ico is a factor Democrats blame for
sales.” Fortunately the particular exam- the nation’s unemployment.” Or they
ple of ambiguity is not critical; a confu- “blame the nation’s unemployment
sion between a hundred billion and a in part on the moving of plants”;
- bloc and block 43
or they “place some blame for the na- seen anything like the current blitz-
tion’s unemployment on the moving of krieg against cigarettes and people
plants. . . . ” (Changing “the nation’s un- who smoke them.
employment” to unemployment in the
United States would clarify the identity She was grammatically correct but factu-
of the nation.) ally incorrect. The story described sev-
A few critics do not want the verb eral, separate antismoking actions that
blame to be followed by on. They com- had taken place within several weeks:
plain that a construction like “He enactment of laws by states and cities,
blames the disease on an insect” mis- bans by restaurant chains, and federal
places the blame. They would approve measures. The “blitzkrieg” later became
of “blames the insect for . . .” or “puts a mere “assault” and still later just a
[or “places”] the blame for the disease “movement” that “appears to have
on. . . .” Only 18 percent of the usage gathered momentum in recent weeks.”
panel of The American Heritage Dictio- Furthermore, “it has been several years
nary objected to the blame . . . on con- in the making and is the result of a com-
struction. It is doubtful that anyone plex set of pressures and events.” So it
would misunderstand a sentence like could not veritably be described as a
“Don’t blame it on me.” lightning war, however metaphorically.
BLOC and BLOCK. A book dealing
2. BLAME or CREDIT?
To blame is to place responsibility for with Britain’s acquisition of destroyers
a fault or a mistake, not for something from the United States in 1940 quotes
good or laudable. This was said on a the minutes of Churchill’s war cabinet in
medical talk show: this way:
Asian women have the lowest rate of It might well prove to be the first
cancer in the world and we have step in constituting an Anglo-Saxon
blamed it on their lower fat consump- block or indeed a decisive point in
tion. history.
Change “blamed it on” to credited it to Did those minutes (which, presumably,
or attributed it to. indirectly quoted Prime Minister
See also CREDIT; THANK, THANKS. Churchill) actually read “Anglo-Saxon
block”? Bloc was then and is now the
BLITZKRIEG. Blitzkrieg is a Ger- normal spelling of the word in the sense
man word adopted by English. It means of a group of nations, parties, legislators,
lightning war, from blitz, meaning light- or individuals of different loyalties allied
ning, and krieg, meaning war. It was in a common cause. In politics of conti-
used by Hitler to describe a sudden, mas- nental Europe, a bloc is a group of polit-
sive attack, designed to conquer a coun- ical parties that support the ruling
try swiftly. It can also denote a sudden, government.
swift, massive attack of a nonmilitary The k and no-k versions of the word
nature. are used interchangeably in the phrase
Seeking an exciting noun, a writer bloc vote or block vote. It has two mean-
chose blitzkrieg for a story in a ings: (1) the vote of a substantial number
metropolitan newspaper. Was she right? of people voting as a group; (2) a
method of voting at a convention or con-
But in his 18 years of defending the ference in which a delegate’s vote is
industry, Walker Merryman has never weighted according to the number of
- 44 blond and blonde
members he represents. In dozens of [A doctor who saw someone driving
other senses (as noun and verb), the while reading:] Does that blow your
word is spelled only block. mind? It certainly blows my mind.
BLOND and BLONDE. Yellowish, Minds are not blown. The expression is
golden, or flaxen hair is blond (adjective) overdue for retirement.
when it is used in a general sense or per- Substitute a verb like amaze(s), as-
tains to a male, blonde (adjective) when tound(s), or overwhelm(s) (you, me, etc.)
it pertains to a female. A man or boy or, in the example below, an adjective
with blond hair is a blond (noun); a like amazing, astounding, or over-
woman or girl with blonde hair is a whelming.
blonde (noun).
Among four people advertising in the [An astronomer, on the process of hu-
“Personals” one day for companions of mans’ acquiring extraterrestrial
opposite sex, two men identified them- atoms:] I find the process completely
selves as mind-blowing.
40, 6′1″, blonde hair, blue eyed, slen-
BOIL, BOILED. In dealing with
der. . . .
eggs, food writers customarily avoid
. . . Tall, trim, attractive blonde, 32. hard-boiled or soft-boiled, believing that
we boil just the water and “cook” the
The other two were women who identi- eggs. If the rest of us have any qualms
fied themselves as about eggs, they are more likely to con-
cern dietary usage than English usage.
SWF, 26 / Slim, blue-eyed blond. . . . Hard-boiled egg is a common phrase,
which gave rise to the colloquial adjec-
Petite blond, big brown eyes, 40s. . . . tive hard-boiled, meaning tough and cal-
lous, applied to a person.
