Year: 2013

there. “There” for “they’re” or “their” is an embarrassing confusion of homophones. It’s the type of solecism one expects from a grade-school student, not from a professional writer or editor. But it is a common inadvertence in journalism — e.g.: o “And that’s where these radio stations are really missing the boat, because there [read […]

then. Part A: As an Adjective. “Then” should not be hyphenated when alone as an adjective meaning “that existed or was so at that time” {the then mayor of San Diego}. But when the word is part of a phrasal adjective, the phrase should be hyphenated {then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani}, but not after {Rudolph Giuliani, then

Miscellaneous Entries. thereabouts; *thereabout. Although any writer might be well advised to avoid either term, the former is preferred and overwhelmingly more common. thief. The plural is “thieves” — not *”thiefs.” The mistaken plural is fairly common — e.g.: “After decades of being in bed with some of the biggest thiefs [read ‘thieves’] in the

theirs. “Theirs,” an absolute possessive, is sometimes wrongly written *”their’s” — e.g.: o “The Badgers read Bennett’s intensity. He read their’s [read ‘theirs’].” Vic Feuerherd, “Bennett’s Gift,” Wis. State J., 14 Nov. 2000, at D1. o “Apparently, it can happen even in a marriage such as their’s [read ‘theirs’], which lasted 33 years.” Anna L.

the. The pronunciation rule for the definite article parallels the usage rule for the indefinite articles “a” and “an.” Before a word that starts with a vowel sound, say /thee/ (rhymes with “bee”) {/thee/ ant} {/thee/ elephant}. Before a word that starts with a consonant sound, say /thuh/ (rhymes with “duh”) {/thuh/ bee} {/thuh/ condor}.

that is. Conventional wisdom once held that if this phrase begins a sentence, the result is a sentence fragment. But good writers unimpeachably use the phrase in this way, in place of “in other words” — e.g.: o “While adopting certain teaching techniques, we are more interested in communication than in composition. That is, with

Language-Change Index. The third edition of Garner’s Modern American Usage reflects several new practices. Invariably inferior forms, for example, are now marked with asterisks preceding the term or phrase, a marking common in linguistics. The most interesting new feature is the Language-Change Index. Its purpose is to measure how widely accepted various linguistic innovations have

Miscellaneous Entries. thence; whence; hence. “Thence” = from that place or source; for that reason. “Whence” = from there. “Hence” = (1) for this reason; therefore; (2) from this source; (3) from this time; from now; or (4) from this place; away. They’re literary archaisms — except for “hence” in sense 1. thenceforth; *thenceforward. The

that (4). Today: Final Problems. Part A: Unnecessarily Repeated as Conjunction. One must be careful not to repeat the conjunction “that” after an intervening phrase. Either suspend it till just before the verb or use it early in the sentence and omit it before the verb — e.g.: “Mr. Siefker has gone through half a

that (3). Today: Wrongly Suppressed “that.” As a relative pronoun or conjunction, “that” can be suppressed in any number of constructions (e.g., “The dog you gave me” rather than “The dog that you gave me”). But in formal writing “that” is often ill-advisedly omitted. In particular, the conjunction “that” should usually be retained to introduce

that (1). Today: And “which.” You’ll encounter two schools of thought on this point. First are those who don’t care about any distinction between these words, who think that “which” is more formal than “that,” and who point to many historical examples of copious “whiches.” They say that modern usage is a muddle. Second are

Miscellaneous Entries. the case of. This flotsam phrase is almost always best omitted. their; they’re. A book like this one need not explain such elementary distinctions. So it will not. But: “Liberals are again trying to explain why they lost their fifth presidential election in 20 years. They’ve been talking about what they’re [read ‘their’]

thank you (and its responses). “Thank you” remains the best, most serviceable phrase, despite various attempts to embellish it or truncate it: “thanking you in advance” (presumptuous and possibly insulting), “thank you very much” (with a trailer of surplusage), “thanks” (useful on informal occasions), “many thanks” (informal but emphatic), *”much thanks” (archaic and increasingly unidiomatic),

thankfully. “Thankfully” = in a manner expressing thanks; gratefully {after being saved so unexpectedly, they thankfully said goodbye}. E.g.: “Obligations are thankfully acknowledged to a long line of etymologists, lexicographers, and philologists, whom it would be mere pedantry to call by name.” James Bradstreet Greenough & George Lyman Kittredge, Words and Their Ways in English

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day than (4). Today: “Than whom.” In the awkward and (fortunately) now-rare inverted construction (e.g., T.S. Eliot, than whom few critics could be considered better), one might expect the nominative “who” to be the preferred pronoun. “Than” is treated as a conjunction in formal usage, not a preposition, so the

than (2). Today: For “then.” This error is so elementary that one might fairly wonder whether it is merely a lapse in proofreading. But it occurs with some frequency — e.g.: “Mr. Bennett did wake up several times, hoping to hear good news, if not about himself, than [read ‘then’] at least about the two

than (1). Today: Verb Not Repeated After (“than is,” “than has”). Often it’s unnecessary (though not ungrammatical) to repeat “be”-verbs and “have”-verbs after “than,” especially when a noun follows — e.g.: o “Jonathan Lipnicki . . . became a national favorite as the too-cute son in ‘Jerry Maguire.’ He’s still cute, probably more so than