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Good job, Spot!

Q: I often hear young parents coo at their offspring with a throaty, high-pitched “good job” for every form of behavior, from eating to climbing aboard a bus to playing. I am tempted to snarl at the cooing parents, “That (behavior) is not a job.” How does such an attitude convey or encourage respect, responsibility, self-discipline, and love? I would certainly appreciate your comments.

A: I too have heard “good job” a lot lately and even catch myself perpetrating it. But I believe the intent is a lot more idiomatic and less literal than you seem to think.

The phrases “good job” and “bad job” have been used since the early 1700s to refer to fortunate or unfortunate occurrences, events, facts, or states of things, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Here’s an OED citation from The Master of the Ceremonies (1886), a novel by George Manville Fenn: “It is a jolly good job the old woman is dead.”

In the dog-training world, Americans often use “good job” the way the British use “well done.” My husband and I used to compete in obedience matches and trials with our two black Labs. I noticed that competitors often rewarded their dogs verbally by saying “Good job, Abby!” or “Good job, Rooney!” One British woman invariably said to her Pekinese, “Well done, George!” (You might argue, of course, that obedience WAS the dogs’ job!)

You are right, though, that it seems preposterous to celebrate with praise some routine human activity like eating or playing or making poo-poo in one’s potty chair. The self-esteem movement in child-rearing has gotten out of control.

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Tricky relationships

Q: If I can extricate myself from a relationship I don’t want, why can’t I intricate myself into one I do want?

A: The verb “extricate,” which has been around since the early 17th century, means to get someone or something, including oneself, out of a difficult situation. It comes from the Latin verb extricare (to disentangle).

I don’t think you’re really looking for a word that’s the opposite of “extricate.” You might want to free yourself from a messy relationship, but you wouldn’t want to get yourself into another fine mess.

Finding a good relationship is complicated enough. I’d go for simple language to describe it. So good luck in your efforts to “find” or “begin” or “start” or “get into” a relationship you want.

As for “intricate,” it comes from the Latin verb intricare (to entangle). Most modern dictionaries describe it as an adjective meaning complicated or elaborate. But the Oxford English Dictionary includes several published references for “intricate” as a verb meaning to entangle—yes, the opposite of “extricate.”

Both “extricate” and “intricate” have roots in the Latin word tricae (perplexities). In one case, you’re freeing someone or something from a perplexing situation; in the other, you’re enmeshing someone or something in such a situation.

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Is “niggardly” a no-no?

Q: An African-American colleague was grievously offended when someone used the word “niggardly” in a meeting. The ensuing brouhaha escalated to a formal complaint of racism and was only defused when another African-American colleague explained to the complainant that there’s nothing racist about the word “niggardly.” Any thoughts?

A: The word “niggardly,” meaning miserly, comes from a Scandinavian root meaning stingy. It’s entirely unrelated to the word “Negro,” meaning black, which has its roots in Romance languages. As far as I know, “niggardly” has no etymological relationship to any racist terms for African-Americans.

The adjective or adverb “niggardly” has been used in English since at least the 16th century. The noun “niggard,” meaning a stingy person, has been around even longer. In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary‘s earliest reference is in the first English translation of the New Testament, the Wycliffite Bible (1380).

Both The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) define the word in its traditional sense and make no mention of a racial association.

The MSN Encarta Dictionary agrees that “niggardly” is by no means a racist slur, but MSN Encarta says “the fact that the word sounds as if it might be one is reason to consider context very carefully before using it.”

I’m reluctant to avoid using a perfectly good word, but I think MSN Encarta’s advice makes sense. I’d be careful about using “niggardly,” especially in conversation, unless I’m sure of my audience (perhaps a group of linguists or lexicographers).

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Hey, whaddaya say?

Q: If you were to ask a person named David Jay what he had to say, how would it be printed? 1) “Whaddaya say David Jay?” 2) “Whaddaya say, David Jay?” 3) “Whaddaya say? David Jay.”

A: The answer: 2) “Whaddaya say, David Jay?”