Each of the four used the wrong gender. A leading cookbook gives instructions
Apropos to the genders of hair words: for cooking “Soft-Cooked Eggs” and
brown hair is brunet (adjective) in a gen- “Medium-Soft-Cooked Eggs” and
eral sense or pertaining to a male, “Hard-Cooked Eggs.” But it does not
brunette (adjective) pertaining to a fe- avoid boiled beef, boiled potatoes, and
male. A male with brunet hair is a brunet New England boiled dinner. “Cooked”
(noun); a female with brunette hair is a is less informative. The verb cook in-
brunette (noun). cludes all methods of preparing food for
As adjectives, blond and brunet are eating by the application of heat.
often used for females. Water will boil (verb, intransitive) at
212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 degrees
“BLOW YOUR MIND.” This ex- centigrade; that is, it will reach an agi-
pression is a relic of the hippie era. Re- tated, bubbling state in which it vapor-
cent examples follow. izes. A person is said to boil when
greatly excited. And to boil (verb, transi-
[A promotion for a TV drama:] Their tive) a liquid is to heat it to the boiling
dreams will blow your mind. point.
One can also boil a solid: subject it to
[A student suffering a disease:] It still the heat of a boiling liquid. That has
kind of blows my mind. been a definition of the word since the
- both 45
Middle Ages. In the fourteenth century, probably just baby Blythe before being
Chaucer wrote in the prologue to The christened William Jefferson. An infant
Canterbury Tales: “A Cook they at birth normally has only a surname.
hadde . . . To boille the chiknes [chick- See also NEE.
ens] with the marybones [marrow
BOTH. 1. BOTH . . . AND. 2. BOTH
bones]. . . .”
Thinking of all those victuals, dare we with words of togetherness. 3. Other
consider the unappetizing sense of boil principles.
(noun) as a skin infection?
1. BOTH . . . AND
BORE, BORNE, and BORN. Two Sentences that contain both with and
erroneous substitutes for borne ap- are not always constructed as carefully,
peared in two issues of a newspaper. neatly, and logically as they should be.
For instance, the editor of a local weekly
The 40-year-old Cambodian wrote:
woman . . . has bore a child and
lived for 10 years here in a thatched We recently added Elizabeth P——
hut. . . . to our pool of critics—both because
we like her writing and her perspec-
“Has bore” is wrong. Make it “has tive.
borne.” Borne is a past participle of the
verb bear. The past tense is bore. To use That is illogical and ungrammatical.
bore in that sample sentence, relocate Following the “both” there is a clause:
“has” in this way: “. . . bore a child and “because we like her writing.” One
has lived for 10 years here in a thatched should expect to find a comparable
hut. . . .” clause after the “and,” for example: “be-
cause we agree with her perspective.” In-
Asked whether the building had stead only the phrase “her perspective”
ever born any nameplate, Mr. For- appears.
manek replied, “No, the secret police The sentence could be corrected also
have always been very modest.” by relocating the “both,” as follows:
“because we like both her writing and
In the second sample, “born” should be her perspective.”
borne. Born also is a past participle of The main point is that when both is
the verb bear but is used only in the combined with and (forming a pair of
sense of given birth and only passively; correlative conjunctions), what follows
e.g., “She was born abroad.” one must match grammatically what fol-
A little-used noun that sounds the lows the other. If a clause follows the
same is bourn, spelled also bourne. It is both, a similar clause must follow the
(1) a brook or small stream; (2) a bound- and. A phrase must be paralleled by a
ary, destination, or realm, used in po- similar phrase, a verb by a verb, a noun
etry: “The undiscover’d country from by a noun. This sentence, from a news
whose bourn No traveller returns”— story, falls short:
Shakespeare, Hamlet.
Mr. Wan is believed to be caught in
BORN with name. An almanac says a difficult position by the power strug-
“William J. Clinton was born William gle in China. For he is both a close
Jefferson Blythe III in Hope, Ark., on friend of Mr. Deng—sometimes serv-
August 19, 1946.” Not exactly. He was ing as Mr. Deng’s bridge partner—and
- 46 bough and bow
is a leading exponent of China’s “both the girls” to “both of the girls” in
changes in recent years. formal usage. But “both the girls” might
bring to mind “and the boys,” whereas
Omit either the third “is” or the “both.” “both of the girls” is unambiguous.
2. BOTH with words of togetherness B. Possessive constructions
Both, adjective or pronoun, means the Whether both can go with a posses-
one and the other. For instance (as adjec- sive pronoun gets a yes and a no. One
tive), “Both buses go downtown,” or (as authority accepts “both our fathers” (re-
pronoun) “Both go downtown.” ferring to two fathers). Another dislikes
Both indicates that an activity or state “both their mothers,” preferring “the
that could apply to only one (thing or mothers of both”; but the former seems
person) applies to two. Therefore both to be an established construction: “a
should usually not go with any descrip- plague on both your houses.”
tive word or phrase or any verb that ap- When what is possessed is singular,
plies only to two or more. Two such there is no such disagreement. Of both is
words are alike and same. One cannot often necessary. Either of these will do:
be alike, and one cannot be the same. In “It is the belief of both” or “It is both
“Both dogs look alike,” change “Both” men’s belief.” These are wrong: “both’s
to The. In “The books are both the belief” / “both their belief” / “both of
same,” delete “both.” their belief.”
Words of that sort include agree, be-
tween, equal(ly), joint(ly), meet, and to- C. Replacing EACH; errors in number
gether; phrases include along with, as In “Both praised the other,” change
well as, combined with, each other, and “Both” to Each. An alternative wording
to have in common. It takes two or more is “They praised each other.”
to be equal, to be together, and so on. “I see a bus stop on both sides of the
“Both” does not belong in “The street” erroneously places one stop on
brothers have both been united.” In two sides. Either change “a bus stop” to
“Both agreed on the wording of the con- bus stops or change “both sides” to each
tract,” they should replace “Both.” In side.
