Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day

sanatorium; sanitorium; *sanatarium; *sanitarium. Dictionaries are almost evenly split between the spellings “sanatorium” and “sanitorium” (= an institution for the treatment of chronic diseases or care of long-term convalescents; a health resort). *"Sanatarium" and *"sanitarium" are needless variants — e.g.: o “Early Tuesday, Carter — the first former or current American president to visit Castro’s …

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Miscellaneous Entries. rigmarole (= a senselessly cumbersome, hassle-filled procedure) is the standard spelling. *"Rigamarole" is a variant spelling that is less than half as common in print. Despite its spelling, “rigmarole” is usually pronounced /RIG-uh-muh-rohl/, though the dictionaries record /RIG-muh-rohl/. rill; *rille. “Rill” = (1) a brook or stream; or (2) a long, narrow trench …

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same (4) Today: In Ill-Formed Phrases. Part A: *"Same . . . as are." “Are” often appears superfluously when writers state that two or more things are identical — e.g.: “Tucson officials say they are not in the same financial straits as are [read ‘as’] officials in Boston, where bankruptcy remains a possibility.” Stephanie Innes, …

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same (3). Today: As a Constitutional Crisis. An ambiguous “same” pronoun once gave rise to a major constitutional question: whether John Tyler was in fact the tenth President of the United States. When President William Henry Harrison died on April 4, 1841, Article II of the Constitution read: “In case of the removal of the …

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same (2). Today: As a Pronoun Generally. Unfortunately, the pretentious construction (“same” as a pronoun) has spread from legalese to general writing — e.g.: “Two more yards and it would have been Young’s first NFL touchdown. Noting same [read ‘that fact’?], he spat out a wad of smokeless tobacco before leaving the dressing room.” John …

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same (1). Today: As a Pronoun in Legalese. This usage, commonly exemplified in the phrase “acknowledging same,” is a primary symptom of legalese. H.W. Fowler wrote trenchantly that it “is avoided by all who have any skill in writing” and that those who use it seem bent on giving the worst possible impression of themselves …

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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. right, adj. ; righteous; rightful. These terms are sometimes confused. “Right” = correct, proper, just. “Righteous” = morally upright, virtuous, or law-abiding. This term has strong religious connotations, often of unctuousness. “Rightful” = (1) (of an action) equitable, fair {a rightful solution}; (2) (of a person) legitimately entitled to a position {the rightful …

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hara-kiri. “Hara-kiri” (Jap. “belly-cutting”) is often misspelled in various ways, including “hari kari,” “hari-kari,” and “hiri kiri” — e.g.: o “‘Hiri kiri [read ‘Hara-kiri’] squeeze!’ I yelled. . . . To which an Asian gentleman seated to my right turned, nodded and said, ‘Very good, very good.’” Mike Downey, “Now It Seems Winning Is Also …

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facility. This word is surplusage in phrases such as “jail facility” and “museum facility” — e.g.: “Airports that aren’t well-served by airline clubs or that don’t have major hotel facilities [read ‘hotels’] nearby will put in conference rooms of their own, he predicted.” Carol Smith, “Companies Meet Each Other at the Airport,” L.A. Times, 20 …

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entomology; etymology. “Entomology” is the study of insects. “Etymology” is the study of word origins or, more usually, the derivation of a given word. The two words are occasionally confounded — e.g.: o “Fly fishermen must also study the etymology [read ‘entomology’] of insects, what they [read ‘insects’] look like, how they move, so they …

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effect; affect. “Effect” (= to bring about) is often misused for “affect” (= to influence, have an effect on). The blunder is widespread — e.g.: o “Opponents say it would effect [read ‘affect’] only a small number of people — in New York an estimated 300 criminals a year — and would have little effect …

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Miscellaneous Entries. rewind / rewound / rewound. So inflected. *"Rewinded" is an infrequent error — e.g.: “Scenes can be freeze-framed and advanced, rewinded [read ‘rewound’] and fast-forwarded with the push-button precision of CD audio or laser disc players.” Steve Persall, “To DVD or Not to DVD?” St. Petersburg Times, 19 Feb. 1999, at 20. Language-Change …

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danglers (6). Today: Ending Sentences with Danglers. Traditionally, grammarians frowned on all danglers, but during the 20th century they generally loosened the strictures for a participial construction at the end of a sentence. Some early-20th-century grammarians might have disapproved of the following sentences, but such sentences have long been considered acceptable: o “Sarah stepped to …

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danglers (5). Today: Acceptable Danglers, or Disguised Conjunctions. Any number of present participles have been used as conjunctions or prepositions for so long that they have lost the participial duty of modifying specific nouns. In effect, the clauses they introduce are adverbial, standing apart from and commenting on the content of the sentence. Among the …

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danglers (4). Today, Part A: Past-Participial Danglers. These are especially common when the main clause begins with a possessive — e.g.: “Born on March 12, 1944, in Dalton, Georgia, Larry Lee Simms’s qualifications . . . .” Barbara H. Craig, Chadha: The Story of an Epic Constitutional Struggle 79 (1988). (Simms’s qualifications were not born …

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danglers (3). Today: Present-Participial Danglers. Mispositioned words can cause grammatical blunders. The classic example occurs when the wrong noun begins the main clause — that is, a noun other than the one expected by the reader after digesting the introductory participial phrase. E.g.: “The newspaper said that before being treated for their injuries, General Mladic …

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danglers (2). Today: The ubiquity of danglers. Despite the sloppiness of danglers in general, they have been exceedingly common even among grammarians. For example, a biographical entry on Lindley Murray (1745-1826), the best-selling grammarian of the early 19th century, condemned his participial habits: “In spite of his proverbial credit as an authority, his own style …

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danglers (1). So-called danglers are ordinarily unattached participles — either present participles (ending in “-ing”) or past participles (ending usually in “-ed”) — that do not relate syntactically to the nouns they are supposed to modify. That is, when the antecedent of a participle doesn’t appear where it logically should, the participle is said to …

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Miscellaneous Entries. revise; redact; recense. The first is the ordinary word. The second and third refer specifically to revising texts with close scrutiny. “Redact” = (1) to make a draft of; or (2) to edit. In American law, it is often used in the sense “to edit out or mask the privileged, impertinent, or objectionable …

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