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¿Wow/er?s Modem English Usage REVISED EDITION
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Modern English Usage FIRST EDITION
by H.W. Fowler RE...
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THE NEW
¿Wow/er?s Modem English Usage REVISED EDITION
THE NEW
Modern English Usage FIRST EDITION
by H.W. Fowler REVISED THIRD
EDITION
by R.W.Burchfield
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0x2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta CapeTown Chennai Dares Salaam Delhi Florence HongKong Istanbul Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Mumbai Nairobi Paris Säo Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Oxford University Press 1968,1996 First edition 1926 Second edition 1965 Third edition 1996 Revised third edition 1998 Published in USA 2000 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographicsrightsorganization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0-19-860263-4 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Data-captured by Jayvee, Trivandrum, India Typeset in Swift and Meta by Latimer Trend Ltd., Plymouth Printed in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham
For my beloved wife
Sfizaùet/i^Austens G&urcfifîeld
CONFLICTING VIEWS Ours is a Copious Language, and Trying to Strangers. Mr Podsnap in Dickens's Our Mutual Friend, 1865 Grammar is like walking. You have to think about it when you start but if you have to go on thinking about it you fall over. It should come as second nature. Alice Thomas Ellis in The Spectator, 1989 Was she becoming, like the century, illiterate? a character in Iris Murdoch's The Book and the Brotherhood, 1987 'How charming. Now, "Luney". How do you spell that?' Swayed by the drawing of her breath, the [Haitian] girl took a moment to dream, then said with a far-off resonance, 'You don' spell dat, ma'am, you sez it.' Barbara Neil, The Possession of Delia Sutherland, 1993
DISLIKES Comments by members of a Usage Panel on the use of hopefully as a sentence adverb meaning 'it is to be hoped', as reported in the Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage (2nd edn, 1985): I have fought this for some years, will fight it till I die. It is barbaric, illiterate, offensive, damnable, and inexcusable. I don't like chalk squeaking on blackboards either. 'Hopefully' is useful or it would not be used so universally. 'Grounded' meaning a withdrawal of privileges is a word I dislike. It's off the television {Roseanne notably) but now in common use. (I just heard it on Emmerdale Farm, where they probably think it's dialect). I would almost prefer 'gated', deriving from Forties public school stories in Hotspur and Wizard. Other current dislikes: 'Brits'; 'for starters'; 'sorted'; and (when used intransitively) 'hurting'. Alan Bennett in London Review of Books, 4 Jan. 1996
Preface to the Third Edition
Henry Watson Fowler1 (1858-1933) is a legendary figure and his Dictionary of Modern English Usage (MEU), first published in 1926, is one of the most celebrated reference books of the twentieth century. It was the work of a private scholar writing in virtual seclusion in the island of Guernsey; later, after the 1914-18 war, he lived mostly in the village of Hinton St George in Somerset. His background was typical of that of hundreds of middle-class young men of the second half of the Victorian period: educated at Rugby School and Balliol College, Oxford (where he read Classics), he went on to spend seventeen years (1882-99) teaching Classics and English at Sedbergh School in north-west Yorkshire (now Cumbria). There followed a four-year period in London as a freelance essayist, after which he joined his younger brother, Francis George Fowler, in Guernsey in 1903. In two separate granite cottages, fifty yards apart, the brothers embarked on and completed three ambitious projects. First, they translated the Greek works of Lucian of Samosata (1905); they then wrote The King's English (1906), the precursor of MEU, and compiled The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1911). After an adventurous interlude in the army in France in 1915-16, and after the death of his brother in 1918, Fowler finished the Pocket Oxford Dictionary in 1924, and MEU in 1926, by which time he was 68. What I want to stress is the isolation of Fowler from the mainstream of the linguistic scholarship of his day, and his heavy dependence on schoolmasterly textbooks in which the rules of grammar, rhetoric, punctuation, spelling, and so on, were set down in a quite basic manner. For him, the ancient Greek and Latin classics (including the metrical conventions of the poets), the best-known works of Renaissance and post-Renaissance English literature, and the language used in them formed part of a three-coloured flag. This linguistic flag was to be saluted and revered, and, as far as possible, everything it represented was to be preserved intact. The book that emerged in 1926, Modern English Usage, was aimed at a domestic audience. Fowler disclaimed any knowledge of American English and by implication, the varieties of English spoken and written in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and elsewhere. In a letter written to his publishers in 1911 he drew attention to further limits of his horizon: We have our eyes not on the foreigner, but on the half-educated Englishman of literary proclivities who wants to know Can I say so-&-so? . . . Is this use English? ... Not but what we may be of some use to the foreigner who knows English pretty well; but the foreigner as such we must leave out of consideration. For his illustrative examples Fowler often turned to the OED and drew on them to support his arguments. Above all, however, he turned to newspapers 1 An affectionate biographical sketch of Fowler by his friend G. G. Coulton was published in 1935 as Tract xliii of the Society for Pure English.
P R E F A C E TO T H E THIRD EDITION
vui
(though he seldom specifies which ones) because they reflected and revealed the solecistic waywardness of 'the half-educated' general public in a much more dramatic fashion than did works of English literature. As any lexicographer or grammarian knows, newspapers, by the very nature of the circumstances in which they are prepared, inevitably contain a higher proportion of deviationsfromstandard language, misprints, and solecisms than works such as novels that are thoroughly copy-edited by professional editors in publishing houses. Perhaps as a hangoverfromFowler's days as a schoolmaster, his scholarship needed to be enlivened by a veneer of idiosyncrasy and humour. The King's English (1906) had a trail of conventional articles on alliteration, archaism, negatives, omission of relatives, the split infinitive, and so on; but it also had more unexpected, indeed opaque, titles to articles, for example, 'airs and graces', 'between two stools', 'false scent', 'unequal yokefellows', and 'wens and hypertrophied members'. Most of these amusing headwords were retained in MEU, and were joined by others, for example, 'battered ornaments', 'out of the frying-pan', 'pairs and snares', and 'swapping horses'. They have endeared the book to Fowler's devotees, but no longer have their interest or appeal and are not preserved in this new edition. The material in them has been redistributed under much more transparent heads.
Before embarking on the preparation of the third edition I carefully analysed the contents of MELT 1926, and the emphasis turned out to be a little unexpected. The largest contingent of entries were those under the general heading 'differentiation', though the actual entries were deposited at their correct alphabetical place. There were scores of entries distinguishing related or like-sounding words, admission/admittance, affect/effect, childis childlike, continual/continuous, and so on. Many were gems of conciseness (or concision), with the distinctions clearly brought out. Others were quirky, opinionated, and based on inadequate evidence. MEU 1926 was also much concerned with the plurals of words of foreign origin, especially those ending in -0 {adagio, cargo, concerto, potato, etc.), -urn (asylum, curricul memorandum, etc.), and -us [apparatus, corpus, virus, etc.). These were usual cross-referenced to neat articles where the various types were discussed as groups, e.g. -O(E)S; -UM; and -us, with further details supplied s.v. LATIN PLURALS. All these entries have been preserved and expanded in the present edition. High in Fowler's order of priority were prosodie and other poetical terms derived from classical literature and used, often with modifications, by English poets: alcaics, alexandrine, anacrusis, arsis, etc. The chalk-lined hand the classics master at Sedbergh is most clearly observed in this group of words. I decided, on balance, that these articles, with minor modifications, should be retained in the third edition. As was customary at the time, Fowler used a respelling system when discussing the pronunciation of individual words. In the third edition this system has been replaced by the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet to bring the book into accord with the practice of other Oxford dictionaries (except those
IX
P R E F A C E TO T H E T H I R D EDITION
prepared for schoolchildren). For the convenience of readers a table of the IPA symbols is provided on p. xv. Somewhat surprising is the relative lack of space given in thefirstedition to disputed usage as such. Of course there are articles, many of them classics of their kind, on matters such as aggravate (= annoy), allright(as against alright), the choice between between and among, under the drcumstances (as against in the circumstances), 'preposition at end and so on, but they are by no means the most prominent articles in the book. The mystery remains: why has this schoolmasterly, quixotic, idiosyncratic, and somewhat vulnerable book, in a form only lightly revised once, in 1965, by Ernest Gowers, retained its hold on the imagination of all but professional linguistic scholars for just on seventy years? It sold very well on publication, and has remained in print ever since. People of all kinds continue to tell me that they use it 'all the time', and that 'it never lets them down'. In the space of three weeks a judge, a colonel, and a retired curator of Greek and Roman antiquities at the British Museum told me on separate social occasions that they have the book close at hand at all times. They all looked anxious when I mentioned a few changes that I have made in the new edition, including the placing of twentieth-century changes in their historical dimension and the introduction of the International Phonetic Alphabet. 'I wish you hadn't told me that,' one commented. The slightly haunted looks they gave me were those of passengers fearing that they were going to miss their connection.
From the outset it was obvious to me that a standard work on English usage needed to be based on satisfactory modern evidence and that a great deal of this evidence could be obtained and classified by electronic means. In September 1986, after the completion of the Supplement to the OED and the New Zealand Pocket Oxford Dictionary, and coinciding with other wor including the editing of a volume of essays called Studies in Lexicography, I obtained a personal computer and began to establish a database consisting often independent fields corresponding to obvious categories of grammar and usage. The ten fields were adjectives, adverbs, concord, gerunds, infinitives, nouns and articles, ordinaries (a convenient term for points of disputed usage), passives, pronouns, and subjunctives. The fields that I created enabled me to assign specific numbers to the various types of gerunds, passives, subjunctives, etc., and these types soon began to multiply as my reading of sources continued. The numbering system enabled me to retrieve and print out all examples of a specified type, e.g. gerunds 3 = possessive with gerund: I was proud of his being accepted at such a good school—New Yorker, 1986; and gerunds 4 = possessive not used with gerund: fiow could she think of the baby being born in the house—A. S. Byatt, 1985- In t end my gerunds field contained examples of more than 100 types of gerundial constructions, and, like all my fields, it is infinitely extendible. Some of the fields, and especially the one containing examples of constructions in which infinitives occur, are much larger. The ordinaries field contains, for example, a formidable array of controversial uses of due to, like used as a conjunction, o/used by children and poorly educated people to mean 'have', unattached participles, irregular or unstable past tenses of
P R E F A C E TO T H E THIRD EDITION
x
verbs, e.g. hove/heaved, sneaked/snuck, spelled/spelt, and numerous other type including try and (used beside try to) followed by an infinitive. The database was programmed in such a way that I could retrievefromit all examples of specified words that randomly occurred in the sentences keyed in for other purposes—words such as about, better, if, more, though, too and also specified parts of words, e.g. all words in the database that happened to end in -eddy (allegedly, markedly, etc.). This database is small by t standards of the great university- and business-based corpora. But its value lies in the fact that it contains material from sources that I have selected myself, and examples that I have chosen and keyed in myself—in computer terminology, it contains no garbage. It is a private, personalized database of English uses and constructions of the 1980s and 1990s. By 1990 the time consuming process of collecting and classifying evidence needed to be modified, as the writing of articles for the book, which I had begun in August 1987, had only reached the end of the letter C by October 1990. From then onward I continued to build up my paper-slipfiles,but began to rely much more than hitherto on the evidence available in the OED Department's electronic and paper-slip files (see the Acknowledgements on p. xiii).
A usage manual of the MEU kind reflects its sources. The bulk of the material in this book has been obtainedfroma systematic reading of British and American newspapers, periodicals, andfictionof the 1980s and 1990s in approximately equal proportions. Thus British sources drawn on include national newspapers like The Times, the Sunday Times, and the Observ periodicals like the Spectator, Encounter (until it folded in 1990), the London Review of Books, The Face, and a number of others; journals like the Bodleia Library Record and English; and fiction by a very large number of writers including Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, William Boyd, Anita Brookner, Penelope Lively, Iris Murdoch, and Nigel Williams. An equivalent amount of material has been drawnfromAmerican newspapers, especially in the Chicago area (where I have a regular correspondent), periodicals such as the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, the Bulletin of the Ame Academy of Arts and Säences, Daedalus; andfictionby a wide range of write including Saul Bellow, Garrison Keillor, Philip Roth, John Updike, and Tom Wolfe.
I have also collected a more limited range of materialfromother Englishspeaking countries, especially Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa, e.g. the work of Peter Carey and Thomas Keneally (Australia), Alice Munro and Robertson Davies (Canada), Maurice Gee and Maurice Shadbolt (New Zealand), and Menán du Plessis and André Brink (South Africa). I have drawn too on material derived from learned journals, including English Studies (Amsterdam), English World-Wide (Amsterdam), World Englishes (Oxford), and The International Journal of Lexicography (Oxford). I should mention that between 1988 and 1992 I wrote regular (at first fortnightly, later monthly) MEU-type articles in the Sunday Times. The more important of these were collected and published in my book Points of View (OUP, 1992). This exercise provided me with a considerable amount of feedback from readers. Other exploratory essays that I have written on
XI
P R E F A C E TO T H E THIRD EDITION
aspects of modern English usage have appeared (a) in my book Unlocking the English Language (Faber & Faber, 1989)» including a description of the controversial migration of some personal pronouns to and from their traditional positions; (b) as an essay on grammatical concord in The English Reference Grammar, edited by Gerhard Leitner (Max Niemeyer, 1986); (c) as an article illustrating differences of attitude to traditional grammar as shown in the novels of Jeffrey Archer and Anita Brookner (in The State of the Language, edited by Christopher Ricks and Leonard Michaels (University of California Press, 1990)); and (d) an outline account of my policy for this book in Aspects of English and Italian Lexicology and Lexicography, edited by David Hart (Baga Libri, 1993). Anyone who has spent nearly thirty years, as I did, editing a major dictionary on historical principles is bound to prefer an historical approach to English usage to one that is limitedly descriptive. Judgements based on the distribution of competing constructions or pronunciations are intrinsicallyfragileand diminished in value if the constructions are not also examined historically. This third edition of MEU provides essential details of how and when new usages occurred whenever it is relevant and interesting to do so. Examples may be found on a great many pages, including the following articles: (competing meanings) MUTUAL; REFUTE; (rise and fall of certain suffixes) -ESS; -ETTE; (semantic change) GAY; HECTIC; HORRID; (20c. changes of pronunciation) HERCULEAN; LEGEND; MYTH; PARIAH; PROTEIN (and several other words ending in -ein(e)). I judged it to be essential to retain the traditional terminology of English grammar: there are no tree diagrams, no epistemic modality (except to explain what the term means), no generative grammar. The indefinite article a/an is called the indefinite article, not a central determiner. Adverbs are not complicatedly divided into adjuncts, conjuncts, disjuncts, and subjuncts: standard speakers can communicate well enough without having to analyse their adverbs into four substantially overlapping types. Fowler's name remains on the titlepage, even though his book has been largely rewritten in this third edition. I hope that a way will be found to keep the 1926 masterpiece in print for at least another seventy years. It shows what it was like to be linguistically aware before a new race of synchronic linguistic giants appeared, and before the advent of new electronic technology made it possible to scrutinize standard varieties of English in many countries throughout the world with minute thoroughness. It is not, of course, as antiquated as jElfric's Grammar nor yet as those of Ben Jonson or Robert Lowth. But it is a fossil all the same, and an enduring monument to all that was linguistically acceptable in the standard English of the southern counties of England in thefirstquarter of the twentieth century. The pages that follow attempt, with the aid of quotational evidence drawn from identified sources, to guide readers to make sensible choices in linguistically controversial areas of words, meanings, grammatical constructions, and pronunciations. Several articles stress the desirability of removing gobbledegook or officialese from public documents and letters. Political correctness gets its full share of attention, as do linguistic aspects of
P R E F A C E TO T H E T H I R D E D I T I O N
Xll
the powerful feminist movement in the twentieth century. It is written at a time when there are many varieties of standard English, all making different choicesfromthe material notionally available to them. It is also atimewhen pessimists are writing gloomily about declining standards, the loss of valuable distinctions in meaning, the introduction of unappetising vogue words and slang. But I refuse to be a pessimist. I am sure that the English language is not collapsing—more severe changes have come about in past centuries than any that have occurred in the twentieth century—and in the English language, used well, we still have, and will continue to have, a tool of extraordinary strength and flexibility.
Acknowledgements
It gives me great pleasure to set down my obligation to the many people who have contributed in one way or another to the preparation of this edition. First and foremost I owe an immeasurable debt to my former colleagues in the OED Department, who allowed me unrestricted access to their rich electronic and paper-slip quotationfilesand to the electronic databases (e.g. NEXIS) to which they themselves have access. Once it had been decided to identify the sources of the quotational evidence rather than to rely on unattributed illustrative examples or merely invented examples, the book could never have been assembled without such privileged access, even in the nine years it has taken to write it. Major contributors included a retired American lexicographer, Mr Frank G. Pickel (of Evanston, Illinois), a diplomat (now retired), Sir Brian L. Barder, and a library researcher, Mr George Chowdharay-Best. Indispensable help of various kinds—suggestions for new entries, criticism of existing articles, judgements about particular words or constructions, and so on—have come from the following people: Mr David Annett, Mr Don Barton, Mr P. R. Bonnett, Sir James Craig, Mr G. Crawford, Dr Robert D. Eagleson, Mr Bryan A. Garner, Dr Valerie Grundy, Mr William E. Hutchins, Mr Kenneth R. Lake, Professor Geoffrey Lewis, Mr E. W. Noll, Dr Stefania Nuccorini, Mr Jim Powell, Professor James Sutherland, Mr Ernest Trehern, Mr B. Verity, Mr F. R. le P. Warner, Professor Emer. Hugh E. Wilkinson, Mr C. F. Wright. I am also greatly indebted to Sarah Barrett, who brought her considerable copy-editing skills to bear on the complexities of this book.
Dedication, 1926
To the memory of my brother FRANCIS GEORGE FOWLER, MA. CANTAB.
who shared with me the planning of this hook, hut did not live to share the writing.
I think of it as it should have been, with its prolixities docked, its dullnesses enlivened, its fads eliminated, its truths multiplied. He had a nimbler wit, a better sense of proportion, and a more open mind, than his twelve-year-older partner; and it is a matter of regret that we had not, at a certain point, arranged our undertakings otherwise than we did. In 1911 we started work simultaneously on the Pocket Oxford Dictionary an this book; living close together, we could, and did, compare notes; but each was to get one book into shape by writing its first quarter or half; and so much only had been done before the war. The one in which, as the less mechanical, his ideas and contributions would have had much the greater value had been assigned, by ill chance, to me. In 1918 he died, aged 47, of tuberculosis contracted during service with the B.E.F. in 1915-16. The present book accordingly contains none of his actual writing; but, having been designed in consultation with him, it is the last fruit of a partnership that began in 1903 with our translation of Lucian. H.W.F.
Key to the Pronunciation
The pronunciation system is that of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and, except where otherwise specified, is based on the pronunciation, widely called 'Received Pronunciation' or RP, of educated people in southern England. The necessary adjustments have been made when standard American English pronunciations are given. The symbols used, with typical examples, are as follows:
Consonants b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, and z have their usual English values. Ot symbols are used as follows: g (get) tj (chip) d3 (jar) x (loch) Vowels Short vowels ae (cat) e (bed) a (ago) I
(Sit)
D (hot) A (run) ü (put)
ÍI G ö J
(ring) (thin) (this) (she)
Long vowels a: (arm) i: (see) o: (saw) 3: (her) u: (too)
3 J
(decision) (yes)
Diphthongs ei (day) ai (my) 01 (boy) 9Ü (no) au (how) ia (near) ee (hair) Ü9 (poor) aia (fire) aü9 (sour)
The main or primary stress of a word is shown by a superior ' placed immediately before the relevant syllable. When a secondary stress is called for this is indicated by an inferior, placed immediately before the relevant syllable. The mark ~ (called a tilde) indicates a nasalized sound, as in the following sounds that are not natural in English: ae
(timbre)
â
(élan)
5
(garçon)
Abbreviations and Symbols
t obsolete -• becomes * unacceptable construction, spelling, etc. * precedes a reconstructed etymological formation ~ varies freely with; by comparison with 1 (in the OED) catachrestic and erroneous uses SMALL CAPITALS refer the reader to the article so indicated, for further information. a, ante abbrev. abl. ace. adj. adv. advbl advt AmE arch. attrib. Aust. aux. AV
BEV
before, not later than abbreviation, abbreviated as ablative accusative adjective adverb adverbial advertisement American English archaic attributive(ly) Australian auxiliary Authorized Version (of the Bible)
BrE
Black English Vernacular (US) British English
c c. Canad. cf. colloq. compar. conj. const.
área century, centuries Canadian compare colloquial comparative conjunction construed (with)
d. dat. det. dial. Du.
died dative determiner dialect, -al Dutch
EC egELT Eng. esp. et al. exe. f. fem. figFr.
European Community exempli gratia, 'for example' English Language Teaching English especially et alii,'and others' except from feminine figuratively French
Ger.
German
gen. Gk
genitive Greek
hist.
historical, with historical reference
ibid.
ibidem, 'in the same book or passage' 'the same'
idem i.e. IE indie. infin. intr. Ir. irreg. It.
rrv
id est, 'that is' Indo-European indicative infinitive intransitive Irish irregularly) Italian Independent Television (UK)
A B B R E V I A T I O N S AND S Y M B O L S
L,Lat. lit.
Latin literally
pple prec.
près. prob. pron. pronunc.
participle preceding (word or article) prefix preposition, prepositional present probably pronoun pronunciation
mase. math. MDu. ME medL MLG mod. modE modF modL mus.
masculine mathematical Middle Dutch Middle English medieval Latin Middle Low German modern modern English modern French modern Latin music
pref. prep.
quot.
quotation
RC refi. RP
Roman Catholic reflexive Received Pronunciation (inBrE)
n., n.pl. NAmer. naut. neut. NEXIS
NIr. nom. NT NZ(E)
noun, plural noun North American nautical neuter proprietary name of a large electronic database Northern Irish nominative New Testament New Zealand (English)
SAfr. SAmer. sb. Sc. sc.
South African South American substantive Scottish scilicet, 'understand' or 'supply' singular Spanish Society for Pure English specifically superlative sub voce, 'under the word'
obs. obsolesc. occas. OE OF OFris. ON OProvencal orig. OUP
obsolete obsolescent occasional(ly) Old English Old French Old Frisian Old Norse Old Provençal originally Oxford University Press
pa.t. pa.pple perh. pers. Pg. phr. Pipoet. popL ppl
past tense past participle perhaps person Portuguese phrase plural poetic popular Latin participial
sing. Sp. SPE spec. superi. s.v.
t. theol. tr. trans.
tense theological translation (of) transitive
UK ult. UN US usu.
United Kingdom ultimately United Nations United States usually
v., vs. vbl vol.
verb, verbs verbal volume
WGmc
West Germanic
Bibliographical Abbreviations
Alford Amer.N.&Q. Amer. Speech Ann.
Henry Alford, The Queen's English, 1864 American Notes & Queries American Speech Annual
Baldick BMJ Bodl.Libr.Kec. Bull. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. Burchfield
C. Baldick, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, 1990 British Medical fournal Bodleian Library Record Bulletin of the American Academy ofArts and Sciences
CGEL
A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, ed. R. Quirk
Chr. Sci. Monitor Chron. COD Cone. Scots Dia. Crystal
Christian Science Monitor Chronicle The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 8th edn, 1990; 9Ü1 edn, 1995 Concise Scots Dictionary D. Crystal, A ñrst Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 1980
DARE Dia. Dia. Eng. Usage
Dictionary of American Regional English, ed. F. G. Cassidy et al., 2 vols. (A-H), 1985,1991 Dictionary (of) Dictionary of English Usage
Eccles. Hist. Encycl. European Sociol. Rev.
Ecclesiastical History Encyclop{a)edia European Sodological Review
Fowler
H. W. and F. G. Fowler, The King's English, 1906
Garner Gaz. Gimson
Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary ofModern Legal Usage, 1987 Gazette A. C. Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronuntiation of English, 3rd edn, 1980
Hartmann and Stork
R. R. K. Hartmann and F. C. Stork, Dictionary of Language and Linguistics, 1973 Hart's Rules for Compositors and Readers at the University Press, Oxford, 39th edn., 1983
R. Burchfield, The Spoken Word: a BBC Guide, 1981
et al., 1985
Hurt's Rules
Internat.
International
Jespersen
Otto Jespersen, A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, i-vii, 1909-49 Daniel Jones, An English Pronoundng Dictionary, 1917 Journal {of) Journal of the Royal Society ofArts
Jones Jrnl JrnlRSA
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS London Rev. Bks Lyons
London Review of Books J. Lyons, Semantics, 2 vols., 1977
Mag. Mitchell
Magazine Bruce Mitchell, Old English Syntax, 2 vols., 1985
N&Q NEB NewSOED NY Rev. Bks
Notes & Queries New English Bible The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 2 vols., 1993 New York Review of Books
The Oxford Companion to the English Language, ed. Tom McArthur, 1992 OCELit. The Oxford Companion to English Literature, ed. Margaret Drabble, 5th edn, 1985 ODCIE Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English, ed. A. P. Cowie et al., 2 vols, 1975,1983 ODEE Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, 1966 ODWE Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, 1981 The Oxford English Dictionary, issued in parts 1884-1928; as OED 12 vols., 1933 OED2 Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edn, 20 vols., 1989 OEDS A Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary, 4 vols., 1972-86 The Oxford Guide to English Usage, 2nd edn, 1993 OGEV The Oxford Miniguide to English Usage, 1983 OMEU Oxf. Diet. Eng. Gramm. The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 1994 OCELang.
Pari. Äff. POD Poutsma Pubi. Amer. Dial. Soc.
Parliamentary Affairs The Pocket Oxford Dictionary Hendrik Poutsma, A Grammar of Late Modern English, 5 vols., 1926-9 Publications of the American Dialect Society
to mean 'not proletarian, therefore parasitic,'angle brackets'. reactionary'. (C. S. Lewis, Studies in Words, Brahman. Also formerly Brahmin, a 2nd edn, 1967.) member of the highest or priestly caste bourn(e). There are two distinct words, in the Hindu caste system. In American each of them spelt in the past and still use, and occas. elsewhere, brahmin (thus sometimes today either with or without spelt) is often applied to 'a highly cula final •€. One, meaning 'a small stream, tured or intellectually aloof person' a brook' (first recorded in the 14c), sur- (orig. such a person in New England). vives in the south of England, used esp. brain(s), in the sense of wits, may often in the context of winter torrents of the chalk downs, and in the place-names be either sing, or pi. In pick (a person's) Bournemouth and Eastbourne; it corres- brain[s), rack (one's) brain(s), the number ponds to the northern word burn, also = is indifferent; has no brains is commoner 'a small stream'. The other word (first than has no brain, but either is acceptable recorded in the 16c), which is a English. Some phrases, however, admit loanword from French, means 'the limit only one number or the other, e.g. have or terminus of a race, journey, or course; (something) on the brain, blow out (somedestination, goal'. In the well-known pas- one's) brains. sage in Shakespeare's Hamlet (1602), The dread of something after death, The vndis-brand-new. Correctly thus spelt, being (in the 16c.) formed from brand 'burning couer'd country, from whose borne, No trauiler retumes, the word probably means 'fron- (wooden) torch' + new (i.e. fresh as from the furnace). Because the -d- is frequently tier, boundary'. not pronounced, the spelling bran-new bowsprit. Pronounce /'bauspnt/. was a common variant almost from the beginning, e.g. Mr. and Mrs. Veneering bow window. See BAY WINDOW. were bran-new people in a bran-new brace (noun). ( = a pair). A collective house (Dickens, 1865), but brand-new is noun having the same form in the sing. customary now.
bravado | brier, briar bravado /bra'vaidau/ is an ostentatious display of courage or boldness, often concealing a felt timidity. Bravery is daring, valour, fortitude (as a good quality). Bravura /bra'vjuara/ is now virtually restricted to its musical sense, 'a passage or piece of music requiring great skill and spirit in its execution, written to task the performer's powers' (bravura songs, a bravura performance).
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created by the flight of comprador capitalPacific Rev., 1988.
breakdown. Beside its primary meaning, 'a collapse, a failure of mechanical action or of health or of mental power', breakdown has been used since the 1930s to mean 'an analysis or classification (of figures, statistics, etc.). It is obviously important not to use this transferred sense in contexts in which it might have brave. Apart from its ordinary sense a tinge of ambiguity: e.g. 0 breakdown ('courageous, daring'), the word has been (better an analysis) of engine failures in longused for some four centuries as a general haul aircraft has not revealed any one main epithet of admiration or praise (e.g. 0 cause; a complete breakdown of our exports that's a braue man, hee writes braue verses,to dollar countries is not available at present. speakes braue worlds—Shakespeare). Appar- breakthrough. First used in the ently this use began to fall out of cur1914-18 war to mean 'an advance of rency towards the end of the 19c. (to troops penetrating a defensive line', judge from the OED), but it has swept breakthrough has come to be used (since back into use in the 20c. (a brave attempt, about the middle of the 20c.) of any a brave step, etc.), and, most notably, in significant advance in knowledge, Aldous Huxley's revival of Miranda's 0 achievement, etc. For a time it was an braue new world (Tempest, v.i.183) in the immensely popular vogue word, but it title of his satirical novel Brave New World seems now to have joined the ranks of (1932). ordinary foot-soldier words, both in its literal and in its transferred senses. bravo. It would be a brave person who would follow Fowler's advice (1926) to breech. See BREACH, BREECH. use bravo when applauding a male singer in an operatic performance, brava for a brethren. This ancient pi. of the word female singer, and bravi for the company. brother (first recorded C1175) survives Gender and number distinctions have only in restricted use. It means 'fellowbeen abandoned in such circumstances, members of a Christian society' (dearly and bravo is the only cry of the three beloved brethren); in particular the Plymouth Brethren (who call themselves 'the heard in English theatres now. Brethren'), a religious body recognizing breach, breech. Breach is 'a breaking' no official order of ministers, and having (in breach of his contract, breach of the peace,no formal creed, which arose at Plybreach of promise 'breaking of promise to mouth C1830. A member of this body is marry', step into the breach 'give help in a called a Plymouth brother, and occas. also crisis, etc.). Breech is principally, (a) in pi. a Brethren (Uncle Bill was coming to the breeches 'short trousers', memorably in meeting as well, even though he wasn't a Breeches Bible, the Geneva Bible of 1560 Brethren-N. Virtue, 1988). with breeches for aprons in Gen. 3: 7; and in breeches-buoy, a lifebuoy on a rope with briar. See BRIER, BRIAR. canvas breeches for the user's legs; when bridegroom. The vicissitudes of etyused in the sense 'short trousers', normology are seen in the emergence of mally pronounced /'brrtfiz/; (b) = this word in the 16c. The OE word was buttocks, now used only with reference brydguma = bryd 'bride' 4- guma 'man'. to a baby's position at or before birth Had ME and early modE grome, 'lad, (breech birth, with the baby's buttocks groom' (itself of unknown etym.) not foremost); (c) the back part of a rifle or been substituted for the second element, gun barrel (breech-loading gun, one loaded the word would have come down to us at the breech, not through the muzzle). as bridegoom. Confusion of the two words occurs occasionally: e.g. National capital ... has brier, briar. There are two distinct hardly moved in tofillthe breech [read breach] words, the first (from OE braer) meaning
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brindle(d) | broadcast
'a prickly bush, esp. of the wild rose', and the other 'the white heath, Erica arborea, of southern Europe or a tobacco pipe made from its root'. The heath word is a 19c. loanword from Fr. bruyère. There is widespread inconsistency in the spelling of both words: the OUP house style for each is brier.
usually employed with more than a suggestion of teasing or, quite commonly, of hostility. The Brit is at his old game (1901 in OED), and Brits out (slogan on wall in N. Irish town, shown on ITN news, 6 Mar. 1977), just about sum it all up. In Australia and New Zealand, Brit is now challenging Pom as an everyday word for a British person, and has similar brindle(d) (adj.). The earlier form (first connotations. Elsewhere usage varies: recorded in the 14c.) of the word mean- the word often has an edge to it, but it ing 'marked with bars or streaks of a is also favoured simply as being shorter different hue' was brinded. By the 19c. it than Briton and Britisher. In Britain itself was being ousted by the variant brindled, there is less need for the word, but it is which had probably been formed (in the occasionally used for its informal con17c.) 'by assimilation to such words as venience. Examples: the average Brit has kindled, mingled, perhaps with some the greatest difficulty locating ... vital orfeeling of a diminutive sense' (OED), and gans—Radio Times, 1985; No sooner had we brindled is now dominant. The noun arrived in Kenya than the goddam Brits began brindle ( = 'brindled colour; a brindled to scuttle—D. Caute, 1986; Cale in fact is a dog') is a back-formation from brindled. Brit who has emigrated to New York—Plays International, 1988; The bumbling Brits bring. 1 Partially distinguished from quietly built a better air force—Literary Rev., take according to movement towards the 1989. speaker (bring), or away from or accompanying the speaker (take): take your rain- Britain, British, Briton. For the relation coat with you and bring me a newspaper of these to England, Englishman), see ENGfrom the corner shop. There are many cir- LAND. cumstances, however, in which this simple distinction does not apply: e.g. if Briticism. This word for 'a phrase or we are going to the zoo shall we bring/take idiom characteristic of Great Britain, but not used in the English of the United the camera? States or other countries' (OED) seems to 2 In regional speech in many areas in have been modelled on Gallicism, ScottiBritain and the US, the verb is conju- cism, etc. Some writers, including H. W. gated bring\brang\brung (like singlsangf Fowler, favoured Britishism, but in sung) or even bringlbrungjbrung, but scholarly work Briticism (or, more usually, brought remains rock-solid for the pa.t. BrE, British English) is now the more usual and pa.pple in standard English. term of the two. brinkmanship. Journalists and politicians have found a use for this word whenever two countries, groups, etc., come to the brink of war but do not engage in it. It is one of the products of nuclear confrontation between the Western powers and the USSR bloc in the 1950s. The word is attributed to the American politician Adlai Stevenson, who used it of the foreign policy of John Foster Dulles in 1956 (Notes & Queries, May 1959)- For the formation, cf. seamanship, statesmanship, etc., and also Stephen Potter's facetious formations, gamesmanship, one-upmanship, and related words. See -MANSHIP.
Brit. A colloquial shortening of Briton or Britisher, first recorded in 1901, and
Britisher. A regular US word (first recorded in 1829) for a British subject. People in Britain often register surprise, or are even slightly affronted, when the word is used, since the regular word used in this country for 'a native or inhabitant of Great Britain* is Briton. Britishism. See BRITICISM. BritO-. See ANGLO-.
broadcast (verb). For a short time in the 1920s it was not clear whether the past forms of the verb broadcast (in its airwaves sense) were to be broadcasted or broadcast. Learned arguments were displayed in a tract of the Society for Pure English (1924) and elsewhere, bearing on the apprehension of broadcast as a
broccoli | buffet compound of cast, and comparing and contrasting the past forms of e.g. forecast and roughcast. In the event the shorter form broadcast has prevailed almost everywhere, though broadcasted, which is encountered occasionally, cannot be said to be wrong.
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within inverted commas or followed immediately by a bracketed explanation, but no longer.
brunet(te). In Britain, brunette is 'a (white) girl or woman of a dark complexion or with brown hair'. The same word is used as an adjective, 'of dark broccoli, now the only spelling (for- complexion, brown-haired'. In the US, merly also brocoli), is an Italian pi. n. the Fr. masculine form brunet is occasion(sing, broccolo), but is treated in English ally applied without distinction to both as a sing., non-count n., like spinach, etc. men and women, but there too the perThis vegetable has now been joined in son to whom the word is applied is most the US by the broccofloweror broccoflower commonly a girl or a woman. Examples: (Brocco Flower is part of the mustard family,(brunette) A pregnant brunette walks in off but it has a milder aroma than broccoli whenthe street wearing black shorts-T. Wolfe, cooking and a slightly sweeter taste than 1965; (brunet) tucked her blond locks under cauliflower when eaten raw—Chicago Sun-a series of brunet wigs—G. D. Garcia, 1985. Times, 1990). Brythonic. See GAELIC.
brochure, pamphlet. Brochure, which is first recorded in English in 1765, means buck, doe, hart, hind, roe, stag. The lit. 'a stitched work' (cf. Fr. brocher 'to OED definitions make the distinctions stitch'). In the sense 'a short printed sufficiently clear: work, i.e. a few leaves merely stitched buck, the he-goat, obs. ... The male of the together', it was more or less synonymfallow-deer. (In early use perh. the male of any kind of deer.) ... The male of ous with the much older word pamphlet. certain other animals resembling deer From about the 1920s, however, brochure or goats, as the reindeer, chamois. In S. has tended to be restricted to mean 'a Africa (after Dutch bok) any animal of small, often glossy, pamphlet or booklet the antelope kind. Also, the male of the describing the amenities of a tourist rehare and the rabbit. sort or setting out the details of a funddoe, the female of the fallow deer; applied raising appeal, etc.'. Pamphlet, by contrast, also to the female of allied animals, as continues to be used to mean 'a the reindeer ... The female of the hare small treatise occupying fewer pages or rabbit. than would make a book, and normally hart, the male of the deer, esp. of the red left unbound'. Pronounce /'brauja/ or deer; a stag; spec, a male deer after its /bro'Jua/, but in AmE only with the fifth year. stress on the second syllable. hind, the female of the deer, esp. of the red deer; spec, a female deer in and broke(n). The regular pa.pple and adj. after its third year. broken (the window had been broken during the night; a broken heart) stand cheek-byroe, a small species of deer inhabiting various parts of Europe and Asia; a deer jowl with the predicative adj. broke (also belonging to this species. stony-broke) 'ruined, without money'. The (orig. US) phr. to go for broke, meaning 'to stag, the male of a deer, esp. of the red deer; spec, a hart or male deer of the make strenuous efforts, to go "all out" ' fifth year. (If he were to go for broke on behalf of the Negroes ... the President would endanger the moral reform cause—Guardian, 1963), isbuffalo. PI. -oes. See -O(E)S 1 . now also commonly used in the UK. buffet. When it refers to refreshments, the word is pronounced in standard Engbrow. See MISQUOTATIONS. lish /'bufei/, but railway staff seem mostly brunch. This portmanteau word formed to say /'bAfei/ in British trains when drawfrom br\eakfast + l)unch has made its way ing attention to the whereabouts of the from university slang into more general buffet car. When the meaning is 'a cupuse in the last century or so. It was first board in a recess for china and glasses', recorded in Punch in 1896, and, for half the word is pronounced /'bAfit/. In AmE, a century or so, was frequently written /ba'fei/, i.e. with the main stress on the
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second syllable, seems to be the standard pronunciation.
bugger I bur, burr the hulk of brewers, etc., would momentarily appear to refer to weight or size, not to numbers, unless the context proceeded swiftly to clear up the matter. In such contexts it is better to use most, the majority of, or some other synonym.
bugger. The word is used as noun and verb with varying degrees of coarseness or vulgarity. It can also be used quite light-heartedly. Senses: (noun) l A sodomite. 2 Something or someone un- bullyrag. See BALLYRAG. pleasant or undesirable (Heard one old bumble-bee and humble-bee are indelady say, 'It's a bugger this dark!' [sc. the pendently formed, alternative names for blackout]—Harrisson and Madge, 1940; the familiar large bee, of the genus cheeky little bugger; (said with a sympaBombus, which makes a loud humming thetic voice) poor buggers!; Needs 'sussing' sound. Bumble-bee is much the more comproper, not the way you silly buggers go about mon of the two words. it—Match Fishing, 1990; let's not play silly buggers [sc. act foolishly]). 3 bugger-all bunch. As a collective noun, it has been 'nothing' (I used to go and get her pension used since the 16c to signify a quantity, and do her shopping for her and I can tell a collection, or a cluster of things (a you there was bugger-all left by the end of bunch offlowers,grapes, keys, etc.). It is also the week—P. Barker, 1986. 4 A damn (I commonly used to mean 'a company or don't give a bugger whether you won't or group of people' (the best of a bad bunch, will—Dylan Thomas, 1939). (Senses 3 and the pick of the bunch). The sporadic use of 4 uncommon in AmE.) the type 'a bunch of+ persons' in former (verb) 1 To commit buggery with. centuries (e.g. a bunch of cherubs) does not 2 Used as a swear-word (Bugger/; Bugger support the view that this construction has unlimited currency at the present me!; Buggered if I know!; Well, III be buggered!). 3 (with up) To ruin, spoil (The rain time, at least in Britain. The type a bunch buggered up the weekend for us); (in passive) of spectators ran on to the pitch verges on To be tired out (he was completely buggered slang; whereas if the pi. noun is qualified after two nights without sleep). 4 (with off) by an adjective or other qualifier that To go away (he buggered off home after the indicates a feature or features held in lecture; bugger off!). 5 (with about, around)common by them (a bunch of corrupt polTo mess about (it's not wise to bugger about iticians held the reins of power [i.e. they had with electricity). (Senses 3,4, and 5 uncom- corruption in common]; a bunch of weary runners crossed the line together an hour after mon in AmE.) There are still many circumstances in the other competitors hadfinished[i.e. they which such uses should be ruled out had weariness in common]), the informaltogether. Nevertheless, attitudes to- ality is much less evident. wards words once judged to be unaccept- bunkum. This word meaning 'clap-trap, able have changed considerably during humbug' is one of the best-known Amerthe 20C, and it is no longer unusual to ican words to have spread to all Englishhear any or all of the above expressions speaking countries. Its origin is less well used on the stage, on the radio, on TV, known. It is a respelling of Buncombe, the and in private conversations. Apparently name of a county in N. Carolina. The there is much greater reluctance in phrase arose in America in the 1820s America to use the word bugger in most when the member of congress for that of the senses listed here. county needlessly delayed a vote near bulk is a noun signifying magnitude or size. As such it can be used correctly with singular nouns (the bulk of paper or of a book or of a tree, etc., is its size), and, somewhat adventurously, with collections like a people, the state, the clergy, one's land, etc. Bulk-buying and -selling are established terms. Bulk should not be used followed by of+ an ordinary noun in the plural: the bulk of policemen,
the close of a debate on the 'Missouri question'. The speaker insisted, however, that he was bound to make a speech for Buncombe in order to impress his constituents (OED). bur, burr. In OUP house style, bur is the preferred spelling for 'a clinging seedvessel or catkin', and burr for 'a rough edge; a rough sounding of the letter r; a kind of limestone'.
burden, burthen | but burden, burthen. Except as a rank archaism in poetry, rhetorical prose, etc., the form burthen, which was the original form of the word (OE byr&en), is now obsolete. In the sense 'the refrain or chorus of a song', burden represents, slightly indirectly, Fr. bourdon, the continuous bass or 'drone' of the bagpipe. The two words merged in the late 16c. (a long explanation can be found in the OED).
