Bryan A. Garner

sola topi. "Sola topi" (= a pith helmet, originating in India, made from the sola plant) is sometimes misspelled *"solar topi" — e.g.: o "But she kept the English cricketing cap and the solar [read 'sola'] topi." Joan Bridgman, "Mad Dogs, Englishwomen and Nureyev," Contemp. Rev., 1 Apr. 1995, at 213. o "The most unusual …

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Miscellaneous Entries. Smithsonian Institution. This is the name — not *"Smithsonian Institute." smoky, adj., is so spelled — not *"smokey." But the lovable mascot's name is "Smokey Bear." smolder (= to burn slowly without flame) is the standard spelling. "Smoulder" is a chiefly British English variant. sodomite; *sodomist. The first outnumbers the second by a …

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soi-disant. “Soi-disant” = self-proclaimed. This French affectation is inferior both to the translation just given and to “self-styled.” E.g.: o “What it may need instead is an establishment with the nerve to tell the soi-disant [read ‘self-proclaimed’] victims: Stop kvetching.” Michael S. Greve, “Remote Control Tuning for Speech,” Wash. Times, 9 Nov. 1996, at D3. …

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so (2). Today: For “very” and in “so therefore.” In traditional usage, “so” is a comparative adverb {so cold I could die} {so cumbersome that I don’t want it} {he’s not so tall as she is}. Gradually, speakers and writers began dropping the final part of the comparison {he’s so tall!} {she’s so smart} {it’s …

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so (1). Today: Beginning Sentences with. Like “And” and “But,” “So” is a good word for beginning a sentence. Each of these three is the informal equivalent of a heavier and longer conjunctive adverb (“Additionally,” “However,” and “Consequently” or “Therefore”). Rhetoric, not grammar, is what counts here. The shorter word affords a brisker pace — …

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*snuck. *”Snuck” is a nonstandard past tense and past participle of “sneak” common in American speech and writing. The standard past form is “sneaked.” Surprisingly, though, *”snuck” appears half as often as “sneaked” in American writing — e.g.: o “They include all that weird wording snuck [read ‘sneaked’] into bills to assure that the gravy …

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snoot. In the April 2001 issue of Harper’s, the late David Foster Wallace introduced his family’s acronym for "syntax nudnik of our time" or, alternatively, "Sprachegefhl necessitates our ongoing tendance." (A fuller version of Wallace’s influential essay, purportedly a review essay of the first edition of this book, appears in Wallace’s Consider the Lobster [2006], …

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smooth, vb.; *smoothen. The latter is a needless variant — e.g.: "But eventually, Dr. Toaff insists, the knobs and bulges will smoothen [read 'smooth'] out." Natalie Angier, "One Woman’s Decision Against a Hysterectomy," N.Y. Times, 18 Feb. 1997, at C1. The verb is often misspelled *"smoothe," doubtless on the analogy of "soothe" and "teethe" — …

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sly. “Sly” (= wily, cunning, sneaky) preferably makes “slyer,” “slyest,” and “slyly.” But some writers use the variant spellings *”slier,” *”sliest,” and *”slily” — e.g.: o “The land has been creeping slily [read ‘slyly’] out to sea for the last twenty centuries or so.” Steven Moore, “The Beast in the Vatican,” Wash. Post, 15 Sept. …

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slough (2). Today: Misspelled "sluff" as a Verb. "Slough off" (= [1] to shed an outer skin; or [2] to cast off, discard) is sometimes incorrectly written *"sluff off" (a phonetic spelling) — e.g.: "As he delves deeper into a lousy world in which people steal children for money, he expands, sluffs [read 'sloughs'] off …

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Language-Change Index. The third edition of Garner’s Modern American Usage reflects several new practices. Invariably inferior forms, for example, are now marked with asterisks preceding the term or phrase, a marking common in linguistics. The most interesting new feature is the Language-Change Index. Its purpose is to measure how widely accepted various linguistic innovations have …

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Miscellaneous Entries. skill-less — so hyphenated — is sometimes misspelled *"skilless." E.g.: "Regardless of what people think, it's not a skilless [read ‘skill-less’] job," said a clerk at a West End Safeway. Mike Sadava, No Stores to Shut if Strike Hits Safeway, Edmonton J., 21 Mar. 1997, at B3. skim milk; *skimmed milk. Though the …

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slink / slunk / slunk. So inflected. *"Slank" and *"slinked" are nonstandard variants in the past tense and past participle — e.g.: o "The advent of the riders bruited by scurvid curs that howled woundedly and slank [read ‘slunk’] among the crumbling walls." Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, Or, The Evening Redness in the West 97 …

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sling / slung / slung. So inflected. As a past-tense form, "slang" is dialectal. As a past participle meaning "placed in a sling," "slinged" can be convenient, but it can also be startlingly ambiguous — e.g.: "Pediatric experts such as Dr. William Sears claim slinged babies are more alert." Sue Gleiter, "Baby on Board: Sling …

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