A monthly column in which we attempt, however futilely,
to defend the English language against misuse and abuse
Close, But Not Quite
A reader cites a News Journal story that includes this quote: “The community is going to get angry in a way that is going to illicit voluntary compliance.” The verb the writer was groping for is elicit, meaning to evoke or draw out. Illicit is an adjective meaning forbidden by law or rules.
This reminds us that many words and terms are misused because they sound similar to the correct form. Among them: adverse/averse—adverse is something harmful, as in adverse weather; averse means “opposed, unwilling, disinclined”; defuse/diffuse—defuse literally means to remove the fuse from (such as an explosive device), while the non-literal meaning is “to reduce danger or tension.” The verb diffuse means to spread out or scatter; hone in/home in—hone means to sharpen, but it increasingly is used in place of “home in,” which means to focus on or target; taken aback/taken back—the latter is incorrect, but it sounds right, and “taken aback” (to be startled or surprised), though correct, sounds a bit archaic; subscribe/ascribe—you subscribe to a view or a philosophy, you don’t ascribe to it. Ascribe is to attribute something to (a cause, a person, etc.); perspective/prospective—the first is a viewpoint, the second means potential, future, as in “a prospective candidate for the job.”
Them Those Politicians
In the absence of a Joe Biden item, we have State Rep. John Kowalko (Newark), who joins those on sports talk radio who think “them” is an adjective as well as a pronoun. Kowalko recently referred to “… them shylocks that they have down there”— referring to Gov. Markell and some others in Dover. He later apologized for using the ethnically-charged “shylock,” but not for “them.”
P.R. Types, Please Note
A comma should not follow a title that immediately precedes a name—e.g., it’s “Chairman of the Board John Doe,” not “Chairman of the Board, John Doe.”
Full Circle
“My career was sputtering until I did a 360 and got headed in the right direction” —Tracy McGrady, former NBA player. We’re guessing (hoping?) Tracy meant “a 180.”
Oh, Those Objects of Prepositions
Once again we have a TV sports announcer who disregards the rule about prepositions requiring objective pronouns. A reader reports that during a golf tournament, the announcer made this comment about one of the pros: “I was talking to he and his caddie…” The reader makes a telling point: “I wonder if the guy would have said ‘I was talking to he’ if he was speaking to just the pro.” He, of course, should have been replaced by him. But, hey, that sounds inelegant, doesn’t it?
Annoying Trends
“Welcome in”—used especially by TV and radio hosts, as in “welcome in to the show.” A simple “welcome” would suffice.
“Based off of” instead of “based on.” This is becoming rampant.
“Add on” or “add in” instead of a simple “add.”
And let’s agree to cut down on the use of “awesome” to describe, well, anything that’s remotely impressive. Awesome actually means “inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, or fear.”
Department of Redundancies Dept.
Rufus Bayard, of Greenville, says he has heard the term “unmanned drone” uttered on ABC, NBC and CBS. “Drone,” says Rufus, “by definition is unmanned.”
We also note that adding a time element when referring to a boat or ship’s speed (“five knots per hour”) is redundant, since a knot is one nautical mile (1.15 miles) per hour.
Literally of the Month
“Jennifer Aniston not getting an Oscar nomination literally broke my heart”: a commentator on Entertainment Tonight.
Word of the Month: facile
Pronounced FAsl, it’s an adjective meaning simplistic, superficial,
oversimplified, jejune, glib; e.g., “a facile explanation.”
Quotation of the Month
“There is nothing which is really unnecessary or unessential in a well-written or well-spoken English sentence. Every word, phrase, and clause is used to convey and impress the author’s or the speaker’s meaning. This is one of the tests of good speaking and good writing.”
—Richard Wilson, Precis, Notes, and Summaries 21 (1925)
Seen a good (bad) one lately?
Send your candidates to ryearick@comcast.net
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