We generally use commas before and after the name of somebody we’re talking to (“Hey, David Jay, whaddaya say?”).

But the first comma is dropped if the name comes at the beginning of a sentence (“David Jay, whaddaya say?”) and the second one is dropped if the name comes at the end of a sentence (“Whaddaya say, David Jay?).

Also, you can skip the first comma if all that precedes the name is “and” or “but” (And David Jay, whaddaya say?).

For more about punctuation, check out the “Comma Sutra” chapter in my grammar book Woe Is I.

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A nonsecurity blanket

Q: I found a reference in a tech publication to “an older, nonsecure version of an application.” I’ve seen “nonsecure” used quite a lot lately, especially about computer software. Is there such a word? Shouldn’t it be “insecure”?

A: The word “nonsecure” hasn’t made it into The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.). Even my spell-checker doesn’t recognize it, and wants to make it “nosecone”! But Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) does include “nonsecure,” without any definition or comment, in a long list of words with “non” prefixes.

My bet is that American Heritage and other dictionaries will soon follow M-W‘s suit, and that all the dictionaries will include definitions. The term “nonsecure” has become extremely common in the world of information technology to describe data or software that’s not secure.

“Nonsecure” seems a more likely choice for this usage than “insecure,” which has psychological overtones. Though I have seen “insecure” used to describe unsafe data or software, “nonsecure” is used much, much more often.

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A mute point

Q: My boss once said something was a mute point because it was no longer relevant. Would you correct her if she were your boss? I don’t want to insult her, but I don’t want her to look bad either.

A: I’ve bitten my tongue more times than I can remember. If I were you, I’d remain mute, unless the boss asked my opinion (or, for example, asked me to correct a letter or other document).

You don’t get to be the boss (at least not always) because you use good English. When you’re the boss, you can correct people. Till then, bite your tongue.

By the way, the history of the word “moot” is more complicated than many people think. For more, see the “moot point” entry on The Grammarphobia Blog.

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“Ex” hits the spot

Q: I’m a photography instructor and one of my students corrected me for referring to an “ex-student” instead of a “former student.” I looked at a few websites, but I couldn’t find anything definitive on the issue of “ex” vs. “former.” Is “former” preferred, as my student suggested?

A: I see nothing wrong with using “ex” to mean “former.” The only rule associated with this usage (at least the only one I can find) is that it’s hyphenated. Both “ex” and “former” are proper English, though “former” sounds a bit more formal to my ear.

The adjective “former,” meaning earlier in time, is a very old word, dating back to the 12th century. But the use of the word in reference to an earlier job or position (office holder, wife, student, etc.) appears to be more recent.

The first published reference in the Oxford English Dictionary for the newer usage (in the political sense) is in a 1905 article in the New York Herald: “Former President Cleveland is among the arrivals of the week at the Lakewood Hotel.”

Interestingly, the earliest citation in the OED for “ex” as an adjective meaning former is much older. Here’s a quote from The Age of Bronze, an 1823 poem by Byron:

Her eyes, her cheek, betray no inward strife,
And the ex-empress grows as ex a wife.

Or, to paraphrase Bertie Wooster in the P.G. Wodehouse novel Barmy in Wonderland (1952), you never saw an ex any ex-er than that.

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English English language Spelling Usage

Resume, resumé, or résumé?

[An updated and expanded post on this subject appeared on Jan. 14, 2015.]

Q: Is the noun “résumé” (someone’s list of accomplishments) so ingrained in English that the accent marks are no longer needed? The only reason I can see for keeping them is so that the noun won’t be mistaken for the verb “resume” (meaning to begin again after an interruption).

A: The document that boasts of one’s accomplishments may be spelled in English either with or without accent marks, depending on which style manual or dictionary is the guide. But the most common spellings seem to use at least one accent. (In French, the word is spelled with acute accents over both e’s.)

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) lists the spellings in this order: “résumé” or “resume,” also “resumé.” (The wording indicates that the first two are equal in popularity, and the third is somewhat less common.)

