Have you made a flagrant error, in confusing your alternative
choices? The legendary Fleet Street editor Harold Evans proscribes this
glossary to solve your language dilemmas
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Monday, 26 June 2017
Happy anniversary, Harry Potter!
Monday 26th June 2017 will be a day to remember for Harry Potter fans old and new as it marks 20 years since the iconic Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published!
You are hereby invited to save the date for magical happenings!
http://www.skynews.com.au/culture/showbiz/movies/2017/06/25/celebrations-for-harry-potter-anniversary.html
Thursday, 22 June 2017
Saturday, 17 June 2017
Friday, 16 June 2017
Wednesday, 7 June 2017
Tuesday, 6 June 2017
An interesting article from today's The Guardian...
The 35 words you’re (probably) getting wrong
I
freely acknowledge that, in a list of this sort, “glossary” is a fancy
Latin word for a collection of pet peeves (noun, 1919), meaning an
annoyance or irritation. One of my peeves is that, as a noun originating
in America, it had not been admitted into the Shorter Oxford English
Dictionary (1968) on my desk in London when I edited the Sunday
Times. Now, it is recognised (“back-formation from peevish”). I admit I
have no evidence for believing that the neglect of peeve is to blame for
angering the poltergeist Peeves in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry.
Affect/Effect You can only affect something that
already exists. When it does, you can effect, or bring about, a change
in it. To say: “It effected a change in his attitude” is correct; so is:
“It affected his attitude.” To combine the two – “It affected a change
in his attitude” – is silly.
Alibi Means “proof that one was elsewhere” but is
confused with “excuse”, which has a wider generality. Let us save
“alibi” for the precision of proving you were not within a mile of the
kitchen when the last slice of apple pie vanished.
Alternatives Wrongly used for “choices”. If there
are two choices, they are properly called “alternatives”. If there are
more than two, they are choices. But in 2017, the tides of the expedient
post-truth era sapped centuries of definition. Kellyanne Conway, a
counsellor to Donald Trump, explained to NBC’s Chuck Todd that press
secretary Sean Spicer’s series of falsehoods inflating the crowds at the
Trump inauguration weren’t lies, they were “alternative facts”.
Anticipate Confused with “expect”. To expect
something is to think it may happen; to anticipate is to prepare for it,
to act in advance. To say a fiancee expects marriage is correct; to say
she is anticipating marriage defames the lady.
Blatant/Flagrant It’s best to use “blatant” for
offence that is glaringly obvious, without care, brazen. Best use
“flagrant” to emphasise a serious breach of law or regulation.
Chronic Confused with “acute” or “severe”, medically the opposite. It means long-lasting (from the Greek chronos, “time”). An acute illness comes to a crisis; a chronic one lingers.
Compose/Comprise Compose means “to form” or
“constitute”. Comprise means “to contain, include, be made up of”. The
whole comprises the parts. The US comprises 50 states; 50 states do not
comprise the US. After the 2014 referendum on independence for Scotland,
the UK still comprised England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Continual/Continuous “Continual interruptions” says
it all, meaning the speaker resumed his argument after the interruption.
The speech was not continuous, as a river is, because the flow was
broken.
Crescendo Confused with “climax”. It indicates a
passage of music to be played with increasing volume. Figuratively, it
means “to rise to a climax”. Thus the cliche “Rise to a crescendo” is
nonsense.
Decimate Confused with “destroy”. By derivation,
decimation means “killing one in 10”. Today, it is often used
figuratively to mean “very heavy casualties”, but to say “completely
decimated” or “decimated as much as half the town” simply will not do.
Dilemma Confused with “problem”. If you have a
problem, you do not know what to do. There may be many solutions. If you
have a dilemma, you have a choice of two courses of action, neither
attractive.
Disinterested/Uninterested If you’re in some messy
dispute, you don’t want an uninterested arbiter, judge or mediator, so
uninterested he nods off. You don’t want an arbiter who has a selfish
interest, declared or concealed. You want a neutral, disinterested
person who cares enough for truth.
Entomb Confused with trap. The trapped miners may be alive; entombed miners are dead, ie in a tomb.
Flotsam/Jetsam
Married in common parlance, but divorced in maritime law. Jetsam is
stuff jettisoned, thrown overboard by the crew of a ship to lighten the
load in stormy seas. If you find this stuff, it’s yours. Flotsam is
cargo or wreckage floating in the sea. Flotsam is legally the property
of the vessel’s owner.
Forego/Forgo: Forego means “to go before in time or place” – think of the final e in before. To forgo is to give up or relinquish.
Gourmet/Gourmand The gourmet, one with a refined,
discriminating taste for the best food and wine, will be insulted to be
called a gourmand, a glutton fond of good things.
