that is. Conventional wisdom once held that if this phrase begins a sentence, the result is a sentence fragment. But good writers unimpeachably use the phrase in this way, in place of “in other words” — e.g.: o “While adopting certain teaching techniques, we are more interested in communication than in composition. That is, with …

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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. thence; whence; hence. “Thence” = from that place or source; for that reason. “Whence” = from there. “Hence” = (1) for this reason; therefore; (2) from this source; (3) from this time; from now; or (4) from this place; away. They’re literary archaisms — except for “hence” in sense 1. thenceforth; *thenceforward. The …

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that (4). Today: Final Problems. Part A: Unnecessarily Repeated as Conjunction. One must be careful not to repeat the conjunction “that” after an intervening phrase. Either suspend it till just before the verb or use it early in the sentence and omit it before the verb — e.g.: “Mr. Siefker has gone through half a …

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that (3). Today: Wrongly Suppressed “that.” As a relative pronoun or conjunction, “that” can be suppressed in any number of constructions (e.g., “The dog you gave me” rather than “The dog that you gave me”). But in formal writing “that” is often ill-advisedly omitted. In particular, the conjunction “that” should usually be retained to introduce …

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that (1). Today: And “which.” You’ll encounter two schools of thought on this point. First are those who don’t care about any distinction between these words, who think that “which” is more formal than “that,” and who point to many historical examples of copious “whiches.” They say that modern usage is a muddle. Second are …

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Miscellaneous Entries. the case of. This flotsam phrase is almost always best omitted. their; they’re. A book like this one need not explain such elementary distinctions. So it will not. But: “Liberals are again trying to explain why they lost their fifth presidential election in 20 years. They’ve been talking about what they’re [read ‘their’] …

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thank you (and its responses). “Thank you” remains the best, most serviceable phrase, despite various attempts to embellish it or truncate it: “thanking you in advance” (presumptuous and possibly insulting), “thank you very much” (with a trailer of surplusage), “thanks” (useful on informal occasions), “many thanks” (informal but emphatic), *”much thanks” (archaic and increasingly unidiomatic), …

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thankfully. “Thankfully” = in a manner expressing thanks; gratefully {after being saved so unexpectedly, they thankfully said goodbye}. E.g.: “Obligations are thankfully acknowledged to a long line of etymologists, lexicographers, and philologists, whom it would be mere pedantry to call by name.” James Bradstreet Greenough & George Lyman Kittredge, Words and Their Ways in English …

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Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day than (4). Today: “Than whom.” In the awkward and (fortunately) now-rare inverted construction (e.g., T.S. Eliot, than whom few critics could be considered better), one might expect the nominative “who” to be the preferred pronoun. “Than” is treated as a conjunction in formal usage, not a preposition, so the …

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than (2). Today: For “then.” This error is so elementary that one might fairly wonder whether it is merely a lapse in proofreading. But it occurs with some frequency — e.g.: “Mr. Bennett did wake up several times, hoping to hear good news, if not about himself, than [read ‘then’] at least about the two …

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than (1). Today: Verb Not Repeated After (“than is,” “than has”). Often it’s unnecessary (though not ungrammatical) to repeat “be”-verbs and “have”-verbs after “than,” especially when a noun follows — e.g.: o “Jonathan Lipnicki . . . became a national favorite as the too-cute son in ‘Jerry Maguire.’ He’s still cute, probably more so than …

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Miscellaneous Entries. text, vb. ; texting. As a verb, “text” (= to send a text message) has sprung into favor with the popularity of instant-messaging systems — e.g.: “If you’re shopping for a new plan, analyze your calling, texting and data-download patterns.” Liz F. Kay, “Finding New Ways to Trim Your Cell Phone Expenses,” Baltimore …

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territory; dependency; commonwealth. The distinctions in American English are as follows: “Territory” = a part of the United States not included within any state but organized with a separate legislature (Webster’s 11th). Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are territories of the United States; Alaska and Hawaii were formerly territories. “Dependency” = a land or …

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tenure; tender. “Tenure” (= [1] a holding by right, as of an elected office; [2] the time spent in such an office; or [3] an entitlement to a professional position, esp. at a university, with protection against dismissal) is sometimes used where the intent was “tender,” vb. (= to offer something, esp. in settlement of …

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tenterhooks. A tenter is a frame for stretching cloth to dry, and tenterhooks are the hooks or nails placed in the tenter to hold the cloth. The set phrase “on tenterhooks,” then, refers to being stretched, therefore strained and nervous. Because the unfamiliar word “tenterhook” is rarely seen outside that phrase, it is prone to …

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tentative. “Tentative” (/TEN-tuh-tiv/) is often mispronounced, and therefore mistakenly written, as if the word were *”tenative” — e.g.: o “At the all-star break, he was making 42 percent (126 of 300) of his field goals, looking tenative [read ‘tentative’] with the ball.” David Aldridge, “Harvey Grant Has Found That He Could Get to Like Starting …

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