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) lists the same spellings, but in reverse order: “resumé” or “resume” or “résumé.” (The wording indicates that the three are equally popular.)

The New York Times stylebook recommends using both accents. So take your pick! (Or opt for “curriculum vitae.”)

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“Dos” and “don’ts”

Q: I’m writing a sales letter and wish to use the plurals of “do” and “don’t,” but the phrase “you’ll learn the dos and don’ts” looks queer. What’s the correct way to punctuate these plurals?

A: When you treat words like “do” and “don’t” as things, they become nouns and are pluralized the same as any other nouns. So, the correct plurals are “dos” and “don’ts.”

My grammar book Woe Is I included a poem to help illustrate these odd plurals:

Words to the Whys

Ups and downs and ins and outs,
Forevers and nevers and whys.
Befores and afters, dos and don’ts,
Farewells and hellos and good-byes.
Life is a string of perhapses,
A medley of whens and so whats.
We rise on our yeses and maybes,
Then fall on our nos and our buts.

I hope this helps!

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Two-faced words

Q: What do you call self-opposing words like “cleave,” “sanction,” etc.?

A: The term for a word that has two opposing meanings is “contronym.”

In addition to “cleave” and “sanction,” examples include “oversight,” “buckle” (to fasten or to collapse), “dust” (to sprinkle with something dusty or to remove it), and “weather” (to erode or to withstand).

There are several other names for these terms, including “Janus words” (after the god with two faces), “auto-antonyms,” and “self-antonyms.” Take your pick.

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Why a horn?

Q: What does “horny” have to do with horns?

A: The term “horny,” meaning made of horn or like a horn, is an old word that dates back to the 14th century. But I don’t think that’s the meaning of “horny” you’re asking about.

The first published reference in which “horny” means sexually excited dates from the late 19th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The citation, in an 1889 slang dictionary, defined it as “lecherous, in a state of sexual desire, in a rut.”

But what, you asked, does “horny” have to do with horns? Here’s the story.

The English noun “horn” itself is very old, dating back to Anglo-Saxon days, and derived from ancient Germanic. The earliest citations refer to the horns of cattle, sheep, goats, and other animals.

The first OED example, which we’ve expanded, is from an Old English translation of Genesis, written around 1000 by the Benedictine Abbot Ælfric of Eynsham:

“Abraham geseah þær anne ramm betwux þam bremelum be þam hornum gehæft” (“Abraham saw there a ram caught in the brambles by his horns”). Genesis 22:13.

In the 15th century, people began using expressions like “give horns to” and “wear horns” in reference to cuckolds. This usage apparently had something to do with the olden practice of grafting the spurs of castrated cocks onto the roots of their extracted combs to grow horns, according to the OED. Don’t ask why!

By the late 18th century, the word “horn” was also being used to mean an erect penis, according to the OED. Francis Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) defined “horn” as a “temporary priapism.” Need I note the resemblance between an erection and a horn?

[Note: This post was updated on July 1, 2023.]

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Spick-and-span

Q: I realize that the phrase “spick-and-span” means spotless, but I don’t see what the words “spick” and “span” have to do with cleanliness. Do you know the origin of the expression?

A: “Spick-and-span” (sometimes “spic-and-span”) dates back to the 17th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The first published reference is in The Diary of Samuel Pepys (1665): “My Lady Batten walking through the dirty lane with new spicke and span white shoes.”

The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology says the expression is a shortening of an older phrase, “spick-and-span new,” from about 1580. In the 16th century, this meant as new as a newly made nail or spike (the “spick”) and a fresh chip of wood (“span”). The latter part of the phrase was borrowed from the Old Icelandic spann-nyr (“new chip”).

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Ugly and/or unnecessary

Q: I dislike the term “and/or” and feel it is usually unnecessary. A sign on a bus in my town says, “Please save these seats for riders who are elderly or disabled.” Nobody is going to stop someone from sitting there if that person is both elderly and disabled. So my vote is to get rid of the excess word and the slash. In the rare case when “and/or” would be helpful, another term can be used.