120 and intransitive uses, but the evidence for such a distinction is unconvincing. However spelt, the word is normally pronounced /b3:nt/, but burned as pa.t. and ppl adj. may also be pronounced /b3:nd/. See -T AND -ED for other verbs of this type.
burst, bust (verbs). Burst is the regular verb with numerous senses (20 are listed in the OED) derived from the basic one bureau. The recommended pi. is bur- (already in Beowulf) of'to break suddenly, eaux, pronounced /'bjuarauz/, (but bur- to snap'. Bust is a dialectal variant of it, eaus is not uncommon, esp. in AmE). first recorded in 1806. In two centuries, it See -x. has extended its territory in the standard language in such expressions (ranging burger. A familiar shortening of ham- from the colloquial to the entirely burger and a fertile formative element neutral) as the following: I shall ... bust in the 20c. There are burger bars, burger you one on the jaw (P. G. Wodehouse, 1919); parlours, etc., throughout the English- busted (arrested, jailed); bustahouse(break speaking world. As a terminal element, in); he busted a gut to get it done in time; he -burger (first recorded as such in 1939) busted his leg playing football. Derivatives: a has generated beefburger, cheeseburger, busted flush (Poker); bronco-busting; blocklamburger, nutburger, porkburger, steak- buster; a bust-up (quarrel). See BUST (ppl burger, and numerous other words. adj.). -burg(h), a common element in placebus. The form Tms (with apostrophe) names. When spelt -burgh, as in Edinis now extinct. Inflected forms (in OUP burgh, it is pronounced /-bara/, except house style): pi. buses; as vb, present buses, that Americans tend to say /-b3:rau/, and past bused, pres.pple busing. See -s-, -ss-. Edinburgh in Texas is locally pronounced /-b3:g/. When spelt -burg, as in Hamburg, business. The regular word business, it is pronounced /-b3:g/. Burgher, 'a free- pronounced /'biznis/ with just two sylman or citizen of a foreign town, etc.', lables, in its various senses stands apart is pronounced /'b3:ga/. from busyness, pronounced /'bizmis/, the ordinary abstract noun corresponding to burgle, burglarize. The first of these is busy (the state, etc., of being busy). a back-formation (first recorded in 1870) from burglary. It was at first thought to bust (ppl adj.) is freely used in the be facetious but is now the regular word phrase to go bust 'to become insolvent', in Britain (and in other English-speaking a use first recorded in a letter written areas except N. America). AmE, from by Rupert Brooke in 1913: The Blue Reabout the same date, seems to have view has gone bust, through lack of support. mostly preferred burglarize (one of us got See BURST, BUST (verbs). hurt when we were burglarizing a pharmacyNew Yorker, 1988; another apartment build- but. ing was burglarized last week following a I 1 Normal uses as an adversative barrage of house and apartment break-ins conjunction and preposition. throughout Evanston in July—Summer North- 2 Used at the beginning of a sentence. western (Illinois), 1988). 3 Case after but = except. 4 but that, but what.
burnt, burned. Burnt is the usual form 5 Two successive bur-constructions. 6 But... however. in the pa.pple (a thatched cottage was burnt down last week) and as adj. (burnt almond, 7 cannot but + bare infinitive. 8 Always-but always. a burnt offering). In the pa.t., burned is the dominant form (she burned her hands while I 9 Miscellaneous uses. preparing the barbecue), but burnt is also 1 Normal uses as an adversative conpermissible in all English-speaking areas. junction and preposition. But is an adSome writers detect a preference for one versative conjunction, and the words, form or the other as between transitive phrases, or sentences contrasted by it
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but J but
must always be clearly adversative. NorIt should be said, though, that unless mal uses: naughty but nice; nature is cruel contextual dislocation is being deliberhut tidy; it was cool outside hut even coolerately sought as a rhetorical device, it is inside; the answer is not to remove the parishnot desirable to litter the pages with system hut to put more resources into it; he constructions like He is tired. But he is had many gifts and interests, hut perhaps happy. music was the greatest. 3 Case after but = except. Because of But frequently means 'except (for)' the historical levelling of inflexions of when used as a preposition and 'except nouns, the problem arises only with pro(that)' when used as a conjunction: (pre- nouns that show case: Everyone but she position) the aftermath of the last economic can see the answer vs. Everyone but her can crisis hut one; everyone was pleased hut]ohn;see the answer. The best course would There was little to he seen hut a forest of brickappear to be to use the subjective case chimneys, (conjunction) Claudia's eyes arewhen the but-construction lies within closed hut once or twice her lips twitch; I wasthe subject area of a clause or sentence willing enough, hut I was ill-equipped; What(No one but she would dream of doing that), else can we do hut talk as if it were true? and to use the objective case when the The contrast must never be neutral- but-construction falls within the object ized by the placing of an additional cir- area of a clause or sentence (No one else cumstance in one of the contrasted may use my typewriter but her). The formula elements. Fowler cites numerous ex- is not watertight, however. For example, amples of such partially cancelled con- when a subject containing but is delayed, trasts, e.g. In vain the horse kicked and but is merely an emphatic repetition of reared, hut he could not unseat his rider (if the main subject, the case remains the the kicking was in vain, the failure to same: But no one understood it, no one but unseat involves no contrast; either in I—J. M. Coetzee, 1977. When the clause vain or hut must be dropped). contains the verb to be, it is nevertheless 2 Used at the beginning of a sentence. usual for a late-placed but to be followed The widespread public belief that But by the objective case: No one is fool enough should not be used at the beginning of to work the straights but me—}. Fuller, 1983. a sentence seems to be unshakeable. Yet After interrogatives the objective case is it has no foundation. In certain kinds the more usual: Who can have done that of compound sentences, but is used to but him? introduce a balancing statement 'of the Fowler's description of the problem is nature of an exception, objection, limit- worth repeating: 'The question is ation, or contrast to what has gone be- whether but in this sense is a preposition, fore; sometimes, in its weakest form, and should therefore always take an obmerely expressing disconnection, or em- jective case (No-one saw him hut me, as phasizing the introduction of a distinct well as I saw noone but him), or whether or independent fact' (OED). In such cir- it is a conjunction, and the case after it cumstances, but is most commonly is therefore variable (I saw no-one but him, placed after a semi-colon, but it can legit- i.e. but I did see him; No-one saw him hut imately be placed at the beginning of a I, i.e. but I did see him).' He concluded following sentence, and frequently is. that when the but-construction falls Examples: And went againe into the iudge- within the object area the objective case ment hall, & saith to Iesus, Whence art thou? has prevailed (Noone knows it but me). But Iesus gaue him no answere.—John (AV) 19: 9; All Animals have Sense. But a Dog is 4 but thot has many undisputed foran Animal—Locke, 1690; Fare ye well. Butmal or literary (though somewhat fadlist! sweet youths, where'er you go, beware.—].ing) uses: e.g. (a) introducing a conWilson, 1816; Parkin's emphasis on the ag- sideration or reason to the contrary: exency of classes is unusually strong ... I think cept for the fact that, were it not that it is too strong. But he could not weaken (OED), which adds that 'formerly that was it—London Rev. Eks, 1980; Of course theyoccas. omitted': And but she spoke it dying, I would not Beleeue her lips—Shakespeare, loved her, the two remaining ones, they hugged her, they had mingled their tears. But they 1611; I too should be content to dwell in could not converse with her.—I. Murdoch, peace... But that my country calls—Southey, 1795; He would not have set out for France 1993.
buy I buy by road hut that he knew all flights had been cancelled; (formulaic use without that) it never rains but it pours, (b) after doubt: I do not doubt but that you are surprised—Ruskin, 1870. (c) after tell: How could he tell but that Mildred might do the same?—Blackwood's Mag., 1847The danger in negative and interrogative constructions of this kind is that a redundant not can inadvertently (and erroneously) be placed in the dependent clause: (sentence b with an incorrectly added not) I do not doubt but that you are not surprised; (cited by Fowler) Who knows but that the whole history of the Conference might not have been changed? In the past, but what was sometimes used in similar constructions, but these uses are now mainly found in informal or non-standard types of English: Nor am I yet so old but what I can rough it stiH-Trollope, 1862; It's no telling but what I might have gone on to school like my own children have—Lee Smith, 1983 (US); I never bake a pan of brownies ... but what I think of him—ibid. 5 Two successive but-constructions. It is more or less self-evident that it is not desirable to add a but- construction to an unrelated but-construction in the same sentence. An example (from Fowler, 1926) of the rejected construction: I gazed upon him for some time, expecting that he might awake; but he did not, but kept on snoring. 6 But... however. It is advisable to avoid conjoining but with however, and with other words which themselves express a limitation or distinction, as nevertheless, still, and yet: {But) one thing, however, had not changed, and that was...; (but) nevertheless they went on arguing. 7 cannot but + bare infinitive. This construction, which has been in standard use since the 1 6 c , is now very common. Examples: The frailty of man without thee cannot but fall—Bk of Common Prayer, 1549; J cannot but be gratified by the assurance— Jefferson, 1812; she could not help but follow him into the big department store—B. Rubens, 1987; yet he could not help but admire Miss Leplastrier for the way she looked after the details--P. Carey, 1988. It should be noted, however, that the use with help inserted between cannot and but has not been found in print before the late 1 9 c :
122 She could not help but plague the lad—H. Caine, 1894. 8 Always—but always. But is often used after a pause to introduce a word that is being repeated for emphasis: e.g. Nothing, but nothing, is going to be allowed to prevent Martha from meeting her deadline-V. Glendinning, 1989; she was always—but always—on a diet—New Yorker, 1989. 9 Miscellaneous uses, (a) but at end of sentence. One of the most surprising and largely uncharted modern uses of but is its occurrence as a qualifying adverb at the end of sentences. Taking a lead from the Scots and the Irish, not-quite-standard speakers in Australia, in some parts of South Africa, and perhaps elsewhere provide evidence of this construction which has not yet entered the standard English of England: e.g. 'He should have left the key with me,' she said. 'I'm his wife.' 'I didn't ask for it, but.'-M. Richler, 1980 (Canad.); 'I been waiting round for years and years and I still don't know what it is, but.'-M. Eldridge, 1984 (Aust.); Yes, I told 'im. Not the whole of it, but.'—D. Malouf, 1985 (Aust.); "That was a lovely cat, but' [ = that was a truly lovely cat]—R. Mesthrie, 1987 (SAfr.); 'She's lovely' 'Isn't she but,' said Jimmy Sr.—R. Doyle, 1991 (Ir.); 'I like your café,' I said truthfully for something to say. 'I'm not staying but,' she said.—R. Scott, 1993 (NZ). (b) not but eight = only, merely eight. See NOT 10. (c) all but (adverbially) = everything short of, almost. Examples: Man . . . All but resembleth God ...All but the picture of his maiestie—]. Bastard, 1598; These were all but unknown to Greeks and Romans— A. P. Stanley, 1862; Edwin had persuaded his father to all but cut out his oldest son—S. Chitty, 1981; by the end of the war this attitude had all but disappeared—?. Wright, 1987. From this use has emerged the adjectival use of ail-but: Our ail-but freedom-W. Empson, 1935. (d) Used after an exclamation (Ah! but, My! but, etc.) to express some degree of opposition, surprise, etc. (a use first recorded in 1846): Ah, but who built it, that we tiny creatures can walk in its arcades? —M. Drabble, 1987; My, but he was obliging—New Yorker, 1987. buy. 1 As noun, in such uses as the best buy, the word has been current since the third quarter of the 19c. Its currency has
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been greatly assisted by the coming into being in the second half of the 20c. of numerous consumer journals like Which? 2 As verb, the orig. American sense 'to believe', first noted in 1926, is now well established in everyday speech (I'm willing to buy that for what it's worth) but hardly at all in good quality prose in the UK The pa.t. and pa.pple forms of buy are, of course, bought. See VERBS IN -IE,
buzz I Byzantine It very rapidly—the new use first recorded in 1706—slipped into general use in its current figurative sense, 'without entering into details, on the whole'.
by, by-, bye. Nearly all the words in this group are derived from by preposition or adverb, the main exception being bylaw (a variant of the obsolete byrlaw, of Scandinavian origin, = local custom). Over the centuries, the main body of by- words has settled down into three -Y, AND -YE. groups: 1 by and by 'soon'; by the by 'by the way, incidentally'. buzz. See-z-,-zz-. 2 bye (in cricket and other games); byeby (prep.). Owing to the variety of its bye (familiar form of 'goodbye'); bye-byes senses, by can occasionally acquire an (sleep). unwanted ambiguity in certain con3 by- (tending to form one word with structions. The absurdity of he was the following noun, but a hyphen is knocked down by the town hall, or of In fairly regularly printed in some of the Poets' Corner where he [sc. Dryden] has beenwords; the lists that follow show OUP buried by Chaucer and Cowley (G. E. B. house style): (with hyphen) by-blow, bySaintsbury, 1881) can be lessened by a election, by-form, by-lane, by-law, by-product, contextual change of intonation, but is by-street; (one word) bygone, byline, byname better avoided altogether by choosing a (a sobriquet), bypass, bypath, biplay, bydifferent preposition, or by some other road, bystander, byway, byword. The spellmeans. Fowler (1926) worried about the ings bye-law and bye-election are preferred accidental, slovenly recurrence of by in by some other publishing houses. the same sentence: Palmerston wasted the strength derived by England by the great Byzantine. 1 Spelt with an initial capiwar by his brag. Fortunately such gross tal when used of the architecture, art, impropriety is not often encountered in politics, etc., of ancient Byzantium; but usu. with a small initial when it means written English now. 'intricate, complicated'. by and large. This adverbial phr. is first 2 Several different pronunciations are found in the 17c. in nautical (sailing current: /bi'zaentam/, /bai-/, /-i:n/; /'bizanship) language meaning (to sail) 'to the tam/, /-ti:n/. The one I use myself is wind (within six points) and off it' (OED). /bai'zaentam/.
Ce cabbalist(ic), cabbala, etc. in these, and also in the other derivatives of cabbala ( = Hebrew oral tradition), -bb-, which reflects a doubled consonant in Hebrew, is the better spelling in English (not -b-).
Caddie was originally Scottish (from Fr. cadet); caddy is from Malay Jcdti. caddis-fly, any small, hairy-winged insect of the order Trichoptera, is now always so spelt, not as caddice-fly.
Cacao (pi. -os), pronounced /ka'kaiau/ or cadi /'kaidi/, a judge in a Muslim country. PI. cadis. The spelling with initial c- (not /-'keiau/, and in origin a Spanish word derived from Nahuatl cacauatl, is 'a seed k-) is recommended. pod from which cocoa and chocolate are Cadre, used in the armed forces to mean made, or the tree from which such seed 'a nucleus or small group (of servicemen) pods are obtained'. Cf. COCOA. formed to be ready for expansion when necessary', is pronounced as /'ka:da/ or, Cachet. Marked as an unnaturalized in imitation of French, /'kaidra/. When French loanword in the OED, and scorned used to mean 'a group of activists in a by Fowler ('should be expelled [from the communist or revolutionary party, or a language] as an alien'), cachet, promember of such a group', it seems to be nounced /'kaejei/, is now an acceptable most commonly pronounced /'keida/. member of the family, both in its general senses ('a distinguishing mark or seal; caecum, Caesar, caesura, etc. Now prestige') and as used in medicine ('a flat always printed with -ae- as two separate capsule enclosing a dose of unpleasant- letters, not ligatured. See &, Œ. Some tasting medicine'). of these words are regularly spelt with medial -e- in AmE (e.g. cecum, Cesarian, cachinnation, laughter. See POLYSYLLAcesium). BIC HUMOUR. Caesarean, Caesarian. The dominant cachou, a lozenge to sweeten the spelling is with -eon, esp. in the medical breath, is to be distinguished from ca- term Caesarean section (US Ces-). The word shew, a bushy evergreen tree, Anacardium is often written with a small initial c. occidentale, native to Central and S. America, bearing edible kidney-shaped cashew caesura. 1 In Greek and Latin prosody, nuts. They are both pronounced /'kaeju:/. the division of a metrical foot between two words, esp. in certain recognized Cacoethes /ka3kau'i:0i:z/, a Latin (ulti- places near the middle of the line (OED). mately Greek) word meaning 'an urge to 2 An obligatory feature of OE verse do something undesirable', was frequently used in elevated English prose like Beowulf: the caesura is indicated by until about the end of the 19c, esp. in the a space in printed versions of the poems: phrases cacoethes scribendi 'an unhealthy e.g. under heofones hwealf healsittendra. passion for writing* (based on Juvenal's In later English verse, chiefly noticeable tenet insanabile multos scribendi cacoethes) in long metres such as that of Tennyson's and cacoethes loquendi 'an itch for speak- Locksley Hall: Till the war-drum throbb'd no ing'. Both phrases are still used, but longer, // and the battle-flags were furl'd. In post-medieval English verse, 'the term much less commonly than hitherto. does not refer to anything in the structure cactus. PI. (in general use) cactuses, in of most English verse, ... and there is botany cacti /'kaektai/, but the distinction no reason to prefer it to "pause" or "synis far from watertight. tactic break" in describing a line' (D. Attridge, 1982). caddie, caddy. The golf-attendant has -ie; so too the corresponding verb. The café. Usu. printed in English with an small container for holding tea has -y. acute accent but occas. without. In either
caffeine | camellia
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case it is pronounced /'kaefei/. In nonstandard or jocular English it is now often pronounced /kerf/ or written as caff and pronounced /kaef/.
calf. For plural, etc., see -VE(D), -VES. Calibre (US caliber) is now always pronounced /'kaeliba/; the variant /ka'liiba/ has been discarded.
caffeine. Now always pronounced /'kaefcaliph. The transliteration of words of m/, but formerly (e.g. in Daniel Jones's Arabic origin that have entered English English Pronouncing Diet., 1917) as three through another language (in this case syllables, /'kaef-i-i:n/. medieval French) normally leads to the cagey, 'cautious and uncommunica- emergence of a number of variant spelltive', was first recorded in America as ings and pronunciations. Caliph is now recently as 1909, was not common in the dominant spelling in English (not the UK until the mid-century, and is of ka-, kha-, -if) and /'keihf/ the dominant unknown etymology. Sometimes spelt pronunciation, not /'kaelrf/. cagy. calk (verb). See CAULK. calcareous, calcarious. The 'erroneous' form with final -eous is now standard. First recorded about 1790, the spelling with -eous was influenced by words in -eous from L -eus. The etymological sense of calcareous would be 'of the nature of a spur', whereas the word actually means 'of the nature or, or composed of, lime(-stone)', from L calx, calcis lime + •arius.
callus (pi. calluses) means 'a hard thick area of skin or tissue'; the corresponding adj. callous is used to mean '(of skin) hardened or hard', but is much more frequently used in the figurative senses 'unfeeling, insensitive'. The spelling callous should not be used for the noun.
standard in AmE, let alone elsewhere: This use of the word... is not sanctioned by English usage' (Webster, 1847); 'Formerly chiefly New England, now more widespread, somewhat old-fashioned' DARE, 1985). The illustrative examples cited in the large American dictionaries are nearly all taken from regional sources, e.g. Transactions of the Michigan Agricultural Society, 1857, and Report of the Maine Board of Agriculture, 1882. A typical sentence: I calculate it's pretty difficult to gitedication down at Charleston-^. Gilman, 1836.
caloric. Once used as the name (corresponding to Fr. calorique) given by Lavoisier to 'a supposed elastic fluid, to which the phenomena of heat were formerly attributed' (OED); now a regular adj. (pronounced /ka'lDnk/ meaning 'of or pertaining to heat'.
calmative. A word with not much history behind it (first recorded in 1870), no etymological support from Latin, and calculate. 1 Calculate makes calculable; lying at the crossroads of two distinct see -ABLE, IBLE 6. pronunciations, /'kaelmauv/ and /kaima2 The sense 'to suppose, reckon' is nv/. Sedative, an older word with sound American in origin (first recorded in etymological credentials, is to be pre1805) but has not at any stage become ferred both as n. and as adj.
Calculus. The medical word ('a stone or concretion formed within the body') usu. has pi. 4i /-lai/; the mathematical, usu. •luses.
calorie. A word (first used in the 1860s) that stepped right outside physics laboratories (where it means 'a unit of quantity of heat') into widespread general currency as the 20c. proceeded. The general public have adopted what physicists call the large calorie, i.e. the amount needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through i°C, and use it as a measure of the energy value of foods. The word was formed arbitrarily in French from L color 'heat'.
caldron. See CAULDRON.
cambric. Pronounce /'keimbnk/. calendar, an almanac, not k-. calends, the first of the month in the ancient Roman calendar, not k-.
camellia. The spelling with -II- is standard, as is the pronunciation with medial
l-H
camelopard | cannot Camelopard, an archaic name for the giraffe, does not contain the word leopard and should not be spelt or pronounced as if it did. Pronounce /'kaemilaupaid/ or /ka'melapaid/.
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to /'keman-art/. The problem has vanished: the pronunciation with medial /-j-/, which reflects the way the placename /kêna'an/ was pronounced in ancient Hebrew, is no longer extant.
canard. Except in the realm of cookery (canard sauvage, etc.), where the French Camomile, the literary and popular pronunciation of canard is retained, the form of the word, answers to medL camo- word in its main English sense, 'an unmilla. The initial ch of the form chamomile founded rumour or story', is now proanswers to Lat. chamaemelon (Pliny) and nounced either as /ka'na:d/ or /'kaena:d/. Gk. xan<xinr|Xov 'earth apple' (from xanai candelabrum. Because of its Latin ori'on the ground' + |if|Xov 'apple'). gin, the word should normally have candelabra as its plural. It has not always campanile. Pronounce /kaempa'nnli/. Its worked out like that, and English patpi. in Italian is in -i, in English -es. terns have partially established themselves. Candelabrums is sometimes used can (noun). See TIN. in AmE; conversely candelabra has often Can (modal auxiliary) has a wide range been treated as a singular from the early of uses. It usually expresses (a) possibil- 19c. onward (Walter Scott spoke of four ity: the data that can he gathered; anyone silver candelabras in Ivanhoe). It does not can make a mistake; manned spacecraft canseem likely that the original pattern, now link up with other spacecraft in outer candelabrum sing.lcandelabra pi., will be space; the virus can lie dormant in apparentlyrestored as the only correct forms. cameo. PI. -s. See -O(E)S 4.
normal skin; he can he very trying, (b) ability: canine. The pronunciation /'kemam/ is his four-year-old son can ride a bicycle; at his dominant, stressed on the first syllable peak Murray could read more than forty and with /-ei/ as in cane. The OED (1888) languages, (c) permission: In informal cir- gave preference to /ka'nam/, stressed on cumstances, since the second half of the the second syllable, but also listed 19c, can has often been used in contexts /'kaenam/. Daniel Jones (1917) recommenof permission where may had earlier ded /'kaenam/, but also gave /'kern-/ as been obligatory: Can I speak with the Count?'less frequent'. —Tennyson, 1879; Father says you can cannon. 1 From the 16c. onward, but come—T. B. Reed, 1894; No one can play the no longer, the regular word for a piece organ during service time without the consent of ordnance, to the types of which nuof the Vicar—Church Times, 1905. In everyday life, such informal uses of can now merous exotic-sounding names were apoccur all the time: e.g. can I speak to plied (aspic, basilisk, culverin, serpentine, your supervisor, please? But in any context etc.). Now, in military language, norwhere politeness or formality are over- mally restricted to a shell-firing gun in riding considerations, may is the better an aircraft (a use first recorded in 1919). word: May I come and stay with you?; May 2 Historically the word was used as an ordinary noun, with pi. cannons; but I have another whisky, please? In pa.t. contexts, could (and not might) also collectively (Cannon to right of them, is more or less obligatory: e.g. At that Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front time only rectors could ( = were entitled to) of them Volley'd and thunder'd—Tennyson, 1855). receive tithes. In the sentence III drop in to see you cannot. 1 This is normally written as tomorrow, if I can (i.e. if I am able to) the one word (rather than can not) and is substitution of may would change the often pronounced like the reduced form can't. One encounters can not occasionally meaning. Cf. MAY AND MIGHT. in letters, examination scripts, etc.; the Canaan(ite). Fowler (1926) regarded the division seems more to do with custom present-day pronunciation /'keman-art/ as ('I have always written it this way') than an 'evasion', insisting that the pronunci- with emphasis. The reduced form can't, ation prevalent in his day was /'kemjan- which now seems so natural, is relatively art/. Daniel Jones (1917) gave precedence recent in origin. It does not occur in the
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canon, canyon | capital
works of Shakespeare, for example, and canto. PI. -os. See -O(E)S. the earliest example of it given in the canton. Used of a subdivision of a counOED is one of 1706. try, esp. Switzerland, pronounced 2 Cannot (or couldn't, etc.) is correctly /'kaenton/. As a verb in military use, 'to used before but (see BUT 7); before the put (troops) into quarters', pronounced combination help but + infinitive (see BUT /kaen'tuin/. Cantonment, 'a lodging as7); and before the verb help + gerund (I signed to troops; a permanent military couldn't help thinking that he wasn't listening station in India', is pronounced /,kaeneither-B. Rubens, 1985). However, stand'tuinmant/. ard English does not admit constructions of the type he can't hardly walk, i.e. where canvas, canvass. 1 Canvas 'coarse can't is qualified by a negative adverb. cloth' is so spelt, with pi. canvases. When 3 can't seem + infinitive = seem un- used as a verb, 'to cover or line with able to. This construction is relatively canvas', it is conjugated as canvasses, canrecent (the first example in the OED is vassed, canvassing (but often -s- in AmE). one of 1898) and still has a tinge of 2 Canvass 'to solicit votes' yields the informality about it. Examples: He forms canvassed, canvasser, canvasses, and couldn't seem to get the boy out of his head—I. canvassing. The corresponding noun is Baird, 1937; Somehow I can't seem to get also spelt canvass, pi. canvasses. Historicwarm—M. Pugh, 1969. It belongs more in ally both words come from the same spoken English than in formal writing. French original, and it is only in the 20c. See HARDLY 5. that canvas has become fairly consistcanon, canyon. Both forms are pro- ently restricted to cloth, and canvass to nounced /'kaenjan/. The form with the voting. tilde seems to be less common than it canyon. See CANON, CANYON. used to be except when used with direct reference to Spain. The Grand Canyon in Caoutchouc. This strange-looking word, Arizona is always so spelt. adopted in the 18c. from a Quechua word cant. In the 18c. and 19c, one of its via Spanish and French, is pronounced primary meanings was 'the secret lan- /'kautfuk/. guage or jargon used by gypsies, thieves, caper. See SINGULAR -S. professional beggars, etc' (They talk'd to one another in Cant—]. Stevens, 1707). Dur-capercaillie, capercailzie. A Scottish ing the same period, it was also applied word of Gaelic origin meaning 'woodcontemptuously to the special phraseo- grouse'. 'The Iz for I5 [i.e. 1 followed by logy of particular classes of (non-crim- yogh] is a 16th c. Sc. way of representing inal, non-vagrant) persons (All love—bah! I mouillé ... and is properly represented that I should use the cant of boys and girb—isby ly' (OED). In fact, however, the prevailfleeting enough—Dickens, 1839). These ing spelling is capercaillie (not, as forsenses have drifted away except in merly, capercailzie), and the dominant scholarly work or historical novels. In- pronunciation is /.kaepa'keili/. stead cant now usu. means 'insincere pious or moral talk, language implying capita, caput. See PER CAPITA. the pretended assumption of goodness or piety' (e.g. the speech by the member for Capital. 1 adj. A headmaster pointed — was saturated with cant). See JARGON. out to me in 1990 that he had frequently encountered illiterate confusion of capican't. See CANNOT. tal and corporal in contexts of the type cantatrice, 'a female singer', which is 'My son could do with some capital punishan early 19c. loanword from Italian or ment now and then'. French (spelt the same in both languages), is now pronounced in an Italian manner as /'kantatrirtTei/ or in a French manner as /katatriis/ at choice. The French pronunciation is the more usual of the two in English.
2 noun. Capital, the most important town or city of a country or region, is to be distinguished from capital, which is a building in which an American legislative body meets, the best-known of which is the one in Washington, DC.
capitalist | capitals capitalist. Many old-fashioned socialists, including my late father, regularly stressed the word on the second syllable, i.e. as /ka'prtelist/, but nowadays the stress is normally placed on the first syllable of it and of capitalism, capitalization, and capitalize.
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4 Proper names of institutions, movements, etc.: Christianity, Marxism, Buddhism, Islam the Church of England, the (Roman) Catholi Church; but lower case for the building or for a church in a general sense. Church and State—both capitalized when viewed as comparable institutions, also the State as a concept of political philosophy; the Capitals. Apart from certain elementary Crown, Parliament, Congress (US), House of rules that everyone knows and observes, Commons (of Representatives, US), House of such as that capitals are used to begin a Lords, Ministry of Finance, etc. Also, HM new sentence after a full stop, for the Government, or the Government, in official initial letter of quoted matter (but see parlance and meaning a particular body PUNCTUATION), and for proper names like of persons, the Ministers of the Crown John Smith (with rare exceptions like the and their staffs; but the government (lower idiosyncratic e. e. cummings) and those of case) is correct in general uses. the days and months, their present-day 5 Parties, denominations, and organizause shows wide variation from one pub- tions, and their members: Air Force, Army, lishing house to another, and even Navy (as titles of particular organizawithin the pages of the same book, news- tions), Conservative, Labour (in British polpaper, etc. itics); Socialist, Liberal Democrat, Christian What follows is an abridged and Democrat (European countries, etc.); Reslightly modified version of the relevant publican, Democratic (USA); and so on. (But section in Hart's Rules, pp. 8-14. socialist, republican, conservative, democratic, etc., as normal adjectives when A Capital initials should be used for: 1 Prefixes and titles forming part of a not party titles.) Also, Baptist, Congregacompound name: Sir Roger Tichborne, the tionalism Methodist, Presbyterian, Unitarian Bishop of Oxford, the Duke of Wellington. Church of England, Anglican, Roman CathAlso, Her Majesty the Queen, the Prince ofolic, Orthodox (i.e. Eastern Orthodox), Evangelical (continental and US). (But Wales, His Excellency the British Ambassador, His Holiness, Your Honour—when the titlecongregational (singing, polity), unitarian of a particular person; but in a general views of God, orthodox belief, catholic sense lower case is correct: every king of sympathies in non-denominational England from William I to Richard II; for sense.) The general rule is that capitalizking is used here in a general sense, ation makes a word more specific and where monarch or sovereign would be limited in its reference: contrast a Christian scientist (man of science) and a Chrisequally correct. 2 Parts of recognized geographical names: tian Scientist (member of the Church of (of countries or regions) Northern Ireland Christ Scientist). 6 Titles of office-holders. In certain cases (as a political entity), but northern England, a plain description in general and certain contexts these are virtually terms; similarly, Western Australia, West proper names of persons: HM the Queen, Africa, South Africa, New England, etc.; the Prime Minister, the Archbishop of Canter(names of straits, estuaries, etc.) Firth of bury. The extension of this principle deClyde, Norfolk Broads, Straits of Gibraltar,pends on the context: the President (of the Plymouth Sound, Thames Estuary; (names USA, of Magdalen College, Oxford, etc.). of rivers) River Plate (Rio de la Plata), East Similarly, the Bishop of Hereford, the Dean River (New York), but the Thames, or the of Christ Church; and in a particular dioriver Thames; (topographical and urban cese, the Bishop, or within a particular names) Trafalgar Square, Addison's Walk (incathedral or college, the Dean (referring Magdalen College, Oxford), Regent Street, to a particular individual, or at least a London Road (if official name), but the holder of a particular office: the Bishop is ex officio chairman of many committees). London road (that leading to London). 3 Proper names of periods of time: Bronze (But in contexts like when he became Age, Stone Age, Dark Ages, Middle Ages, bishop, the bishops of the Church of England, appointment of bishops—such cases are Renaissance; First World War, Second World War, or World War I, II, but the 1914-18 better printed in lower case, and so with other office-holders.) war, the 1939-45 war.
129
capping I caravanserai
7 Names of ships, aircraft types, railwaynewton, volt, watt, (iii) in names of metres: engines, trade names, etc: The Cutty Sark,alcaics, alexandrines, sapphics. HMS Dreadnought; the Kônigs, the fastest See also BINOMIAL 1. German battleships in 1916 (capitals but C Medial capitals. Worth noting is the not italic for types of ships). The Spitfire, newish, mostly commercial, habit of inthe Flying Fortress, the Dakotas of the serting a medial capital letter into the i939~45 war. These are types, since name of a product, a process, etc.: e.g. aircraft do not usually have individual CinemaScope, InterLink (a device for a names; but 'the US bomber Enola Gay medical injection), GeoSphere (made from which dropped the atom bomb over satellite photographs of the earth). Hiroshima on 6 August 1945' (not italic as not official like a ship's name). A Vis- capping. As a second element in ratecount, a Boeing, a Concorde (airliners). A capping, etc., a modern political term of Ford Orion, a Renault 5 (trade names). great potency. Rate) to specify a a terrorist group's bomb, or the like. period of time, e.g. 'the 1939-45 war'; (c) Cowardice is no longer a necessary combetween separate places or areas linked, ponent of the meaning of the word, but for example, in a political context, e.g. underhandedness and public outrage 'the Rome-Berlin axis'; (d) between the are. names of joint authors to avoid confusion with the hyphen of a single double data /'derta/ is in origin a L plural (of barrelled name, e.g. 'the Temple- datum) and is properly so used in English: Hardcastle project' (that is, the joint pro- The data are (not is) insufficient. In modern ject of Mr Temple and Mr Hardcastle). times usage varies as shown below. 1 In Em-rules or dashes (which are longer philosophical (sense-data) and general than en-rules) are often used to show use, data is usually considered as a numthat words enclosed between them are ber of items and construed as a plural: to be read parenthetically: e.g. What he e.g. It is no wonder if some authors have has imagined—he contends—is theatrically gone so far as to think that the sense-data stronger than what actually happened; Somehave no spatial worth at all—William James, critics thought—and some still think—that the 1890; Most of the data concerning shock and Congress failed because [etc.]; His 1776 draw-vibration on airplanes are classified— ing of Les Combats de Diomède—a most Macduff and Curreri, 1958. The corresimportant document in his stylistic evolutionponding singular is datum: e.g. Can a and in the realisation of his aims—suggests doubleness, so easily neutralized by our knowthat chariots held a particular appeal for ledge, ever be a datum at all?—William him. James, 1890; What ...is immediately given Just as commonly a dash is used to in perception is an evanescent object called precede an explanation of or elaboration an idea, or an impression, or a presentation, on something just said. In such cases the or a sense-datum—A. J. Ayer, 1956. explanatory statement is usually followed by a full stop: By this time I had 2 In computing and allied disciplines become personally close to Michael Jossebon—it is treated as a singular noun and used indeed he was to the end one of my closest with words like it, this, and much, and
datable | dean, doyen
198
with a singular verb: e.g. Data is stored on vowels if the sound preceding it is that a disk—whetherfloppyor hard—as minuteof a single short vowel, but not if it is a patches of magnetism—P. Laurie, 1985; Com-diphthong or double vowel or a puters create and maintain the data distrib- vowel+ r: caddish, redden, bidding, uted throughout an organization while trodden, muddy; but deaden, breeder, goodcommunications moves the data to where it ish, braided, harden. Words of more than can earn the most—Computerworld, 1989; one syllable follow the rule for monosylThe problem ...is that the raw data for the lables if their last syllable is stressed or is solution ... lies in two vast collections of itself a word in combination {forbidding, bedridden), but otherwise do not double information—NY Rev. Bks, 1989. the d (nomadic, wickedest, rigidity, periodSee -UM 2 . ical). datable is spelt thus, not dateable. See -ABLE, -IBLE 6. de-. The prefix de- is still often called on to form new verbs (and derivatives). date, l For date, epoch, etc., see TIME. Twentieth-century examples (with date 2 For dates, OUP house style requires of first record indicated) include: de-accesthe type 25 June 1990, with no comma sion (1972), debark (operate on dog to stop between month and year. Many news- it from barking, 1943). de-beak (1937). papers, however, and most Americans debrief (1945), decajfeinate (1927), decertify prefer the style June 25 1990 or June 25, (1918), decriminalization (1945), de-emotion1990. The conventional way of setting alize (1942), de-emphasize (1938), de-escalate down a date in numerals differs in Brit- (1964), deglamorize (1938), etc. Cf. DIS-. ain and America: thus 5J7I90 means 5 July 1990 in Britain, but 7 May 1990 in dead letter, apart from its theological and post-office uses, is a phrase for a America. regulation that still has a nominal exist3 See AD; BC. ence but is no longer observed or endavit. Being in origin an application of forced. Capital punishment can properly OF daviot (diminutive of Davi 'David') be called a dead letter in any country it was often in the past pronounced where the penalty remains on the stat/'dervrt/, but the preferred pronunciation utes even though it has not been acted on for many years. The term cannot now is /'daevrt/. properly be applied to aspects of life that day and age. The phr. in this day and are simply passing out of fashion, e.g. age slid into the language in the 1940s quill pens, steam locomotives, hot-metal (a film called This Day and Age was issued printing, since they were not brought in 1933 but is not certainly the source into being by regulation in thefirstplace. of the cliché), and is now used remorselessly by people who display little deal (noun). 1 The phr. a deal used feeling for the language. It means no pregnantly for a good or great deal in the more than nowadays or at the present time, sense 'an undefined, but considerable or and the language would not be the large quantity' was much favoured by such writers as Shakespeare, Richardson, poorer if it were to drop out of use. and Johnson, but is now mainly found days. See ADVERB 4. in informal or dialectal writing or speech (the decision saved him a deal of trouble). It D-Day, D-day. The military code-name should not be used to mean 'a large (first recorded in 1918) for a particular number' (a great deal of people have comday fixed for the beginning of an operaplained). tion, specifically, and most famously, the 2 For Fowler (1926), deal, used to mean day (6 June 1944) of the invasion of the 'a piece of bargaining or give-and-take', Atlantic coast of German-occupied France by Allied forces. Also in trans- was 'still slang'. In most of its applicaferred use, e.g. the day (15 Feb. 1971) tions (a fair deal, a pay deal, etc.), this use on which decimal currency came into is now part of the normal fabric of the language. official use in Britain. -d-, -dd-. Monosyllables ending in d double it before suffixes beginning with
dean, doyen, though originally the same word (cf. Fr. doyen from L decdnus),
199
meaning the senior member of a group, have become differentiated. Dean is the title of an ecclesiastical or academic officer; doyen, pronounced either /'doran/ or /'dwarjae/, is a title of respect for 'the most senior or most prominent of a particular category or body of people* (COD).
Dear | decided, decisive because of the shortage of special signs on modern daisy wheels and computer keyboards. Pronounce /dei'barkal/. debar means 'to exclude from admission or from a right; prohibit from an action (he was debarred from entering)', by contrast with disbar, which can only mean 'to deprive (a barrister) of the right to practise; to expel from the Bar'.
Dear (as part of a formal greeting at the beginning of a letter). First introduced in the 15c, the beginning formula varied in the amount of elaboration: Right dere debatable. Spelt thus. See -ABLE, -IBLE 6. and welbeloved; My most dere lorde and fader; Dearest broder, etc. By the end of the 18c. it debauchee. Pronounce /diboi'tji:/, with had settled down as part of the ordinary the main stress on the final syllable. polite form of addressing an equal, ranging in increasing levels of informality debouch. Pronounce /di'bautj*/ to rhyme and affection from Dear Sir and Dear with 'pouch'. Madam to Dear Smith (old-fashioned), to Dear MrlMisslMrslMs Jones, to Dear Ken/debris. Spelt thus (no accent). The reMary, etc., to My dear BilllElizabeth, etc., tocommended pronunciation is /'debri:/, Dearest MargaretjCedric, etc. Increasingly but /'deibri:/ is an acceptable alternative. now one receives circular letters begin- In AmE it is often pronounced /da'bri:/. ning Dear Customer, Dear Colleague, etc.,début is usu. spelt thus in BrE and and formulas containing both the first pronounced /'deibju:/. The accent is often and last names of the person addressed dispensed with in printed work. (Dear Robert Burchfield). The essential point is that the word Dear in itself is simply debutant (or débutant) /debjurtô/ or part of a letter-beginning formula, and l'dei-l is a male performer making his no longer implies any particular or clear- first public appearance. cut level of intimacy or friendship. debutante (or débutante) /debjutamt/ dear, dearly (advs.). With the verb love or /'dei-/ or /-trait/ is (a) a young woman and in some other contexts where the making her social début; (b) a female meaning is 'very much' (he loved her performer making her first public apdearly; I would dearly like to join you on pearance. The shortened form deb is Friday), dearly is usual and dear merely freely used for sense (a), esp. in spoken poetic (The dear-loved peaceful seat—Byron,English. 1807); but with buy, cost, pay, sell, etc., when the sense is 'at a high price, or decade. Until the 19c. frequently spelt great cost', dearly (they paid dearly for decad (pronounced /'dekad/), but now always decade. The preferred pronuncitheir crimes) and dear (the recession has cost Britain dear) are both available, though ation is /'dekeid/, but increasingly, and in usually one or the other feels context- unexpected quarters, one hears /di'keid/, rhyming with decayed. ually more idiomatic than the other.
dearth. From the 13c. onward, widely deca-, deci-. In the metric system, decaused to mean 'a condition in which food means multiplied, and deci- divided, by is scarce and dear', but as time went on ten; decalitre, 10 litres, decilitre, ^ litre; so more frequently used to mean a scarcity with gramme, metre, etc. of anything (a dearth of news, of supporters, etc.). In general this noun seems to have decided, decisive (adjs.). Decided means mostly yielded to words of similar mean- (a) (of something) definite, unquesing (shortage, scarcity, etc.), or the idea is tionable (a decided advantage); (b) (of a expressed in another way (e.g. there isn't person) having clear opinions, not vacilmuch news tonight; not many people turnedlating (he found them vacillating, he left them decided). Decisive means (a) that decides an up to give support, etc.). issue, conclusive (a decisive superiority over itsrival);(b) (of a person) able to decide débâcle. Frequently now written and printed without accents, partly no doubt quickly and effectively (the constable, a
decimate | deduction
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decisive man, arrested the pickpocket immedi- meaning is 'that has fallen in social ately). However, for some two centuries status'. the words have tended to be interchangeable in many contexts. Decisive has always declension. In grammar, (a) the varibeen the more common of the two. ation of the form of a noun, pronoun, Fowler (1926) distinguished the words in or adjective, by which its grammatical the following manner: 'A decided victory case, number, and gender are identified; or superiority is one the reality of which (b) the class in which a noun etc. is is unquestionable; a decisive one is one put according to the exact form of this that decides or goes far towards deciding variation. {COD) Cf. CONJUGATION. some issue; a decided person is one who déclinai, declination, declinature. knows his own mind, and a decided These 19c. attempts at forming a noun manner that which comes of such knowcorresponding to the verb decline ( = to ledge; a decisive person, so far as the refuse in a courteous manner) have all phrase is correctly possible at all, is one failed: e.g. The déclinais were grounded upon who has a way of getting his policy or reasons neither unkind nor uncomplipurpose carried through.' His distincmentary—F. Palgrave, 1837; The author must tions, though clear, do not exactly accord excuse our declination to accept as possible with the distributional spread of the two characters in any possible social system, words (and of the corresponding adverbs people so unnatural—Pall Mall Gaz., 1884; decidedly 'unquestionably' and decisively The reported declinature of office by the Mar'conclusively') at the present time. quis of Salisbury—Manchester Examiner, 1885. The only available noun with the decimate. A key word in the continuing same stem is declining (I took no offence at battle between prescriptive and descript- your declining the invitation to join us); but ive linguists. L decimâre meant '(mil.) to the better course is to use the noun punish every tenth man chosen by lot'. refusal modified by a suitable adj. (cour'Punish' sometimes meant 'put to death'. teous, etc.). See -AL 2. In strict terms, therefore, decimate should mean 'to kill, destroy, or remove one in décolletage, décolleté. The first means every ten of (something)', and it has been 'a low neckline of a woman's dress, etc' so used in English since the 17c. Rhetor- and the second '(of a dress etc.) having ically and loosely, as the OED expresses it, a low neckline' and '(of a woman) wearit has also been used from about the ing a dress with a low neckline'. Both same time to mean 'to destroy or remove should be pronounced in the French a large proportion of; to subject to severe manner and printed in italics. loss, slaughter, or mortality'. The dispute between those who will and those who décor. Spelt thus (with accent) and prowill not use decimate in its 'rhetorical or nounced /'deiko:/. The spelling decor loose' sense is unresolved. An example (without accent) and pronunciation of the disputed meaning: But the forest /'deko:/ are, however, equally common. has largely gone, decimated by a forest indus- decorous. Dictionaries of the 18c. and try that is just now assaulting thefinalre- 19c. mainly indicated second-syllable mains—Dxdalus, 1988. The word is even stressing, but the standard pronunciused sometimes just to mean 'kill': Re's ation now is /'dekaras/. a petty criminal hut his long-lost brother bails him out of jail and protects him from the decoy. By rule the noun should be thugs intent on physically decimating him— pronounced /'diikoi/ and the verb /di'koi/, Sunday Times, 1989. This use is not but opposite stressing also occurs. recommended. decrease. The noun is pronounced /'di:declarant, declaredly, declarative, kriis/ and the verb /di'kriis/. See NOUN declaratory. Pronounce /-'klearant/, /-'kleandh/, /-'klaerativ/, and /-'klaeratan/ respectively. For the second, see -EDLY.
