LawProse Lessons

sensational; sensationalistic. “Sensational” answers to “sensation” (excitement) and may mean either “awesome” {a sensational performance by the orchestra} or “commanding attention” (in the sense, actually, of “awful”) {the sensational O.J. Simpson trial}. “Sensationalistic” (= overblown; distorted to shock the emotions), answering to “sensationalism,” always carries strongly negative connotations — e.g.: “Print media are being just […]

*self-complacent. *"Self-complacent" is redundant, "complacent" being sufficient — e.g.: o “You will remind the self-complacent [read ‘complacent’] to stop and think of their fellow men.” Joe Fitzgerald, “Unsung Heroes Suffer While Pols Play Budget Games,” Boston Herald, 11 Jan. 1996, at 18. o “In the end, . . . his approach strikes one as limited

Miscellaneous Entries. save and except is a fairly common but unjustifiable redundancy — e.g.: “LifeCo is ‘basically prepared to go forward with obtaining a final judgment of foreclosure save and except for the fact [read ‘except’]’ that it does not yet have a complete list of tenants renting space in the garage.” Alex Finkelstein, “LifeCo,

*self-admitted. *"Self-admitted," like *”self-confessed,” is a redundancy — e.g.: o “Hawkes is a self-admitted [read ‘an admitted’] toy buff.” Amy Wu, “Toycrafter Sales Spinning Up,” Rochester Democrat & Chron., 21 Dec. 2002, at D9. o “He’s commercially successful — selling just about everything he paints — and a self-admitted [read ‘self-described’ or delete ‘self-admitted’] happy

self-addressed stamped envelope. Though sometimes condemned, this phrase is now firmly entrenched in American English (especially in the abbreviated form SASE). “Self-addressed” isn’t merely “addressed by oneself,” but commonly means “addressed for return to the sender.” The prefix “self-” prevents vagueness: an envelope that’s merely addressed could be addressed to anybody. How should one pronounce

seldom. Because this word is an adverb as well as an adjective, the nonword *"seldomly" is never (not merely seldom) needed — e.g.: o “Hogan was a man so focused that he seldomly [read ‘seldom’] noticed what was going on around him.” Jeff Babineau, “Hogan’s Legacy,” Orlando Sentinel, 3 Aug. 1997, at C4. o “There,

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

Miscellaneous Entries. salvage, n. ; selvage. “Salvage” = (1) the rescue of property (as at sea or from fire); or (2) the discovery and extraction of something valuable or useful from rubbish. “Selvage” = the edging of cloth. sanguine, in the sense “optimistic, confident,” is sometimes confounded with “sanguinary” (= [1] involving bloodshed; or [2]

segue. “Segue” is a noun (meaning “a seamless transition”) and an intransitive verb (meaning “to transition smoothly”). (It’s also a transitive verb, but only in music.) The misspelling *"segway" (except in the trademarked company name) is particularly embarrassing — e.g.: o “[Barack Obama] applauded the work of junior Joe Pearson, of Barrington, who works under

see / saw / seen. So inflected. Using the past tense for the past participle, and vice versa, is typical of dialect. Usually these errors occur only in reported speech — e.g.: o “‘If I was [read ‘had been’] here on time, I would have saw [read ‘seen’] what happened and the guy or gal

Scylla and Charybdis, between. As described by Homer, Scylla /SiL-uh/ was a sea monster who had six heads (each with a triple row of teeth) and twelve feet. Though primarily a fish-eater, she was capable of snatching and devouring (in one swoop) six sailors if their ship ventured too near her cave in the Strait

scurfy; scurvy, adj. “Scurfy” means “(of an organism) full of dandruff or similar white flakes occurring as a result of disease or parasites.” E.g.: “Right about now is the time to treat euonymus scale (the scurfy white stuff) on euonymus and pachysandra and other scale insects on mugo pines, lilacs, peach, plum and cherry trees.”

Scotch, adj. & n. ; Scottish, adj. ; Scots, adj. & n. As adjectives, “Scots” generally applies to people {Scotsman} and Scottish to things {Scottish golf}. But the distinction is far from rigid. Some things, usually those associated with people, have names that use “Scots” instead of “Scottish,” e.g., “Scots law,” “Scots Guards,” “Scots goose,”

Miscellaneous Entries. sale. Something “for sale” is simply being offered for a specified price. Something “on sale” is being offered at a discounted price. salesperson; salesman. To avoid sexism, prefer the former. “Salesperson” seems to be one of the few words in which “-person” isn’t particularly grating. salesroom; saleroom. The former is standard in American

scissors. As a term for the cutting instrument, scissors has been treated as a plural since the 14th century, and that is the preferred modern construction {where are the scissors?}. But the phrase “a pair of scissors,” which first appeared in the 15th century, is singular because the noun “pair” controls the verb, not the

schism. “Schism” (= division, separation) is now almost always used figuratively — e.g.: o “But then the remaining members of the family arrive, and with them the signs of schism.” David Delman, “Crime Reveals Underside of Happy American Family,” Times Union (Albany), 4 Apr. 1995, at C2. o “The issue has also created a schism

scarify. “Scarify” (from “scar”) means (1) “to make superficial marks or incisions in; cut off skin from”; (2) “to break up the surface of (the ground) with a spiked machine [a scarifier] for loosening soil or building roads”; or (3) “to pain by severe criticism.” Sense 1 is most common — e.g.: “Buy scarified Bahia

say; state, vb. Whenever possible, use “say” rather than “state.” The latter typically sounds stilted. But there is a substantive as well as a tonal difference: “say” means “to tell; to relate,” while “state” means “to set out (formally); to make a specific declaration.” Theodore Bernstein, the assistant managing editor of The New York Times,