A: I agree with you about “and/or.” In my book Woe Is I, I refer to it as an “ugly wrinkle.” There’s usually a better way, even if it means an extra word or two. Of the following two sentences, for example, I’d go with No. 2.

(1) “Would you like mustard and/or relish on your hot dog?”

(2) “Would you like mustard, relish, or both on your hot dog?”

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So there!

Q: I was taught that someone is “as good as” or “not so bad as” (rather than “not as bad as”) another. Has that changed (perhaps as a result of ignorance on the part of the speakers)?

A: In my book Woe Is I, I have a chapter on grammatical myths, and you’ve brought up one of them.

The misconception is that one should always use “as … as” for positive comparisons, and “so … as” for negative ones. (Example: “She’s as tall as her sister, but not so tall as you.”)

In fact, for many centuries, it’s been correct to use “as … as” in positive comparisons (“as pretty as ever”), and to use either “as … as” or “so … as” in negative comparisons (“not as big as before,” or “not so big as all that”).

In short, “so … as” is fine in a negative comparison, but “as … as” is correct in all cases.

In Old English, both “as” and “so” (als and swa) once appeared in the same word, alswa, which was used in comparisons pretty much the way we use “as” these days (“alswa good alswa gold”).

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A full-size question

Q: The word “full” takes two l’s while “beautiful” and “plentiful” take only one. Is there a reason for this? Is there a rule? Perplexed!

A: “Full” and “ful” confuse a great many people who are otherwise good spellers. At the beginning of a word, the spelling is generally “full,” as in “fullback,” “fullness,” “full-time,” “full-service,” and so on. But at the end of a word, the spelling is always “ful,” as in “beautiful,” “awful,” “scornful,” “lawful,” “careful,” “thoughtful,” “harmful,” and many others.

The ending “ful” was derived from “full,” and many adjectives used to have a double-l ending, as in these archaic spellings: beautefull (1526), wondurfull (1355), carefull (1394), and skilfulle (1300s). (The dates are from the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Over time, the “full” endings lost their final “l,” making these words shorter—and easier to misspell.

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Avarice and greed

Q: In “Tramp the Dirt Down,” a song about Margaret Thatcher, Elvis Costello refers to “all that avarice and greed.” And in the World Party song “Ship of Fools,” Karl Wallinger says that “avarice and greed are gonna drive you over the endless sea.” Is there a difference between avarice and greed? Your answer will settle an argument.

A: The word “avarice” comes from a Latin root meaning to crave (we get “avid” from the same root), and what’s being craved by an avaricious person is wealth or material gain.

The term “greed” refers to another excessive desire for more than you need, but the desire can be for almost anything (food and sex come to mind, but if your aunt collects salt-and-pepper shakers, she could be greedy for ever more salt-and-pepper shakers).

So the phrase “avarice and greed” isn’t redundant. Besides, lyricists get to say whatever they want!

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“Criminalist” vs. “criminologist”

Q: I was delighted to see my question about the use of “woman” as an adjective appear on your blog, but I must point out that I am a criminalist, not a criminologist. A criminalist is a practitioner of criminalistics, the specific term for forensic analysis of physical evidence, such as trace evidence, DNA, and unknown substance identification. The word is not used very often outside the field, and most people just use the less specific term “forensic scientist.” I am in practice an analytical chemist, and actually know very little about criminology!

A: Oops! As you can see, the blog entry (“Strictly a female female”) has been fixed. Thanks for the correction—and the education!

Interestingly, the word “criminalist” used to mean someone versed in criminal law or a writer on criminal law, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The OED has citations for this usage going back to 1631, but the last one was in the late 19th century.

The first citation for “criminalistics” is in An Introduction to Criminalistics (1949) by Charles E. O’Hara and James W. Osterburg. The English term comes from similar ones in other European languages, according to the authors.

The OED’s earliest reference for “criminology,” the scientific study of crime, dates from 1890: “We share Dr. Topinard’s dislike of the term ‘criminal anthropology,’ and may adopt the term ‘criminology’ till a better one can be found.” I guess a better one never came along!

