Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day

waist; waste. Substituting “waste” for “waist” is most often a pun — e.g.: “County Is Waste-Deep in Reduction/Recycling Assistance” (headline), Tampa Trib., 9 Nov. 2008, Local News §, at 3. But not always — e.g.: o “Johnny Campbell, 22, tied a tow chain around his waste [read ‘waist’] and waded through waste-deep [read ‘waist-deep’] water …

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Miscellaneous Entries. v.; vs. Both are acceptable abbreviations of “versus,” but they differ in application: “vs.” is more common except in names of law cases, in which “v.” is the accepted abbreviation. vagina; vulva. The term “vagina” is now frequently used to denote not just the internal organ (the strict meaning), but also the external …

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vouchsafe. “Vouchsafe” ordinarily denotes “to grant something in a condescending way,” or, more neutrally, “to grant something as a special favor.” The word is often mildly sarcastic — e.g.: “Gen. Powell’s opinions, as he has been vouchsafing them, were unformed or, where formed, oddly out of date.” “America’s Son,” Nat’l Rev., 27 Nov. 1995, at …

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Vogue Words. In the mid-1990s, unnatural-looking hair dye became all the rage. Teenagers used it. Thirty-somethings used it — and applied it to their young children’s hair. Women of all ages used it. Even many middle-aged men used it. By 2001, the craze had long since spread over the globe. For example, in the summer …

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vociferous; voracious. A “vociferous” person is loud, noisy, and clamorous; a “vociferous” crowd is characterized by unrestrained yelling. A “voracious” person or animal, meanwhile, devours food ravenously; a “voracious” reader has an insatiable desire for books, magazines, and other reading materials. In short, although the two words appear similar, they apply to very different types …

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viz. “Viz.” is an abbreviation of the Latin word “videlicet” (fr. “videbere” “to see” + “licet” “it is permissible”). The English-language equivalents are “namely” and “that is,” either of which is preferable. Like its English counterparts, the Latin term signifies that what follows particularizes and explains a general statement. E.g.: o “For too long Virginia’s …

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Miscellaneous Entries. used-book store. So written, not *”used bookstore.” E.g.: “We all have this vision of the perfect used bookstore [read ‘used-book store’]: it seems to come out of a Dickens story, or maybe the film version of The Old Curiosity Shop.” Ian C. Ellis, Book Finds: How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and …

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visit, n.; visitation. Dictionaries have long labeled these nouns synonyms, and for the most part their senses overlap. “Visitation,” for example, may denote simply the act or an instance of visiting — e.g.: “Visitation is seasonal; few guests come in winter.” Jay Clarke, “Up Close with Six Florida Islands,” Chicago Trib., 21 Jan. 2007, Travel …

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visible; visual. “Visible” means “capable of being seen; perceptible to the eye.” “Visual” means “of or relating to vision or sight.” Thus, the phrase for a blind or nearly blind person is “visually impaired,” not *”visibly impaired,” which is something of a malapropism — e.g.: o “Lyons also hopes to exhibit a sensory garden in …

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vis-à-vis. “Vis-à-vis” (lit., “face to face”) is a multihued preposition and adverb in place of which a more precise term is often better. The traditional sense is adverbial, “in a position facing each other.” But the word is most often figurative. And as a preposition, “vis-à-vis” has been extended to the senses “opposite to; in …

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Uranus. The traditional pronunciation of the planet and the mythical god is /YOOR-uh-nuhs/. The dominant pronunciation in American English is /uu-RAY-nuhs/, even though that variant is a relative newcomer. As Charles Harrington Elster notes, “Until the middle of [the 20th] century nearly two hundred years after the planet’s discovery in 1781, the only recognized pronunciation …

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violoncello. “Violoncello,” not *”violincello,” is the correct spelling for the bass member of the violin family. Not surprisingly, the word is often misspelled — e.g.: o “He used a violincello [read ‘violoncello’] for the body of the female figure.” Robert L. Pincus, “Surrealist Max Ernst Just Having Fun with Sculpture,” San Diego Union-Trib., 19 July …

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victory. The phrase *”win a victory: is a common but venial redundancy — e.g.: o “The United Auto Workers has won a victory in Northeast Ohio in its bid to unionize seat plants owned by Johnson Controls Inc. [read ‘won in its bid to unionize seat plants in Northeast Ohio owned by Johnson Controls Inc.’]” …

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vicious circle; vicious cycle. Both mean “a situation in which the solution to one problem gives rise to a second problem, but the solution to the second problem brings back the first problem.” “Vicious circle” is about 40% more common than “vicious cycle” in modern print sources. And “vicious circle” is the phrase with stronger …

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vicious; viscous. “Vicious” (= brutal) is sometimes confounded with “viscous” (= gummy) — e.g.: o “Crouching just behind the service line, Agassi ran around his backhand to take a viscous [read ‘vicious’] rip at a return off Ferrero’s timid serve.” Selena Roberts, “Agassi Out as Ferrero Capitalizes on a Break,” N.Y. Times, 7 June 2002, …

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Miscellaneous Entries. uprighteous is a portmanteau word, a combination of “upright” and “righteous” — e.g.: “You may recall the uproar over Atlanta pitcher John Rocker and his lowly opinions of New York City and its inhabitants. It was hardly an original view, but he said it to a magazine reporter, and the uprighteous sky fell …

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vice versa. “Vice versa” (= the other way around; just the opposite) should be the fulcrum for reciprocal referents. That is, “Mike likes Ellen and vice versa” says that Ellen also likes Mike. The subject and the object could be switched around, leaving the verb intact — e.g.: “You can adjust the slide to allocate …

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viable. “Viable” originally meant “capable of living; fit to live,” a sense that still applies in many phrases, such as a “viable fetus.” By acceptable extension it has come to refer figuratively to any idea or thing that might flourish. But in this use it’s a vogue word that can often be improved on — …

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via. “Via” = (1) by way of (a place); passing through {they flew to Amarillo via Dallas}; or (2) by means of, through the agency of {we sent the letter via fax}. Sense 2, a casualism, is questionable whenever a simple preposition would suffice. Ernest Gowers called it a vulgarism in Modern English Usage (2d …

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veteran. Once a veteran, always a veteran. Hence *”former veteran” is redundant — e.g.: o “Many former veterans [read ‘veterans’] now work in the private sector and would have good reason to fear any disclosure of their possible exposure to Agent Orange.” Shira A. Scheindlin, “Discovering the Discoverable: A Bird’s Eye View of Discovery in …

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