Bryan A. Garner

Miscellaneous Entries. libido. Although dictionaries once recorded /li-BIY-doh/ as the preferred pronunciation, /li-BEE-doh/ is now the established preference in American English. licorice (/LiK-uh-rish/) is the standard spelling. “Liquorice” is a variant form. This word shouldn’t be confused with its uncommon homophones, “lickerish” (= lascivious, lecherous) and “liquorish” (= tasting like liquor). lie/lay/lain. So inflected (except […]

load, n.; lode. Although they have similar etymologies, their meanings have fully diverged. “Load” (in its basic senses) means “a quantity that can be carried at one time” or, by extension, “a burden” {a load of work} {a load off my mind}. “Lode” carries the narrow meaning “a deposit of ore,” as well as the

literally. “Literally” = (1) with truth to the letter; or (2) exactly; according to the strict sense of the word or words. “Literally” in the sense “truly, completely” is a slipshod extension — e.g.: “Behavioralists and postbehavioralists alike, literally or figuratively, learn what they know of science from the natural sciences, from the outside.” (Read:

lip-sync, vb.; lip-synch. To lip-sync, of course, is to move one’s lips silently in synchronization with recorded vocals, whether one’s own or someone else’s. Although the dictionaries are split between the “sync” and “synch” forms, the incontestable leader in print is “lip-sync” by a 2-to-1 ratio. But the agent noun is “lip-syncer,” pronounced anomalously with

Miscellaneous Entries. know, through careless error, is sometimes written “now” — e.g.: “Gempler said he didn’t now [read ‘know’] why the union produced the report.” Hannelore Sudermann, “Teamsters Attack Apple Industry Over Core Issues,” Spokesman-Rev. (Spokane), 23 July 1997, at A10. knowledgeable. So spelled – not ‘knowledgable.’ known /nohn/ is often mispronounced /NOH-uhn/, as if

like (2). Today: “Like” as a Conjunction. In traditional usage, “like” is a preposition that governs nouns and noun phrases, not a conjunction that governs verbs or clauses. Its function is adjectival, not adverbial. Hence one does not write, properly, “The story ended like it began,” but “The story ended as it began.” If we

like (1). Today: As a Preposition. The object of a preposition should be in the objective case — you say “They are very much like us,” not “They are very much like we.” Apart from the second person (in which the form remains the same), writers often get confused on this point, as with first-person

lifelong; livelong. “Lifelong” = lasting for all or most of one’s life {Seymour’s lifelong dream was to conduct the New York Philharmonic}. Livelong = (of a time period, esp. a day or a night) whole, entire {“the eyes of Texas are upon you, all the livelong day”}. Confusion of these words isn’t as rare as

liable. “Liable” (= subject to or exposed to) should not be used merely for “likely.” “Liable” best refers to something the occurrence of which risks being permanent or recurrent — e.g.: o “What you don’t know is liable to hurt you — and your building.” Maureen Patterson, “See You in Court!” Buildings, Feb. 1997, at

levy, v.t. “Levy” = (1) “to impose (as a fine or a tax) by legal sanction” {the court levied a fine of $500}; (2) “to conscript for service in the military” {the troops were soon levied}; (3) “to wage (a war)” {the rebels then levied war against the government}; or (4) to take or seize

Miscellaneous Entries. kindergarten. This German loanword for “children’s garden” has been in use in English since at least the mid-18th century with its foreign spelling intact. It is sometimes misspelled as if it were anglicized — e.g.: “Lexington is the largest school in the state for the profoundly deaf and hard-of-hearing, and educates students from

let’s you and I. First, think of “let’s” (= let us). “Us” is in the objective case. Another form of the phrase (still in the objective case) would be “let you and me” (“you and me” agreeing with “us”). The construction “let you and I” is ungrammatical — and fairly rare. But what about “let’s