Bryan A. Garner

Garner’s Tip of the Day: Miscellaneous Entries

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sum total of. This phrase is technically a redundancy — “sum” meaning “total” — but it’s a venial one not likely to disappear from the modern lexicon. And the phrase can be especially useful for emphatic purposes in such lines as “the sum total of our knowledge” — although a few sticklers would probably prefer …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: suffragist; suffragette.

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The broad term for a person who believes that a disenfranchised class of people should have the right to vote is “suffragist.” That term has been traced back to the early 19th century. In American English, it extends especially to women’s suffrage. “Suffragette” (referring specifically to any woman who participated in the movement to give …

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LawProse Lesson #114: Is it better to say a friend of John’s or a friend of John?

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The classic example posits the obvious difference between a photograph of Lord Snowdon and a photograph of Lord Snowdon’s. We know who’s in the first picture, but we can’t be sure about the second. In this example, the meaning turns on whether the possessive or nonpossessive form appears. The writer’s choice is straightforward, depending on …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: sufficient number of, a.

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This phrase is verbose for “enough” — e.g.: o “As might be expected, he found a sufficient number of [read ‘enough’] legislators receptive to the state’s crying need to legalize betting.” O.K. Carter, “Races’ Old Patron Would Be Proud,” Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 1997, at 1. o “But the 1996 farm law requires the …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: suffice it to say.

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“Suffice it to say” is the subjunctive form of “it suffices to say.” E.g.: o “Suffice it to say that the plotters, once their plan has been set into motion, aren’t content to leave well enough alone.” Janet Maslin, “‘Deathtrap’ with Michael Caine,” N.Y. Times, 19 Mar. 1982, at C8. o “When her students were …

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LawProse Lesson #113

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How do you form a possessive with a name that itself ends with a possessive –‘s, as with McDonald’s?       It’s common for a business’s name to be a proper single name in possessive form, as with McDonald’s, T.G.I. Friday’s, or Lloyd’s of London. Such names function as ordinary proper nouns despite their possessive appearance …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: such.

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Part A: As a Demonstrative Adjective. “Such” is properly used as an adjective when reference has previously been made to a category of people or things: thus “such” means “of that kind” {such a person} {such people}. It isn’t properly equivalent to “this,” “that,” “these,” or “those.” With this word two points should be kept …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: substantive.

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Part A: Pronunciation. “Substantive” — a commonly mispronounced word — has three, not four, syllables: /SUHB-stuhn-tiv/. The common error in American English is to insert what is technically known as an epenthetical “-e-” after the second syllable: /SUHB-stuh-nuh-tiv/. Still another blunder is to accent the second syllable: /suhb-STAN-tiv/. Language-Change Index — “substantive” mispronounced with four …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Miscellaneous Entries.

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subsistence is occasionally misspelled *”subsistance” — e.g.: “Fuller rightly observes that the causes of Third World deforestation are complex, varied and largely attributable to the subsistance [read ‘subsistence’] needs of local people.” Ted Ferrioli, “Maybe if We Called Loggers ‘Rural Natives’ It Would Help,” Oregonian (Portland), 28 June 1996, at C7. substantiate. So spelled — …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: subsequently.

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Part A: For “later.” Using the four-syllable word in place of the two-syllable word is rarely, if ever, a good stylistic choice. Part B: And “consequently.” Though both words contain the sense “following” or “occurring later,” “consequently” has primarily a causal nuance: “occurring because of.” Frequently “subsequently” (which has no connotation of causation) is misused …

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LawProse Lesson #112

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What are the rules for possessives with gerunds, or preventing fused participles? As you doubtless know, verbs have two forms we call participles. The past participle usually ends in –ed. (Exceptions occur with irregular verbs, such as swim>swam>swum — the last being the past participle.) The verb form ending in –ing is called the present …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: sublimate; sublime, vb.

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These verbs overlap, but only in their secondary senses; they’re best kept separate. The primary sense of “sublimate,” the more common word, is “to transmute (an instinct) from one form to another, esp. to a more socially acceptable form” — e.g.: “The current popular outrage about corporate governance is mostly sublimated concern about declining stock …

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LawProse Lesson #111

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Why do plural possessives cause so much trouble?       Much confusion surrounds plural possessives. Is it as simple as adding an apostrophe to the final –s? What if the plural noun doesn’t end in –s? How do you form a possessive for units of time? What about joint possessives? The list goes on. This confusion …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Subjunctives.

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In modern English, the subjunctive mood of the verb appears primarily in six contexts: (1) conditions contrary to fact {if I were king} (where the indicative would be “am”); (2) suppositions {if I were to go, I wouldn’t be able to finish this project} (where the indicative would be “was”); (3) wishes {I wish that …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Subject-Verb Separation.

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The core words in a sentence are the subject and the verb. They are related both in sense and in grammar. And related words should go together. If you separate them too much, the sentence goes asunder — e.g.: o “Jurors’ need to hear that testimony again just minutes before reaching a verdict puzzled experts.” …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Miscellaneous Entries.

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Miscellaneous Entries *submittal (= [1] the act of submitting; or [2] something submitted) is a needless variant of “submission” — e.g.: “Town code requires members to act on applications within 180 days of submittal [read ‘submission’ or ‘their being submitted’].” Jonathan McNeilly, “New Rite Aid Plans Rejected in Henniker,” Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.), 1 May …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Subject-Verb Agreement (9).

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Part A: “one in five”; “one of every five.” When the first number is “one,” this construction takes a singular: “one in three is not admitted,” “one of every five achieves a perfect score,” etc. Part B: Decades. Decades customarily take plural verbs: “the 1930s were a tough time in America.” The following is unidiomatic: …

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A Bizspeak Blacklist

By / Bryan A. Garner /
It’s mission-critical to be plain-spoken, whether you’re trying to be best-of-breed at outside-the-box thinking or simply incentivizing colleagues to achieve a paradigm shift in core-performance value-adds. Leading-edge leveraging of your plain-English skill set will ensure that your actionable items synergize future-proof assets with your global-knowledge repository. Just kidding. Seriously, though, it’s important to write plainly. …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Subject-Verb Agreement (8).

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Today: Plural Subject Intended to Denote Area or Statistic. Some writers fall into the habit of implicitly prefacing plural nouns with understood words such as “the idea of,” “the field of,” or even “the fact of.” To be sure, some of these wordings are perfectly idiomatic {mathematics is where my talent lies}. But the habit …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Subject-Verb Agreement (7).

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Today: “more than one is;” *”more than one are.” The phrase “more than one” generally takes a singular verb, not a plural one {more than one was there} — even though the sense is undeniably plural. If the noun is supplied before the verb, the construction is necessarily singular {more than one woman was there}. …

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