Bryan A. Garner

The surname (or “family name”) denotes (wholly or partly) one’s kinship. In many cases it was derived from physical characteristics, occupations, or locations and later transmitted to descendants (e.g., Smith); in other cases it indicated paternity (e.g., Davidson). Such names came to be called “surnames.” The modern custom is that a woman who marries may, …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: surname; Christian name; forename; given name. Read More »

Part A. Spelling: As noun and verb, the word is so spelled — not *”surmize.” E.g.: “Other officials even extended their optimism to surmize [read ‘surmise’] that ‘a new climate has begun.’” Ana Martinez-Soler, “Madrid Cheers as France Quashes ETA Terrorists,” Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan. 1984, at 7. Part B: And *”surmisal.” The word …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: surmise. Read More »

“Supposed to” (= expected to) wrongly made *”suppose to” is an exceedingly common error — e.g.: o “We’re suppose [read ‘supposed’] to feel her greatest humiliation in this scene.” Avis L. Weathersbee, “Judging TV’s Black Images,” Chicago Sun-Times, 8 Apr. 2001, Showcase §, at 1. o “‘The Price of Milk’ is suppose [read ‘supposed’] to …

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“Supposable” = capable of being supposed; presumable. E.g.: “He learns more about himself and the supposable dimension of man’s future.” Dick Richmond, “A Sequel to ‘The Celestine Prophecy,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 16 May 1996, at G7. “Suppositious” and “supposititious” sometimes cause confusion. Although some modern dictionaries list these as variants, some differentiation is both possible …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: supposable, suppositious, supposititious, suppositional, *suppositive Read More »

supplicant; *suppliant. “Supplicant” is the standard term meaning “one who earnestly beseeches; a humble petitioner” — e.g.: o “Upstairs in a darkened room of the Edina home in which he was staying, Sakya Trizin, supreme head of one of Tibetan Buddhism’s four branches, received a constant stream of supplicants.” Kay Miller, “Buddhism from Tibet Pursues …

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susceptible — properly sounded /suh-SEP-tuh-buhl/ — is sometimes mispronounced, even by educated speakers, /suhk-SEP-tuh-buhl/. suspendable; *suspendible. The latter is a needless variant. Though *"suspendible" is the only form listed in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, “suspendable” is eight times as common. swab (= [1] a mop; or [2] a cotton …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Miscellaneous Entries Read More »

Today: Four More. “Never Use ‘between’ with More than Two Objects”: “When Miss Thistlebottom taught you in grammar school that ‘between’ applies only to two things and ‘among’ to more than two, she was for the most part correct. ‘Between’ essentially does apply to only two, but sometimes the ‘two’ relationship is present when more …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Superstitions (8) Read More »

Today: “Never Use ‘since’ to Mean ‘because.’” o “There is a groundless notion current both in the lower schools and in the world of affairs that ‘since’ has an exclusive reference to time and therefore cannot be used as a causal conjunction. . . . No warrant exists for avoiding this usage, which goes back, …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Superstitions (7) Read More »

 Today: “Never Begin a Sentence with ‘Because.’” So novel and absurd is this superstition that few authorities on writing have countered it in print. But here’s one: “This proscription [‘Never begin a sentence with because’] appears in no handbook of usage I know of, but the belief seems to have a popular currency among many …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Superstitions (6) Read More »

Today: “Never Write a One-Sentence Paragraph.” o “A paragraph may contain but one sentence . . . [or] two sentences; but usually it contains more than two.” Adams S. Hill, The Foundations of Rhetoric 23-24 (1896). o “To interpose a one-sentence paragraph at intervals — at longish intervals — is prudent. Such a device helps …

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suppressible. So spelled — not *"suppressable." Surinamese; *Surinamer. For a citizen of Suriname, the first is standard; the second is a needless variant. surprise, n. & vb., is surprisingly often misspelled *"surprize" — e.g.: “There are other benefits that come from engaging an investment counselor who is paid for service: . . . fewer surprizes …

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 Today: “Never Begin a Sentence with ‘And’ or ‘But.’” o “Next to the groundless notion that it is incorrect to end an English sentence with a preposition, perhaps the most wide-spread of many false beliefs about the use of our language is the equally groundless notion that it is incorrect to begin one with ‘but’ …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Superstitions (4) Read More »

Today: “Never Split a Verb Phrase.” o “In a compound verb (‘have seen’) with an adverb, that adverb comes between the auxiliary and the participle (‘I have never seen her’); or, if there are two or more auxiliaries, immediately after the first auxiliary (‘I have always been intending to go to Paris’); that order is …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Superstitions(3) Read More »

 Today: “Never Split an Infinitive.” o “Anybody who doesn’t wish to see too wide a division between the spoken and the written speech will not be too severe against the split infinitive. A man may write ‘to tell really’ or ‘really to tell,’ but he will probably say ‘to really tell.’ It seems to us …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Superstitions (2) Read More »

 Today: Generally. In 1926, H.W. Fowler used the term “superstitions” to describe, in the field of writing, “unintelligent applications of an unintelligent dogma” (Modern English Usage 586 [1st ed.]). Experts in usage have long railed against them as arrant nonsense, yet they retain a firm grip — if not a stranglehold — on the average …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Superstitions (1) Read More »

 supplement, n.; complement, n. A “supplement” is simply something added {a dietary supplement}. A “complement” is a wholly adequate supplement; it’s something added to complete or perfect a whole {that scarf is a perfect complement to your outfit}. supplementary; supplemental; suppletory; *suppletive. “Supplementary” is the ordinary word. The other forms have the same meaning, namely, …

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