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Fixing to go!

Q: Do you have any thoughts on the phrase “I’m fixing to go”?

A: The “fixing to” construction, meaning preparing to or getting ready to, dates back at least to mid-19th century America. A similar  phrase, “fixing for” (same meaning), dates back more than a century earlier.

Here’s an 1850s citation for the more familiar version, courtesy of the Oxford English Dictionary: “Aunt Lizy is just fixing to go to church.”

These days “fixing to” is widely recognized as a countrified regionalism, usually Southern. But I used to hear it quite a lot as a child in Iowa. Rather charming, don’t you think?

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An underhanded expression

Q: One of my pet peeves is hearing people say “pawn off” when they mean “palm off.” Why do they say that? Don’t they understand the deception involved? The underhandedness implied (pun intended)?

A: To “palm off” something, as you know, is to hand it off, or get rid of it, and the Oxford English Dictionary has citations dating back to 1822. This expression is probably the source of the now common phrase “pawn off,” which The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) describes as to get rid of deceptively, as in “to pawn off the fake gemstone as a diamond.”

Both expressions are now accepted as common English idioms, though you’re right—“pawn off” implies that there’s cheating going on and that the “goods” being pawned off are bogus.

Interestingly, in the 19th century the verb “palm” had many underworld connotations. To conceal something in the palm of one’s hand, like a bribe or a tip or a stolen item, was to “palm” it. Hence the terms “palm oil” (an illicit bribe) and “palming”: petty theft involving two people, one to distract the shop owner while the other “palmed” the goods.

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A flounder out of water

Q: My pet peeve is hearing people mix up “flounder” and “founder.” Do you think we’re losing the distinction between them?

A: The verb “flounder,” as you know, means to stumble or thrash about like a fish out of water while “founder” means to collapse, fail completely, or sink like a ship.

My grammar book Woe Is I gives these examples of the two words at work: “Harry flounders from one crisis to another. His business foundered when the market collapsed.”

You’re right that these words are often confused these days, but I don’t think this is a lost cause. Both The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) still maintain the distinction.

A Usage Note in American Heritage points out that the verb “founder” comes from a Latin word meaning bottom (think “foundation”). The term originally referred to knocking your enemies down.

Anyone still confused by these two words may be helped by remembering that a flounder flops around (that is, “flounders”) when it’s out of water.

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Is the president being dissed?

Q: The New York Times used to capitalize the word “president” when referring to the leader of the United States, but the paper now lowercases it. Is the Times dissing President Bush?

A: When the Times revised its stylebook in 1999, the newspaper decided to keep “president” capitalized before the last name of the current US president (“President Bush”), but to lowercase the word by itself in a second reference (“the president”). Previously, all references to the president of the United States were capitalized: “The President accompanied Mrs. Reagan.”

Similarly, the Times in 1999 changed its capitalization style with reference to other titles: for example, “senator” and “mayor” now are capitalized only before a name (“Senator Clinton”; “Mayor Bloomberg”), but not in subsequent references (“the senator said”; “according to the mayor”).

I don’t know the rationale for the changes, but in general the newspaper’s style seems to get more informal as the years go by. I’d think an informal guy like George W. Bush would appreciate that.

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A bemusing situation

Q: I’m fed up with hearing people misuse the word “bemused.” If you’re “bemused,” you’re puzzled. I feel like shouting every time I hear someone say “bemused” when the intended meaning is obviously amused.

A: Traditionally, “bemused” means puzzled or deep in thought. But I fear that this is a lost cause. Some dictionaries already accept amused as one of the definitions of “bemused.”

The two dictionaries I consult the most are split on this. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) defines the verb “bemuse” in the traditional way: to confuse or cause to be engrossed in thought. But Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) includes a third meaning: to cause to have feelings of tolerant amusement.

The term “bemused” is misused so much these days that I’d recommend avoiding it. If you use it correctly, you’re almost certain to be misunderstood. I don’t find that amusing.

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OFF and ON

Q: I just thought of something. When an alarm goes OFF, it actually goes ON. English is a funny language, isn’t it?

