Webster's English Usage Guide 1596950102, 9781596950108

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Webster’s English Usage Guide

Quick answers to common usage questions Created in Cooperation with the Editors of

MERRIAM-WEBSTER

Webster’s English Usage Guide

Created in Cooperation with the Editors of

MERRIAM-WEBSTER

I FE DERA

1

STREET PRESS

A Division of Merriam-Webster, Incorporated Springfield, Massachusetts

Copyright © by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated Federal Street Press is a trademark of Federal Street Press, a division of Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved. No part of this book covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means— graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems—without written permission of the publisher. This 2006 edition published by Federal Street Press, A Division of Merriam-Webster, Incorporated RO. Box 281 Springfield, MA01102 Federal Street Press books are available for bulk purchase for sales promotion and premium use. For details write the manager of special sales, Federal Street Press, P.O. Box 281, Springfield, MA 01102

ISBN 13 ISBN 10

978-1-59695-010-8 1-59695-010-2

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Contents • •

Preface Pronunciation Symbols Guide to English Usage

Vll

xi 1

Glossary

348

Punctuation Guide

382

Preface This book presents over 1,500 brief discussions of common problems in English usage. Its main strengths are its recognition of the historical background to questions of usage and the fact that it is based on a thorough examination of present-day usage. MerriamWebster’s extensive citation files of 15 million exam¬ ples of English words used in context have been a valuable resource in developing this book. While English, like some other languages, has long had its commentators who seek to proscribe certain usages and prescribe others, standard usage tends to evolve quite independently of such critics. This book sets out in concise form the standard uses to which common English words, phrases, and grammatical constructions are actually put, especially in writing. Each article is introduced by one or more boldface words indicating the subject for discussion.

Articles.

data glance, glimpse reason is because In cases where it seemed helpful to do so, homo¬ graphs are distinguished by italic labels indicating part of speech.

Preface

Vlll

account, noun account, verb Otherwise such distinctions are made as part of the accompanying discussion. An article that treats more than one subject may be divided into sections, introduced by a boldface numeral. The section is occasionally indicated by an word or phrase in italics.

aspect of its each section topic of the introductory

allow 1. Allow, permit. Usage commentators have long sought to distinguish between allow and permit. . . . 2. Allow of. The intransitive allow, used with of, occurs primarily. . . . 3. Allow in the sense “admit, concede”. . . . Verbal Illustrations. This book includes thousands of verbal illustrations offering examples primarily of standard, but also occasionally of nonstandard, usages. Standard usages are shown within angle brackets, with the particular word or words at issue in italics. When the verb date is used to point to a date of origin, it may be used with from, back to, or to

. When two different but equally acceptable alternatives

Preface

IX

are exemplified, the second appears in square brackets immediately after the first. Farther and further . . . continue to be used

interchangeably when distance in space or time ... is involved .

Nonstandard usages, as well as some that are stan¬ dard but are associated with casual speech rather than with writing, are shown in quotation marks, usually inside parentheses. The conjunction being survives in various dialects (as in “Being you are family, I can tell you”). Off in the sense of “from” (as in “we bought the tools off Joe” or “we recorded the show off the

TV”) ... is found most often in speech and speechlike writing. Cross-References. Directional cross-references to articles where relevant discussion may be found are shown in small capital letters. They may appear with¬ in or at the end of an article or section, or they may receive a separate entry.

gamut. .. Some caution against confusing it with run the gauntlet (see gauntlet, gantlet).

x

Preface different from, different than Both of these phrases are standard. . . . See also than. either ... or

See either 3,5.

Cross-references to articles appearing in the Glossary, which begins on page 348, are identified as such. Because of the strength of notional agree¬ ment (see Glossary), however, a plural verb is not uncommon. . . .

Pronunciation. The symbols used in most of the arti¬ cles on pronunciation are explained in the table on page xi. The text of this work was prepared by Michael Shally-Jensen. Jocelyn White Franklin helped compile the Glossary. Mark A. Stevens, E. Ward Gilman, and Frederick C. Mish reviewed the entire manuscript. Georgette B. Boucher assisted substantially in the key¬ boarding of the manuscript. Cross-referencing was done by Maria A. Sansalone and Adrienne M. Scholz, and proofreading was performed by Donna L. Rickerby and Adrienne M. Scholz under the direction of Madeline L. Novak.

Pronunciation Symbols Slant lines (\... \) used in pairs indicate the beginning and end of a pronunciation respelling. The symbol 1 indicates primary (strongest) stress on the syllable that follows; the symbol , indicates secondary (medium) stress. Parentheses surrounding an element indicate that it is optional. 9 'a, ,9 ar

a a a att ch

e

banana, collide humdrum, abut further, merger. bird mat, snap day, fade, aorta cart, cot, father now, loud chin, nature VnS-charX beat, nosebleed

e

bet, red, peck i tip, banish I side, buy 5 bone, know, beau 6 saw, all, caught d coin, destroy 0 rule, youth u pull, wood, book. fury \'fyur-e\ y yard, mute VmyiitX

A a, an In both speech and writing, a is used before a word beginning with a consonant . Before a word beginning with a vowel, an is usual , but when the vowel is pronounced with an initial consonant sound, a is used . Before nouns beginning with h, a is used if the h is pronounced ; in a few cases where the first syllable is unaccented, either a or an can be used .

abhorrence Abhorrence, when followed by a prepo¬ sition, takes of . To, for, and against can also be found following abhorrence in older literature.

able to In sentences where able is followed by to and the infinitive, the infinitive is nearly always in the active voice , whether the subject is human or nonhuman. The passive infinitive (as in “a simple test able to be performed at home”) is generally thought to sound awkward and may usually be avoided easily and an adjective has long been established as standard, even though some critics disapprove of it.

absent The use of absent as a preposition has been criticized, but it is cur¬ rently in good use and is standard.

absolutely The use of absolutely as an intensifier may sometimes be judged overdramatic (as in “she was absolutely devastated when she wasn’t invited”). In more measured uses, criticism of the word is not justified .

absolve When absolve is followed by a preposition, it is usually either from or of . Only rarely is for used . abstain When abstain is followed by a preposition, it is normally from . In reference to voting, abstain usually takes no preposi¬ tion .

abstract When the verb abstract takes a preposition, it is generally from but occasionally by is standard in general prose but is largely avoided in formal or literary writing.

exact same This phrase is sometimes criticized as faulty or redundant, but it is frequently used by edu¬ cated speakers and writers . Its use is especially common in speech. See also redundancy (in Glossary).

exception When exception takes a preposition, the preposition is usually of or to . But where there is no notion of distance, further is used . Further is also used as a sentence modifier