AND VERB ACCENT 1 .
deducible, deductible See -ABLE, -IBLE 7-
déclassé. Spelt thus (with accents) and deduction is the inferring of particular printed in italics (fern, déclassée). The instances from a general law, as opposed
201
deem | definite article
to induction, the inference of a general deficient. See DEFECTIVE. law from particular instances. deficit. The only current pronunciation deem is a fairly formal word (frequently is /'defisrt/, though stressing on the used in legal language) for 'judge, con- second syllable (thus /di'fisrt/) and prosider' (He deemed it his duty to abstain from nunciation with initial /'di:-/ were comvoting; because ofyour failure to reply you aremon enough at the beginning of the 20c. deemed to have withdrawn from the project). definite article. The use of the definite deep, deeply. Deep as adverb is deeply article the causes few difficulties to native speakers but is a major problem for entrenched in the language. It is used literally (the boat was stuck deep in the mud),foreign learners of the language. This is and in many transferred and figurative partly because many foreign languages, senses (the card-players sat up deep into the e.g. Russian, Chinese, Japanese, lack this night; still waters run deep; etc.). In such feature, and partly because the distributypes of sentences it would not be idio- tion of the definite article in English is matic to use deeply. Deeply is used esp. a matter of some complexity. Some of before past participles (as in the first the main types are outlined below. sentence of this entry) and also when 1 Names, (a) In general, no definite artthe meaning is 'profoundly, thoroughly' icle: John Smith, High Street, Sutton Cour(I should like to consider the matter a little tenay, Oxfordshire, England (cf. la France); more deeply) or 'intensely' (he was deeply (religious festivals) Christmas, Easter, Good conscious of his shortcomings). See UNIDIO- Friday; (months, days of the week) January, Monday; (continents) Africa, Asia; MATIC -LY. (lakes, mountains) Lake Windermere, Mt deer. See COLLECTIVE NOUN. Everest); (locative names) Buckingham Palace, Magdalen College, Paddington Station, defect. The pronunciations recommen- Windsor Castle, (b) But there are many ded are /'dhfekt/ for the noun ( = exceptions: (unmodified names) the Bible, imperfection, blemish) and /di'fekt/ for the Pentagon, the Parthenon, The Times; the verb ( = abandon one's country or (names with premodification) the Bodcause in favour of another). See NOUN leian Library, the British Broadcasting CorAND VERB ACCENT 1 . poration, the English Channel, the National Gallery, the North/the South Island (of New defective, deficient. Some useful dis- Zealand); (with postmodification) the tinctions can be made. Defective tends House of Commons, the President of the United mostly to mean 'faulty in quality, show- States. ing some definite fault, damage, etc., 2 Words. In its ordinary use, the definthat impairs or cancels the efficiency of something' (defective eyesight, hearing, ite article the precedes a noun and immeasures, pronunciation, translation, valve,plies a specific instance: e.g. the cushion vehicle, etc.); while deficient vies with insuf- on the chair; he opened the door; the story is ficient to mean 'present in less than the apocryphal. It is also used as a guide to a quantity needed for effectiveness' (de- particular place, person, etc, known by ficient courage, diet, funds, water supply, the speaker/hearer/reader to exist: e.g. etc.). But there are many contexts in the earth, the Equator, the Church, the sky; which the words converge in meaning, the aristocracy, the working class; the French, or are replaced by insufficient, inadequate, the Chinese. It is frequently used in a nonfaulty, etc. Neither word is used now by specific way to mean 'whichever one of professional people dealing with cases its kind is or was convenient, open, etc.': I go to the cinema once a year; he heard it of mental abnormality. on the radio; she took the train to London. defence. The spelling in BrE corres- The is often used of a part of the body following a preposition (instead of a posponding to AmE defense. sessive pronoun): he took me by the shouldefer. The extended forms and deriva- der, a pat on the back; they pulled her by the tives are deferred, deferring; deference (re-hair; he kicked his opponent on the shin. The spect), deferral (postponement), deferment definite article is not repeated before the second of a pair of nouns joined by (postponement).
definite, definitely | degree
202
and: the laws and ordinances of the ancientwhich does not have connotations of Hebrews. Names of illnesses (flu, measles, authority and conclusiveness: a definite mumps, etc.) are normally used without no is a firm refusal, whereas a definitive the definite article, but examples with no is an authoritative judgement or dethe also occur in standard sources: Annie cision that something is not the case'. has got the mumps—B. Trapido, 1982; It Examples of the wrong use of definitive: was that hot summer you had the measles—N.it is thought that any definitive news will be announced this afternoon; he promised Bawden, 1987. 3 Non modE strive. devil is he doing in this galère (lit. 'gal2 Loan translation or caiques, i.e. exley')?' means "What is he doing in this pressions adopted from French in a more company?', i.e. mixed up with this (unde- or less literally translated form, e.g. sirable) set of people. Numerous allu- gilded youth (Fr. jeunesse dorée); give one sions to the context are found in English furiously to think (see FURIOUSLY); jump or writers from Chesterfield (1756) onward. leap to the eye(s) (Fr. sauter aux yeux); knigh In some of them the original French of industry (see KNIGHT); marriage of conword galère has been retained, and in venience (Fr. mariage de convenance); succes others it has been rendered as galley. of esteem (Fr. succès d'estime); a suspicion What it does not mean is 'gallery'. {of) = a hint (of) (Fr. un soupçon); that goes without saying (Fr. cela va sans dire). 2 The pi. is galleys. 3 Mismatches. These include (a) Frenchgallice, -ce. See ANGLICE. looking words for which there is no equivalent in French (e.g. epergne, dinnerGallic, Gallican, Gaulish, French. Gal- table ornament), or have acquired a lican is an ecclesiastical word, corres- meaning in English not paralleled in ponding to Anglican. It is also used in French (e.g. papier mâché, lit. 'chewed palaeography of a certain kind of script. paper'; the Fr. equivalent is carton-pâte), Gaulish means only 'of the (ancient) (b) 20C mismatches: The now ubiquitous Gauls', and, even in that sense, is less item of bedding which became available usual than Gallic. Gallic is also much used in the 1960s in Britain under the name as a synonym in some contexts for French. of a continental quilt is now generally It means not simply 'French', but 'char- referred to as a duvet which in French acteristically', 'delightfully', 'distress- means 'a sleeping-bag', the French term ingly', or 'amusingly French', 'so French being couette (which has the same Latin you know', etc.; or again not 'of France', root as quilt). A cagoule in French is either but 'of a typical French person'. We do a monk's hood or a child's balaclava, and not normally speak of Gallic wines or never 'a hooded thin windproof garment trade or law or climate, but we do of worn in mountaineering etc' (COD) (the Gallic wit, morals, politeness, and French for this garment being a K-way). shrugs. So far as Gallic is used for French Fromage frais, now available in British without any implication of the kinds supermarkets, is in fact fromage blancsuggested, it is merely an attempt at fromage frais being a fresh, unmatured ELEGANT VARIATION. cheese. The term mange-tout denotes a type of green bean to French native Gallicisms. By Gallicisms are here meant speakers, who know the currently French words or idioms that have been fashionable pea as pois-gourmand. adapted to a larger or smaller extent in See FRENCH WORDS. the process of adoption into English, or have been adopted element by element gallop (verb). The inflected forms are in a literal and often unidiomatic galloped, galloping. See -P-, -PP-, manner. The asymmetry of such linguistic borrowing is a well-known phe- gallows. Now usu. treated as a singular nomenon in all languages. It is relatively noun. In OE the singular galga and the rare for a word or phrase taken into plural galgan were both used for 'a gallanguage A from language B to retain lows', the plural having reference preprecisely the same sense or range of senses sumably to the two posts making up the as those of the original language and to apparatus. From the 13c. onwards the maintain the equivalence as time goes pi. galwes and its later phonetic repreon. Some examples of the various types sentatives have been the prevailing of Gallicisms: 1 French words which forms. Since the 16c. gallows has norhave been adapted to suit the ordinary mally been treated grammatically as sinconventions of English, e.g. by dropping gular, with a new (and rarely used) pi. accents or by substituting English verbal gallowses {OED).
galop I gap
323
this sense it has also come into general use to mean 'the whole series or range or scope of anything' (he ran over the gamut of Latin metre). The word is derived galore. A refreshingly informal word from medL gamma, taken as the name (adopted in the 17c. from Irish go leor for a note one tone lower than A of to sufficiency, enough), which is always the classical scale + ut, the first of six placed after the word it qualifies (whisky arbitrary names of notes forming the galore; there is talent galore here). hexachord, ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, said to be taken from the initial letters of a galosh (an overshoe), usu. in pi. galoshes. sequence of Latin words in the office Thus spelt, not golosh(es). hymn for St John Baptist's day. galumph (verb). One of Lewis Carroll's delicious inventions, perhaps with some gamy (having the flavour or scent of reminiscence of gallop and triumphant, game left till high). Thus spelt, not gamey. now usu. meaning 'to gallop heavily; to See -EY AND -Y IN ADJECTIVES 2 . bound or move clumsily or noisily' (OED). gang agley. A traditional Sc. idiomatic gambade (a horse's leap). If this French phrase meaning '(of a plan, etc.) to go form of the word is used, the pi. is wrong'. It is used in standard English as a gambades. If the Spanish form gambado half-remembered remnant from Burns's poem 'To a Mouse' (1785): The best laid is used, the pi. is gambados. schemes 0' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley. gambit. A gambit is 'a chess opening in which a player sacrifices a piece or ganglion. The recommended pi. form pawn to secure an advantage' {COD). In is ganglia, not ganglions. general contexts the idea of sacrifice has largely gone, and the word is used simply gantlet isavariantofGAUNTLETinAmE, to mean 'an opening move in a conversa- esp. in the phr. run the gantlet. tion, meeting, set of negotiations, etc.'. It is a routine example of a POPULARIZED gantry /'gaentn/ in the modern engineering senses (structure supporting a TECHNICALITY. crane, etc., or one supporting a space gamboge (a gum resin). The dominant rocket prior to launching) is always so pronunciation now is /gaem'bau3/, not, as spelt. In the sense 'a wooden stand for formerly (e.g. in Daniel Jones, 1917). barrels' it is also spelt gauntry and pro/-'bu:3/. nounced /'gointn/. galop /'gaelap/, the dance, is so spelt. As a verb, the inflected forms are galoped, galoping. See -p-, -PP-.
gambol (verb) (skip or frolic playfully). The inflected forms are gambolled, gambolling (in AmE frequently with a single -I-). See -LL-, -L-. gamesmanship.
See BRINKMANSHIP;
-MANSHIP.
gammon (ham). 1 The bottom piece of a flitch of bacon including a hind leg. 2 The ham of a pig cured like bacon (COD, 1995). gamp. In the UK a colloquial word for an umbrella, esp. a large unwieldy one. Named after Mrs Sarah Gamp, who habitually carried a large cotton umbrella, in Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit (1844). gamut. In music, one of its meanings is 'the whole series of notes used in medieval or modern music', and from
gaol, gaoler, the traditional spellings in the UK, are now under severe and probably unstoppable pressure from jail, jailer, which are dominant in most other parts of the English-speaking world. In practice the agent-noun is hardly used: it has been almost entirely replaced first by warder and at a later date by prison officer. But note: Tiny radiator grille like a gaoler's spyhole—Julian Barnes, 1991; alone in a house which was empty except for parents who were now gaolers—A. Brookner, 1991. gap. This much-favoured word for 'a (usu. undesirable) difference in development, condition, understanding, etc.', now very frequently qualified by a preceding noun, shows no sign of weakening or passing out of fashion. Among the collocations listed in the OED are credibility gap (first recorded in 1966),
garage | gay
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dollar gap (1948), export gap (1952), genera- or Cartergate (Billy Carter's alleged Libyan tion gap (1967), missile gap (1959), and connection, 1980). technology gap (1967). gaucho (S. Amer, cowboy). PL gauchos. garage. The pronunciation favoured by See -O(E)S 6. standard speakers is /'gaera:3/. A minority of standard speakers say /'gaend3/ or gauge. Thus spelt, not guage. See GAGE. transfer the main stress to the second Gaulish. See GALLIC. syllable: thus /ga'ra:3/ or /ga'ra:d3/. The dominant pronunciation in AmE is gauntlet. The only spelling in BrE for /ga'ra:3/, followed by /ga'ra:d3/. the word meaning (a) 'a stout glove' and 'a challenge' (esp. in throw down the garbage. See RUBBISH. gauntlet); and (b) also for the separate Garden. For the Garden in Greek philo- word (of Swedish origin) in the phr. run the gauntlet 'pass between two rows of sophy, see ACADEMY. people and receive blows from them, as gargoyle is the only current spelling. a punishment or ordeal'. Sense (b) is The 19c. variant gurgoyle (perhaps mod- often spelt gantlet in AmE. elled on medL gurgulio) is now obsolete. gauntry. See GANTRY.
garret, attic. See ATTIC.
gay. At some point in the mid-2oc— though occasional evidence exists from about 1935—homosexual men made it abundantly clear that they used the word gay of themselves, and wanted the public at large to use it too instead of the traditional word homosexual, and instead of all the derogatory terms such as fag, g a s . 1 See FLUID. faggot, fairy, homo, pansy, and queer. Their 2 The pi. of the noun is gases, while choice of word arose, it would seem, in the inflected forms of the verb are gases, part at least, from the constant application of the word since the 17c. to a gassed, gassing. person, as the OED expresses it, 'addicted 3 It is the most usual word in AmE to social pleasures and dissipations' (esp. for petrol, gasoline. in gay dog, gay Lothario); and also to its use since the early 19c. to mean '(of a gaseous. The dominant pronunciation woman) leading an immoral life, living now in standard English is /'gaesias/. Danby prostitution'. In other words in some iel Jones (1917) recommended /'geizias/ circumstances it was a customary word (which is now defunct), and gave /'geisias/ describing certain kinds of frownedas a variant, but the pronunciation with upon sexual activity. Victorian society initial /'geis-/ is now not often heard. must have known of these uses of the gasoline, volatile liquid from petro- word gay, but detected in them no threat leum, esp. (chiefly AmE) petrol; not gas- to the principal sense of the word, namely 'bright or lively-looking, esp. in olene. colour; brilliant, showy' (OED), in regular -gate. A terminal element taken from use since the 14c. the name Watergate (q.v.) from 1973 onSince the 1950s, attitudes have wards and used to denote an actual or changed: widespread resentment has alleged scandal in some way comparable been expressed about the 'loss' of a with the Watergate scandal of 1972. treasured word and about the omnipresAmong the more familiar formations ence of the sexual uses of gay to the of this kind is Irangate (1986), but the point that the central older sense can element has been a godsend to journal- now only be said with a slight change ists wishing to bestow a potent name on of intonation (signifying that the speaker short-lived real or alleged scandals, e.g. is not yielding to the intrusive modern Daïlasgate (1975). Koreagate (1976), Muld-sense), except in contexts where the ergate (SAfr., 1978), Oilgate (1978); Billygate word can have no possible reference to garrotte (verb and noun). The customary spelling for the word to do with killing by strangulation. In AmE the dominant spelling is garrote, pronounced either /ga'rnt/ or /ga'raut/, but forms with one r or with two ts are also used.
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gazebo | generic names and other allusive commonplaces
a person's sexual preferences. Now, word fair sex ... my only consolation for being of has it, homosexual men in America are that gender has been the assurance it gave beginning to opt for the word queer in- me of never being married to any one among stead of gay. Further developments can them—Lady M. W. Montagu, 1709). The OED (1899) labelled this sense 'Now only be expected. Some examples to illustrate various jocular'. Since the 1960s this secondary attitudes: my own dear mother, who has greysense has come into much more frequent hairs, who at one time admitted to so little use, esp. among feminists, with the inknowledge even of marital sex that I supposedtention 'of emphasizing the social and I had been conceived in her sleep, now referscultural, as opposed to the biological, with familiarity and deference to gays—H. distinctions between the sexes' {OED 2). Jacobson, 1983; Gay should now only be As a result the literature of the subject used in the context of homosexuality, 88 per-bristles with expressions such as gender cent of the editors agreed—Righting Words gap, gender identity, gender language, gender (US), 1987; (letters to the editors of News- model, gender role, and gender-specific; and week, 26 Nov. 1990) Why all the fuss over fashionable courses at our universities "gay"? Could it be that, despite his protesta-abound in titles such as 'Literature and tions, Zorn [sc. who wrote about the sub- Gender in the English Restoration'. ject in a previous issue] is offended by the homosexuals themselves?—]. M. Morris; Asgenealogy. The existence of scores of an elementary-school music teacher, I havewords ending in -ology (psychology, socideplored for years the homosexual adoption ofology, etc.) traps some people into prothe word gay ...The beautiful "Have Yourself anouncing and even spelling genealogy as if it too ended in -ology. It is derived Merry Little Christmas'' declares, "make the ultimately from Gk yevsd 'race, Yuletide gay," which I changed to "it's a special day" to keep evenfirstgraders from nudging generation' + -Xoyo? 'that treats of. See one another-B. Sikes; Thank you, Eric Zorn! -LOGY. I hope you get your word back, and I get my general. For the plurals of such comname back—Jeffrey H. Gay, In short, there is pound nouns as Attorney-General, Lieuno historical case for homosexual ownership tenant-General, see PLURALS OF NOUNS 9. of'gay'. So can we have our word back, please? —Paul Johnson, 1995. generalissimo. PL generalissimos. See gazebo (structure designed to give a wide view). PI. gazebos. The word was formed in the 18c, perhaps as a jocular derivative of gaze (verb) in imitation of L futures in -ebo.
-0(E)S 7-
general practitioner. See PHYSICIAN. generator. Thus spelt, not -ex.
generic names and other allusive commonplaces. When Shylock hailed Portia as A Daniell come to iudgement, he was using a generic name in the sense here intended; the Historié of Susannah (from the Apocrypha) was in his mind. gelatin /'d3elatm/, the customary form We do the same when we talk of a Croesus in chemical use (including photography) or a Jehu or a Hebe (daughter of Zeus and and in AmE in all uses, but gelatine /-i:n/ Hera) or a Nimrod or of Bruin (name of is the more usual form in BrE in contexts the bear in Reynard the Fox), Chaunticker of the preparation of food. (in Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale), and Reygemma (in certain plants). PL gemmae nard. When we talk of a Barmecide feast, of Ithuriel's spear, of a Naboth's vineyard, /-mi;/. of being between Scylla and Charybdis, of gender. Since the 14c. the word has Procrustean beds, or Draconian measures, or been primarily a grammatical term, ap- an Achilles' heel, we are using allusive plied to groups of nouns designated as commonplaces (to the Arabian Nights, masculine, feminine, or neuter. During Paradise Lost, the Bible, and classical antiall these centuries, however, as the OED quity). Some writers revel in such expresshows, it has also been used as a term sions, some eschew them, some are ill meaning 'the sex of a person' (e.g. Of the provided with them from lack of reading geezer, a slang word for a person, now usu. an old man. It is a late-igc. adaptation of guiser (a mummer), showing a dialectal pronunciation.
genesis | gentle or imagination; some esteem them as decorations, others as aids to brevity. They are in fact an immense addition to the resources of speech, but they ask to be used with discretion. This article is not intended either to encourage or to deprecate their use; they are often in place, and often out of place; fitness is all. An allusion that strikes a light i n one company will only darken counsel in another: most audiences are acquainted with the qualities of a Samson, a Sancho Panza, and a Becky Sharp, fewer with those of 0 Count de Saldar (Meredith's Evan Harrington) or a Silas Wegg (Dickens's Our Mutual Friend), and fewer still with those of the Laputans (in Gulliver's Travels) and Ithuriel's spear. For examples of allusions of one kind or another see BENEDICK; DEVIL'S ADVOC-
ATE; FRANKENSTEIN; ILK; IRRELEVANT ALLUSION; MISAPPREHENSIONS. g e n e s i s . Thus spelt (cf. genitive). g e n i e /'d3i:ni/, a spirit of Arabian folklore. PL genii /'d3i:niai/. genitive.
See APOSTROPHE 2 B, D, E; OB-
JECTIVE GENITIVE; ' S AND OF-POSSESSIVE.
g e n i u s , (person of) consummate intellectual power. PI. geniuses (not genii, which is the pi. of GENIE).
g e n s /djenz/ (in Roman history and in anthropology). PL gentes /'d3enti:z/. g e n t ( = gentleman). Apart from its use in commercial circles (gents' outfitters, etc.), and (in the UK) the colloquial euphemism the Gents, this abbreviation is now mainly used as a term indicating a man's social level (he's a perfect gent; he was turned down for the post because he was not a gent). g e n t e e l . Its primary meaning is 'affectedly or ostentatiously refined or stylish', but it is often used ironically to mean 'of or appropriate to the upper classes' (COD). g e n t e e l i s m . As Fowler (1926) expressed it, genteelism is 'the substituting, for the ordinary natural word that first suggests itself to the mind, of a synonym that is thought to be less soiled by the lips of the common herd, less familiar, less plebeian, less vulgar, less improper, less apt to come unhandsomely betwixt the
326 wind and our nobility'. The Victorians, to go back no further, were familiar with the concept, though they did not use the word genteelism itself: We have made her a bow-pot [sc. bough-pot].' 'Say a bouquet, sister Jemima—'tis more genteel' "Well, a booky as big as a haystack.'—Thackeray, 1847/8. The practice of employing fairsounding words, or EUPHEMISMS, is probably as old as the language itself. It is only when it can be seen that a person is unknowingly placing such words in the wrong social context that a euphemism becomes a genteelism. Fowler's 1926 list of genteelisms has largely been overtaken by events. Indeed, any such list is bound to seem banal or uninstructive: e.g. dentures for false teeth; expectorate for spit; lounge for sitting room; odour for smell; perspire for sweat. The comedy of genteelism lies in its social incongruity rather than in the presence of degrees of innate genteelism in particular words. g e n t e e l l y , the correct spelling of the adverb corresponding to GENTEEL. g e n t l e . 1 The gentle art. This phrase, long a favourite with anglers as an affectionate description of their pursuit, was cleverly used by the American painter James McNeill Whistler in his title The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (1890). The oxymoron was what made it effective. In the 20C. the phrase has thrived to the point that it stands on the brink of becoming a cliché. Examples: (in titles) The Gentle Art of Bowling—S. Aylwin, 1904; The Gentle Art ofSinging-H. J. Wood, 1927; The Gentle Art of Verbal SeI/-De/ense-advt in Reason (US), 1991 ; (general contexts) Grant took full advantage of the lunchtime lull in traffic, and in derestricted areas excelled himself in the gentle art of speed with safety—]. Tey, 1936; Hype is an American word for the gentle art of getting a tune into the pop charts without actually selling any records—Sunday Times, 1968. 2 Gentle, as what the OED describes as 'used i n polite or ingratiating address' (Have patience, gentle friends), lingered in writers' apostrophes to their gentle readers after it had disappeared from general use. Victorian novelists were much given to it. Authors have now invented other ways of creating a sense of intimacy with their readers; if the gentle reader is now addressed it will
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only be by way of a jocular or ironic archaism.
gentleman | geometric(al) distinctions, the word gentlewoman is now only rarely called on.
gentleman. Our use of gentleman, like genuflexion, a bending of the knee. that of Esct., is being affected by our Thus spelt, but genuflection is also standprogress towards a less class-based soci- ard, esp. in AmE. See -XION etc. ety, but in more or less opposite directions. Almost any adult male these days genuine. 1 See AUTHENTIC. in Britain (but not overseas) occasionally 2 The standard pronunciation in BrE receives letters addressed to him in the is /'d3enjom/. In America the pronuncistyle ]. Smith, Esq. Meanwhile the word ation with final /-am/ is widespread but gentleman has largely fallen out of use as non-standard: 'the second [pronuncia recognizable indicator of social class. ation], with the final syllable rhyming It has remained in use in the vocative with sign, occurs chiefly among less eduplural: Ladies and Gentlemen (at the begincated speakers, esp. older ones. [It is also] ning of an address); Gentlemen (when only sometimes used deliberately by educated males are present). It has also been respeakers, as for emphasis or humorous tained as a title of an office at court effect' (Random House Webster's College (gentleman-at-arms, gentleman usher, etc.) Diet., 1991). Agreements which are binding in honour but are not legally enforceable are genus. The standard pronunciation is still called gentlemen's agreements. Those /'d3i:nas/, though /'d3enas/ is frequently old-fashioned cricket matches between heard. PL genera /'d3enara/. Gentlemen and Players have long since been discontinued. And public lavatories geographic(al). Both forms have a long no longer display the sign Gentlemen. The history (geographicfirstrecorded in 1630 word is mostly used as a term of last and geographical in 1559). At the present resort, e.g. in auction rooms (I am bid time the longer form is dominant in all £60 by a gentleman in the second row), and uses in the UK, but usage is more evenly of (say) a person who has been asked to divided in AmE. Webster's Third (1986 wait before entering (There's a gentleman printing) lists the compounds geographiat the door who says he is an old friend of cal biology, botany, coordinate, distribution, yours). Gentleman was once a key word latitude, longitude, mile, point, position, as in social rankings: it now lies in the headwords; and geographic race, terrapin, straitened circumstances of formulaic tongue, tortoise, variation. From this eviphrases, modes of address, and courtly dence it would appear that the choice titles. is made according to the preferences expressed in different academic discipgentlewoman, lady. Theoretically the lines. But other indeterminable factors first has no sense that does not belong may be at work. to the second also, but lady has some for which gentlewoman will not serve—the geometric(al). As with the preceding Virgin (Our Lady), titled women (Lady word, both forms have a long history Thatcher, a title she is said to dislike), (geometricfirstrecorded in 1630 and geoa woman or girl described politely or metrical in 1552). In this case the shorter sometimes as a genteelism or jocularly form seems to be dominant in fixed (a perfect lady), in the vocative plural collocations in BrE (geometric mean, (Ladies and Gentlemen), and in numerous tracery, etc.), but in general contexts the compounds, e.g. lady-in-waiting, Lady choice seems to depend on the rhythm Mayoress. In the lost worlds of Victorian of the sentence. In AmE the shorter form and Edwardian society, gentlewoman was seems to be the more usual both in fixed frequently used as a term for a woman collocations and in general contexts. of good birth or breeding. As late as 1932 Webster's Third (1986 printing) lists geoRosamund Lehmann could still speak metrical clamp, construction, optics, pitch, of a distressed gentlewoman (meaning 'an radius as headwords; but geometric design, impoverished woman of good birth'), but isomerism, lathe, mean, plane, progression, such people are now called distressed series, spider, stairs, tortoise, unit. See also gentlefolk. In the complex world of social ARITHMETICAL PROGRESSION.
German | gerund
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German, a member of the Germanic and this too is the dominant form in group of languages (which includes Eng- America at the present time. In both lish, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish) of the countries it is sometimes spelt jerryIndo-European family, the national lan- mander, thus emphasizing its pronunciguage of Germany and Austria and one ation but cutting it off from its of the official languages of Switzerland. etymological roots. Like English, German has many dialectal gerund. forms. The standard language is called High German (Hochdeutsch). Low GermanI 1 Gerund and gerundive. (Plattdeutsch) is a comprehensive name 2 Gerund and participle. 3 Gerund and infinitive. used by philologists for Dutch, Frisian, I 4 Gerund and possessive. Flemish, and some dialects within Germany itself. The words High and Low Preliminary note. Readers should be are merely geographical, referring to the warned at the outset that some modern southern, or mountainous, and the grammarians have abandoned the term northern, or low-lying, regions in which gerund altogether and speak instead of the two varieties developed. verbal nouns in -ing. In Sidney GreenEnglish has adopted a fair number baum's An Introduction to English Grammar of words from German, among them (1991), for example, the index lacks an (showing the first date of record in Eng- entry for gerund, but has a long subset lish) being angst (1944). blitz (1939). of entries under -ing. The adjective coredelweiss (1862), kindergarten (1852), polter- responding to gerund is gerundial. geist (1848), quartz (1756), rucksack (1866), 1 Gerund and gerundive. The distinction schadenfreude (1895), waltz (1781). In German, by custom, all nouns have a capital lies in Latin grammar not in English. letter (so Angst, etc.), but the capital is The Latin gerund is a distinctive form of not normally carried over into English a verb functioning as a noun and is except in proper names {Gestapo, Nazi, declinable: thus amare 'to love' has the etc.). As is the way with loanwords, the gerunds amandi 'of loving', amando 'by sounds of the original language, except loving', amandum 'the act of loving'. It when they exactly accord, are often corresponds to the English verb-noun modified to a greater or lesser extent by loving. In Latin, difficultas navigando the receiving language. But just as often means 'the difficulty of sailing', ars lethe sounds of the original language are gends, 'the art of reading', and hie locus retained in English even though the idoneus est dormiendo 'this is a suitable spellings are visibly 'foreign'. Thus, be- place for sleeping'. From the same stem cause Ger. w is pronounced /v/ and Ger. eu as amandi, etc., is formed in Latin an is pronounced /oi/ we pronounce Wagner adjective amandus 'lovable', and in Latin /'vaigna/ and Freud /froid/. Further ex- grammar this is called the gerundive (or amples showing the preservation in Eng- gerund-adjective). It is also often called lish of the original German sounds: a passive verbal adjective. Thus vir laudBeethoven (first syllable) /'bert-/, not /'bi:t-/, andus is 'a man to be praised, a laudable Junker /'junka/, Mainz /mamts/, Mozart man'; homo contemnendus 'a person to be /'mautsait/, poltergeist /'pDltagaist/, Riesling despised, a contemptible person'; pug/'riishn/, sauerkraut /'saua.kraut/, Schiller nandum est nobis (lit.) 'fighting is to be done by us', i.e. 'we must fight'. The Latin /•Jila/, Volkslied /•fblksliit/. gerundive usually contains or implies a sense of obligation or necessity. gerrymander (orig. us), to manipulate election districts unfairly so as to secure 2 Gerund and participle. The English disproportionate representation; formed gerund is identical in form, but only in from the name of Elbridge Gerry, gov- form, with the active present participle. ernor of Massachusetts in 1812 when the Jogging is a present participle in he was word was coined. As his surname was jogging when we last saw him, and a gerund pronounced with initial /g/ not /d3/, gerry- in jogging is a popular form of exercise. mander was pronounced with a 'hard' g Examples: (present participle) girls on bithroughout the 19c. in Britain, and still cycles with gowns billowing behind them— by some people in America. But the only A. S. Byatt, 1985; So we turned away, left pronunciation in Britain now is with /d3/, them guarding nothing in particular-W.
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gesticulation, gesture | get
Golding, 1985; (ppl adj.) My mother and I 4 Gerund and possessive, (a) See POSSESSsat and talked, in a musing way—V. Ack-IVE WITH GERUND for the types I don't like land, 1985; (simple gerund) Mr Justice his coming here and I don't like him coming Curlewis also ruled out caning as a pen- here, (b) Fowler (1926) had another conalty-B. Levin, 1985; The aborting of healthy junction of the two terms in mind: and normal foetuses is generally agreed to he whether the presence of a possessive abhorrent—Daily Tel., 1987. Sometimes anpronoun or possessive case of a noun -ing form can be interpreted as either a before a gerund is, in various circumgerund or a participial adjective: a flying stances, desirable, necessary, or objecmachine is either 'a machine for flying tionable. Among the examples he cited in' (gerund) or 'a machine that flies' (ppl are the following: Jones won by Smith's adj.). missing a chance (Smith would be possible; omission of Smith's would change the 3 Gerund and infinitive. The choice meaning); He suffers somewhat, like the probetween the rival types 'word verbial dog, from his having received a bad ( + preposition) + gerund' and 'word name (his is 'a wasted word'); This danger + to-infinitive or plain infinitive' is not [sc. the scorching of plants] may be avoided always a simple one. For example (see by whitewashing the glass (not desirable AIM), The directive aims at ensuring open to have a possessive noun or pronoun passage through borders is idiomatic; but before the gerund, i.e. leaving it vague so is Much imagination has gone into the who is to do the whitewashing); Sure as project, which aims to attract half a million she was of her never losing herfilialhold visitors a year. Also (see RATHER), both of of the beloved (omit her, another wasted the following examples are idiomatic: word). She bestowed her activity, rather than letting it be harnessed to anyone else's gesticulation, gesture. Both words needs—A. Brookner, 1988; Rather than try ultimately answer to L gestus 'action', to improve our own appeal to those whose related to gerere 'to carry'. Gesture entered votes we must win, it is suggested we should English in the 15c. and at first meant do a deal of some sort with the Alliance- 'manner of placing the body, posture, London Rev. Bks, 1988. So too are both of deportment'. By the 16c. it had come to the following: Stella began rolling her mean 'movement of the body and limbs head to and fro upon the pillow—I. Murdoch, as an expression of thought or feeling' 1983; Edith felt the hairs on the back of (its main current sense). The presenther neck begin to crepitate—A. Brookner, day sense 'an action to evoke a friendly 1986. In most circumstances, however, response' first came into use as recently we have no choice in the matter: one as the early 20c. From the time it entered or the other construction is obligatory. the language in the 17c, gesticulation has Examples: (gerund obligatory) She had just one primary sense, 'the making avoided marrying me because she mis- of lively or energetic motions with the trusted her own power-T. Keneally, 1980; hands of body esp. as an accompaniment no man ... has succeeded in persuading to or in lieu of speech'. In so far as the the courts that his right to [etc.]—Daily Tél., two words share this sense, it is the 1987; MrKinnock is left holding the baby- degree of animation that governs the choice, gesticulation being the one that ibid., 1987; (infinitive obligatory) I have indicates a more theatrical movement decided to stick to my original intention— of the arms or the body. P. P. Read, 1986; he fails to take notice of those wanting university education—Times,get. 1 When I was at school the teachers 1986: he preferred not to torture himself were hostile to this small and useful with the specific knowledge [etc.]—A. N. Wil- verb: we were constantly asked to rewrite son, 1986. sentences containing get by substituting In practice, constructions of the another verb in its place (fetch, obtain, second type (word + infinitive) occur far earn, and a multitude of others). The more frequently and after a much wider exercises were useful as a means of envariety of words and phrases than the larging our vocabulary. On the other first type (word + gerund). Guidance in hand they left one wondering if get could particular cases is given at many places ever be used in an acceptable manner. It needs no demonstration that get is in this book.
geyser | gild indispensable in scores of idiomatic phrases: get along with, get away with, get down, get down to, get even with, etc.: COD 1995 devotes a complete column to such phrases and the OED several pages. Get also has a range of natural uses in which it passes virtually unnoticed: get a job, get my book for me, get rich, get one's feet wet,flatterywill get you nowhere, get going, get the upper hand, etc.
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-g-, -gg-. Words ending in g preceded by a single vowel double the g before a suffix beginning with a vowel, even in unstressed syllables: wagging, sandbagged, zigzagged, shaggy, egged (on), boot' legging, nutmegged; digging, priggish; froggy, leapfrogged, logging; humbugged, mugging.
ghastlily. The formal adverb corresponding to the adj. ghastly, but, for 2 The more controversial uses fall into reasons of euphony, best avoided. See the area that lexicographers mark as -LILY. colloquial or informal. It is hard to see anything wrong with he hadn't got any ghat, (in India) a mountain pass, steps (did not possess any)=AmE (and also to a river. Thus spelt, not ghât, ghât, commonly in other varieties of English) ghaut. Pronounce /gait/. he didn'thave any (see DO 3). Gowers (1965) suggested that the 'intrusion of got into ghetto. PI. ghettos. See -O(E)S 6. a construction in which have alone is ghoul. Pronounce /gui/ rhyming with enough originated in our habit of eliding fool, not owl. have. I have it and he has it are clear statements, but if we elide we must in- giaour, a derogatory word for a nonsert got to avoid the absurdity of I've it Muslim. Pronounce /'d^aua/. and the even greater absurdity of he's it.' Nevertheless the following examples gibber (verb), gibberish. 1 Pronounce give a hint of the kind of uses of get both with initial /d3/ not /g/. (It is worth which, in Britain at least, have only re- noting that the OED (1899) gave only /g/ stricted currency except in very informal for the initial sound of gibberish.) writing: He never got to write his volume on 2 See JARGON. the Revolution—Dxdalus, 1987 ( = never got round to writing); 'Come on in, son,' he gibbous (convex, protuberant, etc.). Prosays ...'I get you a beer or something?'—New nounce /'gibas/. Yorker, 1989 ( = Can I get you a beer?); A new song, a new movie comes out, you do it. gibe, jibe (verb) (jeer, mock). The first You got to move with the times—ibid., 1989 spelling is recommended. See (the sailing term) GYBE. The American word jibe in ( = have got to, must). See GOT. the phr. to jibe with 'to agree, be in accord* 3 See GOTTEN. is an unrelated word of unknown origin 4 For have to be, have got to be, see HAVE (in the 19c). 4gift (verb). Despite its antiquity (first 5 For the semi-passive type get changed, recorded in the 16c.) and its frequent see PASSIVE TERRITORY 4. use, esp. by Scottish writers, since then, it has fallen out of favour among standard 6 See AHOLD. speakers in England, and is best avoided. 7 See COME-AT-ABLE. On the other hand, gifted ppl adj. 'talented' (a gifted violinist) is standard. See geyser. In the OED (1899) precedence alSO FREE GIFT. was given to the pronunciation /'geisa/ for both senses (hot spring; apparatus gigolo. Pronounce this 20c. loanword for heating water), with /'gaisa, -za/ as from French with initial Izl or /d3/. PI. variants. Time has moved on. J. C. Wells gigolos. See -O(E)S 6. (1990) recommends /'gi:za/ for both senses in standard English, but '/'gaiza/ gild (verb) (cover thinly with gold) has (if at all) particularly for the meaning pa.pple gilded (the porcelain is gilded by a "hot spring'". In America and NZ (the magma of gold); but as ppl adj. is somebathroom heater sense is not used in times gilt (gilt-edged securities, gilt tooling) either country) the pronunciation is uni- and in other collocations is gilded (gilded formly /'gaiza(r)/. youth, rendering Fr. jeunesse dorée). The
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word guild (medieval association of craftsmen or merchants) is always so spelt in standard English, not gild.
gild the lily | girl as adjective ( = showing great care or caution). Examples of the adverb: He descends gingerly from the cab—New Yorker, 1990; and they start gingerly to shift timbers and bricks—P. Lively, 1991.
gild the lily. It has often been pointed out that this firmly established idiom ( = to try to improve what is already Giotto, Giovanni. See ITALIAN SOUNDS. beautiful) is a not quite accurate rendering of Shakespeare's line in his King gipsy. See GYPSY. John (iv.ii.ii): To glide refined Gold, to paint the Lilly; To throw a perfume on the Violet,gird (verb). The normal pa.t., pa.pple, and ppl adj. form is girded. But as recently [etc.]. See MISQUOTATIONS. as the 19c, and still as an archaism, the gill. The separate words meaning 'the variant form girt occurs. Examples: They respiratory organ in fishes' and 'a ravine' girt her sons with the weapons of war—A. are both pronounced /gil/. Those mean- Gallenga, 1848: And how herself, with girt ing 'a unit of liquid measure' and 'a gown, carefully She went betwixt the female ferret' are pronounced /d3il/. The heaps--W. Morris, 1870; The doctor... girt female first name, whether spelt Jill or on a cutlass ... and ... crossed the palisade—R. L. Stevenson, 1883; The water-girt Gill, is pronounced /d3il/. promontory which is washed on the west by gillie (Se), a man or boy attending a Lake Kilglass—J. B. Bury, 1905; Have you for person hunting or fishing, has a hard the moment forgotten ...in which opera the initial /g/. chorus 'Upon our sea-girt land' occurs?—TLS, gillyflower. Pronounce with a soft ini- 1972. tial /d3/. girl /g3:l/. 1 In the standard language gimbals (noun pi.). Pronounce with soft initial /d3/.
girl rhymes with curl, pearl, and whirl, but is sometimes pronounced /gel/ or /gael/ (see GAL) with varying degrees of social affectation.
gimmick, a 20c. word (first recorded in an American Wise-Crack Diet, of 1926) of 2 Maud, the heroine in Anita Brookunknown origin. In our publicity-conIncidents in the Rue Laugier (1995). ner's scious and heavily politicized age the word surged into common use after had learnt all the lessons she was supposed about 1950, and now is widely applied to to have learnt, knew that girls were no longer any trifling or ingenious device, gadget, to be addressed as girls but as women. The idea, etc., that catches the public eye but passage reflected the fact that since the is regarded as likely to be short-lived, 1960s feminist writers have tried to drive unsound, etc., as time goes by. Seldom out the word girl as applied to adult has such an unpromising word made its females, and have had some success. For way into the central core of the language example, women undergraduates at universities are now called women; and male so swiftly and so successfully. managers who refer to the female memgimp (a trimming, a fishing-line). Thus bers of staff as girls risk having the habit spelt, not guimp ovgymp. Pronounce with entered on the behaviour sheet as an indication of sexual harassment. But, hard initial /g/. in the way that language works, many gingerly. 1 Its etymology remains ob- established uses survive from an earlier scure but the OED fairly plausibly period despite the intensity of the camsuggests that it is a 16c. adaptation of an paign. A young man still goes out with OF word gensor, genzor (variously spelt), his girl or his girlfriend. The phrases glamproperly comparative of gent 'noble', but our girl, cover girl, and page three girl reused also as a positive, 'pretty, delicate', main in common use. There has been + -ly. The first uses of gingerly as an no move to censor (or ban from public adverb had the meaning 'elegantly, dain- libraries) Kingsley Amis's Take a Girl like tily (chiefly with reference to walking or You (i960) or Helen Gurley Brown's Sex dancing)'. and the Single Girl (1962). Throughout the 2 The word is still used both as adverb century popular songs have contained ( = in a careful or cautious manner) and the word in their titles or text, and the
girlie | gladsome
332
songs remain unaltered: It's o long way Times, 1992: (given as subordinating conto Hpperary, To the sweetest girl I know (Jackjunction) Given what the boy's father was Judge, 1912); If you were the only girl in the like, they had all been prepared for something world (Clifford Grey, 1916); A pretty girl is roughish—l. Murdoch, 1962; This contrast like a melody (I. Berlin, 1919); Poor little is understandable, given what critics of the rich girl (Noel Coward, 1925); Diamonds regime have labelled 'triumphalism'—New are a girl's best friend (Leo Robin, 1949)Yorker, 1975; Given how busy the Spanish monarchs were in the 1480s, it's a wonder girlie. Since the 1920s applied colloqui- they gave Columbus any notice at all-Chicago ally to publications, entertainment, etc., THbune, 1988; {given that as subordinating featuring young women, esp. scantily conjunction) Given that not every art stuclad or in the nude {girlie magazines, etc.). dent can work as apprentice to a living artist, Always so spelt, not girly. this is perhaps the nearest we can hope to get to the Renaissance system—Modern Painters gilt. See GIRD (verb). 1989; The biggest savings would come through rationalisation given that roughly given name. See CHRISTIAN NAME. two-thirds of the cost is attributable to given (that). Sense 32 of the OED entry teachers' salaries—TES, 1990; Given that th for give reads "The pa.pple. is used, esp. government shies away from a graduate tax, in an absolute clause, with the sense: student loans are the next best way of making Assigned or posited as a basis for calcul- sure that students who benefit from higher ation or reasoning.' Among the illustra- education foot some of the bill—Economist, tive examples we find: Given a reasonable 1991. amount of variety and quality in the exhibits, an exhibition ...is sure to attract large glacial, glacier. The standard pronunnumbers—Manchester Examiner, 1885. Jes-ciations in BrE are /'gleijal/ and /'glaesia/ persen (1940, v.54) provides further ex- respectively; in AmE /'gleijal/ and amples: Given your Hero, is he to become /'gleijar/. Conqueror, King, Philosopher, Poet?—Carlyle, 1840; given that he lived through the danger,glacis (bank sloping down from a fort). it was doubtful if he could ever live an activePronounced in BrE /'glaesis/ or /-si/, in life again—E. F. Benson, 1894. These pro- AmE /glae'si:/ or /'glaesi:/. vide the key to the use of given as a marginal preposition and subordinating glad(den). See -EN VERBS FROM ADJECTconjunction, and of given that as a subor- IVES. dinating conjunction. They operate in a similar manner to considering {that), gladiolus. 1 Pronounce /glaedi'aulas/. granted {that), and a few others. The cru- The pronunciation recommended by the cial point is that, in such constructions, OED in 1899, namely /glae'daialas/, is now given and the other words like it are obsolete. In classical Latin (Pliny) the 'distinct from the participles in meaning word, which is a diminutive of gladius and in not requiring subject identifica- 'sword', had four short syllables, but this tion, so that they cannot be viewed as pattern has not been carried over into the verb in a participle clause' {CGEL English. See FALSE QUANTITY 2. 14.14). In other words, they are not unat2 The recommended plural is gladioli tached participles. These uses are part of standard English /-lai/. Gladioluses is too clumsy; gladiolus, everywhere. Modern examples: (mar- i.e. the same form as the singular, is ginal preposition) Given the more restrictive used in some plant catalogues, but has definition of being possessed by demons, he nothing to commend it. regrets its use in a religious context—National Geographic, 1984; He didn't think that, givengladsome. See -SOME. In continuous her ambitions and temperament, she would use from the 14c. to the 19c, it is now enjoy it—A. West, 1984; Angel Clare's terriblerestricted to literary contexts or used as rejection ofTess after the confession is whollya deliberate archaism. Example: She heads credible, given his preconceptions—C. straight for him and gives him a gladsome Whistler, 1985; Given the world around us, embrace and a kiss on the cheek-T. Stoppard, that would be unhelpful, to say the least- 1993 (stage direction).
