-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: stomping ground; stamping ground. | LawProse Blog on Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Language-Change Index.
- A Belated Welcome to Bryan Garner’s ‘LawProse’ Blog | Mercho Legal Services, LLC on Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: statutory; *statutorial.
- Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: stick / stuck / stuck. | LawProse Blog on Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Language-Change Index.
- Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: staunch; stanch. | LawProse Blog on Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Language-Change Index.
- Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: | LawProse Blog on Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Language-Change Index.
Archives
Categories
Meta
Author Archives: Bryan A. Garner
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Miscellaneous Entries.
swat (= to swing at [something] with a slapping movement) is the standard spelling. *”Swot” is a variant. sweetbrier, denoting a type of European rose, is so spelled — not *”sweetbriar.” swivel, vb., makes “swiveled” and “swiveling” in American English, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: surname; Christian name; forename; given name.
The surname (or “family name”) denotes (wholly or partly) one’s kinship. In many cases it was derived from physical characteristics, occupations, or locations and later transmitted to descendants (e.g., Smith); in other cases it indicated paternity (e.g., Davidson). Such names … Continue reading
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: surmise.
Part A. Spelling: As noun and verb, the word is so spelled — not *”surmize.” E.g.: “Other officials even extended their optimism to surmize [read 'surmise'] that ‘a new climate has begun.’” Ana Martinez-Soler, “Madrid Cheers as France Quashes ETA … Continue reading
LawProse Lesson #119: Is it better to say May 29, 2013, or May 29th, 2013?
ANSWER: It’s best without the th. An ordinal number indicates position in a series (e.g., first, second, fifteenth), and should not be used when writing a date. Any one of these forms is correct: May 29, 2013 (the American method); … Continue reading
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: supposed to.
“Supposed to” (= expected to) wrongly made *”suppose to” is an exceedingly common error — e.g.: o “We’re suppose [read 'supposed'] to feel her greatest humiliation in this scene.” Avis L. Weathersbee, “Judging TV’s Black Images,” Chicago Sun-Times, 8 Apr. … Continue reading
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: supposable, suppositious, supposititious, suppositional, *suppositive
“Supposable” = capable of being supposed; presumable. E.g.: “He learns more about himself and the supposable dimension of man’s future.” Dick Richmond, “A Sequel to ‘The Celestine Prophecy,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 16 May 1996, at G7. “Suppositious” and “supposititious” sometimes … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: supplicant, *suppliant
supplicant; *suppliant. “Supplicant” is the standard term meaning “one who earnestly beseeches; a humble petitioner” — e.g.: o “Upstairs in a darkened room of the Edina home in which he was staying, Sakya Trizin, supreme head of one of Tibetan … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Miscellaneous Entries
susceptible – properly sounded /suh-SEP-tuh-buhl/ — is sometimes mispronounced, even by educated speakers, /suhk-SEP-tuh-buhl/. suspendable; *suspendible. The latter is a needless variant. Though *"suspendible" is the only form listed in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
LawProse Lesson #118
Why isn’t *subpoenae the plural of subpoena? In response to our last lesson on subpoenas duces tecum, many people asked: Why isn’t the plural *subpoenae duces tecum? Subpoena is a singular English noun — it was never a Latin noun. … Continue reading
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: Superstitions (8)
Today: Four More. “Never Use ‘between’ with More than Two Objects”: “When Miss Thistlebottom taught you in grammar school that ‘between’ applies only to two things and ‘among’ to more than two, she was for the most part correct. ‘Between’ … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
