Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day

Noun Plague. This is Wilson Follett’s term for the piling up of nouns to modify other nouns (Modern American Usage 229 (1966)). When a sentence has more than two nouns in a row, it generally becomes much less readable. The following sentence is badly constructed because of the noun-upon-noun syndrome, which (sadly) is more common […]

methodology. “Methodology,” strictly speaking, means “the science or study of method.” But it is now widely misused as a fancy equivalent of “method” or “methods” — e.g.: o “Defenders of scientific methodology [read either ‘scientific methods’ or ‘the scientific method’] were urged to counterattack against faith healing, astrology, religious fundamentalism and paranormal charlatanism.” Malcolm W.

judgment. Part A: Spelling. “Judgment” is the preferred form in American English and in British legal texts, even as far back as the 19th century. “Judgement” is prevalent in British nonlegal texts and was thought by H.W. Fowler to be the better form (Modern English Usage 1 at 310). Part B: American and British Legal

Illogic (4). Today: “Times Less Than.” Brand Y may cost twice as much as Brand X, but that doesn’t mean Brand X is twice as cheap as Brand Y. Farburg may be two times as far away as Nearville, but that doesn’t mean Nearville is two times closer than Farburg. Big Dog may be twice

Illogic (3). Part A: Danglers and Misplaced Modifiers. Every dangler or misplaced modifier perverts logic to some degree, sometimes humorously — e.g.: “I saw the Statue of Liberty flying into Newark.” To avoid these disruptions of thought, remember that a participle should relate to a noun that’s capable of performing the participle’s action. Part B:

Illogic (2). Today: Illogical Comparisons. This lapse occurs commonly in locutions such as “as large if not larger than,” which, when collapsed, becomes “as large than”; properly, one writes “as large as if not larger than.” Similar problems occur with classes of things. For example, when members of classes are being compared, a word such

Illogic (1). Today: Logic vs. Idiom. Anyone who would dare drag logic into a discussion on language must do so warily. For centuries, grammarians labored under the mistaken belief that grammar is nothing but applied logic and therefore tried to rid languages of everything illogical. But to paraphrase Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, the life of

hoi polloi. “Hoi polloi” = the common people, the masses. Because “hoi” in Greek means “the” (plural), “the hoi polloi” is technically redundant. But the three-word phrase predominates and ought to be accepted. What shouldn’t be accepted, though, is the growing misuse of “hoi polloi” to refer to the elite. This might occur through a

fortuitous; fortunate. Strictly speaking, “fortuitous” means “occurring by chance.” E.g.: “Unless the victim dies, the law cannot assume that the transgressor really meant to kill — even though whether the victim lives or dies might be entirely fortuitous.” Jerome H. Skolnick, “A Capital Offense Spared by Luck?” L.A. Times, 27 Aug. 1993, at B7. But

especial; special. Traditionally, “especial” (= distinctive, significant, peculiar) is the opposite of “ordinary” {the press is usually given especial access}. “Special” (= specific, particular) is the opposite of “general” {this community has special concerns}, though increasingly “special” is driving out “especial.” “Especial” is so rarely used in American English today — even in learned journals

diffuse; defuse, vb. To “diffuse” something is to disperse it from a single source. To “defuse” is to make something threatening safe, especially a dangerous situation or a bomb (by deactivating it). “Diffuse” can have very different connotations, depending on its context, because of how dispersal can work. When dye is dropped into water, as

Zeugma (2). Today: Erroneous Uses. Sometimes zeugma is a kind of grammatical error, as when a single word refers to two or more words in the sentence when it properly applies to only one of them. One type, the nontransferable auxiliary, plagues writers who habitually try to express their ideas in the alternative — e.g.:

Zeugma (1). Today: Witty Uses. This figure of speech, literally a “yoking together,” involves a word’s being a part of two constructions. Sometimes it results in a grammatical error, but sometimes it’s simply a felicitous way of phrasing an idea. For example, sometimes a verb or preposition is applied to two other words in different

Miscellaneous Entries zombie; *zombi. The first spelling so predominates today — 500-to-1 in a 2008 LexisNexis search — that the original term is almost a lifeless corpse. *”Zombi” derives from “nzambi,” the Bantu name of a West African python deity thought to raise the dead. A generally disparaging term in common use (in the sense

yours. “Yours,” an absolute possessive, is sometimes wrongly written *”your’s” — e.g.: o “‘So, when’s this big party of your’s [read ‘yours’] happening?’ asks the salesman.” Peter Goddard, “Imperial Esso Man Still Slick as Ever,” Toronto Star, 5 Aug. 2000, Entertainment §, at 9. o “I believe all men have consciences that guide them; let

your. “Your,” the possessive form of the second person, is sometimes misused for “you’re,” the contraction of “you are.” Often, as in the second example below, the error is that of the journalist who reports speech: o “Just saying your [read ‘you’re’] going to get fit this year doesn’t mean you will unless you define

you can’t eat your cake and have it too; you can’t have your cake and eat it too. The second phrasing, now the more common one, is sometimes stigmatized: “The first form makes sense: once you’ve eaten the damned thing, you can no longer have it. Not so the later, corrupt form: you can have

yoke; yolk. “Yoke” = (1) a twice-curved, usu. wooden beam with U-shaped brackets beneath to enclose the necks of two oxen or other draft animals {after a struggle, the oxen were fitted into the yoke}; or (2) a pair of animals suitable for yoking {a yoke of oxen}. “Yolk” = the yellow center of an

Miscellaneous Entries zetetic; *zetetick. The adjective meaning “proceeding by inquiry or investigation” is preferably spelled “zetetic” (OED & W3). The Center for Scientific Anomalies at Eastern Michigan University publishes a journal called The Zetetic Scholar, devoted to the skeptical analysis of paranormal claims. zibeline (= of or relating to sables) is the preferred spelling. *”Zibelline”

yet. Part A: Beginning Sentences with. Like other coordinating conjunctions, “yet” is perfectly acceptable as a sentence-starter. It’s a rank superstition to believe otherwise. E.g.: o “Yet if a student can — and this is most difficult and unusual — draw back, get a critical distance on what he clings to, come to doubt the