A: You’re right—we turn ON an alarm so it will go OFF, and then we turn it OFF when it goes ON. We also fill IN a form that we’re told to fill OUT. And people who are IN luck say they’ve lucked OUT. No wonder that people new to English have so much trouble with prepositions!

Yes, English is funny, which reminds me of something my mother-in-law used to say: “Is that funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?” In this case, it’s probably both.

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Why a “via”?

Q: I’ve always thought that “via” should mean by way of, and that it should be used only to describe a geographic route. But many people now use “via” to refer to the means of doing something. Is this usage correct?

A: Traditionally, “via” has meant by way of, as in “We drove to Pittsfield via Red Rock.” This usage dates from the 18th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, and comes from the Latin word for road or way.

A newer usage, dating from 1930, is by means of, as in “We traveled from Chatham to Red Rock via bus.”

Many language experts discourage this second usage. Henry Fowler’s Modern English Usage considers it a vulgarism. But both The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) now accept the second usage.

I find the newer usage a bit stiff. I’d prefer a simple preposition like “by” instead of “via”: “We traveled from Chatham to Red Rock by bus.” But it’s a matter of taste. Either word is viable.

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Salad days or cake days?

Q: While searching through piles of paper, I came upon a picture of me as a child and remarked, “Those were the salad days.” Why do we refer to youth as “salad days”? Why not “cake days”?

A: The expression “salad days,” like so many others, comes to us from Shakespeare. In act 1, scene 5 of Antony and Cleopatra (1606), Cleopatra regrets her carefree, youthful affair with Caesar:

My salad days,
When I was green in judgment, cold in blood,
To say as I said then!

The word “green,” by the way, had been used for centuries before Shakespeare to refer to youth and inexperience (think of the green shoots of a plant in the spring).

The expression “salad days” appears to have fallen out of favor after Shakespeare, but it was revived in the 19th century. Although Shakespeare used the phrase to refer to a time of carefree innocence, it’s often used now to refer to a time when someone was at a peak of success.

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One word too many

Q: I don’t understand why we use the word “reiterate” so often when “iterate” means to repeat something. Any thoughts? (Don’t get me started on the phrase “reiterate again”!)

A: The term “iterate,” as you point out, means to say or perform again. It comes from the Latin iterare, meaning to repeat. The word “reiterate” also means to say or do again.

Although both words are standard English and both mean to repeat, “reiterate” is far more common and more likely to be understood. That’s a good enough reason for it to get my vote.

How did we end up with one word too many? Barbara Wallraff, in her “Word Court” column in The Atlantic magazine, blames the French. They got confused first, in the 14th century, and confused English-speakers with their verb reiterer.

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Strictly a female female

Q: I’m a female criminalist who’s curious about your position on the use of “woman” as an adjective. I’m not a language stickler, but a phrase like “woman doctor” drives me nuts! I just think it sounds awkward and uneducated. Is it too late to stop this trend?

A: “Woman” is now so widely used as an adjective (or, to use Henry Fowler’s term, a noun-adjective) that I think the trend is unstoppable. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) doesn’t include the usage yet, but Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) does.

I prefer “female,” but I believe many people avoid the term because it sounds more sexually charged or more clinical than “woman.” Despite my preference for “female,” the use of “woman” to modify a noun isn’t a recent phenomenon.

The Oxford English Dictionary has published references going back to about 1300 of the noun “woman” functioning as an adjective. The earliest citation mentions a “woman frend.” Other examples are “woman sexe,” “woman modestie,” “woman-nature,” “woman-wit,” “woman-doctor,” “woman-friend,” and “woman teacher.”

My favorite is this 17th-century quote from Dryden: “A Woman-Grammarian, who corrects her Husband for speaking false Latin.”

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Massaging the message

Q: My voice-mail greeting states: “Please speak slowly and loudly so your message can be clearly understood.” It seems correct to me, but it sounds awkward when I fetch my messages. Is there something wrong with it?

A: There’s nothing wrong grammatically with that sentence, but all the “ly” endings do make it sound a bit monotonous.

