Bryan A. Garner

venal; venial. “Venal” = purchasable; highly mercenary; amenable to bribes; corruptible. E.g.: “As the world rushes to congratulate Kabila for overthrowing Mobutu, the continent’s most spectacularly venal dictator, terrible things are happening in the deep bush of this ruined country.” “Genocide Stalks Tribal Rivalry,” Pitt. Post-Gaz., 2 June 1997, at A1. “Venial” = slight (used […]

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day vehicular. Part A: Vehicular homicide. “Vehicular” (/vee-HiK-yuh-luhr/), an adjective dating from about 1900, is not objectionable per se. Several states have “vehicular-homicide statutes,” in which there is no ready substitute for “vehicular.” Part B: Vehicular accident. The phrase is pompous police jargon for “traffic accident,” “car accident,” or (in

Miscellaneous Entries. underlay, n.; underlayment. The first, denoting material placed under a structure, as for support, is much older (14th century) than the second (1949). But today, “underlayment” is the more common name for the building substance. undersigned, n. Eric Partridge said that this attributive noun {the undersigned agrees to the following terms and conditions}

*various of (the). This phrasing has traditionally been disapproved because “various” shifts from being used as an adjective to a pronoun. Although the phrasing is roughly analogous to “several of” or “many of,” it cannot be considered good usage. Some improvement, including “various” alone, is always available — e.g.: o “Even the most casual of

variety. When the phrase “a variety of” means “many,” it takes a plural verb — e.g.: o “Words, songs and rituals are a few of the many things that color our experience, and a variety of them are found in religious services.” William C. Graham, “Saving Signs, Wondrous Words,” Nat’l Catholic Rptr., 9 May 1997,

variation; variance; variant, n. “Variation” = (1) a departure from a former or normal condition, action, or amount; a departure from a standard or type; or (2) the extent of this departure. E.g.: “For those who are willing to experiment, there are as many wonderful variations of kugel as imagination will allow.” Marge Perry, “A

Miscellaneous Entries. uncontrollable; *incontrollable. The latter is a needless variant. uncovered is often ambiguous. It may mean (1) “not covered” {because they forgot to put up the tarp, the plants were completely uncovered throughout the storm}; or (2) “having had the cover removed” {the winds blew the tarp and uncovered the plants}. Hence, to say

vane. “Vane” (= a device for showing wind direction) is sometimes mistakenly made “vain” or “vein” — e.g.: o “The SPM buoy’s top deck is designed to swivel, allowing a tanker to act like a weather vain [read “vane”] and remain head-on in the wind.” L.R. Aalund, “Hawaii Offers Challenge and Opportunity to Refiner,” Oil

vale of tears. In this age-old idiom, “vale” means “world.” But writers have often mistakenly spelled it *”veil of tears” — e.g.: o “Edwin C. Daly left this veil [read ‘vale’] of tears on Monday (April 15, 1996) at his home in Tamarac, FL.” “Edwin C. Daly” (obit.), Hartford Courant, 30 Apr. 1996, at B8.

utmost, adj.; upmost, adj. The usual word is “utmost” (= most extreme; of the greatest urgency or intensity) {an issue of the utmost importance}. “Upmost” (= highest; farthest up) is a fairly uncommon variant of “uppermost.” Yet writers have begun misusing “upmost” in contexts where “utmost” is called for — e.g.: o “In a competitive

Miscellaneous Entries. umpteenth is sometimes misspelled *”umteenth” — e.g.: “A House subcommittee is at work on Virginia’s umteenth [read umpteenth] study of campaign-finance reform.” “Campaign-Finance Reform: Mandate Disclosure,” Virginian-Pilot & Ledger Star (Norfolk), 8 Aug. 1996, at A18. unalterable; *inalterable. The latter is a needless variant. unanimous appears in various redundant phrases, such as *”unanimously

*used to could. *”Used to could” is dialectal for “used to be able to” or “could formerly.” It appears mostly in reported speech — e.g.: o “‘I was a lot stronger back then,’ Webb said. ‘I used to could [read ‘once could’ or ‘used to be able to’] take a 100-pound bag and lift it

used to (3). Today: Contracted Form of “used not to.” In Irish speech, the formal phrase “used not to” is sometimes contracted (rather awkwardly) to “usen’t to” or “usedn’t to” — e.g.: o “Ivy Reading, who worked there for 40 years, said: ‘Saturdays we usen’t to be able to [read ‘couldn’t’] stop even for a

used to (2). Today: “didn’t used to”; *”didn’t use to.” “Didn’t used to” (= formerly didn’t) is the informal equivalent of the standard form “never used to” and the rarely encountered phrase “used not to” — e.g.: o “‘Green’ didn’t used to be a popular word in the white world of skiing and snowboarding.” Gary

used to (1). Today: Generally. “Used to,” not *”use to,” is the phrase meaning “formerly” — e.g.: o “For those who don’t know, Dagmar was a very big blond, what we use to [read ‘used to’] call in those days ‘well-endowed.’” Nick Clooney, “Hanging Out with Rosie on Early TV,” Cincinnati Post, 8 Jan. 2003,

usage. “Usage” generally refers to an idiom or form of speech, an occurrence of one, or forms of speech in general. E.g.: o “The first three usages [of ‘received pronunciation’] attested in OED indeed derive from his work, beginning in 1869.” L.C. Mugglestone, “John Walker and Alexander Ellis,” Notes & Queries, 1 Mar. 1997, at