Bryan A. Garner

signee. “Signee” = a high-profile recruit, often an athlete, who is signed up by a school, employer, etc. Although the signee is the one who signs (active voice), the passive “-ee” makes sense in most contexts because the signee “is signed” by an organization. E.g.: o “Prairie has Husky signee Dan Dickau and is expected …

Garner's Usage Tip of the Day: signee. Read More »

signatory, n.; signatary; *signator. H.W. Fowler and George P. Krapp both recommended in the 1920s that “signatary” be adopted as the preferred noun (Modern English Usage 534 [1st ed. 1926]; A Comprehensive Guide to Good English 540 [1927]). Today, however, “signatary” is virtually never used. Most dictionaries record only “signatory,” and that form is 1,000 …

Garner's Usage Tip of the Day: signatory, n.; signatary; *signator. Read More »

Miscellaneous Entries. shelf. The plural is "shelves." shellac, n. & vb., is the standard spelling. *"Shellack" is a variant. But the proper inflections for the verb are "shellacked" and "shellacking." sherbet /SHUHR-buht/ is commonly mispronounced with an intrusive “-r-“: /SHUHR-buhrt/. Because of this mispronunciation, the word is sometimes wrongly spelled *”sherbert.” Language-Change Index — (1) …

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

sight unseen. From a strictly logical point of view, the phrase makes little sense. In practice, however, it has an accepted and useful meaning: “(of an item) bought without an inspection before the purchase.” Sometimes the phrase is erroneously written *"site unseen" — e.g.: “Experts say the Web could be even more dangerous than the …

Garner's Usage Tip of the Day: sight unseen. Read More »

sic. Part A: Generally. “Sic” (= thus, so), invariably bracketed and preferably set in italics, indicates that a preceding word or phrase in a quoted passage is reproduced as it appeared in the original document. “Sic” at its best is intended to aid readers, who might be confused about whether the quoter or the quoted …

Garner's Usage Tip of the Day: sic. Read More »

Miscellaneous Entries. shareholder; stockholder; *shareowner. All three terms refer to one who owns stock in a corporation. The first is the most common, the second a fairly common equivalent, and the third so much less frequent that it has become a needless variant. shavable. So spelled — not “shaveable.” shave / shaved / shaved. “Shaven” …

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

shoo-in. “Shoo-in” (= a candidate or competitor who is sure to win), a casualism deriving from the idea of “shooing” something (as a pet), is so spelled. Yet *”shoe-in” is a frequent error — e.g.: o “Besides being a shoe-in [read ‘shoo-in’] for the Hall of Fame, Woodson has been a model player and member …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: shoo-in. Read More »

shirk. In the modern idiom, this word is almost exclusively a transitive verb, as in the cliché that someone has “shirked” his or her duties. But the misformed phrase *”shirk from” has recently emerged, probably out of confusion with “shrink from” — e.g.: o “[Children] must have teachers who never shirk [read ‘shrink’] from challenging …

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

shine. As a transitive verb, it’s inflected “shine / shined / shined” {he shined his shoes}. As an intransitive verb, it’s inflected “shine / shone / shone” {the sun shone}. Writers occasionally use “shined” where “shone” is the word they want — e.g.: “And neither shined [read ‘shone’] like the oft-dormant Texas running game that …

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

sheath, n.; sheathe, vb. It’s an error to use “sheathe” (rhymes with “teethe”) as a noun or “sheath” (rhymes with “teeth”) as a verb — e.g.: o “The device features a mechanism that secures the needle, point and all, inside a plastic sheathe [read ‘sheath’] at the same time that the user withdraws it from …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: sheath, n.; sheathe, vb. Read More »

Miscellaneous Entries. sex, adj.; sexual. Both “sex discrimination” and “sexual discrimination” are widely used. The former is perhaps better, since “sexual” has come to refer more to sexual intercourse and things pertaining to it. Thus “sexual” is becoming rare in contexts not involving intercourse or the drive to engage in it. Today, “sexual education” seems …

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

share. This word appears in various redundant phrases, such as *"share in common," *"share together," and *"both share" — e.g.: o “Elway and Dan Marino have been playing contract leapfrog with Elway always getting the last leap. They both share [read ‘have’] the same agent, Marvin Demoff of Los Angeles, and that’s the way he’s …

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

shape / shaped / shaped. The archaic past participle “shapen” exists only in the forms “misshapen,” “ill-shapen,” and “well-shapen.” The latter two, though much less common than “misshapen,” still occur — e.g.: o “At the back of the restaurant, the Pinup Lounge pays homage to Vargas Girls, those idealized images of well-shapen women painted by …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: shape / shaped / shaped. Read More »

shanghai, v.t. As a verb, “shanghai” means (1) to drug or otherwise make insensible and then abduct for service on a ship needing crew members; or (2) to influence by fraud or compulsion. The inflected forms are “shanghaied” and “shanghaiing.” “Shanghai” has its origin in the slang of 19th-century San Francisco. When gold was discovered …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: shanghai, v.t. Read More »

shall; will. Grammarians formerly relied on the following paradigm, which now has little utility: to express simple futurity, “I shall,” “you will,” “he will,” “we shall,” “you will,” “they will”; to express determination, promise, or command, “I will,” “you shall,” “he shall,” “we will,” “you shall,” “they shall.” But with only minor exceptions, “will” has …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: shall; will. Read More »

Miscellaneous Entries. service was once only a noun, but since the late 19th century it has been used as a transitive verb as well. It may mean “to provide service for” {the mechanic serviced the copying machine}, “to pay interest on” {to service a debt}, or generally “to perform services for.” Ordinarily, the verb “to …

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

shake > shook > shaken (3). Today: When *"shaked" May Be Justified. The weak form (*"shaked") is perhaps justifiable in the facetious reduplicative phrase "shaked and baked" — e.g.: o “He had shaked and baked, turning the St. Ignatius gym into his personal oven.” E.L. Rogers, “Medina 62, St. Ignatius 61,” Plain Dealer (Cleveland), 12 …

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: shake > shook > shaken (3). Read More »