Here’s a suggestion. Why not drop the last adverb? “Please speak slowly and loudly so your message can be understood.” A message that’s understood is, one would hope, clearly understood. Just an idea.

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English English language Etymology Expression Language Usage Word origin Writing

Is “trepidatious” a word?

Q: I hear people use “trepidatious” to mean fearful or anxious, but I can’t find it in my dictionary and my spell-checker tells me it’s wrong. Is “trepidatious” a word?

A: Yes, it’s a word, though it’s more common in the US than in the UK. Six of the 10 standard dictionaries we regularly consult recognize the adjective.

All five American dictionaries include it as standard English. However, it’s found in only one of the five British dictionaries, Lexico (the former Oxford Dictionaries Online), which describes the usage as informal. All 10 dictionaries include the noun “trepidation.”

The Oxford English Dictionary, an etymological dictionary based on historical evidence, defines the adjective as “apprehensive, nervous; filled with trepidation.” The dictionary says it originated with the addition of the suffix “-ious” to either trepidāt-, the past participial stem of the classical Latin verb trepidāre (to be alarmed), or to the root of the English word “trepidation.”

Although the usage is more popular in the US than the UK, the first OED citation is from an early 20th-century British novel about colonial India:

“Hilda looked up from the papers she had been busy with as he entered—in fact, made a guilty and trepidatious attempt at sweeping them out of sight” (The Sirdar’s Oath: A Tale of the Northwest Frontier, 1904, by Bertram Mitford, a member of the aristocratic and literary Mitford family).

The earliest American citation in the OED is from the May 18, 1940, issue of the Circleville Herald, an Ohio newspaper: “A trepidatious Europe today remained tense, worried, fearful, for the outcome of what military men predict will be the greatest battle in the history of the world.”

The much older noun “trepidation” ultimately comes from the Latin trepidāre. When it first appeared in the early 17th century, the OED says, “trepidation” referred to agitation in the scientific sense:

“Massiue bodies … haue certaine trepidations and wauerings before they fixe and settle” (from Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, 1605, by Francis Bacon).

Two decades later, the noun took on its modern sense of “tremulous agitation; confused hurry or alarm; confusion; flurry; perturbation,” according to the dictionary.

The earliest citation is from another work by Bacon: “There vseth to be more trepidation in Court, vpon the first Breaking out of Troubles, then were fit” (The Essayes or Counsels, Ciuill and Morall, 1625).

Some sticklers have objected to the use of the relatively new adjective “trepidatious,” but we see nothing wrong with it. The linguist Arnold Zwicky, who uses the term himself, wrote a strong defense of the adjective in a Nov. 17, 2004, post on the Language Log.

[Note: This post was updated on Feb. 19, 2020, to reflect newer dictionary information. Posts on “trepidatious,” “trepidant,” and “trepidated” also appeared in 2015 and 2017. ]

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Parameter insecurity

Q: I’m confused. I hear the word “parameter” all the time and it seems to have a different meaning each time. What does it really mean?

A: You asked the million-dollar question. When a word means too many things, it means nothing at all.

Weak writers love to use scientific words to give their empty writing an appearance of authority. They love “parameter” so much that they’ve loved it to death.

It’s used these days to mean a boundary, a characteristic, a component, an element, a feature, an ingredient, a part, a perimeter, a quality, a requirement, and so on. It’s used for just about anything but its scientific meaning: a type of arbitrary constant or independent variable in mathematics.

Unless you’re on speaking terms with an independent variable and you can look an arbitrary constant in the eyes without blinking, forget about this word.

For another example of an abused technical term, see the “paradigm” entry on The Grammarphobia Blog.

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It’s absolutely annoying!

Q: My pet peeve is about the now common use of the word “absolutely” to mean a simple “yes.” Does this annoy you too?

A: The other day I telephoned a business (let’s call it Acme Widget) and the women who picked up the phone said something unintelligible.

“Is this Acme?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” she responded.

Does this annoy me? Absolutely! But it’s not a recent phenomenon.

