Miscellaneous Entries.

right, adj. ; righteous; rightful. These terms are sometimes confused. “Right” = correct, proper, just. “Righteous” = morally upright, virtuous, or law-abiding. This term has strong religious connotations, often of unctuousness. “Rightful” = (1) (of an action) equitable, fair {a rightful solution}; (2) (of a person) legitimately entitled to a position {the rightful heir}; or (3) (of an office or piece of property) that one is entitled to {his rightful inheritance}.

right, vb. ; *righten. The latter is a needless variant — e.g.: “Walter Orange plays the comic constable, Dogberry, who rightens [read 'rights'] the situation between Claudio and Hero.” T.E. Foreman, “‘Much Ado,’ Much Updated,” Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Cal.), 2 Aug. 1996, at A19.

right-of-way is hyphenated whether used as a phrasal adjective {a right-of-way easement} or as a noun {yield the right-of-way}. The plural is “rights-of-way,” not *"right-of-ways."

right to die. As a noun phrase, “right to die” is three words {advocates of the right to die}; but as a phrasal adjective, it should be hyphenated: “Both sides of a right-to-die case received a skeptical hearing today at the Supreme Court.” Linda Greenhouse, “Right-to-Die Case Gets First Hearing in Supreme Court,” N.Y. Times, 7 Dec. 1989, at 1.

right-to-lifer (= an opponent of abortion rights) is journalists’ jargon — and is often used as a pejorative. E.g.: “The cast of characters includes . . . Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, a strident right-to-lifer who took the questionable step of asking the court to reconsider Roe.” “The Battle over Abortion,” Newsweek, 1 May 1989, at 28.

right to privacy is three words as a noun phrase, but hyphenated as a phrasal adjective {right-to-privacy case}.

*Invariably inferior forms.

For information about the Language-Change Index, click here.
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Quotation of the Day: Style is the manner of choosing and arranging words so as to produce determinate and intended effects in language. John F. Genung, The Working Principles of Rhetoric 16 (1902).

hara-kiri.

“Hara-kiri” (Jap. “belly-cutting”) is often misspelled in various ways, including “hari kari,” “hari-kari,” and “hiri kiri” — e.g.:

o “‘Hiri kiri [read 'Hara-kiri'] squeeze!’ I yelled. . . . To which an Asian gentleman seated to my right turned, nodded and said, ‘Very good, very good.’” Mike Downey, “Now It Seems Winning Is Also a Mania,” L.A. Times, 26 June 1995, at C1.

o “I’m beginning to wonder when the instructor plans to pass out the hari-kari [read 'hara-kiri'] swords and provide us with a more merciful end to offing ourselves.” Tom Murawski, “The Pen May Be Mightier, but the Sword Is So Much More Cool,” Chapel Hill Herald, 18 Sept. 2002, Editorial §, at 5.

Fortunately, the proper spelling is more than twice as common in print as any of the erroneous forms.

For information about the Language-Change Index, click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “There are few wisdoms more ancient than this — that talk, in appropriate doses, and under proper conditions, is a good and powerful medicine. . . . The amount of speaking we do varies, of course, depending on circumstances, levels of fatigue, interest, and need, but there is a roughly definable average amount of speaking that we accept as normal. We tend to take special notice of people who ‘don’t talk enough’ or who ‘talk too much.’” Wendell Johnson, Verbal Man: The Enchantment of Words 18 (1956; repr. 1965).

facility.

This word is surplusage in phrases such as “jail facility” and “museum facility” — e.g.: “Airports that aren’t well-served by airline clubs or that don’t have major hotel facilities [read 'hotels'] nearby will put in conference rooms of their own, he predicted.” Carol Smith, “Companies Meet Each Other at the Airport,” L.A. Times, 20 July 1995, at D5.

And sometimes the word is a euphemism for “building” — e.g.: “The Fort Lauderdale development firm that bought the rest of the mall complex 16 months ago — including the main mall facility [read 'building'], a nearby strip shopping center and the former Sam’s Wholesale Club building — is studying redevelopment plans.” Catherine Crownover, “‘Demalling’ for Economic Survival,” Fla. Times-Union, 28 Oct. 1996, at 10.

Not only is “facility” often unnecessary; it has also become virtually meaningless. The word is so abstract that it refers to just about anything, from an Olympic village to a toilet.

For information about the Language-Change Index, click here.