333
glamour (AmE also glamor). 1 The corresponding adj. is glamorous. See -OUR AND-OR.
2 The word, which was brought into general literary use by Walter Scott C1830, was originally Scottish, and etymologically was an alteration of the word grammar with the sense ('occult learning, magic, necromancy') of the old word gramarye. It then passed into standard English with the meaning 'a delusive or alluring charm', and, nearly a century later (in the 1930s), was applied to the charm or physical allure of a person, esp. a woman, first in AmE and then in BrE and elsewhere.
glamour | gloss it has become widely employed in the sense 'world-wide, involving the whole world', esp. in military and environmental jargon: thus global warifare); global village (coined by Marshall McLuhan in i960 in recognition of the fact that new technology and communications have effectively 'shrunk' world societies to the level of a single village); and esp. global warming, a term that became established in the 1980s to mean 'an increase in temperature at the surface of the earth supposedly caused by the greenhouse effect' (SOED).
gloss. There are two distinct words. Gloss1 = an explanatory word or phrase glance, glimpse. A glance (usu. followed clarifying the meaning of a word that by at, into, over, or through) is a brief lookmight be unfamiliar to a reader, or a (e.g. the women exchanged glances; have a marginal note of explanation or comquick glance at this). A glimpse is what is ment. This word was written as gloze or seen by taking a glance, and not the glose from the 14c. onwards and was glance itself (he caught a glimpse of herrefashioned as gloss in the 16c. after L in the crowd). 'A glance at the map' is glossa, Gk yXaxyaa. Gloss2 = surface lustre idiomatic, but 'a glimpse at the map' is or sheen; it entered English in the i6c, not. probably from a Low German language. Gloss1 (esp. when written as gloze or glasses is the primary term in both glose) had the secondary senses, 'flattery, Britain and America for 'a pair of lenses in a frame resting on the nose and ears, deceit; a pretence, specious appearance'; 2 used to correct defective eyesight or pro- and gloss developed a secondary sense tect the eyes', but in Britain it alternates 'a deceptive appearance, a plausible prewith spectacles. It is often qualified by a text'. In other words the secondary word specifying the particular purpose senses of the two words substantially for which they are being worn: e.g. read- overlapped, with the result that in works written between the 16c. and the 19c. ing glasses, sunglasses. In AmE eyeglasses is commonly used instead of the simplex care must be taken to deduce which of glasses, but, though the OED gives 19c. the two words is meant. Thus, when Ben examples of eyeglasses in BrE use, this Jonson wrote He ... Spurns back the gloses longer term is hardly ever encountered of a fawning spirit in his Poetaster (1601), now in the UK. gloses meant 'flattering speeches'. When Clarendon in his History of the Rebellion glassful. The pi. is glassfuls. See -FUL. (1647) wrote Malicious Glosses made upon all he had said, he meant that the glosses glimpse. See GLANCE. were capable of a sophistical or disinglissade. Pronounce /gli'said/. genuous interpretation. On the other hand, when Cardinal Newman wrote in global. From the 17c. to the 19c. it 1834 of the false gloss of a mere worldly simply meant 'spherical, globular'. Berefinement, he was using gloss2 figuratginning in the late 19c., in imitation ively. of Fr. global, it acquired the meaning It is easy to see that if we lacked the 'pertaining to or embracing the totality 1 2 of a number of items, categories, etc.; OED's historical record, gloss and gloss all-inclusive' (e.g. The global sum of £300 could be taken to be 'the same word'. Indeed, in some modern dictionaries, million looked like the result of bargaining notably some of those prepared for chilwith the Treasury—Ann. Reg. 1947, 1948; A 'global' picture can be obtained from thedren use and for foreign learners of English, considerations are cast of such techniques as Rorschach—Brit. etymological Jrnl 1 Psychology, 1952). In the course of the 20c. aside, and homonyms like gloss and
glossary, dictionary, vocabulary | go 2
gloss are presented as part of a single entry. glossary, dictionary, vocabulary. A glossary is an alphabetical list of the hard words used in a specific subject or text, with explanations. Glossaries are usually of modest length, e.g. those of the British Standards Institution (of aeronautical terms, highway engineering terms, etc.), and those appended to the texts in series like those of the Early English Text Society and the Scottish Text Society. A DICTIONARY is usually a much more ambitious work, though sometimes, when restricted to the terminology of a specified subject, dictionary and glossary are virtually interchangeable terms. A vocabulary supplies the reader of a book in a foreign language (e.g. a school edition of Latin texts) with the English equivalents of the foreign words used in it. A glossary selects what is judged to be obscure; a vocabulary assumes that all is obscure. Vocabulary also means the whole stock of words used by those speaking a given language, by any set of persons, or by an individual.
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Examples: From crock of bone-dry crusts and mouse-gnawn cheese-W. de la Mare, 1921; These shoes, particularly those of the children are somewhat gnawn—Agee and Evans, 1941. gneiss (metamorphic rock). This 18c. loanword from German is now always pronounced /nais/, with the initial g silent. gnomic /'naumik/. Used of literary works, esp. Anglo-Saxon poetry, consisting of or containing aphoristic verses or maxims (sometimes called gnomes). The gnomic aorist in Greek (used 'to express what once happened, and has therefore established a precedent for all time') is a term used in the grammar of classical Greek, but has no precise counterpart in English grammar. The word itself is derived from Gk yv(op.iKOs 'sententious'. go (noun). PI. goes. See -O(E)S 2.
go (verb). Five uses call for comment. 1 Goes without saying (first recorded in English in 1878) is a naturalized Gallicism (q.v., sense 2). For anyone opposed to the use of such loan-translations, other gloze. See GLOSS. straightforwardly English equivalents glue. The inflected forms and deriva- are available, needless to say, need hardly tives are spelt glues, glued, gluing; and be said, of course, etc. gluey. 2 go + bare infinitive. This was the dominant construction in English until glycerine /'glisa.riin/. So spelt in BrE, the 17c: e.g., in Shakespeare's Winter's but usu. glycerin /-rm/ in AmE. In scientific Tale, lie go see if the Beare bee gone; I must writing the synonymous term glycerol is go buy Spices for our sheepe-shearing. It customary. survives as a normal construction in gn-. In nearly all current English words AmE (hide and go seek), but in BrE is used initial gn is pronounced /n/ with the g in only a few fixed expressions (he can silent, though it is clear that in native go hang for all I care, to go get (chiefly words like gnat and gnaw the g was US)). In Britain the normal constructions sounded until the 17c. The main excep- are of the type go and + infinitive or tions are gnocchi, a 19c. loanword from go + to-infinitive. Examples of go + bare Italian, which is sometimes pronounced infinitive: III go put your lovely flowers in with initial /nj/; and gnu (from a Bush- water-]. Updike, 1986 (US); Ï wish I could man language in S. Africa), which is also see a real Jew.' 'Go look in the mirror.'—New sometimes pronounced with initial /nj/, Yorker, 1986; I guess III gofinishmy shiftbeside the normal pronunciation /nu:/. Hill Street Blues (US TV series, 15 Nov. All such words of Greek origin (gnomic, 1986). Occasional examples turn up outgnostic, etc.) are pronounced with the g side N. America as late as the 19c. (natural uses) and in the 20c. (probably as silent. conscious Americanisms): Very true,' said gnaw. The pa.t. and pa.pple are gnawed. I, let us go fetch it. -R. M. Ballantyne, Some dictionaries continue to list gnawn 1858; 'Sweetheart, I'm ravenous. Go call us as a variant form of the pa.pple but it a cab. —Maggie Gee, 1985 (UK); Grace'd [ = has not been commonly used in the Grace had] got the morning off from school 20C. and now sounds distinctly archaic. to go give her brother some support [at a
335
gobbledegook | gobbledegook
Recent research (OED Additions Series, ii, magistrates court]—Alan Duff, 1990 (NZ). 1993) has taken the use back to Dickens's 3 Related constructions, (a) go and followed by an infinitive: She ... said she Pickwick Papers (1836): He was roused by a would go and turn the sprinkler off herself— loud shouting of the post-boy on the leader. YoNew Yorker, 1986; He packed the sacks withyo-yo-yo-yoe,' went the first boy. Yo-yo-yo-yoe!' goods for Kaliel to go and sell—D. Matthee, went the second. Somehow it seems more 1986 (SAfr.). (b) examples in which go acceptable there. and the accompanying verb are both 5 The (American) cox in the Oxford imperatives: It's late, child ...Go and get boat in the 1987 Boat Race had the slogan some sleep—]. M. Coetzee, 1977 (SAfr.); Tell Go for it inscribed on the back of his rowthem, go and beg in the market-place—A. ing shirt. He thus drew attention to the Desai, 1988 (India), (c) go + to-infinitive: arrival in Britain of this popular AmerRozanov... had gone to live in the Ennistone ican phrase of the 1980s. Examples: When Rooms—I. Murdoch, 1983. (d) go and used you come up with a zingy locution that will colloquially to mean 'to be so foolish, astound your friends and confound your unreasonable, or unlucky as to—': and enemies—go for it!-W. Safire, 1985; I told her now all at once she remembered. Max Gill about Scott [sc. a boyfriend]. Eileen said, 'Go had actually gone and died—New Yorker, for it, Andrea.'-New Yorker, 1986. The OED 1988; You herd cattle all day, you come to has a series of entries for various uses of despise them, and pretty soon ... you have go + the preposition for, including the gone and shot one—G. Keillor, 1990. It very informal type I could go for you in a big should be emphasized that the construc- way, kid ( = be enthusiastic about, be entions in (a) to (d) are standard in all amoured of), but has not yet dragged this forms of English. nippy little fish into its net. 4 go = say. This use is seen by Sara Tulloch (1991) as occurring mainly 'in gobbledegook. Also spelt gobbledy young people's speech ... (usually in the gook. This is an expressive term, first present tense, reporting speech in the recorded in America in 1944, for official, past)'. She sees it as 'an extension of the professional, or pretentious verbiage or use of go to report a non-verbal sound jargon. The word was almost certainly of some kind expressed as an onoma- coined as a representation of a turkeytopoeic word or phrase, as in "the bell cock's gobble. For some two decades or went ding-dong" or "the gun went bang", so the term was mainly restricted to perhaps with some influence from nur- AmE, the equivalent BrE expression sery talk (as in "ducks go quack, cows go being OFFICIALESE, but it is now in commoo")'. It is indeed common in children's mon use in BrE. In its most innocent speech and esp. (but not only) in Amer- form, gobbledegook lies in the proliferaica: In school Friday our teacher held up a tion of upgraded job titles, as, for exnote and goes to Amy, 'Did you pass this note?' ample, when the chief steward on a longAnd Amy goes, 'Who, me?'—dialogue in strip haul passenger flight is called the senior cartoon in Chicago Sun-Times, 1988. But it in-flight services manager. Nowadays every is also widespread in the language of the head of a discernible section, however shell-suit brigade of adults in modern small, within an organization seems to fictional contexts (my examples happen be called some kind of manager. to be from AmE and NZ sources but the Of much greater consequence is the type occurs in the non-standard lan- use of obfuscatory or opaque statements guage of all English-speaking countries): by official groups. The following passage I go, if this is some kind of joke I'm like really from an American policy document not amused—]. Mclnerny, 1988 (US); He'd about transport plans (as reported in a wait about three lulls... Then he'd go, 'GuessChicago newspaper of 1995) shows gobIII have to have the circus tonight.'—New bledegook in its most potent form: While Yorker, 1988; They go, 'Are you laying a com-EPA [the Environmental Protection Agency] plaint?' I said not yet-Rosie Scott, 1988 will solicit comments on other options, the (NZ); Butch and I were discussing this prob- supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking lem, and Butch goes, 'But you promised you'd on transportation conformity will propose to do it.' Then I go, 'Well, I changed my mind.'—require conformity determinations only in the Chicago Tribune, 1989. metropolitan planning areas (the urbanized
gobemouche | godlily
336
area and the contiguous area(s) likely to be-necessary to know the meaning of the come urbanized within 20 years) of attain- words lien and demurrage if one is to ment areas which have exceeded 85 percentunderstand the following passage (from of the ozone, CO, NO 2, PM-10 annual, or PMa legal newsletter of 1988): The Commercial 10 24-hour NAAQS within the last three, Court has held that where a shipowner exertwo, one, three, and three years respectively. cises a lien on cargo for demurrage due, he Doubtless the statement made good can claim demurrage for the further period sense to members of the EPA. Its accuracy of delay caused by his own exercise of the lien is not in question. The fault lies in its The words themselves are not replaceinability to make any more than labori- able by simpler terms. ous sense to the general public to whom Similarly, in the following passage by it was addressed. R. Jackendoff in the journal Language Dr James Le Fanu, the medical corres- (1975) it is impossible to work out what pondent of The Daily Telegraph, reported is meant unless one is familiar with the (in 1995) a much more worrying case: A terms lexical insertion rules, paradigm, and friend in her late thirties [received] a buff deep structure: [It has been suggested that] envelope from the Family Planning Clinic,paradigmatic information should be represwhere she had had a cervical smear six weeksented in the dictionary. As a consequence, the earlier. The report read as follows: "The results lexical insertion rules must enter partial or of your test showed early cell changes (mildcomplete paradigms into deep structures, and dyskaryosis suggesting CIN I) and wart virusthe rules of concord must have the function changes." She was advised to have a repeat of filtering out all but the correctforms, rather test in six months.' No further explanation than that of inserting inflectional affixes. was offered. She turned to Dr Le Fanu, In everyday contexts, especially in weland he 'translated' for her: There are some fare, tax, medical, and social-services funny-looking cells ("dyskaryosis") which may documents, and in the drafting of our or may not indicate the very earliest signs laws and charters, one hopes that the of pre It gist; (c) designating an adherent of some is we whose lives are not worth living; We creed, doctrine, etc., e.g. atheist, Buddhist, laughed at you -*• It was we who laughed at Calvinist, hedonist; (d) modern formationsyou; I met him on Monday -> It was on of various kinds, e.g. balloonist, cyclist, Monday that I met him; I've not come to discuss Henry but Poppet, your wife -> It isn't fetishist, finalist. Henry I've come to discuss. It's Poppet, your 2 Most of the -ist words have one un- wife. disputed form. The main exceptions 3 Anticipatory it. 'When the logical (with the preferred form placedfirst)are: accompanist, accompanyist (?obs.); agricul- subject of a verb is an infinitive phrase, a turalist, agriculturist; constitutionalist,clause, or sentence, this is usually placed constitutionist (obs.); conversationalist, con- after the verb, and its place before the versationist (?obs.); diplomat, diplomatist verb is taken by it as "provisional" or (?obsolesc); educationalist, educationist;"anticipatory" subject* (OED). (a) An inegoist, egotist; horticulturist, horticul- finitive phrase: It was difficult to know to turalist (not in OED but current since at what level Moyra would be able to rise; (b) least 1863); pacifist, pacificist (obs.); separ- With a clause introduced by that exatist, separationist (obs.); voluntarist, volun- pressed or understood (esp. frequent taryist (obs.). Note. Tobacconist is an irregularwith the passive voice in it is said, believed, late-i6c. formation from tobacco + -ist etc., that): It was said that it was a matter of attitude; Wasn't it true that we didn't hit with insertion of an unetymological -n-. it off at first? When such a that-clause is introduced by it is appropriate, crucial, isthmus /'ismas/. The pi. is isthmuses. essential, etc., the that-clause has a should construction or a verb in the subjunctive: it. it is crucial that you (should) be home by four. I 1 Customary uses. 2 it used to highlight a sentence element. 4 Pleonastic it. In ballads and in rhet3 Anticipatory it. orical passages of prose it has tradi4 Pleonastic it. tionally been used pleonastically after a 5 it as a 'prop' in statements of time, etc. noun subject: The raine it raineth euery I 6 if s l/lt's me. day—Shakespeare, 1601; This piteous news This article aims to record some of the so much it shocked her—Wordsworth, 1798. central uses of the pronoun it on the Outside the higher forms of literature assumption that they are mostly 'known' this type (e.g. The bird itflappedits wings
421 andflewoff) is now non-standard or dialectal.
Italian sounds | itch sc before e and i = /J"/: Fascisti 'Fascists' sch = /sk/: scherzo sci before a, 0, u, normally = /J/: sciolto 'loose' z = /ts/: scherzo zz normally = /ts/: pizzicato zz occas. = /dz/: mezzo
5 It as a 'prop' in statements of time. It is especially common in statements as to the time of day, season of the year, distance to or from a place, the state of the weather, and so on: It was morning. italics. These are a style of sloping type, Outside, it was cold and sunny; it's three miles from Abingdon. This impersonal use of it like this, indicated in handwritten or typewritten matter by a single underlinis sometimes called a 'prop it'. ing. Italic type is conventionally used in 6 It's 1/ It's me. For the competing types English in a wide range of circumIt's I and It's me, see CASES 2. stances, a reasonably full account of It should perhaps be noted that the which is set down in Hart's Rules, pp, majority of the examples in this article 23-8. The more important types are as have been taken for convenience from follows: Simon Mason's novel The Great English Book titles: David Copperfield, To the Nude (1990) and from 1992 issues of The Lighthouse. New Yorker, but they could have been Play and film titles: Hamlet, Gone with the drawn from almost any other standard Wind. source. Works of art: Leonardo da Vinci's last Supper, Picasso's Guernica. Italian sounds. Loanwords from Italian Long poems which are virtually books in fall into the usual three broad categories: themselves: The Faerie Queene, Paradise those still pronounced to resemble the Lost, and any other poems divided into original Italian (pizzicato, scherzo), those books or cantos. sometimes pronounced in a largely Names of periodicals, newspapers, etc.: Anglicized manner (intaglio, intermezzo), London Review of Books, Dsedalus. and those that are fully acclimatized Names of ships (preceded by 'the' in (umbrella, volcano). English speakers norroman type): the King George V, the Ark mally recognize that the vowels of words Royal, HMS Dreadnought. in the first and second categories are to Stage directions in plays: Exeunt Don Pedro, be pronounced in a 'continental' (i.e. Don Iohn, and Claudio. tense, not lax or diphthongal) manner. Foreign words and phrases which are not There is rather less public knowledge of fully naturalized in English: amour the consonantal sounds of Italian where propre, jeu d'esprit, ne plus ultra, these differ from English consonantal Weltanschauung. sounds. Phoneticians can detect subtle Words, phrases, or letters mentioned by differences of aspiration, voicedness, name: "The word loyally has three Is; the and so on, between the way in which sentence adverb frankly is the Italian and English speakers pronounce equivalent of the phrase to be frank.' b, d,f, g, etc., but these need not concern As a method of emphasizing (a device to us here. The consonants that cause diffibe used sparingly): 'Oh come now, it culty are as follows (the IPA symbols can't be that bad.' represent the standard Italian pronunciAs a method of distinguishing: 'The ations): question is not whether indexing can c and cc before e and i = /tj"/: cicerone, be automated but whether and why it Cinzano, arancia 'orange', capriccio should be.' cch = /k/: Ponte Vecchio Note: Fowler's elegant essay on the subch = /k/: Chianti ject in MELT (1926) may also be found in ci before a, 0, « normally = /tj"/: ciao!, SPE Tract xxii (1925). cioccolata g and gg before e and i = /d3/: generalissimo, itch (verb). 1 Used transitively in the sense 'to cause to itch', itch is recorded viaggio 'journey' gh = /g/: ghetto from the 16c. onward in all manner of gi before a, 0, u normally = /d3/: Giotto, writing, but in BrE it is showing signs Giovanni of becoming restricted to informal congl = /lj/: seraglio texts. It seems to be still standard in gn = /nj/: bagno 'bath', signor, gnocchi AmE. Examples all, as it happens, from gu = /gw/: Guelph standard sources: The thick super-salty
-ite I -ize, -ise in verbs
422
water of the Mediterranean, which tires andopted for baptiser, and a large proportion itches the naked eye—Roy Campbell, 1951; of English writers and publishers have The dice already itch me in my pocket—L. followed suit by writing the word as MacNeice, 1951; I heard those [fruit] flies baptise; similarly with hundreds of other are coming to hide under your bed tonight—toformations of this type. In Britain the Oxford University Press (and, until reitch you!—New Yorker, 1990; the stone seat, whose grittiness pressed through his trousers, cently, The Times) presents all such words with the termination spelt -ize. So do itching his thighs—A. Huth, 1991. 2 A more down-market use (restricted all American writers and publishers. It to AmE?) is the sense 'to scratch (an itchy should be noted, however, that many part of the body)', as in: Don't itch your leg. publishing houses in Britain, including Cambridge University Press, now use -ise You can't do that on stage—Chicago Tribune, in the relevant words. The matter re1991. mains delicately balanced but unre-ite. As an ending of adjs it is derived solved. The primary rule is that all words esp. from L pa.pples in -ïtus, -itus, e.g. of the type authorize/authorise, civilize/civilërudïtus 'erudite', compositus 'composite'. ise, legalize/legalise may legitimately be The length of the i in Latin has long spelt with either -ize or -ise throughout ceased to have any bearing on the way the English-speaking world except in in which the English derivatives are pro- America, where -ize is compulsory. nounced. The short i in apposite and op3 Status of such verbs. Quite apart from posite follows the Latin; that in definite the problem of the spelling of the does not. The long i in bipartite and erudite termination is the widespread current follows the Latin; that in recondite does belief that new formations of this kind not. Composite (short i in Latin) has /i/ in are crude, overused, or unnecessary. RP but /ai/ in some regional forms of ('Within reason it [sc. the formation of English. The separate suffix -ite (origin- new verbs in -ize] is a useful and unexcepally from Gk -txn?) seen in anthracite, tionable device, but it is now being emdynamite, Jacobite, etc., always has /art/ in ployed with a freedom beyond reason', English. Gowers 1965.) Objections to the word its, it's. Just a reminder that its is the FINALIZE, and to such words as permanentpossessive form of it (the cat licked its paws) ize (first recorded in 1961 and judged by and that it's is a shortened form of it is myself in OEDS, 1982, to be 'a word of (It's raining again) or it has (It's come). Seelittle value and rarely found in serious writing') and prioritize (first recorded in rr 1. 1973 and described by me in 1982 as 'a word that at present sits uneasily in the -ity. See -ION AND -NESS; -ISM AND -ITY. language') are to be set against the long -ize, -ise in verbs. 1 it is important history and distinctive usefulness of first to put aside the verbs which must such formations in English. The earliest always be spelt with -ise: advertise, advise, verb in -ize is baptize: it was first recorded etc. A list of these is provided s.v. -ISE 1. in English in the late 13c. Since then a The AmE spelling of analyse, catalyse, etc., very large number of uncontested -ize as analyze, catalyze, etc., is also a separate and -ization words have entered the lanmatter: see -YSE, -YZE. guage and are indispensable: e.g. author2 Spelling. In the vast majority of the ize (first recorded in the 14c), characterize verbs that may in English be written (16c), civilize (17c), fossilize (18c), immoreither with -ize or -ise and are pronounced talize (16c), memorize (16c), patronize with /-aiz/ the ultimate source is the (16c), sterilize (17c), terrorize (19c). There is always the danger of forming Greek infinitival ending -iÇeiv (L -izâre), whether the particular verb was an ac- misleading impressions about such tual Greek one or was a Latin or French verbs. For several years I have taken to or English imitation, and whether such making a note of what I felt were probimitation was made by adding the term- ably new or unrecorded formations in ination to a Greek or another stem. A -ization and -ize. They have been drawn key word showing the line of descent is from a wide range of written and spoken baptize, which answers to Gk ParcxCCeiv BrE and AmE sources. For example, at a and L baptïzâre. But the French have conversazione of the English Association
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-ize, -ise in verbs | -ize, -ise in verbs
in June 1991 Iris Murdoch spoke of writers As a further experiment I examined who invisibleized a [specified] problem. In The Oxford Dictionary of New Words: A Pop1987 a columnist in Newsweek carried a ular Guide to Words in the News (1991). It story of an unmarried pregnant woman who lists only nine words in -ization or -ize: said that she should have had her lover debrezhnevization, decommunize, democrat'condomized'. The exercise has been in- ization, dynamize/ -ization, in vitro fertilizstructive. It turned out that about a ation, marginalize/-ization, visualization. In quarter of the words I noted already had other words only a minute proportion entries in the OED: e.g. civilianization (first of the 2,000 words presented ended in recorded in 1946), funeralize (marked -ization or -ize, and of these six {democratObsr1, 1654), strategize (1943)» weaponiza- ization, dynamizef-ization, fertilization, martion (1969). In other words a proportion ginalize, visualization) are 19c. words of the words that I felt to be possible being used in new senses. Any feeling intruders already had a respectable that the language is being swamped by amount of currency (except for funeralize) new formations in -ization and -ize does and have entries in our largest dictionary. Other words in my files perhaps not appear to be supported by the will have less permanent value: e.g. (in facts. -ization) marketization, peripheralization, se- Verdict. The language has a large numcuritization; (in -ize) couponize, disasterize,ber of established words ending in incentivize, keyboardize, marketize, minorit--ization and -ize, but the arrival of new ize, nuggetize. But who is to tell? Incentivize words of this type continues at a rate and marketization are listed in the Long- that, rightly or wrongly, makes many man Register of New Words (1990) and the fastidious users of the language uneasy. others may follow. One must be careful Some of the 20c. newcomers will drop not to give the thumbs down to words by the wayside. Others will survive into simply because one has not encountered the 21c. and beyond. The creasing of brows about them will continue. them before.
li
jabot. Pronounce /'3aebau/.
English as being unintelligible, restricted in currency, inarticulate, or unjackal. Pronounce either /'d3aeko:l/ or familiar. It is perhaps the most suitable /'d3aekal/. heading for an article describing the main distinctions between them. The jacket. Retain single t in the extended words are argot, cant, dialect, gibberish, forms jacketed, jacketing. See -T-, -TT-. idiom, jargon, lingo, lingua franca, parlance, Jacobean, Jacobin, Jacobite. These ad- patois, shop, slang, and vernacular. jectival and nominal forms, ult. from L 2 It may be best, first, to consider the Jacobus 'James', have been used as so- etymology of each of these terms before briquets of several different groups of assigning meanings to them. The brackpeople or things. Jacobean is used as adj. eted dates indicate the centuries in and noun with reference to the reign which the various words were first re(1603-25) or times of James I of England, corded. Argot (19c), jargon (14c; as a peand, in particular, to an architectural jorative term 17c), parlance (16c), and style which prevailed in England in the patois (17c.) are French; dialect (16c.) and early part of the 17c. The commonest idiom (16c.) are immediately from use of Jacobins (the name earlier given in French, but ultimately from Greek (8idFrance to Dominican friars) is for the XSKTO? 'discourse, way of speaking'; 'langroup of revolutionaries formed in Paris guage of a district'; i8icop.a 'peculiar in 1789 (who used to meet in what was phraseology'); cant (16c.) and vernacular once a Dominican convent). The com- (17c.) are from Latin (cf. L cantâre 'to monest use of Jacobites is for adherents sing'; vernâculus 'domestic, indigenous', of James II of England after his abdica- from verna 'home-born slave'); lingo (17c.) tion in 1688, or of his son the Pretender. is probably from Portuguese lingoa but Jacobites is also sometimes used by writ- may be a corrupt form of lingua {franca); ers for devotees of the works of Henry lingua franca (17c.) is Italian and means James (1843-1916). 'Frankish tongue'; gibberish (16c), shop (this sense 19c), and slang (18c.) are Engjaggedly. Three syllables. See -EDLY. lish, the first from the verb meaning 'to jail, jailer, etc. OUP house style requires chatter incoherently' + the ending -ish gaol, gaoler, etc., but the jail-forms are of English, Scottish, Danish, etc., the second extremely common in BrE and obligat- a particular application of the ordinary word shop, and the third of unknown ory in AmE. origin. jamb (side-post of doorway, etc.). Pro3 The thirteen words and their presnounce /d3aem/ to rhyme with lamb. ent-day meanings: argot, the peculiar phraseology of a group or class, originjanizary, rather than janissary, is the ally that of thieves and rogues. It is form given precedence in COD 1995. properly applied only to such groups in Jap, a colloquial shortening of Japanese. France. CANT: see as a main entry. As noun and adj. the word has had strong DIALECT: see as a main entry. derogatory connotations since the begingibberish: variously, unintelligible ning of the 20C, and is now falling into relative disuse in favour of the full form speech belonging to no known language; inarticulate chatter; blundering or unJapanese. grammatical language. jargon. 1 Over the centuries this word IDIOM: a fixed phrase established by has been used in a number of ways, usage and having a meaning not deducall connected with types of speech or ible from those of the individual words writing rejected from normal standard in the expression, e.g. to keep a straight
425 face; to sow one's wild oats. See also as a main entry. jargon has several meanings: the inarticulate utterance of birds; a term of contempt for something (including a foreign language) that the listener does not understand; and esp. any mode of speech abounding in unfamiliar terms, or peculiar to a particular set of persons, e.g. the specialized vocabulary of bureaucrats, scientists, or sociologists. See 4 below. lingo: a contemptuous designation for foreign speech or language (I can't speak their beastly lingo); also, for language peculiar to some special subject and not intelligible to the listener or reader. lingua franca: (a) a language adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different, e.g. Latin in medieval Europe, Arabic in the Near East, Malay in South-East Asia, English in many parts of the world, (b) earlier, and now only in historical contexts, a mixture of Italian with French, Greek, Arabic, and Spanish, used in the Levant. See CRÉOLE; PIDGIN.
parlance: a particular way of speaking, esp. as regards choice of words, idiom, etc. Though originally from French, the word is no longer current in modern French. In practice, parlance must always be accompanied by a defining word or phrase, e.g. in racing parlance, in the parlance of post-modernists, in common parlance. patois: the dialect of the ordinary people in a region, differing fundamentally from the literary language. It is not used of any form of speech in Britain, and is more or less restricted to designate popular modes of speech in France. shop: occurs chiefly in the phr. to talk shop, to talk about one's work or business out of working hours. SLANG: see as a main entry. See also BACKSLANG; RHYMING SLANG.
vernacular: the indigenous language of a particular country {Latin gave way to the local vernaculars in France, Italy, Spain, etc.). It is also sometimes applied to ordinary, as distinct from formal or literary, English. In America, Black English, a mode of speech widespread among black speakers, is now often called Black English Vernacular (BEV). 4 The use and misuse of jargon, (a) No one has any quarrel with the use of jargon to mean 'the inarticulate utterance of
jargon birds', esp. since it occurs mainly in literary sources from Chaucer to Longfellow. (b) Nor do arguments break out when the term is applied, as, since the 1 7 c , it often has been, to hybrid speech arising from a mixture of languages (e.g. A mingled dialect, like the jargon which serves the traffickers on the Mediterranean and Indian coasts—Dr Johnson, 1755)(c) Academic jargon. It is generally accepted that writers of technical and scientific works and authors of other kinds of scholarly monographs are entitled to expect their readers to master the specialized terminology of their subjects. Scholarship has its own intricate rules and conventions, and user manuals theirs. In the passages that follow each of the writers doubtless hopes that what he has written will be understood, even though none of the passages is written in 'plain English'. (The kind of'Eurospeak' used at international linguistic conferences) As an example of a common development in both genetically and areally closely related languages one could take the grammaticalisation of embraciation in declarative sentences in German, Dutch and Frisian... (A. Danchev, 1991). (The language of computer user manuals) When the SET FORMAT TO SCREEN has been issued, an ERASE will clear the screen of all information that was previously on it, will release all the GETS... and will reset the coordinates to 0,0. When the SET FORMAT TO PRINT has been issued, an EJECT will do a page feed and reset the coordinates to 0,0 (DBASE II User Manual, 1985). (Semiotics) Moreover, nearly all the non-verbal signs usually rely on more than one parameter, a pointing finger has to be described by means of three-dimensional spatial parameters, vectorial or directional elements, and so on (U. Eco, 1976). (Literary criticism) This view of the text ... has been seriously challenged in recent years, mainly by structuralist and semiological schools of criticism. According to these, the text has no within, beneath or behind where hidden meanings might be secreted. Attention is instead focused exclusively on the processes and structures of the text and on the ways in which these produce meanings, positions of intelligibility for the reader or the specific effects of realism, defamiliarisation or whatever (T. Bennett, 1982). (Philosophy) he suggests that someone with my realist views about the qualitative properties
jargon of experience ought to allow for the possibility of inverted spectra, thus pulling apart content and qualia. I think myself, in opposition to this, that inverted spectrum cases are precisely cases in which representational content is changed, so that it fits qualitative character . . . (C. McGinn, 1991). But many scholars are dismayed by the employment of obscure terminology in academic writing. Thus, for example, the distinguished American philosopher John R. Searle (in Bull. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci., 1993): 'There is supposed to be a major debate . . . going on at present concerning a crisis in the universities— specifically, a crisis in the teaching of the humanities . . . Though the arguments are ostensibly about Western civilization itself, they are couched in a strange jargon that includes not only multiculturalism but also such terms as the canon, political correctness, ethnicity, af' firmative action, and even more rébarbative expressions such as hegemony, empowerment, poststructuralism, deconstruc' tion, and patriarchalism.' We have been (justifiably) warned. (d) Repetitive jargon is a feature of live commentaries on sports and games: e.g. (Rugby football) players left on the deck; hoisting one deep into Scotland's territory; the little chip and chase; (Association football) sick as a parrot; over the moon; take each match as it comes; that's what football is all about; (Snooker) the jaws of the pocket; get his cue arm going; the rub of the green; he failed to develop the black. For some people, the sheer familiarity and predictability of such language add to the pleasure of the occasion. Others crave for more flexibility. At worst the linguistic sin of the playing field and the games room provides amusement for sophisticated couch potatoes. (e) A steep downward path leads to the often mystifying jargon of various kinds of sociological writing. It is bearable (just) when Colin Renfrew, a distinguished archaeologist, calls the driving out of a people from their normal territory a constrained population displacement. A people fleeing in terror from an enemy (like the Kurds in Iraq in 1991) suffer this fate, and a card-index entry for the event can be made under a 'neutral' three-element heading. The Holroyds in Cyra McFadden's The Serial (1977) present
426 us with what has been called psychobabble—rosy enriched spontaneous pseudocomfortable language reflecting the intricacies of their lives in an idyllic landscape known as Marin County in California (Marin's this high-energy trip with all those happening people; Harvey and I are going through this dynamic right now, and it's kinda where I'm at. I haven't got a lot of psychic energy left over for social interaction.). (/) Worst of all is the kind of jargon employed as an obfuscating technique in bureaucratic and political contexts. One of its most distinguished critics, Sir Ernest Gowers, attacked it relentlessly in his book Plain Words (1948) and in the expanded version called The Complete Plain Words (1954). Everyone must be aware of the danger by now. The latest version of the book (ed. S. Greenbaum and J. Whitcut, 1986) sets down and analyses numerous passages of 'flat, tired, perfunctory, inconsiderate writing', of work that is 'verbose and stilted' or 'ambiguous', and so on. Every kind of pomposity and inelegance is surveyed, analysed, and 'translated'. Civil servants, politicians, lawyers, diplomats—indeed, anyone who has to address the general public in some official or business capacity—should have the latest version of the book at hand. Genuine communication in such areas of life has never been more important than in our inflammatory and dangerous times. A typical example of immoderately obscure bureaucratic language is cited by the pseudonymous writer Theodore Dalrymple in a 1991 issue of The Spectator. 'Last week I received a circular entitled Joint Care Planning to J.C.C.G.P.T. by Task Group for C.M.H.T.'s... For a reason which I now cannot recall, I opened this 20page circular, of which someone was evidently very proud because it came in its own black folder. My eye fell on a section entitled Service Sensitivity to Particular Groups. Paraphrase will not do it justice, so I must quote in extenso. "Equal opportunities are not easily achieved. To have a policy and a strategy are insufficient. There has to be an internalisation of its fundamental philosophy which does not mean 'everyone is equal. I treat people the same whatever'. It is, however, to do with the differences between people, the uniqueness of each person. In terms of service delivery it is within
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jarl I jeu d'esprit
CMHTs that greater expression should be able to be given to the philosophy of equal opportunities in that by focusing on a given area with the benefit of a multi skill group together with users of the service a very clear strategy can be drawn up within the operation policy of each team that will lead not to a bland overall response to need but one that is tailored to and by the individual and community. In recruitment, selection and retention of staff, statutory and voluntary organisations need to continue to address the issue of achieving a shared understanding of what equal opportunities actually means and how it is to be put into practice." Insofar as this passage means anything—beyond its menacingly imperative tone—it means that you can't expect blacks to be the equal of whites, so they must be given jobs which, strictly speaking, they don't really deserve.' One's heart goes out to Theodore Dalrymple and other hapless recipients of such bureaucratic opacity.
concrete things, land, water, food, etc.) thin, meagre, unsatisfying'; and, more or less simultaneously, 'unsatisfying to the mind, dull, insipid, etc.: said of thought, feeling, action, etc., and esp. of speech or writing' (OED). Towards the end of the 19c, by a somewhat surprising association of ideas, jejune acquired the sense 'puerile, childish, naïve' as if it were connected with L juvenis 'a young person' or Fr. jeune 'young', or so some authorities say. The OED lists examples of the new use from 1898 onward, including the following: Is anybody ... now so jejune as not to realise that the state ownership of the deadweight of present nationalised industries must prevent Labour governments from being able to follow... their social policies?—Economist, 1975; Mother seemed jejune, at times, with her enthusiasms and her sense of mission-M. Howard, 1982. WDEU cites further examples of the new use from H. L. Mencken (1920) and from various journalistic sources. On the other hand, in a well-known essay in The State of the jarl. Pronounce /ja:l/, with the initial Language (1980), Kingsley Amis, railed sound of yew. against the use ('my favourite solecism jasmine. The three-syllabled by-form of all time'). It seems unlikely that Fr. jessamine /'dsesamm/ was common in lit- jeune or L juvenis had anything to do erary use in the 19c. (and earlier): Ana with the matter. A semantic shift from the jessamine faint, and the sweet tuberose— 'unsatisfying, insipid' to 'puerile' is not Shelley, 1820; All night has the casement intrinsically improbable in a word that jessamine stirr'd—Tennyson, 1855. But jas- is in any case rather rare. Nevertheless, mine (first recorded in Lyte, 1578) con- I do not feel comfortable with the new tinues to be the normal term in botanical sense myself, and there are numerous synonyms of puerile (childish, infantile, juvparlance. enile, etc.) that can be used instead. In jaundice, jaunt, jaunty. The îgc.-early the circumstances, those who wish to 20c. variant pronunciation of the stem use the word at all are advised to use it vowel as /a:/ seems to have been given in its traditional senses, at least for the up by standard speakers at some point present. in the first half of the 20c. The only current pronunciations are /'d3o:ndis/, jerrymander. See GERRYMANDER. /d3o:nt/, and /'d3o:nti/. Cf. LAUNCH. jessamine. See JASMINE. jazz. See-z-, -zz-. jehad. See JIHAD.
jejune. 1 Now usu. pronounced /d3i'd5u:n/, with short first vowel, and stressed on the second syllable. Fowler (1926) commented 'now je jOon [i.e. /'d3i:d3u:n/] by recessive accent', but his view has been overtaken by events. 2 Derived from L jëjûnus 'fasting', the word first (17-18c.) meant 'without food' in English; then, in transferred use, '(of
jetsam. See FLOTSAM AND JETSAM.
jettison. In maritime law (since the 15c.) it means 'the action of throwing goods overboard, esp. in order to lighten a ship in distress'. Since the 19c. it (and also the corresponding verb) has been used of the action of throwing out or discarding any unwanted object (or idea, etc.). jeu d'esprit. PI. jeux d'esprit, with the x left silent. See -x.
