Thursday, April 5, 2018

Getting the Words More Better


Zestful Blog Post #258

I bet you already know some of these, but here’s a nosegay of words that commonly get misunderstood and therefore misused, along with the info you need to do it right. Between the internet and various magazines I get, I’ve seen all of these used wrong within the last month. And all of the wrong usages are creeping into popularity. This is upsetting to me, and I know it’s a losing battle, but this is my damn blog, and I’m going to stand my ground. I invite you to stand with me.

Wrong:
My friend Arjun was bitten by a poisonous snake, and we rushed him to the doctor.
Right:
My friend Arjun was bitten by a venomous snake, and we rushed him to the doctor.

Wrong:
Tide pods are venomous if you eat them.
Right:
Tide pods are poisonous if you eat them.

A poisonous substance is something that makes you sick or kills you if you ingest it. Venom is a substance injected into you by an animal, like some snakes or spiders. Yet so many people are using ‘poisonous’ to describe venomous creatures that the usage is showing up as a secondary definition in dictionaries.

Wrong:
Suellen was cold, so I loaned her my sweater.
Right:
Suellen was cold, so I lent her my sweater.

Wrong:
Ramon went to the bank and got a lend for a new car.
Right:
Ramon went to the bank and got a loan for a new car.

Again, loan and lend are commonly considered synonyms. But loan is a noun: “It was a loan of five thousand dollars.” Lend is the verb form: “She wanted to lend him the money, but he wouldn’t take it.” Lend is the simple form, while lent is past tense.

Wrong:
Brenda tore her left bicep.
Right:
Brenda tore her left biceps.

The muscle at the front of the human upper arm is the biceps, not bicep. The muscle is anchored at the elbow by a single tendon, then the muscle splits in two (hence the prefix ‘bi’) and is anchored at the shoulder by two tendons. Biceps. It is a plural form. If you’re thinking it must be the same with triceps and quadriceps, you would be right.


[A Case knife with clip and pen blades. Photo by ES.]

In olden times when writers used quill pens, they fashioned the points with a small knife blade, maybe an inch or so long. This blade was usually fixed in a handle and was part of most deskscapes. It was a penknife: a knife used to make pens. Sometimes penknives were made as tiny folding knives, often seen at the end of pocket-watch chains. A jackknife is a knife with a folding blade, also known as a pocketknife. Some jackknives feature a small blade, called by knifemakers a pen blade, along with a larger blade.

Yet many writers are now calling any folding knife a penknife. I believe that’s because they think it is a more precise or educated-sounding term. It is not.

Thank you for joining me in the pursuit of linguistic precision.

What incorrect or sloppy word usages bug you? To post, click below where it says, 'No Comments,' or '2 Comments,' or whatever.
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19 comments:

  1. I love your blog. Keep making my day!

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  2. Precision. That’s you in a nutshell. Thank you for doing this. And since we’re talking about saying things correctly, what’s your take on this: I want to thank you for helping me. OR Thank you for helping me. To me, when someone says they want to, they aren’t really saying they are—thanking me, for instance. I used to correct my boss’s letters, and he went along with it. Am I just picky? Could I be wrong? I see the “would like to” thing all the time and it just seems wrong to me.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, you know, I can go either way on that one. In writing, I try to stick with simplicity, as: "Thank you for signing up for my blog." But in speech, if I want to be more emphatic, I'll often say (while making serious eye contact or even taking the person's hand if they're a special human to me), "I want to thank you for [helping me / taking care of that so fast / pitching in, even though you didn't feel well / or whatever]." Therefore, in dialogue, you might find yourself using it, because people do say that.

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    2. Thank you for clearing it up.

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  3. One that drives me nuts is, "So-and-so went missing." In fact, I dislike that phrase so much I won't read a book if it's used in the blurb. Another maddening one is the more-and-more common use of "their" when referring to an individual. Unfortunately, I think that one is actually considered acceptable these days. (But not by ME!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Susan, and I would throw in "So-and-so turned up dead." I've been guilty of it. I will defend 'their' in some cases, because the English language just doesn't have a workable possessive pronoun for an individual. Writing [his or her], especially repeatedly, can make a passage sound stiff and break whatever spell the writer might be creating. Thanks for stopping in!

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  4. The one that stops me every time is, "I'm going to try and do. . ." It should be "try to do."

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    Replies
    1. Yes, though I can't put my finger on what's so annoying about it.

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    2. I can’t eat Tide pods??

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    3. You should definitely stop eating them.

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  5. Flammable and inflammable do not have opposite meanings!

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    Replies
    1. Right. If I were learning as a second language, I'd want to shoot myself over that one.

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    2. Edit: If I were learning ENGLISH as a second language.

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    3. “Inflammable” appears to be a sort of corrupted back formation from “inflamed,” which is a perfectly cremulous adjective.

      Some argue that “inflammable”has achieved acceptable usage status. These are the sort of people who argue that it’s acceptible to say “ten times as small as.”

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    4. Yes, that's right, Michael. Now tell us about 'cremulous.' If you please.

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  6. One that drives me nuts: Fred is looking to go to college. Well he should but this probably won't get corrected there. It may be in such common usage that it's become acceptable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, that one's no good in any kind of straight exposition; it can only work in vernacular dialogue. Kind of like 'fixing to'. "I'm fixing to cut the grass." ... Thanks for stopping by, John.

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