“I did both my work in addition to his,”
change “in addition to” to and. Al- D. THE with BOTH
though “both” could be omitted too, it Some authorities object to the before
is useful for emphasis. both. It is at least unnecessary in “She
A federal cabinet officer spoke of pay- scorns the both of them” and strained in
ments to “both HMOs as well as skilled “The both men were disappointed.” In
nursing facilities.” Either do without each instance, either omit “the” or
“both” or change “as well as” to and. change “both” to two.
3. Other principles E. Two only
Both applies only to two things, ac-
A. BOTH with OF tions, or qualities, not to three or more.
Both often goes with of when a pro- In the sentence “He is both tall, dark,
noun follows: “Give me both of them.” and handsome,” leave out “both.”
You would not say “Give me both
BOUGH and BOW. See Homo-
them.” But “The referee penalized both
them and us” is correct. phones.
Otherwise, of is generally optional. A
Brackets. See Punctuation, 7.
dictionary prefers either “both girls” or
- brutalize 47
BRAKE and BREAK. See Homo- from the speaker or writer, or other
phones. movement that is not toward him.
It was announced on the radio that a
BRANDISH. To brandish an object police bomb squad had picked up a sus-
is, strictly, to wave or shake it menac- picious device and “they’re getting ready
ingly or defiantly. Did these four as- to bring it out of the building.” Better:
sailants (described by four journalists) take it out. The movement was not nec-
really do that? essarily toward the speaker; and anyway,
in the sense of physical removal, take out
A convicted murderer used a hid- is idiomatic.
den pistol to hijack an airliner . . .
BROADSIDE.
brandishing it when he left the plane’s
rest room. . . .
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo.—A Union
. . . They were surprised by a Pacific train slammed broadside Sun-
man . . . brandishing a .25-caliber day into a station wagon driven into
handgun. the path of the 73-car train, cutting
the automobile in half. . . .
. . . Mrs. B—— . . . brandished a
10-inch knife in her right hand. The train probably did not slam “broad-
side” into the station wagon. Unless it
. . . Officers said he appeared leaves its track, a train is not likely to hit
drunk and brandished a shotgun at anything “broadside.”
two patrolmen and his daughter. Broadside (when used as an adverb,
as it is used above) means with a broad
On weighing the likelihood of such an side facing a given object; that is, a
abundance of weapon-wavers as the broad side of whatever is performing the
public press depicts, we can bet that re- action. If an automobile skids sideway
porters often choose brandish when they on an icy street and hits a parked truck
mean hold, wield, or point. (any part of the truck), we can say that
the car hit the truck broadside.
BREADTH and BREATH. See A newspaper turned the word into a
Homophones. hyphenated verb of uncertain meaning:
BREAK and BRAKE. See Homo- . . . His wife, on her usual biking
phones. route, was broad-sided only a few
blocks from their Twin Peaks home
BREAKFAST (verb). See DINE. by a drowsy 20-year-old running a
stop sign.
BREATH and BREATHE. See
Confusing pairs. Nothing was said about a motor vehicle.
Maybe the 20-year-old was running.
BRING and TAKE. “Please take this
BROKE and BROKEN. See Tense,
money and claim check to Tom’s Repair
Shop and bring me my lamp.” In the 5A.
sense of physical movement, illustrated
BRUTALIZE. The primary meaning
by that sentence, the verb bring indicates
movement toward the speaker or writer, of brutalize is to make (a person or ani-
or toward a place associated with him; mal) brutal or like a brute, an animal.
the verb take indicates movement away That meaning of the verb (transitive),
- 48 buck naked
from about 1700, is particularly useful, The verb or adjective may be used fig-
for it is not duplicated by any other sin- uratively or poetically (“The child’s
gle word. artistic talent burgeoned in kinder-
Another sense of brutalize (transitive), garten”) as long as it refers to that which
from the latter 1800s and lately popular, is newly emerging. Too often burgeon or
is to treat (one) like a brute or with bru- burgeoning is used loosely instead of in-
tality. That use tends to render the word crease or increasing, expand or expand-
ambiguous. An article said the prison ing, or any of numerous synonyms.
system “brutalizes inmates.” Does the These two passages (from a syndicated
system make inmates brutal or treat column and an editorial respectively) il-
them brutally? lustrate the loose use:
Even when not ambiguous, the word
is apt to serve nowadays as a fuzzy sub- The congressional flag service
stitute for more informative verbs, such sprouted in 1937. . . . By 1955 the de-
as batter, beat, club, kick, mug, pommel, mand was so heavy that there was a
punch, rape, torture, or whip. Or it be- three-year waiting list. This prompted
comes a fashionable replacement for Congress to establish a more elabo-
various idioms: An article said “a group rate system to meet the burgeoning
of them brutalized [attacked?] the demand.
woman jogging through the park.” A
movie reviewer commented on TV, The burgeoning demand for physi-
“This monster feels himself like a brutal- cian services is reflected in a new
ized [an abused?] child.” study. . . .