Jew I jollity, jolly Jew (and related words). 1 A Jew is a person of Hebrew descent or one whose religion is Judaism. Jewish people live in many countries in the world. Citizens of modern Israel, many of whom are not Jewish, are called Israelis. The biblical Israelites were descendants of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob, whose alternative name was 'Israel'. The ancient language of the Israelites was Hebrew, which was spoken and written in ancient Palestine for more than 1,000 years. By C500 BC it had come greatly under the influence of Aramaic, which largely replaced it as a spoken language of the Jewish people. It was revived as a spoken language in the 19c, with the modern form having its roots in the ancient language but drawing words from the vocabularies of European languages, and is now the official language of the State of Israel (Oxford Reference Diet., 1986).
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Jewess. The late Marghanita Laski, novelist and broadcaster, told me round about 1970 that it was not acceptable for me to call her a Jewess, but that Jewish people were entitled to use the term among themselves. This habit of claiming exclusive rights to the use of particular words and denying them to outsiders is one of the paradoxes of the 20c. The word Jewess has in fact been in continuous use since the 14c, and, until the 2oc, seems to have had no adverse connotations. The new state of the word is implied in the following example: The antiquated language is even sharpened by a reference to an Ashley daughter-in-law as a Jewess'—A. Hollander, 1990. See NEGRESS. jibe. See GIBE; GYBE.
jihad /d3i'ha:d/. Now the normal spelling in English, rather than jehad, for this Arabic word meaning 'a holy war undertaken by Muslims against unbelievers in Islam'.
2 Since the 17c. the word Jew has sometimes been offensively applied to persons considered to be parsimonious or to drive hard bargains in trading. jingles. Fowler's term for 'the uninten'The stereotype, which is now deeply tional repetition of the same word or offensive, arose from historical associ- similar sounds'. His examples include: ations of Jews as moneylenders in medi- The sport of the air is still far from free from eval England' (COD, 1990). The verb jew danger; Mr Leon Dominian has amassed for (or jew down) has also been recorded in us a valuable mass of statistics; Most of use since the early 19c. to mean 'to cheat them get rid of them more or less completely; or overreach, in the way attributed to I awaited a belated train; Hard-working folk Jewish traders or usurers; to drive a hard should participate in the pleasures of leisure bargain'. The need for the abandonment in goodly measure. Such jingles in the of such unenlightened language is obvi- spoken language are likely to be lightous to all well-meaning people, and it is heartedly commented on (e.g. You're a to be hoped that the 21c. will see these poet but don't know it). In the written uses drop out altogether. An account of word, a second reading of the text at the controversial history of the word, as drafting stage, or a reading by an indenoun and as verb, may be found in my pendent person, normally ensures that book Unlocking the English Language (1989)- such stylistic blemishes are noticed and removed before it is too late. 3 The normal adj. is Jewish. The simplex Jew used attributively or as an adj. jingo (a supporter of any policy involv(e.g. Jew boy, girl, pedlar, etc.) is now only ing war). PI. jingoes. See -O(E)S 1. used offensively, though it was not orijinnee /'d3mi:/, 'a spirit in Muslim mythginally opprobrious (see the OED). ology, not djinn, ginn; pi. jinn, often used jewel. The inflected forms are jewelled, as singular' (Oxford Writers' Diet., 1990). jewelling, and jeweller (in AmE usu. with -I-). See -LL-, -L-.
jewellery. Pronounce /'d3u:aln/. The pronunciation /'dsuiten/, with the last two syllables pronounced as in foolery, is vulgar. The spelling jewelry is sometimes used in BrE, and is the usual form in AmE.
jiu-jitSU. See JU-JITSU.
jockey. PI. jockeys. jockey (verb). Inflected forms are jockeyed, jockeying, jockeys. jollity, jolly (advs.). As a colloquial substitute for very (a jolly good hiding; you
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jonquil | judicial, judicious
know jolly well) the adverb is jolly; in other pronunciation has now entirely supuses (he smiled jollily enough) it is jollily, planted the older /d3u:st/ in BrE. or, if this is felt to be too clumsy, in a jubilate (or J-) (noun), the hundredth jolly (enough) way. See -LILY. psalm; a call to rejoice. Pronounced (in jonquil /'d3Brjkwil/. The older pronunci- an Anglicized manner) /d3u:bi'lerti/ or (in ation /'d3Arjkwil/, favoured by the OED (in a Latinate manner) /ju:bi'la:tei/. 1901), is now obsolete. judgematic. See FACETIOUS FORMATIONS.
journalese. It is sad... tofind[him] guilty ofsuch journalese as 'transpired'—Athenseum,judgement. In BrE the more or less 1893. For more than a century the word prevailing spelling is judgement (but judgjournalese has been used to describe the ment in legal works), whereas in AmE more hackneyed or 'racy' language asso- judgment is the dominant form in all ciated with newspaper writing, and esp. contexts. The presence or absence of -ewith the kind of colourful language used is not a matter of correctness or the in the tabloids. The following examples reverse, but just one of convention in of standard and virtually unnoticed various publishing houses. journalistic words and formulas are taken from a single 1991 issue of The judging by, judging from, used in the Times: a sharp rise in retail prices; Major'ssense 'if we are to judge by', are now initiative heralds drive for quality and widerused at the head of a subordinate clause choice; the cabinet big spenders [ = the cab- loosely connected to a preceding or folinet ministers responsible for the largest lowing main clause. The examples that sectors of public expenditure]; a North follow happen to be from American Korean woman terrorist... stands to earn newspapers of 1988, but could as easily $1.37 million in royalties [from the sale of have turned up in British ones: (judging a book], (headlines presented in the style by) Judging by what happened Monday, only of speech in a novel) Problems self-inflicted, the courts can now block the dodge engineered says Kinnock; Cut arms research, say Lib Dems. by politicians; the use of facsimile machines (frequent use of the present tense in ...is the fastest-growing transmission system, headlines) Britain protests at American judging by the number offax messages comveto; Shamir takes a tentative step towardsing across this desk; (judging from) Judging peace talks, (frequent use of the infinitive from the review of the first performance ... with future time reference in headlines) Wednesday, Solti's account of the Mozart Fifth PLO to stay out of talks; Press to publish Violin Concerto with Michael Ludwig had school leagues; (but not always) Late trains considerably more pizzazz than what was will entitle passengers to refund. heard the evening before; Judging from the two hours available for previewing, one kind journey. PI. journeys. of propaganda is substituted for another. The danger is that these will be perceived by jOUSt. 1 Spelling. The historical spelling some as UNATTACHED PARTICIPLES. If the for this word from the 13c. to about threat seems real, fall back on if we are 1800 was predominantlyjust: it is derived to judge by. from OF juster from late L iuxtâre 'to approach, come together' (cf. L iuxtâ judicial, judicious. The first has to 'near together'). Cf. the cognate word do with judges, law courts, and legal adjust. Nevertheless most early English judgements, whereas judicious, in most dictionaries (including Johnson's, 1755) of its uses, means simply 'sound in dislisted both forms, while Walter Scott and cernment and judgement, sensible, some other 19c. authors preferred joust. prudent'. A judicial inquiry is one that is The only current spelling is joust. conducted by properly qualified legal 2 Pronunciation. When written as just the word seems to have been pronounced /d3Ast/ in the 19c. For the form joust the standard pronunciation (as given by Daniel Jones) in 1917 was /d3u:st/. By 1932 A. Lloyd James (Broadcast English) recommended /d3aust/, and this
officers; a judicial separation is a separation of a man and his wife by the decision of a court. In Scotland a judicial factor is an official receiver. By contrast, judicious is usu. found in such sentences as these: They made judicious use of the time available; a judicious plan of action; a tale should be
ju-jitsu I just
430
judicious, clear, succinct. Examples: (judi- sudden junctures, the present critical juncture cial) Administrative and judicial authority of things; and especially, since the later still rested with the gentlemen justices of the part of the 19c, at this juncture). Examples: Peace, chosen from among the landowners—How idiotic to start an illness at this juncture G. M. Trevelyan, 1946; The creation ofjudi- when she would get small help—H. Green, cial tribunals ...has probably been acceler- 1948; The United States came to Vietnam a ated since the war—Conveyancer, 1962; Thea critical juncture of Vietnamese history-F. principle of hierarchy of law generally (but Fitzgerald, 1972; At this juncture, the opposnot always) leads to the possibility ofjudicialing demands of two distinct worlds were review of ordinary legislation, (judicious) visited upon her—C. G. Wolff, 1977; Liz Popularity had been cheaply purchased by thehoped that at this juncture Shirley would go judicious distribution of dried apricots and to bed—M. Drabble, 1987; The last thing she jelly cubes-M. Drabble, 1967; The Lalpûkur wanted at this juncture was to be under an school had always believed in a judicious obligation to Wilcox—D. Lodge, 1988. mixture of practical and theoretical knowledge—A. Ghosh, 1986; (judicial incor- junta. This Spanish loanword is best rectly for judicious) Many a country now anglicized as /'d3Anta/, though the gentleman restored his depleted fortunes by pronunciation with initial /'hu-/ is often a judicial alliance, marrying no doubt for heard in BrE and is more or less standard love but prudently falling in love where moneyin AmE. The erroneous form junto, once was—C. Chenevix Trench, 1973. Overlap common, is now obsolete. of meaning can legitimately occur in jurist. 'In England, this word is reserved contexts where a judge is deemed to for those having made outstanding conhave made not merely a judicial decision tributions to legal thought and legal (i.e. one in accordance with the law) but literature. In the U.S., it is rather loosely a judicious one, i.e. one that is wise and applied to every judge of whatever level, discerning when all factors, including and sometimes even to nonscholarly legal, social, and political ones, have practitioners who are well respected ... been taken into account. But the 1973 The most common error in the U.S. is to example (above) is beyond the pale. suppose that jurist is merely an equivajll-jitSU. Now the regular spelling in English (formerly also jiu-jitsu and jujutsu). The word is a 19c. loanword from Jap. jujutsu (pronounced /d3ud3itsu/, from jû (Chinese jeu 'soft, yielding') +jutsu (Chinese shu, shut 'science').
lent of judge: "We find no constitutional question concerning the validity of Charles Milton's conviction and sentence of death about which reasonable jurists [read judges] could differ,"' (Garner, 1987).
juror. A member of a jury is a juror. A male and a female juror are sometimes respectively called a juryman and a juryjump (verb). The phr. jump to the eye(s) woman. 'to be obvious or prominent' is a Gallicism (cf. Fr. sauter aux yeux), and, ac- just (verb and noun). See JOUST. cording to the OED, Fowler (1926) was the first to notice this. Examples: the just (adv.). 1 Normal uses of this comBanquo scene in 'Macbeth'—a scene whichmon adv. include the following: = jumps to the eye—was overlooked—G. Good-exactly (just what I need, that's just right); win, 1929; Things jump to the eyes of the = a little time ago (I have just seen him reader of this passage which have yet been getting into a car); colloq. = simply, merely (we are just good friends not lovers; it ignored—M. D. George, 1931. just doesn't make sense); = barely, no more junction, juncture. A junction is a point than (he just managed to reach the airport at which two or more things are joined, in time; just a minute); colloq. = positively esp. a place where two or more railway (it is just splendid); = quite (not just yet); lines or roads meet, unite, or cross (COD, colloq. = really, indeed (won't J just tell 1990). A juncture is a critical point of him!); (in questions, seeking precise intime, a convergence of events: since the formation) (just how did you manage?). All 17c. it has always been a popular word this (slightly adapted) from COD (1990). (at this juncture of time, different junctures, All these uses are current in the main jumbo. PL jumbos.
431
juvenile | juvenile
it's just that) Not that it mattered, just a English-speaking countries. The last of them (just in questions) was originally fellow liked to know—K. Amis, 1988; I don't American (where it was first recorded in know why I'm telling you all this really. Just 1884) but has now come into general use I wouldn't want to see you do something you (One wonders just how biased a view we might regret—P. Lively, 1991; (just now = a develop of the human ecology of tropical short time ago) What was it you were saying just now, child?—E. Jolley, 1985; (just now = Africa-TLS, 1974). at present; the positive use is charac 2 It is important to distinguish not just from just not: (not just = not only) it teristically Scottish.) let's talk about them was not just her that I disliked but all the sometime. Not just now—P. Lively, 1987; But people at the party; (just not = simply not) it's not just me; it's the whole of Scotland just They are childish, they have just not grownnow—M. Gray, 1989; (just now = very soon, in a little while, a SAfr. use) Would you up. mind switching off the light after you lock 3 Examples of some other common up?' The men on cell duty will do that just uses, with comments on distribution, now.'—A. Sachs, 1966. linguistic level, etc.: (used as emphasizer) Not very polite just to run into a lady's place juvenile. The word, normally meaning and run out again—Roger Hall, 1978 (NZ); a young person under an age (often 17) ( = only) he said there was blood everywhere,specified by law, is used neutrally in such and not just blood—A. Munro, 1987; ( = phrases as juvenile court, juvenile delinsimply) this will just work the stain deeper quency, a juvenile part (in a play); but into the skin and allow it to 'set'—New Yorker, derogatorily in such contexts as he's be1987; (a semi-conjunctional colloq. use = having in a very juvenile way. Cf. TEENAGER.
Kk kadi. See CADI.
Kaffir. Historically (and with no derogatory connotations), a member of the Xhosa-speaking peoples of S. Africa; also, the language of these peoples. Since about the middle of the 20c. it has come to be accepted that it is grossly offensive to use the word as a descriptive term for any black person. It is now an actionable offence in S. Africa to do so. Kaiser. A term in almost daily use while H. W. Fowler was preparing MEU: HWF therefore commented on its pronunciation. It is now a fast-fading term, except in historical contexts concerning the Holy Roman Empire, etc. Whether the term is used of the head of ancient empires or in the name Kaiser Bill (Kaiser Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany 18881918), the word is pronounced /'kaiza/.
kaolin, a fine soft white clay. Pronounce /'keialm/.
karat, AmE variant of carat (a measure of the purity of gold). kartell. See CARTEL.
kedgeree /'kedsan, -i:/, now the usual spelling of a word spelt in many different ways (kidgeree, khichri, etc.) since it was first recorded in English in the 17c. It is a loanword from Hindi. keelson /'kklsan/, a line of timber fastening a ship's floor-timbers to its keel. Now the preferred spelling and pronunciation {COD, 1995), not kelson /'kelsan/.
keep (verb). Used as a transitive verb, keep + object + from + -ing is normal English and means 'prevent from something': Jimmie ... was glad that distance and duty kept Mr Neville from visiting him kale, kail. Etymologically, these are more than twice-T. Keneally, 1972; His Scottish and northern-counties variants hands held flat over his ears as if to keep of the southern word cole, a general name his whole head from flying apart—M. Amis, for various species of brassica, esp. of 1978; I'd been wearing the old sunglasses all the curly variety, including colewort, this time, to keep the dental headlights from borecole, and cabbage. Kale is grown as blinding me—New Yorker, 1989. The OED a crop (esp. for animal feed) throughout records the use of keep from in the intranBritain. In the spelling kail (less com- sitive sense 'to restrain or contain onemonly kale) the word is used in Scotland self from' + an -ing clause: e.g. Nor was as a name for (a) certain kinds of curly Louis able to keep from turning pale—C. brassica, (b) a broth or soup in which Yonge, 1877. This use now sounds discabbage is a principal ingredient. Nu- tinctly archaic. On the other hand, the merous combinations of the word are construction is flourishing in N. Amercurrent in various parts of Scotland, e.g. ica: Maria cut the wheel to the left, to keep kail-bell, the dinner bell or a call to from hitting the cans-T. Wolfe, 1987; Nadinner; kail wife, a woman who sells ve- than pulled upward on the frazzled leg of his getables and herbs; and esp. kail yaird, a shorts and tried to keep from crying—New cabbage garden, a kitchen-garden. The Yorker, 1988; He thinks we should all come Kaleyard (or Kailyard) School is a name ...to listen to some ...old university professor applied to a group of 19c. fiction writers rabbit on about how to keep from going including J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) and stale-M. Atwood, 1990. S. R. Crockett (1860-1914), who described Kelt(ic). The standard forms now are local town life in Scotland in a romantic vein and with much use of the vernacu- CELT a n d CELTIC. lar. kennel (verb). The inflected forms are kalendar, kalends. See CALENDAR; CAL- kennelled, kennelling (AmE kenneled, ken neling). See -LL-, -L-. ENDS. kangaroo. For the parliamentary sense, see CLOSURE.
kerb. The standard spelling in BrE of the word meaning a stone edging to a
433
kerosene, paraffin, petrol, petroleum | kind
pavement or raised path. In AmE spelt curb.
seems to be dominant, possibly under the influence of barometer, speedometer, etc. Other metrical units (e.g. centimetre, kerosene, paraffin, petrol, petroleum. millimetre, kilogram, kilolitre) are always Kerosene in the US (where it is sometimes stressed on the first syllable. spelt -ine), Australia, and NZ is a fuel oil suitable for use in domestic lamps and kilo-, milli-. In the metric system, kiloheating appliances. The corresponding means multiplied, and mtlli- divided, by term in Britain is paraffin. Petroleum 1,000; kilometre 1,000 metres, millimetre (popularly shortened to petrol) is a hydro- 1/1,000 of a metre. Cf. CENTI-; DECA-. carbon oil found in the upper strata of the earth, refined for use in internal- kilt, as worn by Highland men. So spelt, combustion engines, etc.; in the US not kilts. called gas or gasoline. kiltie, a wearer of the kilt; a soldier in ketchup is the established spelling in
a Highland regiment. So spelt, not -y.
Britain. See CATCHUP.
kimono. PL kimonos (occas. without a pi. termination, as in Japanese itself),
Khedive. Pronounce /ki'dirv/.
see -O(E)S 6.
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeyevich, Soviet statesman (1894-1971). Thus spelt, not Kr-. kibbutz /ki'buts/, a communal farming settlement in Israel. PL kibbutzim /.kibut'snm/.
kin. As noun = one's relatives or family (he seems to have neither kin nor country; he's no kin of mine), now a rather oldfashioned word except in the phrs. next of kin, kith and kin. It is also found in predicative use 'passing into adj.' (as the OED expresses it): We are kin; we have the same blood in our veins. See KITH AND KIN.
kid (noun). Used to mean 'child', despite its long history (first clearly recorded in the 17c), it is now markedly informal kind (noun). and should be restricted to such contexts I 1 Ordinary uses. (he's only a kid; his wife and kids; spend the 2 these kind of. day with the kids; school kids; kids' stuff; 3 Adverbial kind of. etc.). I 4 kind of a.
1 In the ordinary sense 'type, sort, kidnap. The inflected forms are kidnapped, kidnapper, kidnapping, except that variety', the normal use is shown in in AmE forms with a single -p- are some- phrases such as a new kind of soap powder; a nashi is a kind of pear; the rock formed a times used. See -p-, -PP-. kind of arch; nothing of the kind; people of kidnapping. See ABDUCTION. every kind. 2 these kind of. Beginning in the 14c, kidney. PL kidneys. the type these kinds of trees, though itself kiln. Now normally pronounced /kiln/, continuing in standard use, produced a but the OED (1901) gave precedence to strangely ungrammatical variant. As the /kil/, with the final n silent, and Daniel OED expresses it, 'The feeling that kind Jones (1917) noted that "The pronunci- 0/was equivalent to an adj. qualifying ation /kil/ appears to be used only by the following noun, led to the use of all, those connected with the working of many, other, these, those, and the like, with kilns'. The New SOED (1993) assigns /kil/ a plural verb and pronoun, when the to Scotland. noun was plural, as in these kind of men kilometre (AmE kilometer). There is con- have their use.' This illogical type is now siderable variation in the placing of the exceedingly common in colloquial constress. In BrE the stress is traditionally texts: e.g. She was used to these kind of smells placed on the first syllable, /'kilamiita/, in the night-time bedclothes—M. Duckworth, and this pronunciation is recommended. i960; I memorized it for these kind of occaBut /kil'Dmrta/ is also common. In over- sions-J. Mclnerny, 1988. seas English-speaking countries, including the US, second-syllable stressing
3 Adverbial kind of turns up in informal contexts (now esp. in AmE) in the
kinda | knee
434
types I kind of thought you weren't coming; commonly Thank you for not smoking She kind of wasn't listening (in which kind rather than You are kindly requested not to of is called a 'downtoner' in CGEL), mean- smoke, Will passengers kindly refrain from ing 'I rather thought ...', 'She wasn't smoking, or the very direct No smoking. In listening carefully'. Examples: I kind of CGEL commands of either kind are called want to choose my war since it's my life- 'courtesy subjuncts': the term is applied Boston Sunday Herald Mag., 1967; All theseto a small group (among them cordially, rich bastards driving up the property values graciously, kindly, and please) of adverbs have kind of made it impossible for everyone used in rather formulaic expressions of politeness and propriety. Kindly is undeelse—New Yorker, 1987. batably used as an indication of po4 kind of a. This slightly more complex liteness (she kindly offered to baby-sit for type is shown in: We're kind of a middleus), and in an admonitory fashion (kindly aged Sonny and Cher—Washington Post, behave yourself). It is starting to drop out 1973; he took me to a place where there were of use as a formula of polite request. pictures of naked women on the walls. It was And it is important to note that in adkind of a club—New Yorker, 1988. The BrE monitory uses it cannot be moved about equivalent would read . . . a kind of... in a sentence. Kindly leave me alone and Historically the AmE construction is a Kindly don't make a fuss are idiomatic; reduction of a long-established type, . . . Leave me alone, kindly and Don't kindly make a kind of a ... Examples: I haue the wit to a fuss are not. thinke my Master is a kinde of a 2 (adj.). Of course kindly is also often knaue—Shakespeare, 1591; I ••• thought myself a kind of a monarch—Defoe, 1719; used as an adj. (a kindly word, a kindly (a tautologous use) Dash is a sort of a kind policeman). of a spaniel—Miss Mitford, 1824. 3 kindlily. This adverb (first recorded The types described in 2 and 3 should in the 19c.) is recorded in dictionaries, not be used in standard language of but its clumsiness ensures that it is not reasonable formality, but both form a often used: in practice it gives way to in natural part of informal speech. Type 4 a kindly manner/way, etc. is restricted to AmE. See SORT. kinema. See CINEMA.
kinda. As part of a widespread tendency king. The types King of Arms and King at in the 20c. to link reduced forms of of Arms have both been used in heraldry (and have, etc.) to the preceding word in since the 16c. as a title of a chief herald the written form of the language, kinda, of the College of Arms, but the former shoulda, etc., are often printed in place has now established itself in the deof kind of, should have, etc. Examples: This signation of those who still hold such some kinda gimmick?—Punch, 1972; That offices: Gaiter, Clarenceux, and Norroy little chap must have been really desperate to and Ulster; in Scotland, Lyon. take that kinda crap—Caris Davis, 1989. The reduced forms are strictly excluded kinsfolk (in AmE more commonly kinfrom formal writing. folk) is pi. without the addition of -s. kindly. 1 (adv.). There is a difficulty kith and kin. This ancient phrase (first here. Fowler (1926) objected to the 'mis- recorded in the 14c), which originally placement' of kindly in such a sentence meant 'country and kinsfolk' and then as Authors are kindly requested to note that 'acquaintances and kinsfolk, friends and Messrs—only acceptMSS. on the understand- relations', has come to be used emotively ing that.... when the writer should have of people of the same ethnic origin who said Will authors please note ..., since it is are under a threat of some kind (driven not Messrs—who are being kind. COD out of power, invaded, forced to emig1995 says that kindly is 'often ironically rate, etc.). It cropped up quite a lot, for1 example, at the time of the Falkland^ used in a polite request or command conflict. (kindly^ acknowledge this letter, kindly leave me alone)'. There is some evidence that kitty-corner(ed). See CATER-CORNERED. the use to which Fowler objected is on the wane. In taxis now, for example, knee. The adj. from knock knees, broken the printed message about smoking is knees, etc., can now be safely spelt kneed
435
knee-jerk | knout
(rather than knee'd); so knock-kneed (adj.). swindler ('personne qui se livre à des activités peu scrupuleuses, aventurier, escroc'—Trésor de la langue française). knee-jerk. This popularized technical 2 For knight of the road, see SOBRIQUETS. term ( = a sudden involuntary kick 3 The plurals of knight bachelor and caused by a blow on the tendon just below the knee when the leg is hanging knight errant usually have -s after the first loose) has endeared itself to politicians, element (knights bachelor, etc.), but Knight debaters, etc., used attributively in the Hospitaller, when used (they are also figurative sense 'predictable, automatic, called Knights of St John,—of Rhodes,—of stereotyped', as in knee-jerk reaction. Ex- Malta), normally has -s after both eleample: The [motor] industry's ... knee-jerk ments. The pi. of Knight Templar is either support for road construction and its opposi- JCnights Templars or Knights Templar. tion to tighter air pollution standards have not endeared it to the public—Times, 1991. knit. The pa.t. and pa.pple form for the dominant sense of the verb, namely 'to kneel (verb). From the evidence before make a garment, etc., with knittingme, the pa.t. and pa.pple seem to be needles', is knitted. In other uses, knitted either kneeled or knelt in all English-speak- and knit occur with about equal freing countries, but with knelt markedly quency: she knitted), or had knitted), her in the ascendant: (kneeled) And he kneeled brows; a close-knit group; knitted pullovers. down and cried with a loud voice—T. S. Eliot,knock-kneed. See KNEE. 1935; His mother kneeled in the corner—M. Leland, 1985; (knelt US) George knelt beside knock up. First-time visitors from Britthe pool and drank from his hands with ain to the US need to be reminded that quick scoops—]. Steinbeck, 1937; He knelt the BrE sense 'to arouse (a person) by comfortably, his heels tucked neatly under a knock at the door' is not known in him—J. Clavell, 1975; Fauve knelt by the America, where the same phrasal verb is sofa on which Maggy sat—]. Krantz, 1982; a slang way of saying 'to make pregnant'. They stood, and knelt, and sat splayed before us in splendid formation—Atlantic, 1991; knoll. The standard pronunciation is (knelt UK) When he knelt by his bed to /naul/. Words with the diphthong /-au-/ pray before sleeping, his angel returned-W. include droll, poll (voting),roll,stroll, toll; Golding, 1964; he was once remarked on as while those with the monophthong /-D-/ the only officer who knelt in church-D. Cecil, include doll, loll, moll, Poll (parrot). 1978; Some of the recruits knelt to pray knot. This is a unit of a ship's or aircraft's before retiring, presumably for strength—A.speed equivalent to one nautical mile Burgess, 1987. The OED (1901) noted that (approx. 2,025 yards or 1,852 metres) per 'the pa.t. and pple. knelt appear to be late hour. It is not a measure of distance, (19th c.) and of southern origin'. See 'T even though it is often loosely so called AND -ED. (e.g. the ship went ten knots an hour). Originknickers. In BrE, a woman's or girl's ally a knot was 'a piece of knotted string undergarment covering the body from fastened to the log-line, one of a series the waist or hips to the top of the thighs fixed at such intervals that the number and having leg-holes or separate legs. of them that run out while the sand-glass In AmE, short for knickerbockers, loose- is running indicates the ship's speed in fitting breeches gathered at the knee or nautical miles per hour; hence, each of calf; also, a boy's short trousers. (Defini- the divisions so marked on the log-line, as a measure of the rate of motion of tions from COD 1995) the ship (or of a current, etc.)' (OED). As knick-knack. Thus spelt, not nick-nack. a matter of curiosity, the OED lists three examples of the loose use from unirnknife. The pi. of the noun is knives, but peachably (if somewhat old-fashioned) the inflected forms of the verb knife are nautical sources, Anson's Voyages (1748), knifes, knifed, and knifing. Cook's Voyages 1772-84), and Marryat's Peter Simple (1833). knight. 1 The obsolete phr. knight of industry is a rendering of the Fr. phr. knout (scourge used in imperial Russia). chevalier d'industrie, an adventurer, a Pronounce /naut/, not /nu:t/ or /kn-/. See -ED AND 'D.
know I kudos
436
know. Now strikingly overused, esp. by today?' 'lunching with Lalige. Some shopping. non-standard speakers: 1 In the form of We won't lunch till late, knowing her—M. a rhetorical question, (Do you) know what Wesley, 1983; Knowing Jeremy, it would be I mean?. Examples: Actually, I don't sing more a modus-operandi clash-Gentlemen's Q well. You know what I mean? I'm not sure 1990. It is one of a number of admissible what to do—New Yorker, 1986; it's not gonna'unattached participles'. Cf. JUDGING BY. get any better if you switch guys, you know Pronounce /'nDl-/, not what I mean?—Musician (US), 1991- In rapid knowledge. speech the question is often reduced to /'naul-/. As the OED remarked (in 1901): 'The shortening of . . . the first syllable something like know't I mean? is phonetically normal; cf. the 1 5 2 In you know, as a conversational 17th c. spelling knoledge; /'nauhd3/, used filler. Examples: A. They're supposed to be, by some, is merely a recent analytical you know, sexy. B. That's all right, but allpronunciation after know.' Gowers (1965) men are the same, after one thing, but some-noted that the pronunciation with nol times, you know, it can be wonderful—Listener, 'has disappeared even from those pulpits 1965; People get the wrong idea, thinking we that were its last refuge'. might be, you know, glamorous or brilliant or something—Sunday Times, 1974- It is a knowledgeable. So spelt. marked feature of informal conversation and unscripted speech. A Swedish scho- kopje. This older spelling (from Du. lar, Britt Erman, in her Pragmatic Expres- kopje) has been entirely replaced in S. sions in English (1987), analysed the Africa by koppie /'kDpi/. But kopje is still commonest of such expressions—you the customary spelling outside S. Africa. know, you see, and I mean—used in conver- Koran. Pronounce /ko:'ra:n/. Sometimes sations between educated speakers. She written Qur'an or Quran, as a closer transconcluded that you know has a number literation of the Arabic original. of functions. It is often used to introduce background information (such as a par- kosher. Pronounce /'kauja/, not /'kD-/. enthesis), or extra clarification or exemkowtow, pronounced /kau'tau/, entirely plification. It is also often used to finish off an argument, or to mark the bound- replaced ko-tow, pronounced /kau'tau/, at ary between one topic or manner of some point in the 20c. speaking and another. All this may well kraal. The pronunciation is given as be so, and may cause difficulty in Stock- either /kra:l/ or /kro:l/ in SAfr. dictionarholm, but the fact remains that conver- ies., but in BrE it is pronounced /krcri/. sation that is studded with you knows, however closely the function of the ex- kris (Malay or Indonesian dagger). Now pression is analysed, is also likely to be the preferred spelling. Formerly also crease, creese, kreese. judged to be inept. know-how. After a period in the mid- krona, krone. 1 krona (pi. kronor) is the 20c. when its usefulness was called into chief monetary unit of Sweden; and question in Britain, that intangible but krona (pi. kronur) that of Iceland. wonderful thing called American %now-how' 2 krone (pi. kroner) is the chief mon(Encounter, 1953) has come to be accepted etary unit of Denmark and of Norway. in all English-speaking areas as an indiskrummhorn (also crumhorn) is a medipensable term for technical expertness or practical knowledge. The word was eval wind instrument with a double reed first recorded in print in AmE in 1838, and a curved end. It is a German word, but did not come into widespread use derived from krumm 'crooked' + Horn until about a century later. knowing. Used in the sense 'from what I know about (a person)' or short for 'knowing (a person) as I do', it is now frequently used in a formulaic way to emphasize the truth of an accompanying statement. Examples: "What are you doing
'horn'. Cf. CREMONA.
Krushchev. See KHRUSHCHEV.
kudos /'kjurdDs/, AmE /'kuzdDs/, glory, renown, is a 19c. adoption (orig. university slang) of Gk KÛÔOÇ in the same sense. A degenerate back-formation, kudo, has emerged from about 1940, used
437
kukri I kyrie eleison
to mean 'an honourable mention, praise word of Gk origin (bathos, chaos, pathos, for an achievement*. Examples: This did etc.) has suffered such an undignified not win Mr. Eisenhower many kudos in the fate. press—Wall St.Jrnl, 1961; A kudo to Life for kukri (curved knife). Pronounce /'kukri/. afinestory on baseball's spring training—Life, PI. kukris. 1963. It is true that back-formations resulting from a misinterpretation of the kyrie eleison. Of the numerous variant function of a final -s can be found: e.g. pronunciations, COD 1995 gives precedASSET, cherry (from OF cherise, taken as ence to /'kianei ilenzDn/. It is derived from pi.), pea (from pease, taken as pi.). But Gk Kupie eXenaov and means 'Lord, have this is an old discarded process. No other mercy'.
LI laager. Pronounce /'la:ga/. (mod. lâchesse 'cowardice, laxness'), ult. from L laxus 'lax'): e.g. Laches is [not are] lab, a late-igc. informal shortening of pleaded as a defence. laboratory, now well established in everyday use. lachrymose (and related words). Irretrievably now always spelt with lachry label. The inflected forms are labelled, though this group of words all answer labelling (AmE labeled, labeling). See -LL-, to L lacrima 'tear' (and derivatives, e.g. -L-. lacrimâre 'to weep'). 'The ch of the prevaillabial. Lit. 'of the lip', in phonetics it ing spelling of this and the related words means '(of a consonant) requiring partial is due to the med. L. practice of writing ch or complete closure of the lips (e.g. p, b, for c before Latin r; cf. anchor, pulchritude, f, v, m, w; (of a vowel) requiring rounded sepulchre. They, in med. L. a mere graphic lips (e.g. oo in moon)' (COD, 1995). Of thesevariant of t, has been retained in mod. consonants, /, v are labio-dental (only Eng. orthography from the erroneous notion that lacrima is an adoption of Gr. one lip is used to form the sound), and m, p, b are bilabial; w is a labio-velar semi- SdKpuua' (OED). vowel, involving lip-rounding, while the lack (verb). The use with for meaning sound (i.e. /w/) is made at the velum. 'to be short of something' (used only in negative constructions) seems to have labium. PI. labia. See -UM 2. originated in AmE and spread to BrE laboratory. The standard pronunci- during the 20c Examples: Here's hoping ation in BrE now is /la'bDratan/, stressed hell never lack for friends—M. Twain, 1892; on the second syllable. In 1902 the OED The outward signs that she had marked upon gave only first-syllable stressing for the him did not lack for inner causes-E. word, with the last four syllables all Phillpotts, 1906; He never lacked for unstressed. In AmE the word is stressed friends-R. Ellmann, 1987; You get a lower on the first syllable and the last two standard of trim, but you don't lack for much syllables are pronounced like Tory. in the way of essential equipment—Which? Car Buying Guide, 1987. labour. The standard spelling in BrE (AmE labor). Hence Labourite, a member lackey. Thus spelt, not lacquey. or follower of the Labour Party. In Australia, labour is the customary spelling ex- lacquer. Thus spelt, not lacker. cept, curiously, in the official name of the Australian Labor Party (and Laborite). lacrim-. See LACHRYMOSE. See BELABOUR.
labouredly. Probably best as three syllables. See -EDLY. lac. See LAKH.
lace. The related forms are lacier, laciest, lacily, laciness.
lacuna. PI. either lacunae /-ni:/ or lacunas. lad. A mostly affectionate word used in several senses: 1 a boy or youth (he's only a lad); a young son (my lad is rather a shy boy).
2 (usu. in pi.) a man, esp. a workmate, drinking companion, etc. (he's one of the lacerate (verb). The related adj. is lacer- lads; the lads will vote on the issue tomorrow) able. See -ABLE, -IBLE 2. 3 a high-spirited fellow, a rogue (he's a bit of a lad). laches /'laetfiz/. In law, it means 'a delay
4 (in Britain) a stable-groom (regardin performing a legal duty, asserting a right, claiming a privilege, etc' (COD). It less of age; sometimes applied to a is a sing, noun (derived from OF laschesse female groom).
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laddie | lamentable
begins by saying Ladies and Gentlemen. All these uses, and a good many more, are lade (verb). Apart from the passive use listed in the COD (1995). hi practice none of the pa. pple laden, this verb is now of them is challenged by woman or almost restricted to the bill of lading that women. the master of a ship gives to the con2 Lady is also used as of right in certain signor as a receipt for his cargo. In all of its remaining applications, laden has titles. The style Lady Jones is proper only to vie with the much more natural word for a peeress below the rank of duchess loaded. Laden, usu. followed by with, can or a baronet's or knight's wife or widow. be used of a vehicle, donkey, person, The style Lady Mary Jones is appropriate tree, table, etc., weighed down by goods, for a daughter of a duke, marquess, or parcels, fruit, etc.: e.g. the boughs of the earl. The style Lady Henry Jones is used tree were laden with apples; the cart was for the wife or widow of the younger son of a duke or marquess. A Lady Mayoress is laden with sacks of corn; heavily laden buses. It is also used in the sense '(of the con- the wife or other chosen female consort, science, spirit, etc.) painfully burdened e.g. a daughter, of a Lord Mayor. Much with sin, sorrow, etc. (a soul laden with fuller information about the correct use the sin which he had committed)'. But the of such titles is available in the latest word has all the hallmarks of impending version of Debrett's Correct Form. archaism, and seems likely to fall into 3 lady by itself in the vocative is often disuse in the 21c. loosely used for madam as a term of address (esp. in shops and businesses), ladleful. PI. ladlefuls. See -FUL. as governor (or guv) or squire are for sir; but madam and sir are much the more lady. 1 In George Meredith's Evan Har- usual terms. rington (1861), a novel much concerned 4 Prefixed to vocational words (lady with the problems of social class, the heroine, Rose Jocelyn, niece of the British doctor, lady barrister, etc.), lady is fast givenvoy in Lisbon, is rhetorically asked, ing way to woman (woman doctor, etc.). Would you rather be called a true English See also FEMININE DESIGNATIONS; GENTLElady than a true English woman, Rose?. TheWOMAN. distinction mattered then, and, to judge from the first listed sense of lady in the ladyfy, ladyfied. Thus spelt (but not COD (1995), 'a woman regarded as being often used). of superior social status or as having the lady-in-waiting. PL ladfes-tn-waitmg. refined manners associated with this', still does. Lady stands alongside woman, laid, lain. See LAY AND LIE. sometimes more or less synonymously, more often not at all. It is used as a title laissez-aller, -faire, -passer. The pre(see 2 below), whereas woman is not. A ferred spellings (all three in italics), not natural use is seen in the lady (never laisser-. woman) of the house. Other fixed collocations include the Ladies (or Ladies'), a lakh. In India, = 100,000 (not lack, lac); women's public lavatory; the Ladies' Gal- in sums of rupees, place a comma after lery (at the House of Commons); a ladies' the number of lakhs: thus 25,87,000 is (or lady's) man, one fond of female com- 25 lakhs 87 thousand rupees. pany; ladies' night, a function at a men's lam, thrash, etc. So spelt (not, as someclub, etc., to which women are invited; times until the 18c, lamb). ladies' room, one of the terms for a women's lavatory in a hotel, office, etc.; lama, llama. A Tibetan or Mongolian lady-in-waiting, a lady attending a queen Buddhist monk is a lama. A llama is a or princess; lady-killer, a practised SAmer. ruminant, used as a beast of seducer; and numerous others. My lady burden. wife is sometimes jocularly used to mean *my wife'; old lady is used rather than lamentable. Pronounce /'laemantabal/, old woman, being thought to be more with stress on the first syllable; in AmE respectful. A speaker about to address also with the main stress on the second a mixed adult audience conventionally syllable (as in the noun and verb lament). laddie. Thus spelt. See -IE, -Y.
lamina | large, largely lamina. PI. laminae /-ni:/. lammergeyer, a large vulture. Pronounce /'laemagaia/.
