Miscellaneous Entries
*submittal (= [1] the act of submitting; or [2] something submitted) is a needless variant of “submission” — e.g.: “Town code requires members to act on applications within 180 days of submittal [read ‘submission’ or ‘their being submitted’].” Jonathan McNeilly, “New Rite Aid Plans Rejected in Henniker,” Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.), 1 May 1997, at A5.
subpar. This vogue word has a curious double meaning. In ordinary contexts, of course, it means “below average, not measuring up to normal standards” {a child’s subpar report card}. But in golf, the term means “below par for a hole, round, or match” — par being the standard number of strokes for a hole or course {three subpar rounds in his last four tournaments}. Oddly enough, then, it’s desirable to be subpar in golf but not in other aspects of life.
subsidence (= the act or process of settling or sinking) is pronounced /suhb-SID-uhns/ or /SUHB-si-dens/. The word is sometimes misspelled *"subsidance" — e.g.: “Saltwater intrusion is a by-product, of sorts, of conversion and subsidance [read ‘subsidence’] in combination with tidal surges.” Doug Pike, “Saving the Wetlands,” Houston Chron., 8 May 1997, at 13.
*Invariably inferior forms.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “People who can’t spell look bad because, as we can correctly assume, that is probably not the only thing they can’t do. Besides, bad spelling is obviously a sign of not reading much, for anyone who reads would have seen the misspelled words written correctly thousands of times.” S. Morris Engel, Fallacies and Pitfalls of Language: The Language Trap 18 (1994).