The Oxford English Dictionary has published references dating back to the 19th century for “absolutely” used to mean yes or quite so. The OED describes the usage as a colloquialism of American origin.

The OED’s earliest citation comes from The American Claimant (1892) by Mark Twain. Other citations are in works by James Joyce, Alec Waugh, and Rex Stout.

Despite all the history, I’ll go with The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) on this one. American Heritage defines “absolutely” as definitely, completely, unquestionably, or in an absolute relationship.

Not yes!

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English English language Expression Usage Writing

Is ‘irregardless’ your #1 ‘uggie’?

Q: I’m sick of hearing people use “irregardless” instead of “regardless.” It’s not just ugly; it’s No. 1 on my list of “uggies.” Where did the superfluous “ir” come from? And how can we get rid of it?

A: “Irregardless” has been around for about a century and has been condemned for just as long. The earliest citation in the Oxford English Dictionary, from Harold Wentworth’s American Dialect Dictionary (1912), questions its legitimacy: “Is there such a word as irregardless in the English language?”

The OED defines it as a nonstandard or humorous usage for “regardless.” Both The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary agree that it’s nonstandard.

Where did that extra “ir” come from? Lexicographers (the folks who compile dictionaries) believe that “irregardless” is probably the result of the mushing together “irrespective” and “regardless.”

I agree with you that “irregardless” is ugly. It’s right up there on my list of “uggies” too. The best way to exorcise it from the English language is to avoid using it. Let’s all do our part. But “irregardless” has been around for a long time, and it doesn’t seem willing to go quietly.

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Don’t cry for this Argentine!

Q: I hear English-speaking people say somebody from Argentina, like me, is an Argentine (pronounced ar-gen-TINE) or an Argentine (pronounced ar-gen-TEEN) or an Argentinean (pronounced ar-gen-TIN-ian). Which is correct?

A: All three are OK, but the second one appears to be the more common in the United States.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) lists the following English nouns (in order) for somebody from Argentina: (1) “Argentine” (pronounced ar-gen-TEEN, (2) “Argentine” (pronounced ar-gen-TINE), and (3) “Argentinean” (pronounced ar-gen-TIN-ian).

The adjectives referring to someone or something from Argentina are the same as the nouns, and they’re pronounced the same way.

My husband, who worked as a U.S. journalist in Buenos Aires, prefers “Argentine” (pronounced ar-gen-TEEN).

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Email intuition

Q: A friend insists the word “email” is an adjective, not a noun. He argues that one should say, “I sent an email message,” not “I sent an email.” What do you think?

A: I disagree. While “email” is still a young word and still an unfinished product, its use as a singular noun is pretty well established. Here are the usages that seem to have emerged:

(1) Singular: “I sent an email.”

(2) Plural: “I sent seven emails.”

(3) Collective (in the sense of correspondence): “I have lots of email to answer.”

For more, see the “email” vs. “mail” entry on The Grammarphobia Blog.

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That’ll be the day

Q: My children in elementary school have brought home spelling assignments that include the contraction “that’ll” for “that will.” Is this valid? I am appalled when I see it in their spelling books.

A: There’s nothing wrong with a contraction like “don’t” or “that’s” or “weren’t,” but not every contraction is legitimate. “That’ll” has been widely used for centuries (I’m reminded of the Buddy Holly song “That’ll Be the Day”). But is it legit?

Well, it’ll get by in speech, where words are often clipped, but not in writing. I definitely wouldn’t include “that’ll” in a spelling assignment for schoolchildren.

In fact, I don’t include it among the “reputable” contractions in my grammar book Woe Is I. I arrived at the list by consulting style and usage guides as well as my own instincts about what seemed reasonable.

This is largely a matter of taste and style. Among the contractions I listed as “out of bounds” (in writing, if not in speech) are “that’ll,” “that’re,” “that’ve,” “there’ll,” “there’re,” “there’ve,” and “this’ll.”

To repeat, what’s acceptable in speech isn’t necessarily proper English, which is what a writing assignment should teach children.

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