440
road signs about them usually just say DANGER. SUP, or the like. landward. The adjectival form everywhere is landward (a landward breeze); in Scotland it is also used specifically to mean 'rural, in or of the country as opposed to (a particular) town'. As an adv., landwards is the dominant form in BrE (soil landwards), and either landward or landwards is permissible in AmE. In Scotland, landward as an adv. is used to mean 'in, toward, or in the direction of the country as opposed to the town'.
lampoon, libel, etc. There is often occasion to select a term for an intended-tobe hurtful or embarrassing attack (even if light-hearted) on a person, a group, etc. A lampoon is a satirical attack on a person, institution, etc. A libel (nowadays liable to be expensive if judged in a court of law to be one) is a published statement damaging to a person's reputation; contrasted with a slander, which is a false oral defamatory statement damaging to languor, languorous, languid, lana person's reputation (but see the separ- guish. It is troublesome to foreigners ate entry LIBEL (noun), SLANDER). Other that the first two are pronounced with terms for satirical or 'witty' statements, medial /-ng-/ and the last two with medial parodies, etc., that are potentially hurt- /-rjgw-/. This clear-cut distinction is in ful to those to whom they are addressed, fact quite recent: the OED (1902) listed but are mostly judged to be part of life's both pronunciations for languor, i.e. rich tapestry, include pasquinade (now those with /-rjg-/ and with /-r)gw-/, and rare), a lampoon or satire, orig. one dis- only /'laengwaras/ for languorous. A similar played in a public place (It. pasquinata, contrast is shown in liquor /-k-/ compared from Pasquino, a statue in Rome on which with liquid /-kw-/, and conquer /-k-/ as abusive Latin verses were annually against conquest /-kw-/. posted); skit, a light, usu. short, piece of satire or burlesque; and squib (now rare), lansquenet /'laenskanet/, a card-game a short satirical composition, a lampoon. of German origin. Derived from French (Definitions mainly from COD.) See SAT- (17c). The French word is an adaptation of Ger. Landsknecht, lit. 'servant of the IRE. country'. lamprey. PI. lampreys. lantern, lanthorn. The second of these, land (noun). The land of the leal is a commonly found in 16-19C. literature Scottish expression for 'the land of the (e.g. this lanthorn doth the horned moon faithful, heaven' (chiefly with allusion present—Shakespeare, 1590; Fishing up a to Lady Nairne's song, 1798). The Land of lanthorn he turned the light on her face—G. C. Cakes (also with small initial letters) was Davies, 1873) is probably due to popular a 17-19C. bantering sobriquet for Scot- etymology, lanterns having formerly land, from the importance of oatcakes been almost always made of horn (OED). in the Scottish diet. lapel. Pronounce /la'pel/. The adj. is landgrave, an historical name for a lapelled (also in AmE beside lapeled). German count having jurisdiction over a territory; fern, landgravine /-graviin/. Cf. lapis lazuli. Pronounce /'laepis laezjulai/, though many people pronounce the modGer. Graf count. second word /'laezjuli/. landslide, landslip. The original term (17c.) for 'the sliding down of a mass of lapsus calami, lapsus linguae, a slip land on a mountain or cliff side' was of the pen, of the tongue, respectively. landslip. From the mid-i9c. the preferred If a pi. of lapsus is called for, it is lapsus, term in America was landslide; and before pronounced /'laepsu:s/, not lapsi. See -us the end of the 19c. it was also being 2. used, in the US and elsewhere, to mean larboard. See PORT. a sweeping electoral victory. Landslide is probably the dominant term now in the large, largely (advs.). In a restricted literal sense in BrE as well as AmE. In number of circumstances, large is the NZ both terms are familiar, but warning only idiomatic adverbial form of the two:
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largesse | late, erst, erstwhile, ex-, former(ly), quondam
after the verbs bulk and loom; also writ large, and in the phr. by and large. In all other contexts largely ( = to a large extent) is the normal word (e.g.. his failure was largely due to laziness).
2 lastflastly. In enumerations there is considerable variation between the two. My preference is to use the sequence First, ... secondly, ... thirdly, ... lastly (or finally). See FIRST 4. 3 at long last (formerly also at the long largesse. It goes against the grain to last). Described in the OED (1902) as 'Now overturn one of Fowler's verdicts, but it is clear that largesse is now the natural rare', the phr. has come back into comform (not largess, as Fowler recommen- mon use: At long last I am able to say a few words of my own—King Edward VIII, ded in 1926). 1936 (abdication speech); Someone answers largo, a musical instruction. Used as a the phone at long last—J. Aiken, 1971. noun ( = a largo passage or movement) 4 lastflatest. In such a context as In his the pi. is largos. See -O(E)S 6. latest book, Dr A ..., it is clear that Dr A has written earlier books and that he is larva /'laiva/. PL larvae /-vi:/. still alive and may well write others. If laryngeal. In this and other words in the statement runs In his last book, Dr A which -ng- is followed by e or i the g is .... the meaning could be the same, or 'soft': thus /la'nnd3ial/, laryngitis /laerm- it could also imply that this was the final 'd3artis/. Otherwise it is 'hard': e.g. laryn- book written by Dr A before he died. It is obvious, therefore, that if there is any goscope /la'rmgaskaup/. danger of contextual ambiguity some larynx, organ forming air passage to word other than last should be used. In lungs. PL laryngés /la'rmd3i:z/. many idiomatic phrases last is still the only possible adj. of the two: = most laser. We are all so familiar with the recent; next before a specified time (last word now—laser beam, laser printer, laser- Christmas; last week); = preceding; preguided bomb, etc.—that it is easy to forget vious in a series (got on at the last station); that it is a recent coinage (i960) and that = only remaining (the last biscuit; our it is an acronym (formed from the initial last chance); (preceded by the) = the least letters of 'light amplification by the likely or suitable (the last person I'd want stimulated emission of radiation'). It was to see; the last thing I'd have expected); = modelled on the slightly earlier word the lowest in order (the last name on the maser (1955), which itself is a com- list). bination of the initial letters of several 5 the last analysis. See ANALYSIS 2. words ('microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation'. Lasers late makes latish. See MUTE E. are optical masers. late, erst, erstwhile, ex-, former(ly), lassie. The diminutive form, commonly quondam, sometime, whilom. The used in Scotland, of lass is so spelt (not choice of word among these is somewhat -y). See -IE, -Y. complicated. 1 See ERST, ERSTWHILE; WHILOM. None of the three is common in lasso. A word of Spanish origin (Sp. ordinary use: in most contexts they lazo, cognate with lace), it is pronounced smack of WARDOUR STREET. /lse'su:/. As noun its pi. is lassos. The verbal forms are lassoed, lassoes, lassoing. The 2 ex-: commonly prefixed to nouns, noun and verb are often pronounced giving the meaning 'formerly)'. See EX-. /'laesau/ in AmE. 3 former: for its three natural uses as adj., see FORMER.
last. 1 With a cardinal numeral. The 4 quondam: in somewhat formal use more frequent order of words between the 14c. and the 17c. was the two (three, as an adj. used attrib. (his quondam etc.) last ( = Fr. les deux derniers, Ger. die friend = his former friend), and occas. as zwei letzten). But the form the last two an adv., it suffers from belonging to (three, etc.) is now the more frequent of a vanishing tribe of Latin words in a the two (the last two volumes ofMacaulay's Latinless age. History), except where last is equivalent 5 sometime: principally used in the to 'last-mentioned' (OED). Cf. FIRST 3. sense 'formerly)' of a person who once
later on | Latin plurals
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held office (sometime Lord Mayor of Oxford)regularly retain the Latin pl., e.g. bases, or a building which has changed its crises, oases, theses (not basises, crisises, function (the old Ashmolean Building, some-oasises, thesises). Some others exhibit both the original Latin form and the Anglitime the headquarters of the OED). 6 late: preceded by the or by a possess- cized one in a fairly random way, e.g. ive pronoun (my, his, etc.) means (a) no atriaj atriums, cacti\cactuses, lacunaeflalonger alive, recently dead (the late Nicolae cunas. The context or individual taste Ceausescu; her late father bequeathed the governs the choice on most occasions. house to her); (h) no longer having the In an age when formal knowledge of specified status (the late chairman of the Latin rules is fading fast, it is not surprisParish Council). In ordinary, non-literary, ing that there should be a general moveEnglish, formerly) is the most serviceable ment towards the use of English plurals word in this group, followed by late (but like crematoriums (rather than -oria), cruxes only in contexts requiring sense 6a), and (rather than cruces), encomiums (rather ex- (but bear in mind that Fowler de- than -mia), gymnasiums (rather than -sia), plored its use with titles consisting of référendums (rather than -da), but in such more than one word, e.g. ex-Lord Mayor). words a degree of self-satisfaction is certainly in order if a knowledgeable person later on. See EARLY ON. A recent ex- chooses to retain the Latin plural form. There is a further group for which the ample: Later on I had worked in the Post's editorial and circulation departments—Bull.Latin plurals are more or less obligatory: not to use them represents a serious Amer. Acad. Arts & Sri., 1989. stepping out of line. The plurals of alga, lath /la:0/, a flat strip of wood, has pl. corrigendum, desideratum, nucleus, stratum, laths /laiGs/, less commonly /laiôz/. are regularly algae, corrigenda, desiderata, nuclei, strata. A vulnerable group is that lathe /leiô/, a machine for shaping wood, where the classical plural ended in -ata: has pl. lathes /leiôz/. thus automaton/pl. automata, lemma/pl. lemmata, miasma\p\. miasmata, stigma/pl. lather, as noun and verb, is most comstigmata. It would not be surprising if monly pronounced /'laiôa/ by standard the forms in -ata fell into disuse in the speakers, but /'laeoa/ by a not insignifi21c. except in special circumstances. cant minority. In AmE /'laeô-/ is the more Some other 'irregular' Latin plurals are common. 'hanging on' in English, but standard speakers are finding it increasingly diflathi /'la:ti:/, in India, a long stick used ficult to remember the morphological as a weapon, has pl. lathis. relationship between the singular and latine. See ANGLICE. the plural forms: e.g. apexlapices, codexlcodices, corpus\corpora, cortex\cortices, genus\Latinism, Latinity. The first is princip- genera, helix/helices, matrix\matrices, ally (a) an idiom or form characteristic radixjradices, vortex\vortices. The classical of the Latin language, esp. one used by plural forms remain at risk. The choice a writer in another language; (b) con- of plural form sometimes depends on formity in style or manner to Latin the subject area: e.g. appendixes in surmodels. The second is the quality or gery and zoology but appendices in books. the extent of Latin words in a person's In scientific work foci, formulae, indices, writing (e.g. the Latinity of Johnson's style and vortices are regularly used, but in is obvious) or the extent of Latin, influence general writing the ordinary plural on a period's style. See -ISM AND -ITY. forms in -s, -es are more usual. Latin plurals (or Latinized Greek). Separate entries have been made for Latin words that are in regular use in English, and these are to be found at their alphabetical place together with their (often competing) plural forms. A few general features are worth noting. 1 No simple rule can be given for the distribution of the rival forms. Some common words
2 A good many originally plural nouns of classical origin have tended over the years to be wrongly treated as sing, nouns in English. See e.g. AGENDA; BONA FIDE(S); CRITERION; DATA; MEDIA; PHENOMENON.
3 With a few exceptions too firmly rooted to be dislodged (e.g. Adelphi), Latin
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Latin pronunciation | latter
plurals in -f should be pronounced /ai/, that no Latin sentence or phrase can not /i:/: e.g. bacilli, fungi, gladioli, narcissi, be used unexplained in a newspaper? Certainly not "lîmeo Danaos et dona radii, stimuli. 4 Most Latin words in -us form their ferentes", neither "Dulce et decorum est plural in -i, but some do not. See -us. pro patria mori"; perhaps "sic" and "RIP" It is a grievous mistake to write, for may still survive. "O tempora, O mores", example, hiati, ignorami, octopi. See also one might exclaim, if one thought that anyone was likely to know what one -EX, -ix; -TRIX; -UM. meant. In fact, however, the Independent's Latin pronunciation. Those who are caution was mistaken. If the Latin had interested in the details of standard Eng- appeared those who understood it would lish usage are very often curious to know at once have felt flattered; those who how the Romans pronounced the Latin did not know what it meant would either language in the classical period. The have kept their heads down and not standard work on all these troublesome owned up, or they would have engaged matters (how ae, au, c, eu, g, œ, s, th, u in the enjoyable pursuit of discovering consonant, y, etc., were pronounced) is its meaning. Broad-sheet newspapers are W. Sidney Allen's Vox Latina (2nd edn, supposed to be for educated people: one 1978). His book is partly dependent on of the features of being educated is that John Sargeaunt's paper 'The Pronunci- one is not totally flummoxed when one ation of English Words Derived from the comes across something which one does Latin', SPE Tract iv (1920). The various not understand.' types of pronunciation of Latin wordsClassical (Ciceronian), Italian (Dantean), -latry, representing Gk -Xaxpsia 'worContinental (Chaucerian), and English ship', is shown in idolatry, a 13c. (Shakespearean)—together with advice loanword from OF (ult. a reduced form on the pronunciation of numerous legal of Gk (NT) e\5(ûXoXaxpeia). In English the phrases (de jure, amicus curiae, ultra vires, formative element meaning 'worship o f etc.), may be found in H. A. Kelly's paper is -olatry. It has been widely put to service 'Lawyer's Latin: Loquenda ut Vulgus?, in in (a) angelolatry (first recorded 1847), Journal of Legal Education 38 (1988), pp. astrolatry (1678), bardolatry (worship of 195-207. In the present book the recom- the 'Bard of Avon', 1901), bibliolatry mended pronunciations of English (1763), demonolatry (1668), Mariolatry words and phrases adopted from Latin (1612); (b) evanescent, low-currency, or are given under the individual words. facetious formations like babyolatry The great majority of them differ mark- (1846), crochetolatry (1859), lordolatry edly from the way in which the same (1846). The corresponding agent-nouns words were pronounced in classical end in -ater: bardolater, bibliolater, idolater, etc. Latin. Latin quotations. The spirit of our age is brought out in this extract from The Spectator of 26 September 1987: 'Last Friday, the Independent gave Nicholas Garland's cartoon the place of honour on its front page. His picture derived from the photograph of Mrs Thatcher standing among industrial desolation in Teesside. The caption was "If you seek for a monument, gaze around". This was not what Garland had written. His caption was "Si monumentum requiris, circumspice". It had been changed after 40 per cent of the Independent's news conference had confessed that they did not know what the Latin meant (and so, presumably, did not know that it was Christopher Wren's epitaph). Does this mean
latter survives almost solely in the latter, which provides with the former a pair of pronouns obviating undesirable repetition of one or both of previously men1 like the tioned names or nouns. former, it should only be used of the last of a pair (of persons, ideas, etc.), as in: We can either rely on our children to translate for us or we can try to catch up. The National Air and Space Museum makes the latter choice easier—Illustrated London News, 1980. The illogical use of latter to refer to the last of more than two antecedents is shown in: His [sc. Jonathan Kellerman's] three previous novels are 'Blood Test', 'Over the Edge' and 'When the Bough Breaks', the latter of which won ...the Edgar Allan Poe AwardChicago Tribune, 1988.
laudable, laudatory | lawman
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2 Like the former, it should be placed laurustinus, an evergreen winterclose to the word or idea to which it flowering shrub, Viburnum tinus, is usu. refers so as not to mystify the reader. pronounced /toira'stamas/, with the iniFowler (1926) cites just such a mystifying tial sound of laureate rather than that of passage: The only people to gain will be the laurel, i.e. /'ID-/. It is a 17c. modL formation Tories and the principal losers will be the from L laurus 'laurel' -I- ttnus, name of a workingfreefrom (e.g. It's free of/from contam- 15c. Shakespeare, for example, used it inants). to mean 'to appoint to an office' in The It begins to look as if preposition re- Winter's Tale (So stands this Squire Offic'd placement is becoming an occasional with me). The verb is no longer extant in but significant feature of the language. BrE but is reasonably common in NAmer. Powerful analogies are strewn about use, in the sense 'to have an office' or, everywhere waiting to be seized upon. followed by with, 'to share an office'. It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, Examples: (advt) Chance for high grade though at present still regrettable, that realtor to office with lawyer—Atlantic some people (esp. children) are now us- Monthly, 1936; Mr. Mardian spoke of a man ing bored of instead of bored with (see who 'officed in that same agency'—NY Times BORED). 1973-
of a. Observed so far only in AmE official (adj.) means 'of or relating to an office or its tenure (official duties)' or sources is the colloquial type adj. + of a + noun, e.g. wouldn't be that difficult of 'properly authorized (an official fellowship a shot—L. Trevino, 1985 (during a TV in- at Magdalen College; the official attendance terview). WDEU 1989 cites numerous ex- was 47,000)'. Officious, by contrast, means amples (including the one by Trevino) 'unduly forward in offering services, from informal oral sources, e.g. How big meddlesome' (an officious fussy little clerk; of a carrierforce?—]. Lehrer, 1986 (TV news- an officious waiter). See OFFICIOUS. cast). The type may possibly be a slowly evolving extension of a much older Officialese. 1 The term, first recorded quasi-nominal use of the adj. considerable: in 1884, is used, mostly pejoratively, to e.g. (from DARE, 1985) This morning about mean 'the language characteristic of 6 o'clock considerable of a shock of an officials or of official documents'. Adjectearthquake was felt in Boston—1766 source. ives applied to it in the illustrative examples in the OED entry for the word No BrE examples have been noted yet. include crabbed, jolting, and dry. Wry comments about the unsuitability, unattractof course. See COURSE. iveness, or impenetrability of official off. Used in the sense 'from the hands, memoranda and the terminology of groups of officials turn up all the time. charge, or possession of, qjff is (according to the OED, as preposition, sense 2) con- The attitude is one of bemusement or of strued esp. with take, buy, borrow, hire, horror. A passage from a 1990 column and the like. But there is no doubt that, by Theodore Dalrymple, a regular contridespite the antiquity (mid-i6c. onward) butor to The Spectator, may be taken as of the construction, it is now regarded representative of many such comments: 'I'm beginning to wonder whether I as not quite standard. One no longer buys a car off a stated garage or person still speak modern English, or whether, but from a garage or person. Typical ex- approaching middle age, the language amples of the older use: A villager had of my youth and education has become come ...to know whether Blincoe 'would an archaic and somewhat quaint dialect. take a goose off him'—C. James, 1891; She Last week, I read a review in the British admitted borrowing the i\. off the plaintiff- Medical Journal of a book about Aids from which it became clear that a prostitute Daily News, 1897. Cf. OFF OF.
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is no longer a prostitute: she is a 'sex worker'. From which it follows, I suppose, that gonorrhoea is no longer a venereal but an occupational disease. The pages of the BMJ are as Edward Gibbon, however, compared to the language used during meetings by the new managers of the NHS. To attend one of these meetings is to enter a world in which people are not busy: they are 'fully occupied operationally*. When these meetings have lasted more than three hours, the chairman does not say, 'It's late and I am bored', he says, 'I'm conscious of the time.' Up and down the country, in all our hospitals, members of committees are fully occupied operationally, identifying and then defining live issues, which of course can only be approached multidisciplinarily, utilising a pool of resources (that is to say, employees). It has to be taken on board that blocks of time can only be devoted to this if a ring-fenced tranche of money is made available to the accountable manager who, as we all know, is a very pivot person in a liaison situation. The key to the operation is resourcing the clinical input adequately. It goes without saying that the output must be rigorously audited. Only in this manner can a potential runner, out of all the options that are generated, be posited at headquarters.' 2 A somewhat more ambivalent argument is that put forward by Gowers (1965): 'Officialese is a pejorative term for a style of writing marked by peculiarities supposed to be characteristic of officials. If a single word were needed to describe those peculiarities, that chosen by Dickens, circumlocution, is still the most suitable. They may be ascribed to a combination of causes: a feeling that plain words sort ill with the dignity of office, a politeness that shrinks from blunt statement, and, above all, the knowledge that for those engaged in the perilous game of politics, and their servants, vagueness is safer than precision. The natural result is a stilted and verbose style, not readily intelligible—a habit of mind for instance that automatically rejects the adjective unsightly in favour of the periphrasis detrimental to the visual amenities of the locality. This reputation, though not altogether undeserved, is unfairly exaggerated by a confusion in the public mind between officialese and what
officialese may be termed legalese. For instance a correspondent writes to The Times to show up what he calls this "flower of circumlocution" from the National Insurance Act 1959; it ought not, he says, to be allowed to waste its sweetness on the desert air. For the purpose of this Part of this Schedule a person over pensionable age, not being an insured person, shall be treated as an insured person if he would be an insured person were he under pensionable age and would be an employed person were he an insured person. 'This is certainly not pretty or luminous writing. But it is not officialese, nor is it circumlocution. It is legalese, and the reason why it is difficult to grasp is not that it wanders verbosely round the point but that it goes straight there with a baffling economy of words. It has the compactness of a mathematical formula. Legalese cannot be judged by literary standards. In it everything must be subordinated to one paramount purpose: that of ensuring that if words have to be interpreted by a Court they will be given the meaning the draftsman intended. Elegance cannot be expected from anyone so circumscribed. Indeed it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the more readily a legal document appears to yield its meaning the less likely it is to prove unambiguous. It is fair to assume that if the paragraph quoted were to be worked out, as one would work out an equation, it would be found to express the draftsman's meaning with perfect precision. 'If an official were to use those words in explaining the law to a "person over pensionable age not being an insured person" he would indeed deserve to be pilloried. The popular belief that officials use an esoteric language no doubt derives partly from the reluctance they used to feel to explain the law in their own words lest they should be accused of putting a gloss on it. But, now that the daily lives of all of us are affected by innumerable laws, officials have had to overcome this inhibition and act as interpreters; they could not get through their work if they had not learned to express themselves to ordinary people in a way that ordinary people can understand. Circumlocution is rife in presentday writing and speaking, but officials are not markedly worse than other people; they are probably better than
officinal | off of
546
most. But the following examples show official, and the notion of meddlesomethat they still sometimes fall into the ness attached to it in ordinary use was old bad habit of giving explanations in entirely absent. But the risk of misunderterms only fit for an Act of Parliament, standing was obvious, and the use now if that: "Appropriate weekly rate" means, inseems to be obsolete. A distinguished relation to any benefit, the weekly rate of British diplomat wrote to me as follows: personal benefit by way of benefit of that 'I have to confess that I cannot recall description which is appropriate in the case ever having seen the use of "officious", of the person in relation to whom the provisionin the sense that you describe, in nearly containing that expression is to be applied; 30 years of exposure to diplomatic EngUnemployment benefit is not payable in re- lish. I have occasionally come across this spect of 132.56 to 17.2.56 which cannot usage in the French officieux ("unofficial, be treated as days of unemployment on the semi-official"—Harrap), and have thought ground that the claimant notwithstanding it odd and unexpected enough probably that this employment has terminated received,to have noticed an equivalent English usby way of compensation for the loss of the age had it come my way. I see that the remuneration which he would have received OED notes the French term as the basis for that day each of those days if the unem- for "officious" in this sense, and that ployment had not been terminated, payment seems obviously right . . . The Foreign of an amount which exceeds the amount Office... used to employ the term 'semiarrived at by deducting the standard daily official', sometimes 'demi-official' to derate of employment benefit from two thirds scribe diplomatic correspondence which of the remuneration lost in respect of that daywas not as formal as a despatch or Third Person Note' (private letter, 17 Apr. 1993). each of those days. 'That circumlocution may occasionally be found even in the utterances of offing, offish, etc. The vowel sound /a:/ those official "spokesmen" who ought to in ojf and its derivatives, which was know better, may be illustrated by this standard at the beginning of the 20c, has extract from a London evening news- now given way, except in the speech of paper: Discussing Anglo-American talks onelderly people, to /D/. the Barnes Wallis folding-wing plane, a Minisoff of is still strongly present in the try spokesman said: "The object of this visit language of the less well educated but is a pooling of knowledge to explore further is indisputably non-standard in Britain. the possibility of a joint research effort to The OED gives numerous examples of the discover the practicability of making use of use, beginning with one in Shakespeare's this principle to meet a possible future NATO 2 Henry V7 (A [ = I] fall off of a tree), and requirement, and should be viewed in the also: About a furlong off of the Porters Lodge— general context of interdependence." Or, {ourBunyan, 1678; I'd borrow two or three dollars version): "This visit is tofindout whether we off of the judge for him-M. Twain, 1884. can, together, develop the folding wing for But the 20c. evidence (as indeed in the NATO.'" 1884 example just cited from Huckleberry
Finn) is all from sources representing non-standard speech. In AmE, off of 'is widespread in speech, including that of officinal (adj.) (in medical contexts). The the educated . . . but is rare in edited pronunciation /a'fismal/ is recommen- writing' {Random House Webster's College Diet., 1991). US examples: the night Wayne ded. Cf. medicinal /mi'dismal/. came at Randolph with a hammer to pull officious formerly had a meaning in him off of Mary—M. Golden, 1989; the collecdiplomacy oddly different from its ordin- tion of virtually all older artifacts and most ary one. A diplomatist until relatively modern ones—pulled out of chapels, peeled o recent times meant by an officious com- of church walls, removed from decayed house munication much what a lawyer still [etc.]—S. Greenblatt in Bull. Amer. Acad. means by one without prejudice; it was Arts b Sci., 1990; She had a way of moving to bind no one, and, unless acted upon her head to pitch it [sc. her hair] about, a by common consent, was to be as if it way of sweeping it off of her face with her had not been. It was the antithesis of fingers-T. R. Pearson, 19933 See BAFFLEGAB; GOBBLEDEGOOK; PLAIN
ENGLISH.
547
offspring | Olympiad, Olympian, Olympic
offspring. From the 16c. to the early 19c. a plural form offsprings was current (e.g. the widows and the offsprings of the poorer, the indigent clergy, 1756), but since then this ancient word (found already in OE) has been invariable in form (These are the offspring of Muslim parents; the son tried to become the worthy offspring of his famous father).
currency in the spoken language but is rarely found in formal written work. okapi (Zairean animal). PL unchanged or okapis. old. 1 For the distinction between older, oldest, and elder, eldest, see ELDER. 2 For the type a hoy, etc. of ten etc. years old, see OF A 7.
oft, recorded in standard use from the 3 For the Old Lady ofThreadneedle Street, OE period onward, survives only in see SOBRIQUETS. special contexts or in literature: e.g. Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembranceolde. 'An affected form of old adj. of me—BJc of Common Prayer; What oft wassupposed to be archaic and usually emthought, hut ne'er so well expressed—Pope, ployed to suggest (spurious) antiquity, esp. in collocations often also archaist1711. ically spelt, as olde English(e), Englyshe, Often. The OED (1904) gave only the worlde, worldy' (OEDS, 1982). Examples: A pronunciation /orfan/, but since then the lot of olde realle beames in Amersham and a vowel has almost universally been re- lot of olde phonie cookynge too—Good Food placed by /D/ as in not and a spelling Guide, 1959; The interior is old but not olde pronunciation with medial /t/ has also worlde—Guardian, 1972; Charming stone emerged in standard speech. The OED built olde worlde Cottage of immense characcommented that the pronunciation with ter—advt in a Rhyl (N. Wales) newspaper, medial /t/, "which is not recognized in 1976. the dictionaries, is now frequent in the south of England, and is often used in olden. First recorded in the 15c, this singing'. Nowadays many standard word has gradually fallen into disuse speakers use both /'Dfan/ and /'Dftan/, but except in the expression in olden times the former pronunciation is the more (or days). Its origin is uncertain, but 'it has been suggested that the suffix may common of the two. represent an early inflexion of old. Cf. oftener, -est. Logically the comparative Ger. in der alien Zeit' (OED). It is not to and superlative forms of often but in be reckoned among the numerous -EN practice much less common than more ADJECTIVES. often and most often. olfactory. For olfactory organ, see POLYSYLLABIC HUMOUR. oh. See o AND OH. OK. Possibly the only English word universally recognized by foreigners throughout the world. Its origin has been established by the American scholar Allen Walker Read: it seems to have been an abbreviation in the late 1830s of orl (or oil) korrect, a jocular form of'all correct'. Other suggestions, as I expressed it myself in OEDS (1982), 'e.g. that O.K. represents the Choctaw oke 'it is', or French au quai, or that it derives from a word in the West African language Wolofvia slaves in the southern States of America, all lack any form of acceptable documentation'. The word is also written with full points as O.K. and in spelt-out form as okay. As a verb, OJCs, OK!d, and OJCing are commonest written forms, but okays, etc., are not far behind. OK has very wide
olio. PL olios. See -O(E)S 4. -ology. See -LOGY. New, usu. temporary, formations in -ology ('sportive noncewords', as the OED calls them) are still being coined all the time. Recent examples that have come to my notice include coupology (study of the plotting of coups), crazeology (title of a 1989 biography of a jazzman), enterology (procedure whereby a contortionist squeezes into a bottle of limited size), Hamburgerology, spudology (on headline of an article about a work called The Amazing Potato Book). The language seems to welcome such words as temporary passengers, so long as they get off at the next station. the Olympiad, Olympian, Olympic. 1 Olympiad. 'In its earliest use (Pindar,
omelette | on
548
Herodotus) it refers to the [Olympic] his Neck—Shakespeare, 1591; ft may be A games themselves or to a victory in the they will reuerence him—Luke 20: 13 (AV), games; only later does it come also to 1611; We were sorry A you couldn't come— signify the period between celebrations; 01912; I felt A I should have gone to the and only much later still, in Latin, does tradesmen's entrance—G. Greene, 1980. the second sense become the principal The two 20C. examples just cited have one' (W. Sidney Allen, 1992). In English a natural feel about them,i.e. the omisthe earliest recorded use (Trevisa, 1398) sion of the conjunction that passes unnois the period between the ancient games, ticed. But things do not always go so used by the Greeks for the computation smoothly. Examples showing that omisof time. The sense 'a quadrennial celeb- sion can produce forced constructions: ration of the ancient Olympic Games' is Keating made it plain yesterday A he did not first recorded in the late 15c. (Skelton). accept the thesis A swinging voters can he The Olympic Games were revived in spooked into voting for Labor by [etc.]—Aust. Athens in 1896, and the term Olympiad Financial Review, 1993; A practical argumen was first recorded of these in 1907. for Australian action is A the British them2 Olympian. Shakespeare, Milton, and selves may yet seek a future in Europe. Britain others used the adj. to apply to the is not demanding A Australia remain a consti ancient Greek games (the Olympian tutional monarchy—it accepts A the choice games), but now it is principally used of rests with Australia—Weekend Aust., 1993. or referring to Mount Olympus in NE omit. The inflected forms are omitted, Greece, traditionally the home of the omitting. Cf. -T-, -TT-. Greek gods, 'heavenly, celestial'. The noun Olympian is now sometimes used omnibus (vehicle). Now almost entirely to mean 'a competitor in the modern supplanted by the shortened form bus, Olympic Games'. but if it is used the pi. is omnibuses. Since 3 Olympic. In modern use it is princi- the late 1920s the terms omnibus book, pally used of the games of ancient Greece volume, etc., have been commonly used or those of modern times. The games for a volume containing several novels, themselves are frequently called the etc., previously published separately. Olympics (as well as the Olympic Games). omniscience, -scient. The recommenomelette. The customary spelling in ded pronunciation of -sc- in these words BrE (rather than omelet), whereas omelet is /s/ rather than /J/. is the more usual form in AmE. omnium gatherum. A mock Latin ominous. Now always pronounced /'om- formation, first recorded in 1530, for 'a mas/, with a short initial 0, though Daniel miscellany or strange mixture (of perJones (1917) gave initial /'aum-/, as in sons or things)'. omen, as an alternative. omission of relatives, etc. A charac- on. 1 For on all fours, see FOUR. For on teristic feature of English speech and to, onto, and on, see ON TO. For on and writing, current since at least the 13c, upon, see UPON. For on and in a street, is the construction of relative clauses see IN 3 (and below, 2). without the 'normal' introductory that (or whom, etc.). Some grammarians treat the matter as the omission of a relative pronoun or of the conjunction that; but
2 NAmer. (occas. elsewhere, but not in BrE) use of on where in is standard in Britain: (place) My father, may he rest in peace, had a dry-goods store on Gesia Street— see CONTACT CLAUSES. Examples: (omisI. B. Singer, 1983; 'I've lived on Eagle Street sion of a relative pronoun) I do hue a fifty-five years,' Mike said—New Yorker, 19 woman ... and shee's faire A I Ioue—Shake- I head north on University Avenue—M. Atspeare, 1592; In the day A ye eate thereof, wood, 1989; The street Logan lived on was then your eyes shalbee opened—Gen. 3: 5 tranquil, shaded by an impressive congrega(AV), 1611; This is a spray A the Bird clung tion of sturdy trees—M. Golden, 1989; (time; to—Browning, 1855; She is engagingly BrE requires at) On weekends she would play grateful for the good luck A she has had—D.disk jockey like that for hours—New Yorker, Davie, 1982; (omission of the conjunc- 1987; At university we'd sometimes get totion that) Direct mine Armes, A I may embracegetherfor a 'spree'. Especially on weekends—A
-on I one
549
Brink, 1988 (SAfr.); and on weekends having have passed into meaning 'occasionally' champagne and strawberries with the sons ofin the 19c. and is now rare or obsolete. the nobility-]. Updike, 1988. But cf. BrE Meanwhile once in a way meaning 'occaon Monday, Tuesday, Boxing Day, etc. sionally' (1891- in the OED) has idio3 Evidence is accumulating that on is matically acquired a preceding for when beginning to invade some of the tradi- used to mean 'as a solitary or exceptional tional territory of some other preposi- instance' (I really think, father, you might tions in BrE, esp. in newspaper headlines. for once in a way take some slight interest in A Norwegian scholar, Age Lind, pres- the family—G. B. Shaw, 1934). It in turn ented numerous examples in Moderna seems now to be threatened by the Sprâk No. 1,1987: e.g. Gilt-edged and equit- phrase (every once in a while 'every now ies drift lower on [ = as a result of] lack of and then, at long intervals' (1781 and buyers—Financial Times, 1978; Row on [ =later examples in the OED), which is now about] massive cuts in defence—Observer,widely current. 1981; Pilot gets life on [ = for] wife killingTimes, 1986 (the story that followed had one. I 1 Writing of anyone, no one, etc. for. A pilot who stabbed his wife ... was 2 The type one and a half years, etc./a year jailed for life for murder). etc. and a half. 3 The type one of, if not the best book(s). -on. Plural of words derived directly or 4 The type one of those who need(s). indirectly from Greek or modelled on 5 Kinds of pronoun: numeral, impersonal, or Greek words and having in English the generic, replacing /. termination -on: 1 Some may, and often 6 Possessive of the numeral and the or always do, form the plural in -a: so impersonal. asyndeton, automaton, criterion (but see as 7 Mixtures of one with he, you, they, my, main entry), hyperbaton, noumenon, or- I etc. ganon, oxymoron, parhelion, phenomenon 1 Writing of anyone, no one, etc. The (but see as main entry). written forms recommended are anyone, 2 Others seldom or never use that everyone, no one, someone: see these as form, but fall in with the normal English main entries (anyone treated s.v. ANY). plurals in -s: so cyclotron, electron, lexicon, neutron, proton, skeleton. 2 The type one and a half years etc/a 3 In others again, the substitution of year etc. and a half. See HALF 3. -a for -on to form the plural would be a 3 The type one of, if not the best book(s). blunder, their Greek plurals being, if The difficulty here is that one can so they are actual Greek words, of some easily be trapped into writing a mixture quite different form, and -s is the only of two constructions: one of the best books plural used in English: such are anion is normal and so is the best book, but (19 c), archon, canon, cation (19c), cotyle- they should not be used together in the don, demon, mastodon (19c), nylon (20c. manner indicated. Fowler (1926) cited a invented word), pylon, siphon. number of aberrant examples: e.g. the Costume Hall—one of, if not the most, spacious on account of. See ACCOUNT. of salons for dresses and costumes (read one of the most spacious, if not the most spacious, on behalf of. See BEHALF. of salons); One of thefinest,if not the finest, once. 1 Normally an adverb (he goes to poem of an equal length produced of recent the theatre once a week; once bitten, twice years (read One of the finest poems of an shy; if we once lose sight of him we shall equal length produced [in] recent years, if not never set eyes on him again), but also a thefinest);I think the stage is one of, if not conjunction (once he's back, I'm sure things the best of all, professions open to women will settle down again), and occasionally, (read I think the stage is one of the best in informal use, a noun (No one but the professions open to women, if not the best of broad-shouldered woman had spoken, and all); Fur was one of the greatest—perhaps the that only the once). greatest—export articles of Norway (read Fur 2 The old phr. once and away meaning was one of the greatest export articles of 'once and for all* (It is not enough to harrow Norway, perhaps the greatest). It will be once and away—1759 in OED) seems to observed that acceptable sentences are
one produced in each case by a simple rearrangement of the elements of the aberrant ones.
550
I: in such contexts it is fully pronounced (/wAn/ not /wan/), and is often used ironically or with a sense of social superiority 4 The type one of those who need{s). See (see below). The distinction between the AGREEMENT 9. Further examples of each second and third types is often a fine type: (pi. verb in the subordinate clause) one—indeed there is much overlapping. A range of examples illustrating types She was one of those women who make an enchanted garden of their childhood memor-two or three, or in some cases both: The ies—A. Brookner, 1990; Not only was FenellaCaterpillar murmured—'One doesn't preten one of those people who imagine ... that to be a Christian, but as a gentlemen one Roman Catholicism had more chic than otheraccepts a bit of bad luck without gnashing forms of Christianity, [etc.]—A. N. Wilson, one's teeth—H. A. Vachell, 1905; Lady Seal... 1990; Oh, he's one of those people who need had told Anderson it [sc. the bombardment] a nurturing older woman to listen to their was probably only a practice. That was wha woes—Antonya Nelson, 1992 (US), (sing, one told servants—E. Waugh, 1942; How to verb in the subordinate clause) He's one persuade the Telegraph that ...one was a man of immense culture? {saying 'one' when of those Yanks who wants to be really English, you know—A. Motion, 1989; he is one of you mean T would do for a start, I decided)— those people who hasfiveminutes of fame and F. Johnson, 1982; you must realize that there a place in history because he just happened toarerisksthat one doesn't take—N. Gordimer, be in the right place at the right time—]. G. 1987; at least one listener found it [se. a Dunne, 1991 (US); 'Don't you think,' said performance of a piano concerto] more Bernard, 'that Hawaii is one of those placesintriguing than a thousand more routine that was always better in the past?'—D. interpretations. This performance comLodge, 1991. A plural verb in the subor- manded attention; at times ...it brought dinate clause is recommended unless one's blood to a boil-Chicago Tribune, 1988; particular attention is being drawn to One knew immediately that he was a bad the uniqueness, individuality, etc., of the lot—C. Phipps, 1989; a highly readable one in the opening clause. classic that nevertheless got into the Guinnes Book of Records for having been rejected 69 5 Kinds of pronoun; numeral, imper- times before publication. One wonders why sonal, or generic, replacing I. It is desir- does not one?—Fortune, 1990 (US). able at this point to distinguish the 6 Possessive of the numeral and the names given to certain uses of one. It is a pronoun of some sort whenever it stands impersonal. The question arises of what not in agreement with a noun, but as a is the proper pronoun to be used when substitute for a noun preceded by a or the pronoun one needs contextually to one: in I took one apple, one is not a pro- be followed by a reflexive or by a possessnoun but an adjective; in I want an apple; ive. For example, when Caesar has been may I take one?, one stands for an apple named, he can be afterwards called or one apple, and is a pronoun. In the either Caesar or he, but when one has following examples three different kinds been used, does it matter whether it is of pronoun are exemplified: One of them repeated itself or is represented by he, escaped; One is often forced to confess failure; etc.? There is no particular problem One knew better than to swallow that. In theabout the numeral pronoun one: its posfirst, one may be called a numeral pronoun, sessive, reflexive, and deputy pronoun is which description will cover also I will never one's, oneself, and one, but always take one, They saw one another, One is enough, the corresponding parts of he, she, or it. and so on. In the second, one stands for Thus We all saw one [sc. one athlete] drop a person, i.e., the average person, or the his baton; Certainly, if one [of the seven sort of person we happened to be con- women] offers herself as a candidate; One cerned with, or anyone of the class that [se. a detonator] would not go off even when includes the speaker. It does not mean I hammered it. Secondly, the impersonal a particular person; it might be called one always can, and now usually does, an indefinite, an impersonal, or a generic provide its own possessive etc.—one's, onepronoun; in this book it will be called self, and one. Thus One does not like to hav an impersonal pronoun. In the third, one one's word doubted; If one fell, one would is neither more or less than a substitute hurt oneself badly.
551
one another | only
The going is not always so smooth, that are written together (or with a hyhowever. At various times in the past, phen) by some writers, and as separate and still often in AmE, the above sen- elements by others. The editorial comtences would run One does not like to have mittees of publishing houses come and his (or even 'their' word doubted; If one go and make their decisions in these fell, he would hurt himself badly. This ten- matters as is their right. But, thank God, dency is now fast disappearing in AmE there is no superfamily of scholars and because of concern over sexual bias, and writers—such as an academy or linguistic the BrE pattern is tending to be used in politburo—with the power to impose uniAmE too. formity on us all. As a result, the custom 7 Mixtures of one with he, you, they, my, of this publishing house or that is to etc. These are all ill-advised, esp. when encourage their house-style: to get under they occur in the same sentence. Ex- way or to get underway; straight away or amples (with remedies): As one goes straightaway; any more or anymore; common through the lists he is struck by the number sense or common-sense or commonsense; of female candidates; his old lists were very loanword or loan-word or loan word; teenager different (Replace he by one and replace or teen-ager. In some cases a difference of his by one's); As one who vainly warned my meaning governs the way in which the countrymen that Germany was preparing to parts are written (see e.g. EVERYONE and attack her neighbours, I say that... (Replace every one). More often the choice is just a my by his, let I stand); (Description of a matter of custom or fashion. An attempt married couple) One has the power because has been made in the present book to they're the one who's healthy, whatever the make recommendations in all such matdisability of the other one is, and the other ters, esp., but not only, for writers, one has power because they write the check printers, and the general public in the [from a 1992 American newspaper] (Re- UK Further joinings or severances of construct the whole sentence); To listen such word-elements are bound to occur to his strong likes and dislikes one sometimes in the future. Our language is a restless thought that you were in the presence of a one: none of its components is static or Quaker of the eighteenth century (Replace wholly governable. you were by one was); To be a good Imperialist you must assent to the impotence and dec- ongoing (adj.). First recorded in 1877, adence and backwardness of one's own this adjective gained such widespread Motherland (Replace you by one, or one's currency in the 1950s and beyond that by your). it quickly attracted criticism as a vogue Examples of pronoun mixture from word and, in the phr. an ongoing situation, modern sources: As one walks... down any as a cliché on a par with at the end of the street in Nashville one can feel now and again day, in this day and age, and scenario. 'The that he has just glimpsed [etc.]—New Yorker, phrase ongoing situation should be 1986; so that if one wants the house and avoided at all times [on the BBC],' I deland he must compensate his brothers and clared in The Spoken Word (1981), and sisters with money—P. P. Read, 1986; When looking back at Passau, one seems to see restate now. It signals a person's linalmost as many church spires as he does in guistic impoverishment. The word is Prague—Chicago Tribune, 1988; Yet one canfound in many acceptable collocations now see that it was the usages of the newly (examples of ongoing movement, operation, literate which have prevailed, so that you process, relationship, etc., are listed in cannot help but feel [etc.]—English Today, OEDS, 1982, but ongoing situation is not 1988; I like to believe one can be honest and one of the acceptable ones. sincere and committed in what he's doingonly (adv.): its placing and misplacing. Chicago Sun-Times, 1988. An example of an 'unmixed' (i.e. stand- 1 A brief history of attitudes. Thefirstgramard) type: If one has no base on which to marian known to have commented on formulate probing questions, can one actually the placing of only is Robert Lowth (1762): "The Adverb, as its name imports, is gengive informed consent?—Dxdalus, 1986. erally placed close or near to the word, one another. See each other s.v. EACH 2. which it modifies or affects; and its proone word or two or more. At any given priety and force depend on its position. time, the language contains elements [footnote] Thus it is commonly said, "I
only
552
only spake three words": when the in- wiser physicians would refuse to certify tention of the speaker manifestly re- the patient.' quires, "I spake only three words." Her He further argued that there were body shaded with a slight cymarr, Her bosommany longer sentences in which it is to the view was only bare. Dryden, Cytnon important to 'get [an] announcement of and Iphig. The sense, necessarily requires purport made by an advanced only. A this order, Her bosom only to the view precisian, he argued, is bound to insist was bare.' Numerous other grammarians on an orthodox placing of only in the followed suit and begged their readers following sentence: It would be safe to to pay regard to the placing of only. prophesy success to this heroic enterprise onl The OED (1904) took a middle view. It if reward and merit always corresponded. Fowler claimed that the sentence 'posigave numerous examples of each of three different placings: (a) Preceding the word tively cries out to have its only put early or phrase which it limits (illustrative after would.' He concluded: 'there is an examples from 1297 to 1899, e.g. To distin- orthodox position for the adverb, easily guish ... that which is established because it determined in case of need; to choose is right, from that which is right only becauseanother position that may spoil or obit is established-Johnson, 1751; It is true, scure the meaning is bad; but a change I have been only twice—T. Harral, 1805); (b)of position that has no such effect except Following the word or phrase which it technically is both justified by historical limits (examples from 1340 to 1876, e.g. and colloquial usage and often demanded by rhetorical needs.' What belongs to Nature only, Nature only can complete—]. Brown, 1763; In one only of Jespersen (1909-49, vii) is quite exthe casements—Lytton, 1838); (c) Only was plicit: 'Purists insist on placing only close formerly often placed away from the to the word it qualifies, but as a matter of word or words which it limited; this is fact it is by most people placed between still frequent in speech where the stress subject and verb, and stress and tone and pauses prevent ambiguity, but is decide where it belongs.' One of his sevnow avoided by perspicuous writers (ex- eral examples neatly brings out the probamples from 1483 to 1875, e.g. Tïs only lem: [a journalist speaking] I have only noble to be good—Tennyson, 1833; I only been married once. I mean I have been marrie asked the question from habit—Jowett, 1875).only once—G. B. Shaw, 1934Fowler (1926), in a lengthy article, Marghanita Laski (Observer 21 Apr. presented the case for the acceptance of 1963) reported that her preparatory the 'illogical' placing of only in such a school, by means of a single sentence sentence as He only died a week ago: since and in a single lesson, fixed for ever the 'the risk of misunderstanding [is] chim- ability of that class to use only correctly. erical, it is not worth while to depart The single sentence was The peacocks are from the natural'. He thought it seen on the western hills. The exercise was reasonable that 'a reader should be to place only in every possible place in supposed capable of supplying the decis- the sentence (The only peacocks; The peaive intonation' to bring out the meaning, cocks are only seen, etc.). Clearly the meanand argued strongly that only 'one of ing changes with each new placing. CGEL the modern precisians who have more (1985, 8.117) states that the natural inzeal than discretion' would wish to write tonation of a sentence containing an He died only a week ago. His insistence was early-placed only will normally ensure expressed in colourful language: 'the that there is no ambiguity. In written pedants who try to forward it [se. a ten- English, however, it is quite another matdency shown by a language to eliminate ter. In its written form the following illogicalities as time passes] when the sentence could be interpreted in three illogicality is only apparent or the inac- different ways: John could only see his wife curacy of no importance are turning from the doorway could imply (a) he could English into an exact science or an auto- not talk to her; (b) he could not see her matic machine; if they are not quite brother; or (c) he could not see her from botanizing upon their mother's grave, further inside the room, depending on they are at least clapping a strait waist- where the main sentence stress is placed coat upon their mother tongue, when ((a) on see, (b) on wife, (c) on doorway).