A nearly obsolete sense of the verb
(intransitive) is to live or become like a Strictly speaking, if the flag service
brute. “sprouted” in 1937, that is when the de-
mand for flags burgeoned; and the de-
BUCK NAKED. See ON, 3. mand for physician services probably
burgeoned thousands of years ago.
BUCOLIC. Bucolic (adjective) means The next two sentences (from news
rural, pastoral, pertaining to the coun- stories) are ambiguous:
tryside. Therefore it was redundant for
the narrator of a documentary on rail- . . . The legislation would authorize
road travel to say, “As the train nears spending more than $1.5 billion . . . to
Portland, the bucolic countryside gives provide birth control information in
way to signs of civilization.” Either omit an effort to slow the demand for fossil
“bucolic” or change “countryside” to a fuels in burgeoning nations.
word like scenery.
See also IDYLLIC. Hungary is growing adept at focus-
ing world attention on its burgeoning
Bullet. See DUM-DUM BULLET; Se- refugees.
ries errors, 5.
“Burgeoning” could be interpreted ei-
BURGEON, BURGEONING. To ther in the loose way to mean expanding
burgeon is to put forth new buds, leaves, or in a stricter way to mean newly
blossoms, etc.; or to begin to grow. Bur- emerging. The latter sentence is doubly
geoning, used as an adjective (“the bur- troublesome: People do not “burgeon,”
geoning tree”) means budding or except perhaps at birth.
sprouting or putting forth new buds,
BURGLARY. See Crimes, 3.
leaves, blossoms, etc.
- but 49
BUT. 1. BUT or AND? 2. “BUT When a phrase such as “no question
THAT”; “BUT WHAT.” 3. Further dou- but that” or “no doubt but that” is used
ble negatives. 4. Question of pronouns. in place of no question that or no doubt
5. With “HOWEVER” etc. 6. With that, “but” is at best unnecessary. At
NOT. worst, “but” produces a double nega-
tive, thereby reversing the meaning of
1. BUT or AND? the sentence. On a television talk show, a
But (as a conjunction) introduces a politician said:
contrast. Something that was just said
will be contradicted or an exception to it There is no question but that we
will be given. The “but” is unwarranted are in serious economic trouble in this
in this headline bank: country.
Labor got little from Clinton and De- But can mean except, other than. So if
mos, but things look worse now there is no question “but” that we are in
serious economic trouble, one can say
Where is the contrast? Let us assume with logic that the only question is
that labor had got much, instead of “lit- whether we are in serious economic trou-
tle.” A but would have been called for. ble. Omitting “but” corrects the sample
As it stands, what follows the “but” is sentence: “There is no question that we
not very different from what precedes it. are in serious economic trouble. . . .”
Thus the conjunction needed is and. Al- “But what” does not improve on “but
ternatively, replace the comma and that.” A member of the press said, in a
“but” with a semicolon: “Demos; forum on television:
things.”
Similarly, “but” should be and in this I don’t think there’s any doubt but
sentence from television news. The part what Congress will permit the aid to
after the “but” offers no contrast, just continue.
more of the same.
The speaker had no doubt that Congress
Hong Kong is already one of the would approve the aid. Such replace-
most crowded places on the planet, ment of that with “but what” is unac-
but the population is expected to dou- ceptable to most authorities (even to
ble. . . . some who condone “but that”).
See also THAT, 3.
The opposite error, using “and” in-
stead of but, comes from a television in- 3. Further double negatives
terview with a woman in public life. As a But (as an adverb) means only, no
teacher, she taught girls “never to raise more than. A negative should not pre-
their hands and interrupt.” cede but, used in that sense.
It seems to mean that she taught them In both of these sentences, the
to be quiescent. “And” implies more of “wasn’t” or “won’t” plus the “but”
what precedes, carrying the negative amounts to a double negative: “The
force of “never” to “interrupt.” How- child wasn’t but five years old.” / “We
ever, the context indicates that what she won’t have but a day to spend in the
taught them was really the reverse: city.” If the intended meanings are that
“never to raise their hands but to inter- the child’s age was only five and we can
rupt.” spend only a day in the city, change the
sentences to “The child was but . . .”
2. “BUT THAT”; “BUT WHAT” and “We will have but. . . .”
- 50 but
This sentence is fairly clear: “We can like this: “But we must look ahead to the
but hope that peace will come soon.” It future, however.”
suggests that we can do no more than “But . . . however” is redundant. Se-
hope. This one is ambiguous: “We can- lect one or the other.
not but hope that peace will come
soon.” Is it intended to mean the same as 6. With NOT
the other sentence—in which case the “But” is mistakenly used in place of as
“-not” is wrong—or does it mean that in an essay: “He was not so much a
just hoping is inadequate? comic actor . . . but a real comedian.”
See also Double negative. What we see is not so much a contrast as
a comparison.
