“Teemed with” (= to abound; be in plentiful supply) should be followed by a count noun {the pond is teeming with fish} {our suggestion box is teeming with slips}. But sometimes it’s misused for “rich in,” when applied to abstract noncount nouns — e.g.:
o “Lancaster County is teeming with [read ‘rich in’] history.” Donald Wagner, “Touring Historic Manheim,” Lancaster New Era, 31 May 1997, at A6.
o “The University of Arizona is teeming with [read ‘rich in’] tradition — and will soon have a place to put it on display.” “‘New’ McKale Puts UA on Level with Great Sports Schools,” Tucson Citizen, 14 Aug. 1997, Sports §, at 1.
“Teeming” is also sometimes misspelled “teaming” — e.g.:
o “Helen King of Riverside wasn’t surprised when I recently reported that Mystic Lake is teaming [read ‘teeming’] with fish.” Bob Pratte, “Pogs Go the Way of All the Fads,” Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Cal.), 1 May 1995, at B3.
o “Gerber, with the help of other scouts, cut a swath through brush and a swampy area teaming [read ‘teeming’] with mosquitoes.” Judy Hartling, “Troop at Church Adds Three Eagle Scouts,” Hartford Courant, 8 Aug. 1996, Manchester Extra §, at 5.
Language-Change Index — “teaming with” misused for “teeming with”: Stage 1.
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Quotation of the Day: “He, then, will be an eloquent speakerwho can discuss trivial matters in a plain style, matters of moderate significance in the tempered style, and weighty affairs in the grand manner.” Cicero, “The Kinds of Style,” in The Problem of Style 95, 104-05 (J.V. Cunningham ed., 1966).