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onomatopoeia | on to, onto
2 The view that a reader can be ex- on to, onto. 1 An historical note. Written pected to supply the necessary intona- as two words, on to is first recorded as a tion or make immediate contextual (compound) preposition in 1581 (I haue adjustments when only is allowed to drift stept on to the stage ... contented to plaie a to a front position in a sentence is sup- part) and has been in continuous use ported by the following examples, in all since then (e.g. He subsided on to the muskof which only is placed at a distance from bench obediently—Mrs H. Ward, 1888; the elements) which it limits: I was ... French windows opened from the breakfastmade to attend a Catholic businessmans lun-room on to the terrace and large walled cheon (where I only got wine by roaring for garden—P. Lively, 1981; A tear trickled on it)-E. Waugh, 1958; Boris doesn't eat shanks to the pillow—A. Brookner, 1991; An important determining factor here was the need to so, of course, I only cook them when he is away on circuit—E. Jolley, 1985 (Aust); Those days,ensure that the paint had dried completely you only applied to one college—New Yorker,on one side of the sheet before moving on to 1986; garments which Hartmann thought the other-Bodl. Libr. Record, 1992; my knees should only be worn by students or those of gave way and I collapsed on to the seat indeterminate age—A. Brookner, 1988; I was opposite—A. Billson, 1993). Written as one glad I only did an occasional gig for the word, onto is first recorded as a preposiband—Rosie Scott, 1988 (NZ); the Soviet tion in 1715 ([A] place gutted away by the flag onlyflewon official buildings—Londonrain down onto Mr. Wtswells land) and has Rev. Bks, 1989; I don't like that food. I onlybeen in continuous use since then (e.g. like candy—B. Nugent, 1990 (US); Until I He jumped down onto the rubbish—C. S. Lewis, 1954; There is nothing in the room to grew up, and she came to live with Uncle Roy and Aunt Deirdre, I only saw Granny at hold onto-D. Hirson, 1986 (SAfr.); He sank carefully spaced intervals—A. N. Wilson, down once again onto his footstool—A. 1990; He says he only took the job becauseBrookner, 1989; He advanced onto the verthe neon sign always cheers him up—Julian andah—I. Murdoch, 1989: The blue sky threw its light down onto the fields below—L. Barnes, 1991; I'm afraid I only seem to have Norfolk, 1991; Once again paper will disapfive pounds—P. Lively, 1991 • pear, this time onto optical discs like CD-ROM 3 The placing of only takes one to a and CD-I—Logos, 1992). In my own writing front-line battle which has been taking I have always written the preposition as two words, but the form onto is now, it place for more than 200 years. It would be perverse to ignore the evidence pro- would seem, in the ascendancy. vided by so many of our best writers 2 When the on, however, is an indewhen they are prepared to allow only to make an early entrance in a sentence pendent adverb, not forming a comand leave common sense to work out the pound preposition with a following meaning. And yet the sentences analysed preposition to, the sequence on to is obligby Marghanita Laski and by CGEL are also atory: e.g. Everybody has been on to [ = 'wise to'] that for some time—]. C. Lincoln, persuasive. Fowler's view (1926), set out 1911:I can't help feeling that he's on to us above, is the most flexible and the most moderate, and is therefore recommen- ... That he knows about us—]. Osborne, 1959. Also, in cases 'in which on, as the ded here. extension of a verb, is followed by to as onomatopoeia (adj. -poeic): 'name- a separate word, e.g. to walk on to the making'. The formation of names or next station, to flow on to the sea, . . . to lead on to another point; a ship lies words from sounds that resemble those broadside on to the waves' (OED). associated with the object or action to be named, or that seem suggestive of 3 Fowler (1926) added further exits qualities: atishoo, babble, cuckoo, croak, amples of on used as a full adverb before ping-pong, puff-puff, and sizzle are probable to and therefore written separately: We examples. The word is also used of se- must walk on to Keswick; Each passed it on quences of words whose sound suggests to his neighbour, Struggling on to victory. In what they describe, as in Tennyson's Myr- He played the ball on to his wicket, he judged iads ofrivuletshurrying thro' the lawn, The that 'as He played on could stand by itself, moan of doves in immemorial elms, And it is hard to deny on its independent status'. It should also be noted that They murmuring of innumerable bees.
onward, onwards | opposite meanings, words of drove on to the beach would normally mean 'They continued the journey until they reached the beach' but could also mean "They drove their vehicle to a position on the beach'; whereas They drove onto the beach could only mean "They drove their vehicle to a position on the beach'. See UPON.
onward, onwards. As an adj. the shorter form is obligatory (resuming his onward journey). As adv. both onward and onwards are used (from the tenth century onward(s)); the shorter form is perhaps the more common of the two in AmE. oolite (a sedimentary rock). Pronounce as three syllables, /'aoalart/.
554
opine (verb) (often followed by thot + clause) means 'to hold or express as an opinion'. It is a somewhat stilted word, often used to introduce a view scorned, or at any rate not favoured, by the speaker. opinion. For climate of opinion, see CLIMATE.
opportunity. One takes the opportunity, or an opportunity, or every opportunity, to do something, or, less commonly, of doing something (the opportunity of going over the papers). Constructions of opportunity followed by for + gerund are more difficult to find (opportunities for procuring advantages to ourselves), but examples of opportunity followed by for + noun (phrase) are reasonably frequent (provided an opportunity for greater leisure).
opacity, opaqueness. Both mean 'the quality or state or an instance of being opaque' and both are used in concrete oppose makes opposable. See -ABLE, -IBLE as well as in abstract senses. Opacity is 6. the preferred form in various technical opposite. 1 He can thwart him by applying senses in physics, philosophy, etc. it to the opposite purpose for which it was op. cit. (L opere citato), an abbreviation intended (he is a pupil, him is the teacher, meaning 'in the work already cited'. It it the teaching): insert from (or to) that is normally preceded by the name of the after purpose. Too much elision is undeauthor and set out thus: Bloomfield, op. sirable. cit., pp. 54-5. 2 As adj., opposite 'having a position on the other or further side', is construed operate makes operable, operator: see either with to (two persons directly opposite -ABLE, -IBLE 2(v); -OR. to each other) or with from (on the opposite side of the river from that on which his house operculum (flaplike structure covering stood). When used as a noun, opposite gills of fish). PI. opercula. See -UM 2. is construed with of (Ariel is the extreme opposite of Caliban). Opposite may also be ophthalmologist, optician, optometused as a preposition (they sat down opposrist, oculist. An ophthalmologist is a ite each other), in which case it is a shortenperson who makes a scientific study of ing of opposite to. the eye, its structure, functions, and diseases; esp. a medical practitioner opposite meanings, words of. A minor specializing in the diagnosis and treat- feature of the language is the coexistment of the eye. An optician (also called ence at a given time of apparently opposan ophthalmic optician and nowadays ite meanings of the same word. The often an optometrist) is a person qualified phenomenon is shown, for example, in to test the eyes and prescribe and supply the verb to head, which means (a) to take spectacles and contact lenses. A dispen- off the head (historically a human head, sing optician is a person who supplies and now mainly applied to the lopping off fits spectacle frames but is not qualified of branches at the head of a tree or to prescribe lenses. An oculist is a some- shrub), and (b) to put a head on, to form what old-fashioned term for an ophthal- a head (the fence is then headed with two mologist. In America, one is more likely feet of grass sods). The verb ravel can mean to go to an optometrist for the testing of 'entangle' (when used transitively), 'beeyesight and prescribing of 'eyeglasses', come entangled' (when used intransibut the synonym optician is also used. tively), and (often construed with out) The term ophthalmologist is used in the 'disentangle' (examples in the OED), alsame way as in Britain. though nowadays entangle and unravel
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are the usual pair of words employed for the opposing meanings. A seeded field (one sown with seed) is to be distinguished from a seeded raisin (one from which the seeds have been removed). For further examples, see CARE (verb) (I couldn't/could care less); CHUFFED ( = pleased/displeased). Words of different
optative | or opuscule (minor musical or literary work) /a'pAskjuil/. PI. opuscules. Opusculum, pl. opuscula, is also used in the same sense: see -UM 2.
or. 1 Number after or. When the subject is a set of alternatives each in the singular, however many the alternatives, and 1 2 however long the sentence, the verb origin account for CLEAVE and CLEAVE must be in the singular. Examples: Costs and for let 'allow' and let 'prevent'. ... will only be awarded when the behaviour optative, l Formerly often pronounced or stance of one or other party is in some way /Dp'teitrv/, i.e. stressed on the second syl- unreasonable-Counsel, 1987; Constancy or lable, but now almost always on the first. predictability is their virtue—Encounter, 1987; One had to ... admit that a paint or 2 Greek verbs have certain forms called the optative mood, used to express steel company or a salt or coal mine was no place for the late Herr Baumgartner's a wish or desire for the future, e.g. ufi yevoixo 'may it not happen!'. In modern widow—A. Desai, 1988. An aberrant plural English grammar the word is sometimes verb: The effect of anti-racist casting may not applied to the verbal form used in for- be that which the playwright intended but mulaic phrases expressing a wish, e.g. So ...it may not be that which the actor or help me God!, Oh that I were young again!, director intend either—Listener, 1988. If alternative members differ in number, God save the Queen!. the nearest prevails: e.g. Were you or he optic. As a noun meaning 'the organ of there?; Was he or you there? (A remedy, sight, the eye' it was in good use ('the though, would be to give the verb twice: learned and elegant term', OED) from the Was I, or were you, there?). 17c. to the 19c, but at some point it 2 Wrong repetition after or. 'With and, became pedantic, and by 1904 (when the relevant section of the OED was issued) it does not matter whether we say without falsehood and deceit or without falsehood humorous. and without deceit, except that the latter conveys a certain sledgehammer emoptician. See OPHTHALMOLOGIST. phasis; but with or there is much differoptimal, optimum. For a little over a ence between without falsehood or deceit century (both words entered the lan- (which implies that neither is present) guage in the late 19c.) these words have and without falsehood or without deceit been vying with each other as adjectives (which implies only that one of the two in the sense 'best or most favourable is not present)' (Fowler, 1926). Fowler (under given conditions), most satisfact- then cited several examples in which ory'. In the OED the following colloca- either or must be changed to and, or the tions occur in the illustrative examples word or words repeated after or must be for the two words: optimal decision, distri- cut out: e.g. No great economy or no high bution, feedback, intensity, performance, efficiency can be secured; We need something sense-data, temperature; optimum behaviour,more before we can conclude that Germany is concentration, density, distribution, point, going to be democratized in any effective way, power output, production rate, size, tempera- or before we can be sure that this move ture. The overlap is obvious. Neither word also is not a weapon in the war. In practice is appropriately used as a simple substi- this 'rule' is not to be literally applied. tute for best (this is the best summer we have It would be hard to find fault with the ever had, not the optimal summer and not words (my, in, for, in) immediately followthe optimum summer). ing or in the following examples: Did my father or my grandfather perhaps simply optometrist. See OPHTHALMOLOGIST. gallop up ... to the farmhouse one day?— opus. For a musical composition and J. M. Coetzee, 1977; The 'insolence of office' in the phrase magnum opus the recom- which... drove Hamlet to contemplate suicide is certainly not unknown in Whitehall or in mended pronunciation is /'aupas/ with a long 0. The pi. is either opera /'Dpara/ or British Embassies abroad—Times, 1985; He won't want to make trouble for her or for opuses /'aupasiz/.
-or I order
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me—P. P. Read, 1986; We Europeans rode theorator. Thus spelt, not -er. See -OR. streets in cars or in horse-drawn gharries— oratorio. PL oratorios. See -O(E)S 4. P. Lively, 1987. oratress (female public speaker). First 3 See also AGREEMENT 4; EITHER 5; recorded in the late 16c. and in continuNEITHER 6; NOR 7. ous use since then until the 20c. Now -or is the Latin agent-noun ending cor- moribund. See -ESS. The synonymous oraresponding to English -er: compare doer trix has also been used since the late 15c. and perpetrator. English verbs derived and is also now obsolescent. See -TRIX. from the supine stem of Latin ones—i.e. especially most verbs in -ate, but also orbit makes orbital; orbited, orbiting. See many others such as act, credit, invent, -T-, -TT-. oppress, possess, prosecute, protect—usually orchid, orchis. Thefirstis the familiar prefer this Latin ending to the English (greenhouse) 'epiphytic plant of the famone in -er. Some other verbs, e.g. conquer, ily Orchidaceae, bearing flowers in fangovern, and purvey, not corresponding to tastic shapes and brilliant colours, [etc.] the above description have agent-nouns (COD), grown outdoors in temperate and in -or owing to their passage through tropical regions. The orchis is 'any orchid French or through some other circum- of the genus Orchis, with a tuberous root stance. A select list of differences may be and an erect fleshy stem having a spike of interest: corrupter and corrector, deserter of usu. purple or red flowers; any of and abductor; dispenser and distributor, various wild orchids* (COD). PL orchids (for eraser and ejector. Some verbs generate both words), but usu. orchises for orchis. alternative forms, generally preferring Both words are originally from Gk ôpxu -er for the personal and -or for the mech- 'testicle' (with reference to the shape of anical agent (e.g. adapt, convey, distribute, its tuber). resist), or -or for the lawyers and -er for ordinary use (abet, devise, pay, settle, vend). ordeal. Pronunciation: now always /o:'di:l/ or /o:'di:al/, stressed on the second See also ACCEPTER; ADAPTER; ADVISER; CASsyllable. Johnson (1755) and Walker TER; also -ER AND -OR. (1791) placed the stress on the first syllable, as did the OED (1904); and the oral. See AURAL; VERBAL. last two indicated that the word was orate (verb). The OED (1904) remarked: predominantly trisyllabic. The shift of 'This word is occasionally instanced stress to the second syllable must theresince circa 1600, but has only recently fore have occurred in the 20c: it is worth come into more common use, as a back- noting that Daniel Jones (1917) gave only second-syllable stressing. formation from oration, apparently first in U.S. circa i860.' It means *to hold order (noun). 1 See IN ORDER THAT; IN forth, to "speechify", to make a speech ORDER TO. pompously or at length.' 2 of the order of is a COMPOUND PREPOSI-
oratio obliqua, recta ('bent speech,
TION meaning 'in the region of, somewhere about' (the averageflowthrough the gorge is of the order of 2,000-3,000 cubic metres per second). It is a popularized technicality from a more complex use of the term in mathematics.
straight speech'). Latin names, the second for the actual words used by a speaker, without modification, and the first for the form taken by his or her words when they are reported and fitted into the reporter's framework. Thus How order (verb). The construction ordered + are you? I am delighted to see you (recta) object + pa.pple (often expressed in the becomes in obliqua He asked how I was and passive) is first recorded in 1781 in AmE said he was delighted to see me; or, if the (These things were ordered delivered to the framework is invisible, How was I? He army—]. Witherspoon) and has been prewas delighted to see me. Most newspaper dominantly American ever since: BrE reports of speeches, and all third-person normally requires the insertion of to be letters, are in oratio obliqua or reported before the pa.pple. Further examples: My speech. bill was introduced by Senator Williams of
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orderly | Orleans
Oregon, read by title, and ordered printed— The shorter form emerged in the 18c. J. H. Beadle, 1873; the local military com-and the longer one, in the same sense (as in the French original), in the 19c. mander was ordered removed—Time, 1977; Both words then went in identical directwo gunmen burst into the cockpit and ordered tions and developed the same extended the planeflownto Algeria-Chr. Sci. Monitor, senses: 'to place in any particular way 1987; twelve other neighborhood people testwith respect to the cardinal points of the ified in court that they... would feel horrible if the jury ordered them [sc. church bells] compass'; and, figuratively, 'to ascertain one's "bearings'". In particular both unplugged—New Yorker, 1990; An 11-year-old words have become frequently used as English girl allegedly left alone when her mother went on a holiday in Spain wasparticipial adjectives (oriented, orientated). The symmetry of the two forms is ordered kept in the care of local authorities brought out clearly by the combinations yesterday—Dominion (Wellington, NZ), that happen to occur in the illustrative 1993. examples given in the OED: (a) Preceded orderly. See -LILY. The word is used only by an adverb: environmentally, psychologically, vertically oriented; politically orientas an adj. {behaved in an orderly manner), never as an adv. The notional adverbial ated, (b) Preceded by a noun (to which it is hyphened): adult-, art-, performance-, form orderlily does not exist. user-oriented; degree-, performance-, use ordinance, ordnance, ordonnance. An orientated. Readers may like to be reminded of ordinance is 'an authoritative order'; ordnance is 'a branch of government service the nature of the contest by inspecting the following examples: (orient(ed)) Man dealing esp. with military stores and materials; specif, artillery'; and ordon- needs relations with other people in order to nance is 'a plan or method of literary or orient himself—R. May, 1953; He can begin artistic composition; an order of archi- the next big step ... of becoming emotionally more independent of his parents and oriented tecture' (The most conspicuous qualities of instead towards the outside community and the style are these: ordonnance, or arrangement and structure, precision in the use its of ways of doing things—B. Spock, 1955; In a youth-oriented society for a woman to grow words, and relevant intensity—T. S. Eliot, 1936; the deadfigure... is not exaggeratedold means to run theriskof being ignored— A. Hutschnecker, 1981; (orientate(d)) In and achieves a monumental 'ordonnance' a language like Malagasy it is also possible which is nearly classical—Burlington Mag., 1938). Ordnance Survey is an official UK to orientate the predicate with respect to wha survey organization, orig. under the Mas- in French would be a circumstantial comple ter of the Ordnance, preparing large- ment-E. Palmer, 1964; We in Europe, says scale detailed maps of the whole country. Levy Bruhl, have behind us many centuries rigorous intellectual speculation and analys oread (mountain nymph in Greek and Consequently, we are logically orientated— E. E. Evans-Pritchard, 1965; Kant's own Roman mythology). Pronounce /'Dinaed/. philosophy was undeniably orientated toorganon (Greek) or organum (Latin) wards problems that lay at the heart of the (system of logic, etc.). The pi. of organon is philosophical enterprise—P. Gardiner, 1988; organa /'organs/, less commonly organons. It was very much a London orientated maga The pi. of organum is organa /'organa/, zine—N. Sherry, 1987. less commonly organums. Organon was In the face of the evidence, what is the title of Aristotle's logical writings, one to do? In practice I have decided and Novum (new) Organum that of Bacon's. to use the shorter form myself in all contexts, but the saving is not great. And one can have no fundamental quarrel oriel. See BAY WINDOW. with anyone who decides to use the orient, orientate (verbs). In the perverse longer of the two words. way in which such things often happen, originator. Thus spelt, not -ex. See -OR. these two verbs, one shorter than the other but drawn from the same base orison (prayer). Pronounce /'Dnzan/. (French orienter 'to place facing the east') Orleans (in New 0.). Pronounce /o:'li:anz/. have fallen into competition with one But some prefer to stress on the first another in the second half of the 20c. syllable: /'oilianz/.)
ornament | other ornament. The noun is pronounced /'ornament/ with an obscure vowel in the final syllable. The verb, by contrast, normally has a clear /e/ in the final syllable.
558 at an inn. The word is a phonetic respelling of hosteler, hostler (and thus etymologically related to hostel and hotel), representing the historical pronunciation with h mute. See HOSTLER.
ornithology, etc. In Greek the i is long, but in English words derived from Gk other. ôpvïBo- {ornithophile, ornithorhyncus, etc.)I 1 each other and one another. a short i is now usual. See FALSE QUANTITY.
orography, oro-pharyngeal etc. Two different formative elements yield words in oro-: (0) Gk opo? 'mountain' (e.g. orogeny or orogenesis, the formation of mountains; orography, the branch of physical geography dealing with the formation of mountains); (b) L ôs, Or- 'mouth' (e.g. oro-pharyngeal). At least one word has strayed from the fold, namely orinasal, the usual spelling of the phonetic term meaning '(of French nasal vowels) pronounced with simultaneous oral and nasal articulation'. orotund. An 18c. English, highly irregular, reduction of the L phr. ore rotundd 'with round, well-turned speech' (lit. 'with round mouth'). Orthopaedic. Thus spelt in BrE, but usu. as -pedic in AmE.
2 3 4 5 6 I 7
on the other hand. of all others. other or others. other as adverb. Two curiosities. Archaic disturbance of word order.
1 each other and one another. See EACH 2. 2 on the other hand. For the difference between this and on the contrary see CONTRARY 2.
3 of all others. A fading use cited in the OEDfromSteele (1711) (This Woman, says he, is of all others the most unintelligible) and several other sources (e.g. In Birmingham, the very place, of all other where it is most likely to he of real service—J Morley, 1877). The phr. was called an 'illogicality' and a 'sturdy indefensible' by Fowler (1926), who cited as an example You are the man of all others I wanted to see (a mixture, according to Fowler, of You are the man of all men etc. and You are the man I wanted to see beyond all others) If you use the phr. you will be regarded as swimming against the tide. Further examples: To the mind of the Jew, the man who of all others emphasized the holiness God, the distinctive feature of this holines was its separativeness—G. Matheson, 1901 But how could Israel, the nation which of a others understood the horror of mass murd have allowed the Palestinians of Sabra and Chatila camps ...to have been murdered— Fisk, 1990.
osculate, osculatory. (Cf. L osculan 'to kiss'.) Since the 17c. (the verb) and the 18c. (the adj.) these words have been used in several technical senses (in geometry, anatomy, biology, etc.) with the central meaning of 'being, or coming into contact with, some specified thing'. As a noun an osculatory is 'a painted, stamped, or carved representation of Christ or the Virgin, formerly (18-190) kissed by the priest and people during Mass' {OED). During this period, and still (just), the verb and adj. have occasionally been called on in jocular contexts in place of 4 other or others. Used absolutely or as the natural words kiss and kissing (e.g. a noun, other was formerly often (and The two ladies went through the osculatorystill occas.) an uninflected plural: A body ceremony—Thackeray, 1849). of men whom of all other a good man would b ostensibly, ostentatiously. Both mean most careful not to violate—Berkeley, 1713 essentially 'by way of making a show', These writings, and all other of the same but the purpose in the first case is 'to class—R. H. Froude, 1826; I know two other profess in order to conceal a truth'; in of his works—J. H. Newman, 1844; We find the second it is merely display—'showing here, as in other of his novels, that he has off, displaying something in a preten- genius for.. .—1926 in Fowler; Petite teenage girls ... often perform and record Paganin tious or vulgar manner'. caprices, concertos and other of his works w OStler. Pronounce /'Dsla/. A term used exceptional virtuosity—Strad, 1990. The now normal form others is re14-19c. (and still with historical reference) for a man who attended the horses corded from the 16c. onward: e.g. Loans
559
other I otherwise
from the citizens of London and others of her Random House Diet., 1987). WDEU (1989) subjects—H. Hallam, 1827; In others of his illustrates the use of other than followed sermons-H. H. Milman, 1868; As if the by various parts of speech and in various blame were with Madge and others of her constructions, and concludes that in generation for losing the words creek, pad- some of them it is being treated as a dock, footpath and others like them—}. compound preposition. 'All of these uses Frame, 1988; They're being marketed as are standard English,' it declares. pheromones—smell substances secreted by an- The matter cannot be resolved. It imals that cause a response in others of the would appear to be more or less true same species—Which?, 1989; I want to com-that adverbial uses of other are not widely pare the will with others of the same accepted in BrE but pass without notice period—NY Rev. Bks, 1991; Some typefacesin AmE. But other adverbial phrases look larger than others of the same size be- (apart from, less than, in any other way than, cause their x-height, the height of the lower- etc.) are available, and such sentences case x, is higher—PC Computing, 1992. can easily be rephrased to avoid the problem altogether. 5 other as adverb. The OED has a sprink6 Two curiosities, (a) An informal use ling of examples of other used as an adverb where otherwise might perhaps of a whole other + noun seems to have have been expected, e.g. It is impossible to begun life in AmE: He had a family, a refer to them ... other than very cursorily— whole other life, in Florida—]. Silber, 1991; Law Times, 1883. Fowler (1926) said that I thought she was going to come up with a 'an adverbial use of other is recognized whole other kind of animal, but this was just by the OED, but supported by very few as good—Julie Hecht, 1992: You want a noquotations, and those from no authors frills economy class pair of black hose? forget whose names carry weight'. 'Its recent it. There's business sheer, silky sheer, ultra development may be heartily con- sheer and micro sheer (opaques are a whole demned as both ungrammatical and other class).—Globe & Mail (Toronto), 1993. needless,' he continued. He then cited (b) A pleonastic use of other. Examples several newspaper extracts 'in which the (from American newspapers, both of only correction necessary is to insert the 1991): Drove a car ... westward along the real adverb otherwise instead of the false Pyrenees and then north with my wife and adverb other': e.g. Although the world at two other friends, one of whom is an art large and for long refused to treat it other historian; (after a gas explosion) A man in than humorously; There was never a moment his early 40s was taken to Evanston Hospital when it could less become Englishmen to speak... Two other women at the scene were slightly other than respectfully and courteously of theinjured. Russian nation. Fowler also attacked other 7 Archaic disturbance of word order. than used 'for what would naturally be Other is called a postdeterminer by modexpressed by some other negative form ern grammarians in that it normally of speech': e.g. Up to the very end no Germanfollows other determiners, including field company would look with other than (sometimes) numerals (our other neighapprehension to meeting the 25th on even bours; several other places; four other people; terms (he suggested correcting to without the other end; but the other two men in the appréhension); Four years of war could not room). It is worth recalling that from the leave a people other than restless (read couldOE period until the 19c. (see OED adj. 5d) not but leaverestless).COD (1990) describesother was often placed in a manner that this use of other than (e.g. cannot react seems strange or impossible now: e.g. other than angrily) as 'disputed', and adds The kynge of Fryse, & other his prysoners— 'In this sense otherwise is standard except Caxton, C1489; amonge other his good in less formal use.' qualities—N. Harpsfield, 1558; hee stayed As against these adverse remarks, the yet other seuen dayes—Gen. 8:10 (AV), 1611; major American dictionaries just list the With other the great men of Scotland—]. H. adverbial use of other in other thon Burton, 1864. without comment and give routine illustrative examples (e.g. not being able to Otherwise. 'A definite outrage on gramsell the product other than by reducing the matical principles' was Fowler's verdict price—Webster's Third, 1961; We can't col-in 1926 on the type economic or otherwise, lect the rent other than by suing the tenant- i.e. the use of an adj. + or (or
ottava rima | ought
560
and) + otherwise. His examples included: I've heard the count and he were always friends. There are large tracts of the country, agriculMy pen is at the bottom of a page, tural and otherwise, in which the Labour Which beingfinishedhere the story ends; writ does not run; No further threats, ecoUs to be wish'd it had been sooner done, nomic or otherwise, have been made; No But stories somehow lengthen when begun. organizations, religious or otherwise, had (Byron, 1818) troubled to take the matter up; Place a fair share of taxation on the owners, ducal and ought (noun). Since the mid-igc. ought otherwise, holding land and not developing has sometimes been used as a colloquial it. He said that 'none of them would be corruption of nought: e.g. a half smearedless natural if the offending expressions out game of oughts and crosses—G. A. Sala, were rewritten thus: some agricultural and 1861: 'But did they find a rifle on Sutton?' some not / No further economic or other threatsYep. / Thirty-ought-six.'—D. Anthony, 1972; religious or non-religious / the ducal and otherStrawberry Bill had played leftfieldfor Toowners.' But the language has moved on ronto in ought eight when Francis played and the type condemned by Fowler is third--W. Kennedy, 1979; Sir William Walnow in standard use, and has been ex- ton was born in nineteen ought twotended to cover other parts of speech announcer on Radio WNiB (US), 29 Mar. (preceding the or or and) as well. OEDS 1993- It probably arose from a misdivi(1982) added this sense: 'Phr. or (occas. sion of a nought as an ought. Cf. NAUGHT and) otherwise, following a noun, adject- 2: NOUGHT. ive, adverb, or verb, to signify a corresponding word of opposite or different ought (verb). 1 This modal verb has a meaning.' Examples: Mrs. Lidderdale's complicated history but in its normal dread ... was that her son would acquire a uses now it is followed by a to-infinitive: Two people advised me recently ... that I West country burr, and it was considered more prudent, economically and otherwise, to go onought to see a doctor-T. S. Eliot, 1950; But learning with his grandfather and herself—C.oughtn't I first to tell you the circumstances? Mackenzie, 1922; I do not question the erup- —ibid, 1950; You ought to have a cooked tion at Santorin ... but the supposed connec- breakfast, these cold mornings—D. Lodge, tion of the underwater survey with the 1988; If Canada should disintegrate... what historicity or otherwise of the Atlantis myth- ought the U.S. to do?-Wall St. Jrnl, 1990. Listener, 1966; 12,000 Cowley workers en-Ought is peculiarly liable to be carelessly joyed (or otherwise) an enforced holiday combined with auxiliary verbs that differ because of a strike by plant attendants at the from it in taking the plain infinitive car assembly factory-Oxford Times, 1973; it'swithout to. Can and ought to go is right, the balance offoods you eat that is healthy orbut Ought and can go is wrong. We should otherwise—Which?, 1989; The blameworth-be sorry to see English critics suggesting that iness or otherwise of another party bears no re-they ought or could have acted otherwise: lation to the issue of the instant trader's insert to after ought, or write that they diligent pursuit of safety—Statute Law Rev.,could or ought to have acted. See ELLIPSIS for similar difficulties. The negative 1991. equivalent is ought not to (or, as a contracted form, oughtn't to). The to is opOttava rima, an Italian stanza of eight tional in ellipses: Yes, I think I ought (to). It eleven-syllabled lines rhyming abababcc, is also optional in informal non-assertive pioneered by Boccaccio in the 14c. and contexts (non-assertive is the term used in employed by Tasso, Ariosto, and other CGEL): e.g. They ought not (to) do that sor Italian poets. It was introduced into Engof thing; Oughtn't we (to) send for the police lish by Thomas Wyatt (1503-42). The EngBut the more natural standard expreslish version as used by Byron in Don Juan, sions are They oughtn't to do that or They as well as by Keats, Shelley, Yeats, and shouldn't do that; and Shouldn't we send for others, has iambic pentameters but the police? in other respects follows the Italian 2 See DIDN'T OUGHT. model. 3 Whate'er his youth had suffer'd, his old age hadn't ought. Only found in dialectal With wealth and talking made him some use in parts of Britain and America: e.g. Did you do that? You hadn't ought ( = ought amends; not to have done it). Though Laura sometimes put him in a rage,
561
our I -our- and -or-
The list could be doubled (clamo(u)r, glamour, etc.) and one might be tempted to conclude that for every British -our the Americans write -or. Any such 'rule', however, is contradicted by a number of 1 our, ours. Ours and the Italian troops are now across the Piave. The right alternatives factors. For one thing, both countries use only -or as a terminal element in a are: The Italian troops and ours; The Italian and our troops; Our and the Italian troops. wide range of abstract nouns (e.g. error, The wrong one is that in the quotation. horror, pallor, stupor, terror, torpor, tremor), agent-nouns (e.g. actor, governor, orator, See ABSOLUTE POSSESSIVES. our.
I i our, ours. 2 our editorial and ordinary. I 3 our, his.
sailor; see also PAVIOR; SAVIOUR), and
2 The editorial our, like we and us of others of miscellaneous origin (e.g. amthat kind, should not be allowed to ap- bassador, anchor, bachelor, emperor, liquor, pear in the same sentence, or in close mirror, matador). And for another, both proximity, with any non-editorial use of countries regularly use -our in a number we, etc. In the following extract, our and of words of diverse origin (e.g. contour, the second we are editorial, while us and paramour, tambour, vavasour (but often the first we are national: For chaos it is vavasor in AmE)). now proposed to substitute law, law by which Three main historical factors govern we must gain as neutrals, and which in our the emergence of the various presentview, inflicts no material sacrifice on us as day spellings: (a) the adoption of Latin belligerents. We do not propose to argue that words ending in -or via Anglo-Norman question again from the beginning, but... (where spelt -our); (b) the later post-Re3 our, his. Which of us would wish to benaissance adoption of -or words direct ill in our kitchen, especially when it is alsofrom classical Latin; (c) a steady adoption the family living-room? If a possessive adj. in America in the first half of the 19c, were necessary, his and not our would be esp. by Noah Webster, of -or in all the the right one, or, in our gender-conscious main abstract nouns of the type colo(u)r, age, his or her. People of weak grammat- hono(u)r, etc. A radical solution lies close ical digestions, unable to stomach his, at hand, namely to adopt the spelling have a means of doing without the pos- -or in all nouns listed or implied in the sessive altogether: why not simply the first list given above. There is some movekitchen, here? It is undeniable that which ment in this direction in Australia, and of us requires a following possessive pro- Canadians are for the most part free to noun to be in the singular. It is no solu- choose whichever spelling they prefer. tion at all to replace our by their. But everyone knows that such a change Grammatical concord would still be would be regarded by Britons as a kind of linguistic cleansing, something not to breached by doing so. be contemplated in any circumstances. -our and -or. Anyone who is really And, of course, there is always a great determined to pursue the history and deal to be said for national pride condistribution of such spellings as col- cerning long-held traditions. ourjcolor and valour\valor in BrE and AmE See also -ER AND -OR; -OR. should turn to the OED entries for -or and for -our (as well as to the entries for -our- and -or-. Even those nouns that the individual words themselves); and in BrE regularly end in -our (see prec), as also to an article by C. M. Anson in opposed to AmE -or, e.g. clamour, humour, Internat. Jrnl Lexicography, spring 1990. odour,rigour,valour, vapour, vigour, have What follows is a heavily reduced de- adjectives ending in -orous, not -ourous: thus clamorous, humorous, etc. Derivatives scription of the main patterns. It is a simple matter, first, to set down in -ist, -ite, and -able, on the other hand, a representative list of words that are mostly retain the -our-: so behaviourist, now regularly distinguished in the two colourist, Labourite (cf. favourite, of differcountries, BrE, followed by (AmE): be- ent formation), colourable and honourable. haviour (behavior), candour {candor), colourDerivatives in -ation and -ize are usually (color), harbour (harbor), honour (honor), spelt, both in BrE and AmE, with -or-: so labour (labor), neighbour (neighbor), parlourcoloration, invigoration; deodorize, glamor(parlor), splendour (splendor), valour (valor). ize, vaporize.
ours, our | outstanding
562
produced afloodof imitative formations, esp. in the 19c. fa few instances are ousel. See OUZEL. found in the 17th c, esp. in Fuller, and in the 18th c. in Swift; but the vast OUt (prep.). This use as a preposition development of this, as of so many other instead of the customary out of has a Shaksperian usages, belongs to the 19th long history: the OED lists examples from c, in which such expressions have been the mid-i 3c. to the 20c. (e.g. When you used almost without limit' (OED).) Among haue pusht out your gates the very Defender ofnumerous examples listed in the OED the them—Shakespeare, 1607). At the present are to out-Alexander Alexander (J. Wolco time it is non-standard in the UK but 1800), to out-Milton Milton (Lowell, 1870), is common (beside out of) in America, and to out-Zola-Zola (Literary World, 1 Australia, and NZ. It is in restricted use and the related type (ordinary nouns, contextually in that it is usually em- not proper names) to outrdevil the devil ployed in contexts of looking, going, etc. (B. H. Malkin, 1809), to outmonster the out the door or the window. Modern ex- monstrosities (E. Blunden, 1930), and to amples: To drive with the left arm out the outrambow the rainbow (H. MacDiarmid, window—Amer. Speech, 1962; She looked1956). out The type is shown in a weakened the window ...at all the other houses- form when the object of the verb does Southerly (Aust.), 1967; We looked out the not repeat or echo it, e.g. Out-heroding window at the snow—New Yorker, 1986; the But French cavaliers in compliment and Grandfather was out the door—M. Pople, extravagance (1809 in OED). 1986 (Aust.); I was looking out my side [of the coal truck], the way you do when youout of. See OUT (prep.). push out a curve—New Yorker, 1987; Now he output (verb). The pa.t. and pa.pple are looked past Bacon, out the hay window behind htm-T. Wolfe, 1987 (US); I drove out the either output or outputted; the pres.pple is outputting. See -T-, -TT-. gates and left them open behind me, swinging in the wind-S. Koea, 1994 (NZ). outside of. As a compound preposition outcome is a word that easily leads to outside of is used, esp. in AmE, in two tautologous constructions: e.g. The out- main senses: (a) exterior to, outside (These books are ... distributed outside of the U come of such nationalization would undoubtand Canada by Academic Press—Nat edly lead to the loss of incentive and initiative in that trade. The outcome of nationaliz- 1975; People in show business refer to tho ation would be loss; nationalization would outside of it as 'civilians'—S. MacLai 1987; I remember an industrialist who, o lead to loss. side of presidential earshot, voiced stin outdoor is used only as an adj. (outdoor criticism of certain budget proposals—B. E. Dole, 1988). (b) with the exception of games)', outdoors is an adverb (the concert was held outdoors) or a noun (the great (Outside of a slightly annoying tendency call all female customers 'Hon', everyth outdoors). about Mr. Blume inspires confidence— outermost. For pronunciation, see York, 1972; Outside of an unfortunate ser -MOST. in which he confused the words for cha and diarrhea, causing some tittering beh outfit. The inflected forms are outfitter; fans, he never put a foot wrong with hi outfitted, outfitting in both BrE and AmE. hosts-W. Sheed, 1985; Outside of the woun OUt-Herod (verb). Shakespeare was re- I'd say primarily traumatic shock-R. Lu sponsible for introducing this type of lum, 1990. In most circumstances, however, uncompounded outside is sufficient, verb: I could haue such a Fellow whipt for and is overwhelmingly the normal use o'er-doing Termagant: it out-Herod's Herod. in BrE. Pray you auoid it—Hamlet. It was no more ours, our. See OUR I .
than a casual expression, related to simi- outspoken. See-SPOKEN. lar formations of his own in which the second element of the out-compound is outstanding. The two main senses of not a proper name: out-frowne false For-the word need careful handling to avoid ambiguity: (a) conspicuous, remarkable tunes frowne—King Lear, He hath out villain 'd (in a specified group); (b) not yet settled. villanie-All's Well that Ends Well. The type
563
outward, outwards | overlay, overlie
In an election the other outstanding result could mean either one of special interest or one not yet known (if the latter, it would be better to re-express as the other result still outstanding).
suit worn by workmen, etc. (always construed with a pi. verb). As adj. it is always used in the attributive position, e.g. the overall pattern, the overall effect. It is also used as an adv., e.g. Overall, the performance was excellent.
outward, outwards. As adj., the only legitimate form is outward (the outward journey, his outward appearance). As adv., outward is the customary form (one eye is turned outward), with outwards as a stylistic or personal variant, esp. in BrE. outwit. The inflected forms are outwitted, outwitting. ouzel (a bird). Usu. spelt thus, not ousel.