4. Question of pronouns “But” should be dropped from this
A tricky question of pronouns arises sentence: “It is not an evergreen . . . ; but
when but is used to mean except. Do we its leaves fall in the autumn. . . .” The
say that “everyone attended class but statements are compatible, not contrast-
she” or “but her”? Authorities differ. ing. This is a proper but sentence: “It is
(Some consider but a preposition, to be not an evergreen but a deciduous tree.”
followed by a pronoun in the objective Another defective form goes like this:
case. Others consider but a conjunction “They did not get as far as the city but its
that precedes an elliptical clause—e.g., suburbs.” It is defective because the im-
“she did not”—and calls for a pronoun plied clause that follows but lacks the
in the subjective case.) service of a verb. The only verb in the
A working rule is to make the pro- sentence is “did not get,” which does not
noun I, we, she, he, or they (subjective apply to “its suburbs.” The simplest cor-
case) before the verb; but make it me, us, rection is to insert a verb after but: “but
her, him, or them (objective case) after reached its suburbs.”
the verb. Thus “Everyone but she at- This similarly flawed sentence may be
tended,” however “Everyone attended corrected in two ways: “We have not
but her.” seen the document but the news.” Either
place “not” after “seen” or follow the
5. With “HOWEVER” etc. but with a verb: “but have seen the
But can be the equivalent of however, news.” It can be argued that the original
nevertheless, and yet. Normally none of sentences are clear enough. Nevertheless,
those words should go with but. Some- adding balance and logic can strengthen
times carelessness produces a sentence them. See AS, 4, for another illustration.
- C
CAME. See COME and CAME; Month” Inside Wire Repair Plan.
COME and GO.
It is a formal list, calling for consistency
CAN and MAY. The traditional dif- and correctness. Change “can” to may
ference between the two verbs is that in b and c.
can pertains to ability, may to permis- See also MAY and MIGHT.
sion. Thus, “Can you lift this barbell?”
CANNON and CANON. See Ho-
asks whether one is physically able to do
it. “May I speak?” asks permission; ob- mophones.
viously anyone orally asking that ques-
CANVAS and CANVASS. See Ho-
tion can speak. “You may kiss the
bride” gives permission; plainly the mophones.
bridegroom can do it.
CAPITAL and CAPITOL. An arti-
In informal conversation, can is often
used in place of may, particularly in neg- cle called Katmandu “the capitol of
ative questions or statements. “Why Nepal.” Make it capital, not “capitol.”
can’t I speak?” / “You can’t” or “You The Capitol is the building in which
cannot.” When a customer asks a store- the Congress of the United States meets.
keeper, “Can I see that watch?” the lat- A comparable building in which a state
ter would do well to say, legislature meets is a capitol.
“Certainly”—not “You can, if you have A capital is a city or town that serves
eyesight.” as the official seat of government of a
The writer of “Repair Information” country, state, or province. A capital, or
in a telephone directory seemed bewil- capital letter, is a large letter like A, B, or
dered by the two words, using each C, used to start sentences and proper
twice: names. Capital (with no article) is a
noun denoting assets, investment
If you have a problem with your in- money, wealth, or those possessing
side wiring, you have several repair them; and capital is also an adjective
options: pertaining to those things or meaning fa-
a. You may do the work yourself. tal, first-rate, or foremost.
b. You can hire someone to do it. Will this help? Only one building in
c. You can hire us to repair your the United States is the Capitol and only
inside wiring. . . . one building in each state is a capitol—
d. You may subscribe to our “Per- with o in the third syllable. The word for
capital and capitol 51
- 52 capitalization
an administering city and assets and all erned,—That whenever any Form of
the rest is capital—with a in the third syl- Government becomes destructive of
lable. these ends, it is the Right of the
Both words originated in caput, Latin People . . . to institute new Govern-
for head. The ancient temple of Jupiter ment . . . to effect their Safety and
on the Capitoline Hill in Rome was the Happiness.
original Capitol.
Some current principles of capitaliza-
Capitalization. When it does not ap- tion follow.
ply to investment and the financial kind 1. Beginning of a sentence. The first
of capital, the term capitalization con- letter of every sentence starts with a cap-
cerns the use of capital letters in writing ital. So does a sentence fragment that
and printing. stands alone. “Her answer was brief.
Which words start with capitals (up- ‘Yes.’ ”
per-case letters) and which start with 2. Colon. A sentence fragment follow-
small letters (lower-case letters) has been ing a colon is not usually capitalized:
decided by custom in most instances, al- “I’m eating only three times a day:
though differences on many points exist. morning, noon, and night.” Whether to
Questions can often be resolved by a dic- capitalize a complete sentence after a
tionary. (But some dictionaries are not colon is up to each writer or publication.
helpful. The otherwise authoritative Ox- 3. Days, times of the year. Days,
ford English Dictionary capitalizes all months, and holidays are capitalized:
entries. Webster’s Third capitalizes al- Thursday, November, Thanksgiving.
most none, running such entries as Seasons are usually not: winter, summer.
“kansas city” and “saint patrick’s day” 4. Derivatives of names. Most adjec-
while noting that they are “usu cap”; tives derived from people’s names or
when are they not? The capitalization other proper nouns are capitalized: Eu-
scheme for entry titles in our book is de- clidean geometry, Georgian architecture,
scribed under General Topics, near the Shakespearean plays, Machiavellian
front.) ethics, Roman numerals. Many are not:
Sometimes one’s personal preference pasteurized milk, roman type, italic type,
decides, although in the interest of read- french fries, venetian blinds.
ers, it ought not to be followed to an ex- 5. Heavenly bodies. They are usually
treme. At one extreme is the shunning of capital: Saturn, Milky Way, the star Sir-
all capitals, a quirk of two literary per- ius. The Earth and the Sun may be capi-
sonages of the past; at another is the ar- tal in the context of astronomy, small in
bitrary capitalization of words for general contexts: the greatest show on
emphasis, which was common centuries earth; soaking up the sun.
