Bryan A. Garner

what (3). Today: Plural “what” Uses. Part A: In a Noun Clause Followed by a Plural Predicate. In this construction, “what” means “the things that” — e.g.: “What the judge principally wants to hear are the relevant cases.” Glanville Williams, Learning the Law 163 (11th ed. 1982). Although some would say that the following sentence …

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what (2). Today: Singular “what” Uses. Part A: In a Noun Clause Followed by a Singular Predicate Noun. This construction is the easiest: “what” means “the thing that” and takes a singular verb. E.g.: “Unfortunately, what is needed is a return to terms and manners now maybe almost lost to our society.” Elliott Brack, “Phone …

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what (1). Today: Singular or Plural? Eric Partridge opined that “what,” as the subject of a clause, generally takes a singular (third-person) verb regardless of what follows (not “what follow”) (Usage & Abusage at 362). Thus: o “What she wants is a new house.” o “What we need in this company is more type-A personalities.” …

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Miscellaneous Entries. volitional; *volitive. “Volitional” = of or belonging to volition (i.e., an act of willing or resolving); pertaining to the action of willing. E.g.: “Mary Ann Sandoval . . . testified that she believed Stuart’s memory loss and behavioral problems were self-serving and volitional.” Ginny McKibben, “Suspect Cleared for Slay Trial,” Denver Post, 29 …

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wet / wet(ted) / wet(ted). This verb has both a regular and an irregular past and past participle form. In most contexts, “wet” is the predominant form — e.g.: o “She wet her whistle with a sip of water.” Warren Gerds, “Peters Pours on the Charm at Weidner Concert,” Green Bay Press-Gaz., 29 Sept. 2002, …

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welsher; welcher. “Welsher” is the usual form; the term means “one who shirks his or her responsibility” and most commonly refers to one who does not pay gambling debts. E.g.: “But I don’t suppose he had a fermenting punter after him shouting ‘Welsher!’ at the top of his voice.” P.G. Wodehouse, The Return of Jeeves …

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Wellerisms. A wellerism (after Sam Weller or his father, two noted characters in Charles Dickens’s Pickwick Papers [1836-1837]), is a statement, especially a proverbial or allusive one, in which the speaker puts the words in a new light or a surprising setting, often by means of punning. E.g.: o “‘That’s food for reflection,’ as the …

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Miscellaneous Entries. virtue of, by; *in virtue of. “By virtue of,” not *”in virtue of,” is now the idiomatic phrase. The latter is archaic. virtuoso. The plural is preferably “virtuosos” — not *”virtuosi” (a pedantic form that is less than half as common in modern print sources). virus. The plural is “viruses.” visor (= a …

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weep / wept / wept. So inflected. The erroneous form *”weeped” sometimes appears — e.g.: o “Players from both teams weeped [read ‘wept’] and prayed.” Jarrett Bell, “Terrifying Injury Ends Player’s NFL Career,” USA Today, 23 Dec. 1997, at A1. o “‘I can’t stand up. I can’t stand up,’ [Carolyn] Sims weeped [read ‘wept’] as …

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weave / wove / woven. “Weaved” is correct only in the sense “moved in a winding or zigzag way” — e.g.: “Like scores of Saturday shoppers, Potter found himself in the middle of a 40-minute foot chase that began near the Capitol, weaved in and out of State Street buildings, and ended with the arrest …

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Miscellaneous Entries. vindictive; vindicatory; *vindicative. “Vindictive” = given to or characterized by revenge or retribution. “Vindicatory” = (1) providing vindication {a vindicatory eyewitness account}; or (2) punitive, retributive {vindicatory actions against the company}. Because sense 2 verges closely on the domain of “vindictive,” “vindicatory” should be reserved for sense 1. *”Vindicative” is a needless variant …

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Weasel Words. Theodore Roosevelt said, in a speech in St. Louis on May 31, 1916: “One of our defects as a nation is a tendency to use what have been called weasel words. When a weasel sucks eggs it sucks the meat out of the egg and leaves it an empty shell. If you use …

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wear / wore / worn. So inflected. The simple-past “wore” is sometimes mistakenly used as a past participle — e.g.: o “And Imler turned out to be a pleasant surprise, using his quickness to create shots and gaining confidence at the point as the season has wore [read ‘worn’] on.” John C. Cotey, “The 2 …

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weaponize. For a long time — probably beginning in the 1970s — this “-ize” neologism was in the exclusive domain of military and international-relations jargon. Uses were infrequent, but the word occurred as early as 1984 — e.g.: “‘Absolutely no work is being done to develop, manufacture, store or weaponize biological warfare agents,’ the [Pentagon] …

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Miscellaneous Entries. vice; vise. In American English, a “vice” is an immoral habit or practice, and a “vise” is a tool with closable jaws for clamping things. But in British English, the tool is spelled like the sin: “vice.” vichyssoise (= a thick soup made with potatoes and leeks and usu. served cold) is often …

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