Inchoate/Incoherent “Inchoate” describes something
not ready to be judged “incoherent”, which means “lacking clarity”. The
inchoate idea or thing is embryonic, in the early stages of
being formed.
Incumbent As a noun, the current holder of an
office; a “former incumbent” is nonsense. But when you hold an office,
it is incumbent (adjective) on you to perform your duties.
Inflammable/Flammable Danger in a word again. The
prefix “in-” might suggest that something inflammable won’t catch fire,
that it is comparable to the absolutes “incapable” and “invulnerable”.
But it does catch fire as easily as anything flammable, because the two
words mean the same. (The prefix “in-” in this case means “into”, not
“non”.)
Insidious/Invidious Both nasty, but “insidious” is
evil by stealth; you don’t know the worm is in the apple. The invidious
utterance or person invites odium more openly.
Judicial/Judicious Judicial means “connected with a court of law”; judicious means “wise”. Not all judicial decisions are judicious.
Less/Fewer “Less” is right for quantities – less
coffee, less sugar. It means “a smaller amount”. “Fewer” is right for
comparing numbers – fewer people, fewer houses; less dough results in
fewer loaves. Nobody would think of saying fewer coffee, fewer sugar,
but every day somebody writes “less houses”.
Litigate Did you hear what happened in the court
case to make Trump release his tax returns? No? Neither did anyone else.
In January 2017, while telling ABC why Trump would not keep the
off-and-on promise, Conway said: “We litigated this all through the
election. People didn’t care. They voted for him.” Wrong verb. To
litigate is to enter a lawsuit. Better verb for the serial
flip-flopping: “dodged”.
Luxuriant/Luxurious The
film star can have a luxurious car that is “full of luxury”, but not a
luxuriant car. That would mean the car that is producing abundantly,
growing profusely, since “luxuriant” refers to something that grows.
Momentarily You have to hope the pilot and stewards
are lying when they say: “We will be in the air momentarily.” That does
not mean: “We will be in the air in a few minutes.” It means: “We will
be in the air for a moment.” That is strictly speaking, of course, but
what is the point of having words if they mean nothing?
Prescribe/Proscribe Opposite meanings. An action or product that is proscribed by authority is banned. A “prescription” is advised, recommended.
Refugee/Migrant War and terrorism in Iraq and Syria
forced millions of people to flee and seek refuge in Turkey, Jordan,
Egypt and western Europe, notably Germany. They were refugees, but they
became migrants, unwelcome in countries that feared to admit them for
security, religious or economic reasons.
Refute A strong verb, meaning “to disprove, to
demonstrate falsehood”. It has been emaciated by its careless confusion
with “rebut”, “reply”, “response” and, less forgivably, “deny”. A denial
is merely a contrary assertion; it does not demonstrate the falsity of
the assertion. Nor does “rebut”. A rebuttal is a denial dressed up in
battle armour.
Regalia Regal means “of or by kings”, and regalia
means “the insignia of royalty”. “Royal regalia” is therefore
tautologous, and “the regalia of a bishop” is contradictory. Freemasons,
however, have adopted the term for their insignia.
Replica/Reproduction Ask for your money back if you
buy “a virtual replica” of the Eiffel Tower, the Parthenon or any work
of art. You may have bought a good reproduction, copy, duplicate, model
or facsimile, but a replica is one recreated by the original creator, so
there is no such thing as “a virtual replica”. It either is or isn’t.
The journalist James Kilpatrick, who manned the barricades to defend the
integrity of “replica”, was cross, with reason, that the respected
Smithsonian magazine offered “an almost incredibly authentic replica of
the Titanic – a replica that measured 3in in length”.
Sceptic/Denier The sceptic questions the evidence; the denier flatly rejects it.
Transpire Wrongly used to mean, merely, “happen”. It comes from the Latin spirare,
“breathe”. To “transpire” is to emit through the surface of leaves or
skin and, figuratively, is best used for when some fact oozes out,
especially a secret.
Viable/Feasible “Viable” means capable of
independent life – a viable foetus or seed or, figuratively, in the
sense of “capable of succeeding”, a candidate. “Feasible” means “capable
of being done, accomplished” – a feasible plan.
Viral Unwelcome adjective as related to Ebola, Zika
and other nasty viruses. Much desired by websites in the internet age
(since 1999); an item “gone viral” has been passed person to person so
many times as to seem contagious.
Virtually Incorrectly used to mean “nearly all”; eg:
“Virtually all the chocolates were eaten.” “Virtually” is useful for an
imprecise description that is more or less right, close enough, as good
as. “He’s virtually the manager.” He does not have the title, but he
manages the business.
Saturday, 3 June 2017
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