Miscellaneous Entries.
sty (= an inflammation on the eyelid) is the standard spelling. (*"Stye" is a variant form.) The plural is “sties.” Another word spelled “sty” (= a pen for pigs) also has the plural “sties.”
stylish; stylistic. “Stylish” = in style, in vogue {a stylish hat}. “Stylistic” = (1) having to do with style (of general application) {stylistic criticisms that were off the mark}; or (2) in the appropriate style (of music) {his stylistic flourishes were typical of the baroque period}.
Styrofoam, a trademark, is sometimes misspelled *"stirafoam" or *"stirofoam." If you’re not referring to the trademarked product (which should have a capital “S”), “plastic foam” is a better choice.
submissible; *submissable; *submittable. Though labeled “rare” in the Oxford English Dictionary, “submissible” occurs frequently in American English. *"Submissable" and *"submittable" are needless variants.
*Invariably inferior forms.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “Fiction is nothing less than the subtlest instrument for self-examination and self-display that Mankind has invented yet.” John Updike, “The Importance of Fiction,” in Odd Jobs: Essays and Criticism 86 (1991).
