riff; rift (2). Today: “rift.” “Rift” arose in Middle English in the sense “a fissure or divide; a split or crack” — the meaning it still carries. E.g.: “Word out of Washington is that Bondra wants to change teams because of a rift with coach Ron Wilson.” Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, “End-of-the-Year Sale,” Boston Globe, 1 Oct. …

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riff; rift (1). Today: “riff.” These two are sometimes confused. “Riff” is now largely confined to jazz and pop-music contexts. It refers to a melodic phrase, usually repeated and often played in unison by several instruments; sometimes it’s a variation on a tune, and it may be either an accompaniment to a solo or the …

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rife; ripe. While a tree may be “rife” (= abundant) with fruit, and that fruit may be “ripe” (= fully mature), the terms are unrelated. To confuse them is a surprisingly common malapropism — e.g.: o “Iowa State . . . made an impression in Florida, ripe [read ‘rife’] with high school players coach Dan …

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rid/rid/rid. *”Ridded” is a variant form to be avoided — e.g.: o “The fish-eating public had a heyday the last time Williams and Badger were ridded [read ‘rid’] of non-game fish.” Rich Landers, “State Won’t Take Chance with Rotenone,” Spokesman-Rev. (Spokane), 21 Sept. 1995, at C1. o “When the night was over, Shaw had made …

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rhyme; rime. “Rhyme” means generally (1) “the correspondence of sound in words or lines of verse”; or (2) “a poem or poetry.” “Rime” means “the icy crystals on a freezing surface; frost.” Because of this long-standing differentiation, “rime” as a variant of “rhyme” ought to be discouraged. Historically, though, “rime” is correct for “poetry.” But …

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rhetoric. “Rhetoric” = (1) the art of using language persuasively; the rules that help one achieve eloquence; (2) the persuasive use of language; (3) a treatise on persuasive language; and (4) prose composition as a school subject. These are the main senses outlined in the OED, which also records “ironical or jocular” uses from the …

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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. renege; renegue; *renig. The first is the preferred form in American English; the second is the standard spelling in British English, although the first is making inroads. *”Renig” is a variant spelling in American English. renounceable; *renunciable. The latter is a needless variant. rent, n.; rental, n. Generally, prefer “rent” instead of the …

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rewrite. “Rewrite” is both noun and verb, although “write” itself cannot be a noun. E.g.: o “The play, meanwhile, could stand a good rewrite.” Scott Collins, “‘Pants on Fire’: A Smothered Attempt,” L.A. Times, 21 Oct. 1994, at 26. o “A good rewrite of the Endangered Species Act would balance the costs and benefits of …

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Remote Relatives (2). Today: With “that,” “who,” and “whose.” Remote relatives (relative-pronoun construction separated from their antecedents) are most common with “which” clauses. But other relatives get their share. The relative pronoun “that” is almost as troublesome, and when used remotely is even more likely to cause confusion — e.g.: “C-130 aircraft packed with radio …

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Remote Relatives (1). Today: Generally. “Every relative word which is used shall instantly present its antecedent to the mind of the reader, without the least obscurity.” Hugh Blair, Lectures on Rhetoric 65 (Grenville Kleiser ed., 1911). Surprisingly few modern grammarians discuss what has become an increasingly common problem: the separation of the relative pronoun (“that,” …

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Miscellaneous Entries. registrant /REJ-i-struhnt/ does not rhyme, in the final syllable, with “restaurant.” Yet somehow, within the influential Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., the pervasive pronunciation is /REJ-i-stront/, with a moderately strong final syllable. regulable (/REG-yuh-luh-buhl/) = able to be regulated; susceptible to regulation. “Regulatable,”* though incorrect, does occur — e.g.: “Where the …

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remorselessly. Part A: And “unremorsefully.” These two terms are essentially equivalent. “Remorselessly” is far more common and somewhat more pejorative. Part B: Mistakenly Made *”remorsely.” Although “remorsely”* isn’t recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary or other dictionaries, some writers have taken to using it — apparently as a contracted form of “remorselessly.” E.g.: o “Ever …

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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. refugee; evacuee. “Refugee” (= one who flees home to seek safety) originally denoted French Huguenots who fled to England in the late 1680s to escape religious persecution. The word has another (rare) sense, denoting a fugitive on the run. “Refugee” had lost most of its connotations of foreignness or truancy when Hurricane Katrina …

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relative to. “Relative to” (= in relation to; in comparison with) is, in Eric Partridge’s words, “gobbledygook” (Usage & Abusage at 263). Though that pronouncement is a bit strong, the phrase can be easily replaced to good advantage — e.g.: o “If you made a list of the worst banking crises relative to [read ‘in …

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reiterate, -tion; iterate, -tion. It is perhaps not too literalistic to use “iterate” in the sense “to repeat,” and “reiterate” in the sense “to repeat a second time [i.e., to state a third time].” But the distinction is observed by only the most punctilious writers, “reiterate” being the usual term in either sense. Since an …

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rein; reign (3). Today: “reign supreme.” As further evidence of Murphy’s Law at work, the opposite error (‘rein’ for ‘reign’) occurs as well — e.g.: o “His rein [read ‘reign’] as Fort Meade’s tobacco-chewing, play-calling leader ended abruptly in September 1993.” Tom Ford, “Fort Meade’s Jamison Brings Stability, Nostalgia,” Tampa Trib., 1 Sept. 1995, at …

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rein; reign (2). Today: “hold the reins.” “Rein” and “reign” are also confused in the noun forms: one holds the “reins,” not the “reigns.” E.g.: o “Ron Low has a hold of the Oilers’ reigns [read ‘reins’] for now, but should he not work out, look for former Canucks and Flyers coach Bob McCammon to …

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Miscellaneous Entries. referable; *referrable; *referrible. The preferred form is “referable” (= capable of being referred to) — which, like “preferable,” is accented on the first syllable; otherwise, the final “-r-” would be doubled. “Referrable”* often mistakenly appears. Although the form is old, it has long been held inferior to “referable.” “Referrible”* is a needless variant. …

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