Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day

Denizen Labels (2). Today: U.S. States and Cities. The preferred names for residents of some places are not immediately obvious. Listed below are some of those terms that are associated with U.S. states and cities. USGPO refers to the U.S. Government Printing Office Manual of Style. Arkansas: Arkansan, Arkansawyer, Arkie. Connecticut: Nutmegger, Connecticuter (USGPO). Delaware: …

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exquisite. Part A: Pronunciation. The word is better pronounced with the first syllable accented /EK-skwiz-it/; in American English, however, stressing the second (/ek-SKWIZ-it/) is acceptable. Part B: Use. Although there is historical justification for using “exquisite” (= acute) in reference to pain, modern readers are likely to find this use macabre at best, for they …

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Denizen Labels (2). Today: U.S. States and Cities. The preferred names for residents of some places are not immediately obvious. Listed below are some of those terms that are associated with U.S. states and cities. USGPO refers to the U.S. Government Printing Office Manual of Style. Arkansas: Arkansan, Arkansawyer, Arkie. Connecticut: Nutmegger, Connecticuter (USGPO). Delaware: …

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Denizen Labels (1). Today: Generally. What do you call someone from . . . ? Often that’s not an easy question. Residents of Columbus, Ohio (or Georgia, Nebraska, or Indiana) are called “Columbusites.” But someone from the town of Columbus, Mississippi, is called a “Columbian.” Those inconsistencies can be confusing, but they’re usually undisputed within …

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Miscellaneous Entries. reverend. In denoting a member of the clergy, this term has traditionally been restricted to adjectival uses, as one newspaper acknowledged after being upbraided by a careful reader: “We referred correctly to the Rev. Wiley Drake, . . . but an inside subhead read, ‘The reverend says.’ Some dictionaries recognize reverend as a …

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couple (4). Today: With Words of Comparison. When “couple” is used with comparison words such as “more,” “fewer,” and “too many,” the “of” is omitted. In the sentence “I’d like a couple more shrimp,” “shrimp” is the direct object. It is modified by the adjective “more,” which in turn is modified by the adverbial phrase …

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couple (2). Today: For “a few.” As a noun, “couple” has traditionally denoted a pair. (As a verb, it always denotes the joining of two things.) But in some uses, the precise number is vague. Essentially, it’s equivalent to “a few” or “several.” In informal contexts this usage is quite common and unexceptionable — e.g.: …

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couple (1). Today: Number. “Couple” (= pair) is a collective noun like “team,” “company,” or “faculty.” As a rule, a collective noun in American English takes a singular verb unless the action is clearly that of the individual participants rather than collective. When two people form a couple, they may act as individuals or as …

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Miscellaneous Entries. retributive; retributory; *retributional; *retributionary. “Retributive” = of or characterized by retribution. E.g.: “But justice will be served if the settlement is preventive, not just retributive.” “The Cigarette Pact,” Boston Globe, 25 June 1997, at A20. “Retributory” has the added sense “causing or producing retribution.” E.g.: “Many of the investment banks . . . …

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salutary; *salutiferous; salubrious. “Salutary” = beneficial; wholesome. “Salutory”* is a common misspelling, especially in British English — e.g.: o “Fans of the gone-but-not-forgotten Butterflies should rush to see Wendy Craig in this salutory [read ‘salutary’] tale about how not to treat your relatives.” “Pick of the Day: Sleeping Beauty,” Independent, 19 Dec. 1995, at 10. …

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sailor; sailer. A “sailor” is one who sails — always in reference to a person. A “sailer” is a vessel or vehicle that sails, or that moves by the use of a sail — e.g.: “The second part of the project is to launch an operational solar sailer with eight sails to be tested in …

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said, adj. Legal writers formerly used this word as a supposedly more precise equivalent of “the,” “this,” “that,” “these,” or “those.” But as lawyers have generally learned that it isn’t any more precise — and, indeed, that it can lead to various technical problems — the term has become much less frequent. Still, some writers …

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sacrilegious. “Sacrilegious” (= violative of something sacred; profane) is so spelled. *”Sacreligious,” under the influence of “religious,” is a common misspelling — e.g.: “An appointment book, yes, a desk, no. It’s sacreligious [read ‘sacrilegious’].” Nathan Cobb, “Drawers of Our Lives,” Boston Globe, 27 Aug. 1995, Mag. §, at 9. Still another misspelling is *”sacriligious” — …

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Run-On Sentences (2). Today: The Distinction. The distinction between a true run-on sentence and a comma splice can be helpful in differentiating between the wholly unacceptable (the former) and the usually-but-not-always unacceptable (the latter). That is, most usage authorities accept comma splices when (1) the clauses are short and closely related, (2) there is no …

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Run-On Sentences (1). Today: The Definitions. Run-on sentences do not stop where they should. The problem usually occurs when the writer is uncertain how to handle punctuation or how to handle such adverbs as “however” and “otherwise,” which are often mistakenly treated as conjunctions. Some grammarians distinguish between a “run-on sentence” (or “fused sentence”) and …

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RSVP. The abbreviation of the French phrase “répondez s’il vous plaît” (= respond if you please) is the standard request for responses to invitations. Because the phrase contains the polite idea of “please,” it’s redundant to say *”please RSVP.” Increasingly, American English is making the acronym a verb meaning either “to respond” {have you RSVP’d …

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Miscellaneous Entries. resurface, like “surface,” may be intransitive or transitive, though the meanings differ. “Resurface” = (1) to come to the top again {he resurfaced in the middle of the pond}; or (2) to put a new top on {the state resurfaced the road}. resuscitate. So spelled. retaliatory; retaliative. The two forms have undergone differentiation. …

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ruin, n.; ruination. “Ruin” is the ordinary term. “Ruination,” which is quite common, has traditionally been humorous and colloquial, but today often seems to convey a special earnestness or acknowledged hyperbole — e.g.: o “The increasing involvement of player agents is leading to the ruination of professional sports, claims columnist Tom Powers of the St. …

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row to hoe. “Row to hoe” is an agricultural or gardening metaphor meaning “a challenging and perhaps arduous project” {it’s going to be a tough row to hoe}. Sometimes it’s ludicrously written as the mondegreen *”road to hoe,” especially in sportswriting — e.g.: o “Though victories over Newcastle and Aston Villa showed Leicester how they …

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routinize. “Routinize” (= to develop into a regular schedule) is pronounced either /ROO-tuh-nIz/ or /roo-TEE-nIz/. Although this word (dating from the early 1920s) sometimes smacks of gobbledygook, it’s also difficult to replace — e.g.: o “The raunchiness that some, at least, admired in the earlier book has been replaced by routinized descriptions of the hydraulics …

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