Miscellaneous Entries.
tubful. The plural is “tubfuls” — not *”tubsful.”
Tucsonan; *Tucsonian; *Tucsonite. The first is standard; the others are needless variants.
tunable. So spelled — not “tuneable.”
tunnel, vb., makes “tunneled” and “tunneling” in American English, “tunnelled” and “tunnelling” in British English.
turf. The plural is “turfs” — not *”turves” (which is archaic).
Turkmen. For a citizen of Turkmenistan, this is the standard term. The plural is “Turkmens.”
twilight; twilit. Though normally a noun, “twilight” can function as an adjective {her twilight years}. And in most contexts it’s better than “twilit,” which suggests (wrongly) that there’s a verb “to twilight.” But the form “twilit” is current and acceptable in the sense “lighted by twilight” {a twilit stadium}. Those who find that phrase strange-looking can always resort to a roundabout wording {a stadium illuminated by twilight}.
*Invariably inferior form.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “I was once told that the surest aid to the writing of a book was a piece of cobbler’s wax on my chair. I certainly believe in the cobbler’s wax much more than inspiration.” Anthony Trollope, “Trollope on the Literary Life,” in Best Advice on How to Write 6, 24 (Gorham Munson ed., 1952).