back. A condensed excerpt from the 6. Historical events and eras. They are
Declaration of Independence follows. often capitalized: The Industrial Revolu-
The first letter of every noun deemed im- tion. World War II. But there is disagree-
portant is a capital. ment; it is “the battle of Hastings” in
one work, “The Battle of Hastings” in
. . . All men are created equal . . . with another.
certain unalienable Rights, that 7. Initialisms and acronyms. Most ini-
among these are Life, Liberty and the tialisms and acronyms, such as M.D.
pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure and AIDS, are all capitals. Doctor of phi-
these rights, Governments are insti- losophy becomes Ph.D. Abbreviations,
tuted among Men, deriving their just like com. for committee and secry. for
powers from the consent of the gov- secretary, do not need capitalizing.
- careen and career 53
8. Names. Capitalize the name of a Lord—is always capitalized. A deity in a
person, city, state, country, business, or- general sense—the Roman god of war—
ganization, religion, language, national- is not. Sacred terms in any religion are
ity, specific institution, trademark, or capitalized. Modern Bibles do not capi-
government body: John Brown, Atlanta, talize he and his when referring to God.
South Dakota, Bank of America, Girl The adjective referring to the Bible may
Scouts of the U.S.A., Bulgarian, Purdue be either Biblical or biblical.
University, Pepsi-Cola, the Supreme 13. Sentence within a sentence. A sen-
Court. Institutions or groups referred to tence enclosed in parentheses or dashes
in a general sense are not usually capital- within another sentence is commonly
ized: the medical profession, the middle uncapitalized: “The accusations (remem-
class. ber that he denied them all) were exten-
9. Personification. In poetic usage, sive and damaging.” Whether to
common words put in human terms are capitalize a question within a sentence is
capitalized: “the lute of Hope . . . the up to the writer: “I thought, Why am I
voice of Love . . . the wand of Power.” here?” / “I thought, why am I here?”
10. Press differences. Some newspa- 14. Titles. In the titles of books, shows,
pers will not capitalize the categorical works of art, and so on, generally all
part of names; they will write, for in- words are capitalized except articles (a,
stance, “Elm street” and “Washington an, the), some conjunctions such as and
school.” The press has been getting away and short prepositions such as in and of.
from that “down style.” Styles of head- A small word is capitalized too when it is
lines vary. Some are like titles, the initial the first word of the title: Riders of the
letter of each word capitalized (“Cops Purple Sage but The Outline of History
Catch Robbers”); others are like ordinary and A Little Night Music.
sentences (“Cops catch robbers”); a few Official titles are capitalized before a
are all capitals (“COPS CATCH ROB- name (Secretary of State Robert Smith)
BERS”). The Associated Press and many but not after a name (Robert Smith, sec-
papers following its style do not capital- retary of state). See also 10.
ize president unless it precedes a name. 15. Two words always capitalized.
The New York Times always refers to the The words I and O (without an h, as in
U.S. chief executive as President. “O God”) are always capitalized.
11. Quotations. A quotation within a 16. Verse. Traditional verse capitalizes
sentence typically starts with a capital the first word of every line: “We whirl,
when the quotation is set off by some singing loud, round the gathering
introductory words: “Emerson said, sphere, / Till the trees, and the beasts,
‘Life is a series of surprises.’ ” When the and the clouds appear / From its chaos
quotation blends with the rest of the sen- made calm by love, not fear.”
tence, some authorities start the quota-
CARDINAL NUMBERS. See Num-
tion with a small letter: “Emerson said
that ‘life. . . .’” Others insist on a capital bers, 11.
if the original text began with a capital:
CAREEN and CAREER. Careen
“Emerson said that ‘Life. . . .’ ” All agree
that a fragment of the original after the has been misused so often, confused
beginning needs no capital when with career, that the misusage has largely
blended with the rest of the sentence: taken over. Mark a loss for the language.
“Emerson called life ‘a series of sur- To careen (verb, intransitive) is to tilt
prises.’ ” or lean to one side, or to toss from side
12. Sacred names. The name of God to side, or to turn a ship on its side in dry
in all its forms—Allah, Jehovah, the dock. It can also mean (verb, transitive)
- 54 case of letters
Case of letters. See Capitalization; I
to cause to tilt or tip, or to turn (a ship)
on one side. It originates in the Latin ca- and i; Pronouns, 10A (end).
rina, a ship’s keel.
Case of pronoun. See Pronouns, 10;
To career (verb, intransitive) is to rush
or move at high speed, perhaps wildly. In WHO and WHOM, 1.
a description of a market scene in Niger,
CAUGHT and CAUGHT UP. For
a book of true adventure contains an ex-
ample of the strict use of career: aeons, insects have been getting caught
in webs. All of us have been caught in
A man trying out a camel careered out the rain and caught in traffic.
of control, much to the amusement of Not long ago it became popular to en-
the crowd. cumber that simple verb with a superflu-
ous adverb. A network anchorman and
The word is no longer used often. We two local radio broadcasters provide the
are more likely to hear something like examples: “What happens when the tele-
this on our television sets: phone company gets caught up in its
own web?” / “They got caught up in yes-
Cable Car Thirteen careened almost terday’s strong earthquake.” / “In your
out of control down one of the steep- case, you’ll be going early, so you won’t
est hills in San Francisco. be caught up in the 8:30 dinner crush.”
