Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day

Weasel Words. Theodore Roosevelt said, in a speech in St. Louis on May 31, 1916: “One of our defects as a nation is a tendency to use what have been called weasel words. When a weasel sucks eggs it sucks the meat out of the egg and leaves it an empty shell. If you use …

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wear / wore / worn. So inflected. The simple-past “wore” is sometimes mistakenly used as a past participle — e.g.: o “And Imler turned out to be a pleasant surprise, using his quickness to create shots and gaining confidence at the point as the season has wore [read ‘worn’] on.” John C. Cotey, “The 2 …

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weaponize. For a long time — probably beginning in the 1970s — this “-ize” neologism was in the exclusive domain of military and international-relations jargon. Uses were infrequent, but the word occurred as early as 1984 — e.g.: “‘Absolutely no work is being done to develop, manufacture, store or weaponize biological warfare agents,’ the [Pentagon] …

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Miscellaneous Entries. vice; vise. In American English, a “vice” is an immoral habit or practice, and a “vise” is a tool with closable jaws for clamping things. But in British English, the tool is spelled like the sin: “vice.” vichyssoise (= a thick soup made with potatoes and leeks and usu. served cold) is often …

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wean. “Wean” means either “to cause (a child or young animal) to become accustomed to food other than the mother’s milk” or, by extension, “to withdraw (a person) gradually from a source of dependence.” Thus, a person is typically “weaned off” something — e.g.: o “Skeptics have claimed this decline in caseload would slow and …

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*way which. *”Way which” is erroneous for “way in which.” E.g.: “This column has as its main goal the empowerment of you, the reader, about ways which [read ‘ways in which’] you can become more informed and thereby take more responsibility for your own health.” Glenn Ellis, “Using Herbs as a Method of Preventive Medicine,” …

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way(s). In the sense “the length of a course or distance,” “way” is the standard term {a long way}. “Ways” is dialectal. So it’s surprising to find “ways” in serious journalism — e.g.: “This is premature, of course; Fox still has a ways to go [read ‘some way to go’?] before it’s a full-fledged network.” …

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Miscellaneous Entries. verbatim; literatim; ipsissima verba. These apparent synonyms carry slight nuances. “Verbatim” = word for word. “Literatim” = letter for letter. Sometimes the phrase “verbatim et literatim” is seen. “Ipsissima verba” (lit., “the selfsame words”) = the exact language used by someone quoted (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary [11th ed.]). verdict refers to a jury’s pronouncement. …

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waylay / waylaid / waylaid. Occasionally the past tense or past participle is misspelled *”waylayed” — e.g.: o “Keggi’s career was waylayed [read ‘waylaid’] in 1993 when she drank some bad water and was stricken with lingering symptoms from E-Coli bacteria.” Paul Harber, “They’re Going the Distance,” Boston Globe, 24 Apr. 1997, at C10. o …

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water under the bridge; water over the dam. Both phrases allude to time gone by and events passed. What the latter phrase adds to the former is the connotation of missed opportunities — e.g.: o “Whether other prosecutions should have taken place under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act is another question, and it appears at …

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watermark; water-mark; water mark. “Watermark” = (1) a line made by a body of water at its surface (as in a flood) and used to gauge the water’s depth; or (2) a faint identifying mark pressed into fine paper during manufacture, or an analogous identifier embedded in a computer file by software. The word in …

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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. veld /velt/ (= an open, nearly treeless grassland) is the standard spelling. *”Veldt” is a variant (chiefly in South African English). vendor (= one who sells) is the standard spelling. *”Vender” is a variant. “Vendor” is pronounced /VEN-duhr/, not /VUN-dor/. venerable = (of people) worthy of being venerated, revered, or highly respected and …

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wary; weary. To be “wary” of something is to be on one’s guard against it: cautious, watchful, and perhaps worried. E.g.: “Consumers remain wary of anthrax sent through the mail.” Stephanie Miles, “Apparel E-tailers to Spruce Up for Holidays,” Wall Street J., 6 Nov. 2001, at B6. To be “weary” is to be physically fatigued …

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wanton; reckless. In law, the word “wanton” usually denotes a greater degree of culpability than “reckless” does. A reckless person is generally fully aware of the risks and may even be trying and hoping to avoid harm. A wanton person may be risking no more harm than the reckless person, but he or she is …

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want, n. The usual sense, of course, is “something desired” or “a desire.” But “want” has a long history as a formal word meaning “lack,” especially in the phrase “for want of.” Though this sense formerly had a literary cast, today it is fairly common even in informal writing — e.g.: o “The Republican incumbent, …

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Miscellaneous Entries. variable, adj.; variant, adj.; variational; *variative. “Variable” = subject to variation; characterized by variations. “Variant” = differing in form or in details from the one named or considered, differing thus among themselves (Concise Oxford Dictionary). “Variational” = of, pertaining to, or marked or characterized by variation. *”Variative” shares the senses of “variational”; because …

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waiver. “Waiver” (= voluntary relinquishment of a right or advantage) is primarily a noun; “waver” (= to vacillate) is primarily a verb. It is a fairly common solecism to misuse “waiver” for “waver” — e.g.: o “But when the defense lawyer found out the judge was waivering [read ‘wavering’], Mr. Polanski left the country.” Caryn …

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waive. Part A: Narrowing of Sense. This word has undergone what linguists call “specialization,” its primary sense having gotten narrower with time. Originally, “waive” was just as broad as “abandon” {the fleeing thief waived the stolen goods}. But today, “waive” means “to relinquish voluntarily (something that one has the right to expect)” {the popular entertainer …

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waistband. “Waistband” is sometimes, in a gross error, written *”wasteband” — e.g.: o “The women sucked in their breath and tried to push their belly-buttons into fleshy balloons over their wastebands [read ‘waistbands’].” Rebecca Walsh, “Dancers at Fest Bare Their Bellies, Escape Daily Grind,” Salt Lake Trib., 28 Aug. 1994, at B1. o “He allegedly …

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