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Quotation of the Day: I ask you to pronounce s-o-w, and you ask me what kind of one. If we had a sane, determinate alphabet, instead of a hospital of comminuted eunuchs, you would know whether one referred to the act of a man casting the seed over the ploughed land or whether one wished to recall the lady hog and the future ham. Mark Twain, Speech In New York City (9 December 1907), in Mark Twains Speeches 367 (Albert Bigelow Paine ed., 1923) (as quoted in Mark Twain: His Words, Wit, and Wisdom 7 (R. Kent Rasmussen ed., 1997)).

entomology; etymology.

“Entomology” is the study of insects. “Etymology” is the study of word origins or, more usually, the derivation of a given word. The two words are occasionally confounded — e.g.:

o “Fly fishermen must also study the etymology [read 'entomology'] of insects, what they [read 'insects'] look like, how they move, so they can mimic them.” Marianne Costantinou, “Reel-Life Story with a Cast of Thousands,” S.F. Examiner, 31 May 1999, at A12. (Besides the usage error, this buggy sentence also contains a latent redundancy ["entomology of insects"] and an ambiguity ["they" with two possible antecedents].)

o “To begin, one should go to the root entomology [omit "root," read 'etymology'] of the words.” Michael Storey, “Otus the Cat Head,” Ark. Democrat-Gaz., 14 Oct. 2000, at E3. (“Root etymology” is redundant.)

For information about the Language-Change Index, click here.

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Quotation of the Day: “An alphabet seems the most natural thing in the world to children who play with ABC bricks, but all my life I have been ready to be betrayed into large enthusiasm about the ‘miracle’ of its invention, placing it high above television, jet propulsion, and nuclear fission. It is clever enough to be able to record and reproduce by electronic means the sounds our mouths utter, but the conversion of speech into impulses and impulses back into speech cannot, I like to think, match the fundamental achievement of converting the temporal into the spatial — for speech works in time, but letters stand in space.” Anthony Burgess, A Mouthful of Air 118 (1992).

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effect; affect.

“Effect” (= to bring about) is often misused for “affect” (= to influence, have an effect on). The blunder is widespread — e.g.:

o “Opponents say it would effect [read 'affect'] only a small number of people — in New York an estimated 300 criminals a year — and would have little effect on the causes of crime.” Ian Fisher, “Why ’3-Strike’ Sentencing Is a Solid Hit This Year,” N.Y. Times, 25 Jan. 1994, at A16.

o “It would also effect [read 'affect'] pensions tied to the rate of inflation and union contracts with automatic adjustments based on inflation.” Adam Clymer, “As Parties Skirmish Over Budget, Greenspan Offers a Painless Cure,” N.Y. Times, 11 Jan. 1995, at A1.

o “So far, 63 buildings in downtown Boston and the suburbs have been effected [read 'affected'] this week by the strike.” Dina Gerdman, “Janitors’ Strike Spreads into Quincy,” Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.), 3 Oct. 2002, News §, at 1.

o “The fallout has effected [read 'affected'] young men already worried about keeping their college football dreams alive.” David Wharton, “Hitting the Books,” L.A. Times, 11 Oct. 2002, Sports §, pt. 4, at 16.

It could be that the widespread misuse of “impact” as a verb is partly an attempt to sidestep the problem of how to spell “affect.”

For information about the Language-Change Index, click here.

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Quotation of the Day: “Be sure that you know what your correspondent is asking before you begin to answer him. Study his letter carefully. If he is obscure, spare no trouble in trying to get at his meaning. If you conclude that he means something different from what he says (as he well may), address yourself to his meaning not to his words, and do not be clever at his expense. Get into his skin, and adapt the atmosphere of your letter to suit that of his. If he is troubled, be sympathetic. If he is rude, be specially courteous. If he is muddle-headed, be specially lucid. If he is pig-headed, be patient. If he is helpful, be appreciative. If he convicts you of a mistake, acknowledge it freely and even with gratitude.” Sir Ernest Gowers, The Complete Plain Words 29-30 (1954; repr. 1964).