To catch up has long meant to come
Or this, broadcast by a competing sta- from behind through speed or effort:
tion: “The Braves were losing to the Twins by
two runs but caught up in the ninth in-
. . . Car Number Thirteen went ca- ning.”
reening down the Hyde Street hill. Another meaning of caught up, used
only in the passive, adds the implication
In newspapers, this is what we will read of gradualness or unwittingness to
ad infinitum: caught: “Many who came to listen to the
speech were caught up in the mob hyste-
. . . The car . . . hit another automo- ria.” / “She did not intend to abandon
bile and careened into Biscoe. New York but was caught up in the
glamour of Hollywood.” That adapta-
. . . He and his family were injured as tion of the phrase is useful.
the car careened out of control in the In the contexts of the broadcast sen-
same village. tences, however, “up” contributes noth-
ing. All it tells us is that the speakers are
Apart from cars: an editorial warned caught in the web of a fad.
of “careening” comets; TV news de- See also UP.
scribed roller-coaster fans who “careen
CAUSATIVE, CAUSE. See FAC-
the curves”; and in press items, bandits
“careened” from a crime scene and a TOR, 1.
senator “careened around the world.”
CELEBRANT and CELEBRA-
But The New York Times used the au-
TOR. See Confusing pairs.
thentic word in a story about new legs
for war veterans:
CELEBRATED. Both are well-
Within seconds, the two men were known cases, famous cases, some may
skipping, lurching, careering forward. say infamous or notorious cases, but is
... either a “celebrated” case? A network
- chafe and chaff 55
anchor man reported during television have censored news stories at battle
coverage of a hearing for O. J. Simpson fronts, studying them and cutting out or
that a limousine driver “found himself in blacking out whatever they do not want
the most celebrated murder case of our to be made public. Such activity is cen-
time.” And a prominent daily newspaper sorship. Banning a work as a whole or
reported: refusing to sponsor something is not
truly “censoring” or “censorship,” al-
Two years and three months after it though such designations are often
began, the celebrated McMartin bandied about.
preschool child molesting case is tee- To censure someone is to reprimand
tering on the brink of mistrial. or express strong disapproval of him,
particularly in an open or formal man-
Celebrated suits a person or thing that ner by a person or body in authority. For
has been publicly honored or praised. It example, the U.S. Senate has censured
comes, of course, from celebrate, one of several members for misbehavior.
whose meanings is to honor or praise The words get mixed up. While ex-
someone or something publicly. Who pressing distaste for a rap act that
would want to celebrate a murder case was being banned as obscene, a TV pan-
or a “child molesting case”? elist asked, “Should it actually be cen-
In describing a newly published set of sured?” He probably meant censored,
cards, a writer for a suburban weekly although that word would be question-
mischose the first word in this sentence: able too.
On another TV panel show, the mod-
Celebrated killers like cannibal Jeffrey erator reported that a baseball club
Dahmer, Charles Manson, Vietnam owner was “reprimanded and censored
War criminal Lt. William Calley (con- in the strongest terms” for racial slurs.
victed of killing 22 Vietnamese in the Doubtless he meant censured.
Mai Lai [My Lai] massacre) and Bon- A supporter of a senator charged with
nie and Clyde all appear amid the sexual harassment said of his private
blood-splattered graphics. conduct, “If it’s inappropriate behavior,
then let them censor him.” Censure was
If the writer felt that he absolutely had the word she needed.
to place an adjective before killers, he Two nouns pronounced the same as
could have used infamous or notorious. censor are sensor, a device that reacts to
But could any adjective enhance the ef- a particular stimulus of energy (light,
fect of a plain enumeration of those motion, etc.), and censer, a vessel in
killers? which incense is burned.
CENSOR and CENSURE. The two CENSUS. See CONSENSUS.
verbs are pronounced somewhat differ-
CERTAIN. See SURE.
ently, SEN-sir and SEN-shur respec-
tively. They have considerably different
CERTIORARI. See GO OFF and
meanings, though they both originate in
the same Latin root, censere, to judge, GO ON.
rate, or assess.
CESSION and SESSION. See Ho-
To censor a written or dramatic
work is for someone in authority to ex- mophones.
amine it and remove passages that he
CHAFE and CHAFF. See Confusing
considers objectionable before it is pub-
lished or presented. Military censors pairs.
- 56 chair
CHAIR. 1. CHAIR and CHAIR- chairman and chairmen for both men
MAN. 2. CHAIR as verb. and women. “Do not use chairlady,
chairwoman or chairperson.” It explains
1. CHAIR and CHAIRMAN that “chairman (like foreman,
A chair is furniture; a human being is spokesman and some similar terms) suf-
not furniture. The statement would be fices for both sexes.”
too obvious to make if not for published The Associated Press, while approv-
sentences like these: ing of “chairwoman,” rejects “chairper-
son,” unless it is an organization’s
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., the chair of formal title. But a story dispatched under
the Judiciary Committee, has had a its name contained a similar barbarism:
mixed record on abortion. . . . “Glamour was supplied by the dinner’s
chairpeople.”
Eva has served as president and mem-
bership chair. Currently she is the 2. CHAIR as verb
Chair of the Board of Directors of As a verb (transitive) meaning to place
Magic Years Day Care. . . . in a chair or to install in a chair of office,
chair is long established though little
Correction: the chairman of the judiciary used nowadays.
committee, membership chairman, and The modern press often uses chair as a
chairman of the board of directors. verb meaning to serve as a chairman. A
Although widely used in some circles, few authorities object to such use, at
chair as a substitute for chairman is least in formal writing. The Times style
proper only in the jargon of parliamen- manual says to avoid it. The examples
tary procedure; e.g., “I appeal from the are from two other newspapers.
ruling of the chair.” In general prose,
chair may signify a chairmanship or an . . . Assemblyman Richard Rainey
academic office, but not an individual failed to win the chairmanship of the
holding the office; for example, “The Public Safety Committee . . . but . . .
chair is vacant,” but not “He was ap- he’s happy to settle for chairing the
pointed chair.” Local Government panel. . . . Assem-
Chair and chairman should be in blyman Curt Pringle . . . will chair the
lower case, except when the latter is af- Appropriations Committee.
fixed to a proper name (e.g., Chairman
Mao). In the second sample, Eva is both [Testimony was heard by] a House
a small “chair” and a big “Chair.” Government Operations subcommit-
A male chairman is formally ad- tee chaired by Rep. Mike Synar. . . .
dressed as Mister Chairman, a female
chairman as Madame Chairman. Utilizing an item of furniture as a verb
Avoid the ungainly barbarism seen in is not out of the question. To table is to
a headline: “Republicans select their put (something) on a table; especially to
chairpersons.” A newspaper editor nor- put (a legislative measure) on the table,
mally seeks brevity in headlines, so it is i.e., postpone indefinitely. To bed is to
surprising that one would choose a furnish (someone) with a bed, or to put
seven-letter suffix, “-persons,” instead of (someone) to bed, or to go to bed. On
a three-letter suffix with the same mean- the other hand, no one is likely to say,
ing, -men. “A new governor will desk the state ad-
The New York Times style manual ministration” or “A vast empire was
properly instructs staff members to use throned by the queen.”
- chief justice 57
CHARACTER. This noun has many words. In the context of the ad (transi-
legitimate meanings, among them in- tive), it means examine or investigate. In
tegrity; reputation; distinguishing quali- another context (intransitive) it can
ties or features; a fictional person; and a mean to be proven authentic. “His story
symbol. Yet it is often used unnecessar- checks out.”
ily: “glue of a strong character,” instead To check out (verb, transitive) is also
of strong glue; or “the charming charac- to account for a departure (especially of
ter of the painting,” instead of the charm a guest from a hotel, a customer from a
of the painting. In phrases like “an event store, or a book from a library). Hotel
of this character,” kind or sort is more guests check out (verb, intransitive); or
fitting. they check out of, say, the Grand Hotel.
A colloquial sense of character is Check-out (noun) is the process or act
an eccentric person. The reporter who of departing from an establishment, or a
put it in the item below was not neces- time that a hotel sets for the end of a day.
sarily wrong but seemed to be short of In addition it is a counter where cus-
facts. tomers pay in a self-service market, also
called check-out (adjective) counter.
Clarence ———, otherwise known The noun, as a single word, checkout,
as Filmore Slim, a long-time San Fran- is instruction or training given to an air
cisco character, pleaded guilty to one force pilot to familiarize him with a par-
count of ——— in a plea bargain with ticular aircraft.
the district attorney’s office yesterday. See also Punctuation, 4D, for an ex-
ample of inconsistent use of check-out
and check-in, the process or act of arriv-
CHARITY. See MERCY and PITY. ing at an establishment.
CHAUVINISM. Chauvinism (pro- CHIEF JUSTICE. Misnaming the
nounced SHOW-vin-izm) is extreme pa- nation’s highest judicial office is a com-
triotism, militant glorification of one’s mon error, albeit a minor one.
country; or, by extension, excessive de- A front-page news summary said,
votion to any cause or group. It came “Died: Warren Burger, 87, retired
from Chauvin, the name of a French sol- Supreme Court chief justice.”
dier who was a fanatical admirer of This was reported on a television net-
Napoleon. work: “Warren Burger served as chief
Male chauvinist has been a common justice of the Supreme Court for seven-
pair since the sixties. Some think that teen years. . . .”
chauvinism or chauvinist has to do with His successor, William H. Rehnquist,
opposition to or disparaging of a group, became “the sixteenth Chief Justice of
particularly women, and they omit the the Supreme Court,” a book blurb said.
modifier. A topic on a TV quiz show was The book itself, by Rehnquist, had it
“chauvinist terms for women”: broad, right.
dame, doll. They are slang terms, per- Federal law says: “The Supreme
haps demeaning terms—far removed Court of the United States shall consist
from chauvinism. of a Chief Justice of the United States
and eight associate justices. . . .” Each of
CHECK OUT and CHECK-OUT. the eight is a “Justice of the Supreme
A software company advertises, in a Court of the United States.”
magazine, “Checkout our Web Site. . . .” The erroneous appellations often can
As a verb, check out consists of two pass. But surely some occasions, like the
nguon tai.lieu . vn