Miscellaneous Entries.

rewind / rewound / rewound. So inflected. *"Rewinded" is an infrequent error — e.g.: “Scenes can be freeze-framed and advanced, rewinded [read 'rewound'] and fast-forwarded with the push-button precision of CD audio or laser disc players.” Steve Persall, “To DVD or Not to DVD?” St. Petersburg Times, 19 Feb. 1999, at 20. Language-Change Index — *"rewinded" for past-tense “rewound”: Stage 1.

rhythmic; *rhythmical. H.W. Fowler said, “Both forms are too common to justify any expectation of either’s disappearance” (Modern English Usage, 1st ed. at 506). But he did think that *”rhythmical” is the more ordinary term. In fact, though, “rhythmic” (the less rhythmic word) outnumbers *"rhythmical" in modern print sources by a ratio of nearly 30 to 1.

riboflavin(e). The standard spelling is “riboflavin.”

ricochet, vb., makes “ricocheted” /RIK-uh-shayd/ and “ricocheting” /RIK-uh-shay-ing/ in American English. Those are the preferred forms as well in British English, which also has the variants “ricochetted” /RIK-uh-shet-uhd/ and “ricochetting” /RIK-uh-shet-ing/.

ridiculous has moved a long way from its etymological suggestion of “causing laughter,” so that writers nowadays often call “ridiculous” what causes them anger, frustration, distress, or even sadness. In other words, by slipshod extension it is frequently used when people are far from laughing. Today it is unrealistic to insist on etymological rigor with this word. For the sense “causing laughter,” “risible” is now the better term.

*Invariably inferior forms.

For information about the Language-Change Index, click here.

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Quotation of the Day: That a writer of the nineteenth century should express himself in the manner which was admirable in the seventeenth is an absurdity which needs only to be stated. It is not worth refuting. G.H. Lewes, Sincerity, in Foundations of English Style 64, 66 (Paul M. Fulcher ed., 1927).

danglers (6).

Today: Ending Sentences with Danglers.

Traditionally, grammarians frowned on all danglers, but during the 20th century they generally loosened the strictures for a participial construction at the end of a sentence. Some early-20th-century grammarians might have disapproved of the following sentences, but such sentences have long been considered acceptable:

o “Sarah stepped to the door, looking for her friend.”

o “Toms arm hung useless, broken by the blow.”

o Usually, as in the first example, the end-of-the-sentence dangler is introduced by a so-called coordinating participle: looking is equivalent to and looked. Similarly:

o “Vexed by these frequent demands on her time, she finally called upon her friend, imploring him to come to her aid.” (“Imploring” = “and implored.”)

o “The New Orleans-bound steamer rammed and sank the freighter ten miles from its destination, sending her to the bottom in ten minutes.” (“Sending” = “and sent.”)

o “She died before her brother, leaving a husband and two children.” (“Leaving” = “and left.”)

A few editors would consider each of those participles misattached, but in fact they are acceptable as coordinating participles. As for the few who object, what would they do with the following sentence: “The boy ran out of the house crying”?

For information about the Language-Change Index, click here.

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Quotation of the Day: “There is something profoundly unfortunate, we feel, about a person who lies much, and the best thing we can say about anyone who frequently gives us misleading information because of honest bad judgment is that he is a nuisance. Whenever speech is supposed to be informative in a factual sense, we ask that it be made up of clear statements and true ones, so far as that is possible.” Wendell Johnson, Verbal Man: The Enchantment of Words 20 (1956; repr. 1965).

danglers (5).

Today: Acceptable Danglers, or Disguised Conjunctions.

Any number of present participles have been used as conjunctions or prepositions for so long that they have lost the participial duty of modifying specific nouns. In effect, the clauses they introduce are adverbial, standing apart from and commenting on the content of the sentence. Among the most common of these are “according,” “assuming,” “barring,” “concerning,” “considering,” “given,” “judging,” “owing to,” “regarding,” “respecting,” “speaking,” “taking” (usually with “account of,” or “into account”). Thus:

o “Horticulturally speaking, the best way to prune the tree is probably to remove some of the lowest branches by cutting them off at the trunk.” Mary Robson, “Pine Needles Won’t Harm,” Seattle Times, 14 Aug. 1994, at G3.

o “Assuming everyone shows up who’s supposed to (not a given in this sport of last-minute scratches), this could be the finest assemblage of talent for a Long Island road race in a decade.” John Hanc, “Cow Harbor Still Attracts Big Names,” Newsday (N.Y.), 18 Sept. 1997, at A94.

o “Considering how hated Belichick was in Cleveland, it’s incredible that another owner would want him as a head coach.” John McClain, “John McClains NFL Report,” Houston Chron., 7 Dec. 1997, at 24.

Next: Ending Sentences with Danglers.

For information about the Language-Change Index, click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “A man who handles abstract ideas fluently, and the more fluently because he never feels them as anything more than abstract ideas, can do only a limited amount of good and may, in many circumstances, do harm.” John Wain, “An Instrument of Communication” (1958), in A Language Reader for Writers 227, 227 (James R. Gaskin & Jack Suberman eds., 1966).