3 Hostility to the use of the adj. (and by implication the adv. as well) surfaces from time to time, the argument being that overall is overused, and that a range of synonyms (comprehensive, total, whole, etc.) is available. Warnings about overuse seem to have had some effect and overall seems to be used much less commonly now than it was in the second and third quarters of the 20c. It is still advisable, however, to be on one's guard against using it when it contributes nothing to the sense: e.g. It was not until the third ballot that Mr. Michael Foot secured an absolute overall majority; The overall growth of London should be restrained.
over. Since the later part of the 19c. there has been a strong tradition in American newspapers and in some American usage guides of hostility to the use of over with a following numeral to mean 'in excess of, more than' (the type a little over £50, a distance of over 700 overflow has pa.t. and pa.pple overflowed. yards). The anxiety continues: The national view is a graphic composite of local reports overfly. The inflected forms are overflies across the country from over 50 (Oops! Make(près, sing.), overflew (pa.t.), and overflown that 'more than' 50-Fm almost 'over' 50) (pa.pple). reporting stations—columnist in Chicago overlay, overlie. The pa.t. and pa.pple Sun-Times, 1989; Not perfect yet: 'over of overlay are respectively overlaid and 150,000'AIDS deaths should have been moreoverlaid, while those of overlie are respectthan, used with all figures except ages—W. ively overlay and overlain. Confusion of Safire, 1992. In Britain, over has been the two sets of forms, and also of the used with a following numeral without present tense forms (respectively overlays restriction or adverse comment through- and overlies) is even more likely to occur out the same period. No voices have been than in the inflected forms of lay and raised in Britain or N. America against lie (see LAY AND LIE). There is abundant the type over forty (years of age). Examples: evidence in the OED, for example, for the These four sons were all over forty but they use of either overlay or overlie for the sense were treated as babies by their parents—P. 'to smother by lying upon' (a mother on Kavanagh, 1948; She was a little over twenty, her child, or a sow on a piglet). Both very graceful and witty and cunning—G. overlay and overlie also seem to be used Greene, 1969in geology for the sense 'lie over or upon (e.g. of a stratum resting directly upon overall. 1 Pronunciation. When used another)' (the Palzozoic rocks do not appear as a noun ( = two kinds of garment), to be overlain by recent marine deposits—]. it is stressed on the first syllable: thus Ball, 1885; At the edges of the cross section, /'auvaroilfz)/. As adj. and adv. the stress is we see a sequence of magnetized sedimentary variable: sometimes the main stress falls blankets overlaying the crust—P. J. Wyllie, on the first syllable with a secondary 1976). stress on the final syllable, and someOn the other hand, the sense 'to cover times it is the other way round: thus the surface (of something) with a coat/'auvar.od/ or /.auvar'Dil/. ing, etc' requires overlay (e.g. wood over2 Parts of speech. As noun, an overall laid with gold; they overlaid the walls with (in BrE) is a coat-like garment worn over hessian). And so do figurative extensions: one's clothes as a protection against e.g. A habit of obedience overlaid the tumultustains, etc.; overalls are protective ous desires and suppressions of her young trousers, dungarees, or a combination daughter-M. Keane, 1937; Her anger was
overlook, oversee | owing to
564
overlaid with bewilderment—D. Welch, deferential about the wisdom 0/Ministers—J. 1943; This kind of insight overlays the pat- Cole in Listener, 1983; Fitzpatrick's male terns of his works, and the enjoyment of his adversary is an impassioned, overly emotiona art is as much the enjoyment of the overlay man—Times, 1985; she was so overly agreeas it is of the patterns themselves—TLS, 1975.able and pleasant that there had to be a This is all tricky territory and the only reason for it—J. Hecht, 1992 (US); Since safe rule is to consult a standard diction1989, nearly 100 cases of overly lenient senary before making the choice of word tences have been referred by the Attorney that is traditionally used for a specified General to the Court of Appeal—Times, 1993 meaning. Having established that, the She is not overly cheerful about the future of standard paradigms of the two verbs are British drama—M. Geare, 1993. as given above in the first paragraph. overseas. Now the customary word overlook, oversee. At first sight these (rather than oversea) for both the adv. (he would seem to be synonymous, but in was sent overseas for training) and the adj. practice their meanings hardly overlap. (overseas postage rates), though at least Overlook means (a) to fail to notice; to until the early 20c. oversea was the usual condone (an offence, etc.); (b) to have a form for the adj. view from above (their house overlooked the oversight. See OVERLOOK. harbour); less commonly, (c) to supervise, oversee (Lord Hailsham, as Lord Privy Seal,overthrowal. The noun-forming suffix is to overlook scientific development—in Gow--al came into wide favour in the 19c. ers, 1965). The primary sense of oversee (see -AL 2) and overthrowal 'the act of is the same as that of sense (c) of overlook, overthrowing' (first recorded 1916) i.e. to supervise (workers, work, etc.). It seems to have come into being as a kind is the normal word in this sense. of afterthought. It was first admitted to Of the derivatives, overseer retains its the OED in 1933, and it has found a meaning of'supervisor', but oversight has place in Webster's Third, but smaller tended to follow overlook instead of its dictionaries find no place for it. Modern parent verb and is now not often used examples (both US): I don't see his regime except in the sense of a failure to notice lasting more than 18 months before an oversomething, or an inadvertent mistake. throwal—Washington Post, 1979; The militOne must nevertheless not be surprised ary says more than 2,000 people had been to find oversight used to mean 'super- killed in insurgency-related incidents since th vision'. Examples: There was no centralised February overthrowal of President Ferdinand mint and probably little centralised over- Marcos—Chicago Tribune, 1986. sight-F. H. Hayward, 1935; The need to continue investigations on a broad front to overtone, undertone. In their figurkeep an ecological oversight of the biogeody-ative uses both have the implication that namics of each metal—Nature, 1971; The there is more to a statement, undertakbroad answer is that there must be a represent-ing, etc., than meets the eye. In music, ative from Scotland in the United Kingdom an overtone is 'any of the tones above Cabinet—with a general oversight over the the lowest in a harmonic series' (COD). economy and the framing of Scotland's Overtone is therefore an apt metaphor for budget—to represent Scotland's interest on fuelsuggesting that a word, etc., has implipolicy and on defence—Lord Home, 1976. cations over and above the plain meaning (e.g. 'Artificial' cannot be used without overly (adv.). Until about the 1970s, and an overtone of disparagement). Undertone is in some quarters still, regarded as an not a technical term in music. It simply Americanism, but the evidence shows means 'a subdued tone of sound or colthat it is now widely used in BrE. Ex- our' (COD) and is suitably used figuramples: The Manitoba Minister of Agricul- atively for something unexpressed but ture is not overly impressed with the inferrable from evidence (e.g. there was horsemen's woes—Globe & Mail (Toronto), an undertone of optimism in the peace talks in Geneva). 1968; Occasionally, an overly sensitive author will object strenuously—Surgery, 1974; That ovum. The pi. is ova. See -UM 2. same novel is now with Macmillan. I am not 'overly' hopeful—B. Pym, 1977; Faith in theirowing to is not inserted here because own judgment... will not make them overly it is misused, but to give readers an
565
owl-like I oxymoron
assurance that it is as often as not a oxymoron. A word of Greek origin (Gk suitable substitute for due to (a phr. 6^6u(opov, formed from 6£u- 'sharp' + which often attracts adverse criticism in Hcopôç 'dull') meaning 'a figure of speech some of its uses). Owing to has two main in which apparently contradictory terms meanings: (a) (as a predicative adj.) appear in conjunction': e.g. a cheerful caused by; attributable to {the cancellation pessimist; harmonious discord. Longer exwas owing to ill health); (b) (as a compound amples: And faith unfaithful kept him preposition) because of (the trains were falsely true—Tennyson, 1859; And yet nidelayed owing to a signals failure). Its use nety-nine-point-nine per cent of the time in sense (b) is particularly recommended. Middlehope [se. a village] is madly sane, A literary example: Owing to its length, my hair tends to fall forward in two curves on if youll permit the paradox—E. Peters, the temples-S. Bellow, 1987. The wordy 1978; 'Come on, my dear,' the woman said phr. owing to the fact that can usually ... Mother never said it, only You useless be avoided: use a conjunction such as lump.' Useless lump or my dear, the meaning was the same—H. Mantel, 1986; He gets because instead. out of it by saying that he used to think owl-like. See-LIKE. 'interesting Canadian' was an oxymoron, OX. The pi. is oxen. See PLURALS OF NOUNS but that Eric was obviously an exception-M. Atwood, 1990. 7(b).
Pp pace (prep.). Derived from Latin, and but the shorter form is now the only one first used in English in the 19c., it is the in use. See -IST. ablative singular of L pax 'peace', and means 'by the leave of (a person), with package. Used for'the packing ofgoods' due respect to (someone or someone's and for 'a bundle of things packed in a opinion)'. L pace tua or pace vestra mean receptacle', the noun has been part of *with all due respect to you'; (with the the standard language for many cennoun in the genitive) pace Veneris means turies. In the course of the 20c, first in AmE and then in all English-speaking 'if Venus will not be offended by my areas, it developed figurative senses, and saying so'. In English pace is used chiefly in particular 'a combination or collecas a courteous or ironical apology for a tion of interdependent or related abcontradiction or difference of opinion' stract activities', as in package deal, offer, (OED). Though COD 1995 gives precedence proposal, etc. Any set of agreements, proto /'pœtjei/, in my experience the word posals, transactions, travelling arrangeis most commonly pronounced /'peisi/. It ments, etc., can now be described as a is almost always printed in italic, and package. The new sense is widespread its use is restricted to works in which and useful. Latinisms are likely to be recognized. Examples: Indeed, pace Chomsky and Halle,paean (a song of praise or triumph). we would probably want it to be impossible Thus spelt in BrE (in AmE also peon). for mid glides to exist at all—A. H. Sommerstein, 1973; I find (a) incredible (pace paed(o)-. A number of words conHerman Kahn)-Conservation News, 1976; taining this element (from Gk TICÛÇ, rcaiôTolstoy... is not, pace Albert Sorel and Vogué, 'child') are usu. spelt with -ae- in BrE in any sense a mystic—Isaiah Berlin, 1978. and with -e- in AmE: thus paediatricsjped-, Fowler and others warn against using paedophilelpedo-, etc. the preposition to mean 'according to', paid pa.t. and pa.pple of PAY. and cite some unattributed examples; but evidence for such a use is lacking pailful. The pi. is pailfuls. See -FUL. now. paillasse. See PALLIASSE.
pachydermatous. Brought into English painedly. See-EDLY. in the 19c. in zoological works to mean 'thick-skinned' (of certain animals, in- paintress. See-ESS 4cluding the elephant and the rhinoceros, from Gk na%vs 'thick' + Septet 'skin'), it pair. 1 When used to mean (a) a set of was quickly applied, sometimes play- two persons or things regarded as a unit fully, to persons regarded as 'thick- (a pair of eyes; a pair of gloves), and (b) skinned, not sensitive to rebuff, ridicule, an article consisting of two equal parts or abuse'. Modern examples: Can I be which are joined together (a pair of binsincere without wounding people less pachy- oculars, clippers, jeans, pincers, pyjamas, dermatous than myself?-H. Nicolson, scissors, shears, trousers, etc.), the phr. is 1934; Edward laughed. His happiness had normally const, with a singular verb or made him pachydermatous—L. P. Hartley, pronoun (e.g. pass me that pair of scissors; there's a pair of gloves in the drawer). If a 1961. pair of is omitted a plural pronoun or pacifier is the customary word in AmE verb is required: e.g. those gloves, scissors, etc., need replacing. for a baby's dummy. pacifist, pacificist. Both words came into being at the beginning of the 20c.
2 Used as a collective noun, pair can take a singular or plural verb according to notional agreement: either a pair of
pajamas | palpable
567
crocodiles were basking beside theriveror anature of a consonant in certain circumpair of crocodiles was basking [etc.]. See stances by advancing the point of contact AGREEMENT 5 . between tongue and palate. This 'is an 3 Number contrast for gloves, pyjamas, essential part of the [X, 3] sounds in Engscissors, etc., can only be made by using lish words such as she and measure, being additional to an articulation made them with a pair of: thus a pair of binoculars = one object, and two pairs of between the blade and the alveolar ridge; binoculars (not two binoculars) = two ob- or again, it is the main feature of the |j] sound initially in yield' (A. C. Gimson, jects. 1980). 4 The phr. a pair of twins is common enough in speech ( = one set of two palindrome (from Gk nalivb'pouos 'runbabies born at a single birth), but should ning back again*), a word, verse, or senbe avoided if there is any risk of am- tence that reads the same when the biguity (as at a convention of twins). letters composing it are taken in the 5 The pi. form pairs is desirable after reverse order. Edward Phillips's dictiona numeral (e.g. seven pairs of jeans). The ary (1706) cited as an example Lewd did type seven pair of jeans is non-standard, I live, and evil I did dwel (which doesn't quite work today). Greek, Latin, and Engat least in BrE. lish examples are cited in A. J. Augarde's The Oxford Guide to Word Games (1984), e.g. pajamas. See PYJAMAS. Roma tibi subito motïbus ibit amor (attribpalace. The second syllable is pro- uted to Sidonius); Able was I ere I saw Elba nounced /-is/ according to COD (1995) (attributed to Napoleon); and numerous and, as the preferred pronunciation, /-as/ others, including some that are much by J. C. Wells (1990). The same difference more complex than these. of opinion is found in two major Amerpalladium, a safeguard or source of ican dictionaries, those of Random protection. PI. palladia. See -UM 2. House and Merriam-Webster. Educated usage is obviously divided: my own prefpalliasse. Now the established spelling, erence is for /-as/. pronounced /'paehaes/. Cf. Fr. paillasse palaeo-. Thus spelt in BrE (sometimes (from paille 'straw'). printed with the digraph x as palxo-), but paleo- in AmE. Some British publish- Pall Mall (name of street in London). ers are beginning to use the AmE spell- Now pronounced /.pael'mael/. Formerly ing. The first element should be also /.pel'mel/. pronounced /pael-/ not /peil-/. Thus, for pallor. Thus spelt in both BrE and AmE. example, palaeography /paeli'Dgrafi/. palmetto, small palm tree. PI. palmettos. Palaeocene See MIOCÈNE. See -O(E)S 6.
palaestra (in classical antiquity, a gymnasium). Pronounce /pa'laistra/ or /-'lustra/. If the variant palestra is encountered, presumably it is to be pronounced /-'lestra/.
palpable (adj.) corresponds to the verb palpate, to examine (esp. medically) by touch. It means (a) that can be touched or felt, and (b) (often fig.) readily perceived by the senses or mind. Sense (a) palanquin, palankeen /paeian'kim/, a dates from the 14c. and is most memorcovered litter or conveyance. The first is ably illustrated in Osric's verdict to now the customary spelling of this word, Hamlet, a hit, a very palpable hit, during which was adopted in the 17c. from Por- the fatal duel at the end of Shakespeare's tuguese (ultimately from an East Indian Hamlet. Further example: Twofifthsof the head are palpable above the brim—M. F. vernacular word). Myles, Textbk Midwives, 1985. palatal. A term used in phonetics of a Sense (b) dates from the 15c, and is sound made by placing the surface of illustrated in the OED by examples from the tongue against the hard palate (e.g. the works of Hooker, Pepys, Byron, and y in yes). Palatalization is the process of numerous others. Modern examples; This rendering palatal, e.g. of changing the problem (so individual in its origins) takes
pamphlet | pantaloons, pants
568
palpable public shape in thefiction—C.G. rcavnyupucos, means 'a public eulogy', Wolff, 1977; Othello's crisis of identity be- and was formed from nav- 'all' + comes palpable when 'seeming' ceases to bedyupi? = dyopd 'assembly', i.e. a eulogy synonymous with 'being'—Studies in Eng. Lit. fit for a public assembly or festival. (University of Tokyo), 1990; the tensionpanel. The inflected forms are panelled, friendly tension—in the room was palpablepanelling (AmE paneled, paneling). See -LL-, Atlantic, 1991. -L-. Sense (b) is now dominant. panful. The pi. is panfuls. See -FUL. pamphlet. See BROCHURE. panic (noun and verb). The inflected panacea /paena'siia/, a universal remedy, forms are panics, panicked, panicking, and a remedy reputed to heal all ailments. panicky. See -c-, -CK-. It cannot be used of a particular illness (a panacea for measles is not idiomatic), pantaloons, pants, etc. 1 Changes of but is most frequently used in negative fashion and the different choices of contexts or ironically (of another per- words made in Britain and America can son's proposal) of wide-ranging sugges- often lead to considerable uncertainty tions for the solution of (esp. social or and confusion in the use of these words. economic) problems. It is derived from Pantaloons (first recorded in the 17c.) in Gk TtavdKEia 'all-healing', from 7cav- the days of Evelyn and Samuel Butler was 'all' + dicos 'cure'. Examples: To... deaden the name given to fashionable breeches the pain of neuralgia, the early Victorian word by men at the time. By the late panacea of laudanum was prescribed—D. 18c. the word was applied to 'a tightThomas, 1979; Alongside travelling, change fitting kind of trousers fitted with ribof diet was a popular panacea—R. and D. bons or buttons below the calf (OED), Porter, 1988; Kipling reminds us often that and, in the course of the 19c. in America, work is the only panacea for most of life's became extended to close-fitting trousers ills—M. Pafford, 1989; her approach to the in general. The word is now restricted high life ...is tempered with this decade's (written with a capital P) to a foolish old man who is the butt and accomplice unrealistic just-say-no panacea—Details (US), of a clown in a pantomime. Pants (first 1991recorded in 1840 in America as an abbrepandemonium. Coined by Milton in viation of pantaloons) became in Britain the form Pandxmonium ( = place of all a colloquial and 'shoppy' term for 'drawdemons) in his Paradise Lost (1667), it is ers' (OED), and then 'for underpants, a striking example of a word that has panties, or shorts worn as an outer garmade its way from the higher realms of ment'. Now the word is mainly used to literature into everyday use, always now mean underpants or knickers in the UK, and trousers or slacks (for men or meaning '(place of) uproar'. women) in America, but the distinction pander. 1 (noun). (Originally pandar is not an absolute one. A number of from Pandaro, Pandare, Pandarus, etc., the idiomatic phrases containing the word name of a character in the several class- have come into common currency in the ical, medieval, and later versions of the 20C, e.g. to bore the pants ojf, to bore to story of Troilus and Cressida, but now an intolerable degree; to be caught with always pander.) A go-between in clandes- one's pants down, to be caught in an emtine love affairs. barrassingly unprepared state; to wear 2 (verb) From the 16c. onward, most the pants, to be the dominant member of commonly intransitive and followed by the household. Panties (used with a pi. to, it has been used to mean 'to gratify verb) is gender-restricted, meaning shortor indulge a person, a desire, a weakness, legged underpants worn by women and girls. See KNICKERS. etc' 2 Numerous other terms for garments pandit. See PUNDIT. of the 'pants' or 'trousers' types are enpanegyric, panegyrize, panegyrist. countered in everyday life, and the terNow pronounced /paeni'd3ink/, /'paenid3i- minology varies from decade to decade raiz/, and /paeni'd3inst/ respectively. Pane- and from country to country. People livgyric, ultimately from the Gk adj. ing in a particular country, however,
569
paparazzo | parallelepiped
have no special difficulty in recognizing paradigm /'paeradaim/, an example or the right term for each garment, as pattern, esp. a representative set of the between bloomers, boxer shorts, breeches, inflections of a noun or verb. The OE briefs, drawers, jeans, knickerbockers, knick-verbal set bxdan (to wait), bïtt, bâd, bidon, ers, plus-fours, shorts, slacks, trousers, etc. biden ( = infin., 3 près. sing, indie, 3 sing, Difficulties arise when one travels to pa.t., 1, 2, 3 pi. pa.t., pa.pple), for exanother English-speaking country only ample, make up a paradigm. Transferred to find that the choice of terms is some- uses, meaning 'a theoretical framework', times radically different. One must just have been particularly common in the proceed with caution in such circum- 20C, e.g. The unfolding of terror and duplicstances. ity which follows is easily seen as a paradigm 3 In the attributive position pant is of the suppression of Dubcek's liberalizing common enough in AmE, but pants is administration—TLS, 1973. The corresalso found in all English-speaking coun- ponding adj. paradigmatic is pronounced tries, (a) Then we went downtown and bought/.paeradig'maetik/, with the -g- fully in evipant suits—L. Ellmann, 1988; The baby has dence. got her foot caught in her own pant leg—Newparadise. As with nectar, a large number Yorker, 1991. (b) Floral print especially smartof adjectival forms have come into being in this pants dress because it's done in navyfor the word paradise: paradisaic (first and white—Sears Catalog, 1969; I took a recorded 1754)» paradisaical (1623), parajackknife out of my pants pocket—R. B. disal (C1560), paradisean (1647), paradisiac Parker, 1974. (1632), paradisiacal (1649), paradisial
papier mâché. The accents in mâché are essential.
(1800), paradisian (1657-83), paradisic (01745), and paradisical (1649). Of these, paradisal and paradisiacal have the most life at present. Alongside these uses stand attributive uses of paradise itself in certain fixed expressions, e.g. paradise crane, duck,fish,flycatcher.
papilla, papula. The pi. forms are papillae, papulae.
paraffin. A word that is commonly misspelt (usu. by giving it two rs and one/).
paparazzo, a freelance photographer who pursues celebrities to get photographs of them. The pi. (as in the It. original) is paparazzi.
See KEROSENE.
papyrus /pa'paiaras/. PI. papyri /-rai/. See -us 1.
paragOge, the addition of a letter or syllable to a word in some contexts or as a language develops (e.g. t in peasant; cf. Fr. paysan). It is pronounced as four syllables, /paera'gaud3i:/.
para-. Two prefixes of different origin are used in forming English words: (a) the Gk preposition napâ 'alongside of, beyond', as in parable, paradigm, paradox, paragraph, parallel, paramedical, paramilit- Paraguay is pronounced /'pœragwai/, ary, and paraphrase; and (b) the L imper- but in AmE often /-gwei/. ative of paràre meaning 'guard against', parakeet is now the normal spelling as in parachute, parapet, parasol; cf. Fr. in BrE, but parrakeet is also sometimes parapluie. found in AmE. parable, a narrative of imagined events used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson; an allegory (COD 1995). The forty allegorical parables attributed to Jesus of Nazareth provide the traditional models in Christian literature. Modern examples, as Baldick (1990) reminds us, include Wilfred Owen's poem 'The Parable of the Old Man and the Young' (1920), which relates a biblical story to the 1914-18 war; and a longer prose parable, John Steinbeck's The Pearl (1948).
parallel. Exceptionally among verbs ending in -I (see -LL-, -L-) parallel does not double the 1 in inflected forms (paralleled, etc.); the anomaly is due to the -ll- of the previous syllable. The same applies to the corresponding noun parallelism. parallelepiped, one of the longest words that one is introduced to in geometry lessons at school, should be pronounced /.paeralela'piped/ or /-'paiped/.
paralogism | parataxis paralogism, illogical reasoning. Pronounce /pa'rael9d3izam/.
570
both are in use (also as nouns). Paranoic (adj.) is also in current use.
paraphernalia. In origin a pi. noun, being the neuter pi. of medL paraphernalis, short for paraphernalia bona, the 'personal property' {parapherna) which a paralysis. PI. paralyses /-siiz/. married woman was in law entitled to parameter. A mathematical term of keep. By the early 18c. it had developed some complexity which, in the course of in English the more general sense 'misthe 20C, has become perceived by the cellaneous belongings'. Since the late general public as having the broad mean- 18c. it has been construed either as an ing 'a constant element or factor, esp. ordinary plural noun (Hints in the Choice serving as a limit or boundary'. This of Guns, Dogs, and Sporting Paraphernalia, meaning is still at the controversial 1809), or as a collective singular (A whole stage, the stage at which dictionaries paraphernalia of plums, 1845). Modern exand usage manuals attach the word amples: Edith received ... Samuel Cooper's 'loosely' to the popular meaning, while sketchbooks, color boxes, and other artisfs mathematicians smile knowingly and paraphernalia—M. Mack, 1985; Parapherexclude the word from their social vocab- nalia in his flat included Indian clubs and ulary. The mathematical and computer an adapted table to which boys were tied— science uses are too technical to define Independent, 1989; A doctrine that aimed to and illustrate here, but examples of non- restore religious practice to New Testament technical uses lie readily to hand: There standard inevitably rejected the whole paraare parameters to these recollections which phernalia of medieval veneration of the may not he immediately apparent: the world saints—Rev. Eng. Studies, 1990; the executive of learning ... and the war—D. M. Davin, position is today surrounded by often useless 1975; Given a few early broadly defined para-paraphernalia which does little more than... meters within which any reasonably sensitivereflect her... standing in the company—Times, adult works with an individual child (e.g. 1992; Painting paraphernalia ... abound— enthusiasm, patience [etc.])-R. Cameron, Observer Mag, 1993. 1986; Lewis's refusal to accept her standards, her parameters, she regarded as paraplegic. Pronounce with a 'soft' g, threatening—A. Brookner, 1989. In the /paera'pli:d3ik/. sense 'boundary' parameter brushes paraselene (bright spot on a lunar against perimeter (e.g. of an airfield), but halo). Five syllables, /paerasi'liini/. the boundary of an airfield is consistently its perimeter, marked by a perimeter parasitic, parasitical, in technical writfence or a perimeter road, never its para- ing the shorter form seems to be dominmeter. It is worth noting, however, that ant. In general use the two terms occur perimeter was simultaneously becoming with something like equal frequency. Expersistently used in figurative senses for amples: (parasitic) This parasitic castle life the first time. See PERIMETER. Anyone had left my funds comparatively intact—P. L feeling uneasy about parameter has a Fermor, 1986; Budgies often scratch ... wide choice of near-synonyms to choose Sometimes it's because they have a parasitic from: border, boundary, criterion, factor, problem—East Forward, 1990; (parasitical) limit, scope, etc; one or other of these For Freud, sociology and the other social sciis normally more suitable in context. ences are parasitical on psychology—P. Gay 1985; These works hold a parasitical relationparamo (high treeless plateau in trop- ship to existing sources of culture—Oxford Art ical S. America). PI. paramos. See -O(E)S 6. Jrnl, 1988. paralyse. Thus spelt in BrE, but paralyze in AmE.
paranoia. It is strange to think that this familiar word (answering to Gk napdvoia) was regularly spelt paranœia (with œ usu. printed as a ligature) for most of the 19c. The corresponding adj. is now usually paranoid (first recorded in 1904), rather than paranoiac (1928), though
parataxis (grammar, 'a placing side by side'). The placing of phrases or clauses one after another, with no linking word(s) to indicate coordination or subordination, e.g. It's ten o'clock, I have to go home; Tell me, how are you?; I couldn't keep my eyes open, I was so tired (examples from
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paratroops | Parkinson
Bloomfield 1933, COD 1995. and CGELthe general nature of parenthetic com1985, respectively). Such paratactic con- ments. The essence of a parenthesis is structions have been a feature of the that it interrupts the flow of a sentence, language from the OE period onward: generally in order to explain or elaborate readers who are interested in pursuing on something just written. Because they the matter should consult Mitchell's Old are interruptions, parentheses are best kept fairly short. It is important to bear English Syntax (1985), ch. 5. in mind that a parenthesis may or may paratroops (pi. noun), troops equipped not have a grammatical relation to the to be dropped by parachute from sentence in which it is inserted. In This aircraft. A member of a paratroop regiment is, as far as I know, the whole truth there is is called a paratrooper. such a relation, and in This is, I swear, the parcel (verb). The inflected forms are whole truth there is not; but one is as parcelled, parcelling (AmE usu. parceled, legitimate as the other. parceling). See -LL-, -L-. parcimony. See PARSIMONY.
3 For the various shapes of printed parentheses, see BRACKETS.
parenthetic, parenthetical. The shorter form is the more usual of the two except when the sense is 'addicted to or using parentheses' (many of the explanatory asides are needlessly parenthetical) and also in certain technical uses {Interpolated coordination may be distinguished from parenthetical coordination, where an unreduced coordinate clause is inserted parenthetically within another clause— CGEL 13.96,1985). Contrast the use of the parenthesis. 1 PI. parentheses /-si:z/. shorter form in a less technical context: 2 The most memorable use of the When they end an included parenthetic senword parenthesis occurs in W. S. Gilbert's tence ... they have only a specifying function, The Gondoliers (1889), Act II: 'Take a pair ofnot a separatingfunction—CGEL 111.23,1985. sparkling eyes, Hidden, ever and anon . . . parget (to plaster a wall, etc.). ProTake a tender little hand, Fringed with dainty nounce /'pa:d3it/. The inflected forms are fingerettes, Press it—in parenthesis;—Take all pargeting; see -T-, -TT-. these, you lucky man—take and keep them, pargeted, if you can!' It shows one way in which a pariah. For the pronunciation the OED parenthetic remark is printed. But there (1905) gave precedence to /'pearia/, Daniel are other ways. Typical examples taken Jones (1917) to /'paena/, and COD (1990) at random from a single book (Tim Win- to /pa'raia/. There is no doubt that, after ton's novel Shallows, 1985): (explanatory much experimentation and hesitation, phrase in round brackets) he and Mara the word has now settled down, as COD (then a milkman's pretty daughter) grovelledindicates, to rhyme with Isaiah, and no together long and effectively enough to causelonger (except among older people) with the eventual birth of their son Rick; (asides,carrier. explanatory remarks between dashes) Hassa Stoats lives in daily fear of cancer—he pari passu. Frequently encountered sweats in the small hours over it—and instead in academic and legal work, this Latin of a cigarette [etc]; It was a boomtimefor adverbial phrase means 'at an equal him—a Depression for everyone else—and the rate of progress, simultaneously and task was to buy up every skerrick of land equally'. It is derived from L par, pariavailable; The canning factory—for God' 'equal'+ passu abl. of passus 'step'. The sake—is already working off a skeletal staff; dominant pronunciation in BrE is /pairi {he said-type formulas) Yes,' Stoats agrees 'paesu:/. impatiently, 'the Onan's coming along nicely; What a day, he thinks, what a day for this Parkinson. The medical condition town. There are other types but these six known as Parkinson's disease was first thus examples must needs suffice to illustrate called in 1877 (one year earlier in France pardon. Used elliptically for I beg your pardon, it has been in use as a genteelism for about a century. A. S. C. Ross (1954) said that Pardon! is used by the non-U in three main ways: 1 if the hearer does not hear the speaker properly; 2 as an apology (e.g. on brushing by someone in a passage); 3 after hiccuping or belching.
partance | parsing as maladie de Parkinson) and was named after James Parkinson (1755-1824), English surgeon and palaeontologist. The whimsical 'law' known as Parkinson's Law ('work expands to fill the time available for its completion') first appeared in print in 1955 and was propounded by C. Northcote Parkinson (1909-93), English historian and political scientist. partance. See JARGON 3. parlay is a 20c. AmE betting term (in origin a corruption of paroli, a term of It. origin used in faro and other card games since the beginning of the 18c.) for the leaving of the money staked and the money won as a further stake. Called an accumulator (bet) in BrE. Also used in AmE as a verb. Cf. next.
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dangerous, hazardous, and other undisputed words are preferable in most other circumstances. Parmesan. Pronounce the medial s as
1*1paronomasia. From Gk napovouaaia 'a play upon words which sound alike', this rhetorical term has been used in English since the 16c. for serious (as opp. to banal or embarrassing) examples of word-play or punning. The best known of all (though concealed in English) is perhaps that of Matt. 16: 18 thou art Peter, and vpon this rocke [Gk néxpa 'rock'] I will build my Church. See PUN. paroquet. An older form of PARAKEET.
parricide, patricide. The first of these, which was first recorded in the 16c., parley, a discussion of terms for an has a wide range of meanings: one who armistice or for settling a dispute. PI. murders either parent, or other near parleys. Also as verb, to hold such a dis- relative; also, the murderer of a person cussion (inflected forms parleys, parleyed, considered specially sacred as, for exparleying). ample, being the ruler of a country; also, one who commits the crime of treason. parliament. Pronounce /'pailamant/, not It is also used for any of these crimes /'pailramant/. themselves. In the same century patricide entered the language for the specific parlour. Thus spelt in BrE (AmE parlor). person or crime 'the murderer of/the It has a wide range of uses: e.g. a sitting- murder of one's father*. The words are room (a regional use for the 'best room'); etymological doublets: parricide is from in the combinations beauty parlour, the L type parricida, by Quintilian funeral parlour, ice-cream parlour, parlour thought to be for patriclda (cf. L pattern game (indoor game); also, a room or 'father', -cida 'killer'). Patricide neatly parbuilding equipped for milking cows. allels matricide, fratricide, and sororicide to Over the centuries parlour has also been form a set of transparently distinguishapplied to a small official room set aside able terms. for private conversations (e.g. the Mayor's Parlour in a Town Hall); and an apartment parsimony. Until the early 20c. parciin a monastery for conversation with mony was an acceptable variant spelling, visitors or among the monks themselves. reflecting the fact that classical Latin had both parsimùnia and parcimonia (from parlous. This syncopated form of peril- parcere, ppl stem pars-, 'to spare, save'). ous came into use in the 14c. and stood side by side with it in similar contexts parsing, l The resolution of a sentence and with much the same geographical into its component parts and the asdistribution until the early 20c, when signing of names (noun, verb, adjective, unmistakable signs of restricted use be- adverb, conjunction, etc.; subject, predigan to surface. Fowler (1926) described cate, etc.) to each part of speech and to it as 'a word that wise men leave alone'. each component. See PARTS OF SPEECH. COD (1995) labels it archaic or jocular. It 2 In extended use in computational is a sad fate for a long-serving word. It linguistics, parse is 'to analyse (a string can still be safely used, however, in fairly [of characters]) into syntactic componformal circumstances with state (the eco- ents to test its conformability to a given nomy is in a parlous state) and times (these grammar' (OED 2,1989)—a simple definiare parlous times in Yugoslavia). But perilous, tion of an extremely complex process.
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parson is a colloquial term for a man of the cloth up to the level of a rector. In times past it had a long and distinguished history as a synonym (of equal formality) for a holder of a parochial benefice, a rector. The extension of the word in the 16c. to include a vicar, a chaplain, a curate, or any clergyman gave it an informal complexion, which now applies to all uses of the term.
parson | partially, partly between them is that from the 15c. until about 1800 partially (like Fr. partialement) also meant 'in a partial or biased manner, with partiality', a sense that partly could not share.
2 Fowler (1926) argued that partially was opposed to completely, and that partly was opposed to wholly. 'In other words,' he said, 'partly is better in the sense "as regards a part and not the whole", and partake. In origin a 16c. back-formation partially in the sense "to a limited defrom the earlier partaker ( = part-taker, gree".' There is something in this, but rendering L parti<eps), it has come to be the distinction is not an absolute one. a somewhat formal, usu. intransitive, Fowler then cited two examples, both verb meaning 'to take a part in, to share silently taken from the OED, which he in some action or condition* (we need to claimed showed a 'wrong' use ofpartially: partake in each other's joys); and esp. (with The two feet, branching out into ten toes, are of) 'to have a share or portion of (food partially of iron, and partially of clay—G. S. or drink) in the company or others or of Faber, 1827; As to whether The Case is another person' (Your papa invited Mr. R. Altered may be wholly or partially or not at to partake ofourlowly fare—Dickens, 1865). all assignable to the hand of Jonson— The notion of sharing with others, i.e. Swinburne, 1889. It is a straightforward of receiving only a due part of the food example of a clash between two being served, is crucial. To speak of par- methods: the historical presentation of taking of a boiled egg if one is eating alone the evidence in the OED and the more is to take the word beyond its proper judgemental presentation of the same evidence by Fowler. limits. From the examples that follow I do part and parcel. A convenient allitera- not think it reasonable to claim (as tive collocation that has commended it- Fowler did) that partially and partly folself to English-speakers since the 15c. low two distinct tracks in the language: From the 15c. to the 19c. parcel was used (partially) Nor can they sell glasses for chilto mean 'a constituent or component dren under 16 or to registered blind or part', and, while it can no longer be used partially-sighted people—Which?, 1985; I in that way, the sense survives in the partially solved my money problems by being alliterative phrase. The expression, let it paid ten shillings to play regularly at the be noted, means not just 'a part' but 'an Black Horse—A. Burgess, 1987; The title paressential part' (of something). tially preserved in the papyri specifies Delos as the place of performance—Classical Q, Parthian shot is now synonymous with 1988; My body felt... only partially under parting shot, i.e. they both mean 'a remark my control—L. Ellmann, 1988; (partly) Her or glance, etc., reserved for the moment dislike of him was of course ... partly based of departure'. The use arose from a cusupon a sense that he disliked her—I. Murtom in Parthia, an ancient kingdom in doch, 1980; The tenthrcentury settlement at W. Asia: Parthian horsemen would disManda was located on partly reclaimed landcharge their missiles into the ranks of Antiquaries Jrnl, 1987; Her untidy blonde the enemy while in real or pretended fringe partly covered her eyes—]. G. Ballard, flight. The actual term Parthian shot (first 1988. Observe, for example, the gramrecorded in 1902) and parting shot (1894) matical equivalence of partially-sighted are comparatively recent, but the conpeople and partly reclaimed land. Observe nection may just have escaped the attentoo that partially is opposed to 'comtion of readers of earlier books that were pletely' in Burgess and the Classical Quar'read' for the OED. terly; that the sense 'to a limited degree' partially, partly. 1 These two long-es- is found in Ellmann's partially, and that 'in part' is the sense in Murdoch and in tablished adverbs-partially first recorded in the 15c. and partly in the 16c—have Ballard. This is not a two-lane pattern. shared the sense 'in part' from the begin- The uses and meanings sometimes ning. The only clear semantic difference merge and sometimes stand apart.
participles | particular
574
Moving away from the examples given in 1923, has died aged 87, Neo-nazis and above, two main tendencies can be ob- anarchists brawled in the streets of two east served. Partly is used more often than German towns, causing serious damage to partially to introduce an explanatory property; John Casken, winner of the 1990 clause or phrase: Partly because he needed Britten Prize for composition, is to become the the money ...; Partly for this reason ... It Northern Sinfonia'sfirstcomposer in associshould be noted too that the correlative ation. construction partly ... partly is common 5 Placing of the stress and changing (partly in verse and partly in prose), whereas partially ... partially is simply not idio- of the pronunciation distinguishing a matic. The status of the two words is pa.pple (or adj. derived from the ppl. likely to change in the future, but it stem) from a verb having the same spellseems unlikely that they will fall into ing. A standard example is consummate totally distinct grammatical and seman- (adj.), usu. stressed on the second syllable, /kan'sAmat/, as against consummate tic lanes for a long time to come. (verb), which is always stressed on the participles, l Unattached participles first, /'kDnsamert/. Similarly dilute (adj.) but dilute (verb); and the archaic adj. (see as main entry). frustrate contrasted with the verb frus2 Absolute construction (see as main trate. A second group distinguishes the entry). part of speech by placing the obscure 3 Fused participles. See POSSESSIVE vowel /a/ in the final syllable of the adj. WITH GERUND. but /-ert/ in the final syllable of the verb. 4 Initial participles, etc. Fowler (1926) Examples: animate (adj.) /'aenimat/ but aniidentified a stylistic mannerism of news- mate (verb) /'aenimert/; similarly, deliberate (adj.) /-at/ but deliberate (verb) /-ert/; and papers, and rather fancifully described it as follows: 'In these paragraphs, before numerous other pairs of adjs. and verbs we are allowed to enter, we are chal- including advocate, articulate, degenerate, lenged by the sentry, being a participle designate, desolate, elaborate, legitimate, or some equivalent posted in advance to moderate, separate, and subordinate. A third secure that our interview with the CO. type is shown in diffuse (adj.) (spread out, (or subject of the sentence) shall not not concise, etc.) /di'fjuis/ contrasted with take place without due ceremony.' His diffuse (verb) (to disperse) /di'fju:z/, the examples included: Described as 'disciples pair being distinguished only by the contrast of the final sound, /s/ as against /z/. of Tolstoi', two Frenchmen sentenced at Cheltenham to two months' imprisonment forfalse See also NOUN AND VERB ACCENT, and statements to the registration officer are not most of the above words at their alphato be recommended for deportation; Winner betical places. of many rowing trophies, Mr. Robert George Dugdale, aged seventy-five, died at Eton; particoloured (adj.). The first element Found standing in play astride the live rail appears to be a respelling of party (adj.), of the electric line at Willesden ... Walter first recorded in the 14c. in the sense Spentaford, twelve, wasfined12s. for trespass. 'variegated' (She gadereth fioures, party The type to which Fowler objected seems white and rede—Chaucer, C1386), ult. from now to be fairly uncommon, at least in L partitus 'divided', pa.pple of partire 'to the quality press. Contrast these sen- part, divide'. Party is still used as an adj. tences (drawn from some Oct. 1991 is- in heraldry, said of a shield divided into sues of The Times and the Sunday Times)parts of different tinctures. in (a) where the subject is delayed, and those in (b), the more common type, particular. Frequently used for emwhere the subject is highlighted by being phasis, esp. after the demonstrative proplaced first: (a) Havingfilledthe Tate with nouns this and that (he didn't like that various enormous metal 'vessels', Sir Anthonyparticular tax; in this particular instance) to Caro is moving still closer to nautical areas;the point that it has attracted adverse Trailing Minnesota, two games to nil, the comment ('an unnecessary reinforceBraves were on the verge of extinction in gamement', 'can often be left out, to the three, (b) Fred Overton, thought to be the lastbenefit of the sentence'). Up to a point survivor of the Channel tunnel project haltedsuch criticism is just, but it should be
575
particularly | party
the essential facts and referred him to CGEL (1985). The episode startlingly reminded me that we live in an age when it can no longer be assumed that even a well-schooled person is capable of analysing sentences into their named parts and units. It is also an age when the linguistic analysis of sentences by professionals particularly. Care should be taken to has reached a stage of complexity that pronounce allfivesyllables. The pronun- puts their work beyond the reach of ciation /pa'tikjuli/ = *particu-ly' is a vul- ordinary people. garism. In broad terms the central parts ofspeech named in the first modern English grampartisan, partizan. There are two dismar, namely William Bullokar's Bref tinct words: l (Spelt with either s or z.) Grammar for English (1586), were those An obsolete word for an obsolete military used from earliest times of Latin gramweapon ( = a long-handled spear) used mar. The same is true of other English by foot soldiers in the 16c. and 17c. It is grammars written between 1586 and the pronounced /'paitizaen/, with the stress on end of the 18c. A change of attitude came the first syllable, and is etymologically of about in the later part of the 19c. and esp. similar origin to the next. in the 20c. Modern professional gramma2 (The only current word, now usu. rians endeavour to analyse and describe spelt partisan.) Generally, a zealous sup- English grammar in terms of its own porter of a party, cause, etc.; specifically, features, with negligible reference to the a guerrilla in wartime. It is usu. pro- grammar of Latin or of other languages. I nounced /,pa:ti'zaen/ in BrE, with the main have given an account of these changes stress on the last syllable; but in AmE of attitude and of substance in my book first-syllable stressing is favoured. It was Unlocking the English Language (1989) and adopted from French in the 16c, and the must refer readers to it. In the present French word in turn was an alteration of book it seemed to me essential to retain Italian (Tuscan) dial, partigiano, from L the traditional terminology as far as pospars part-em 'share, part' + a suffix an- sible, while trying to import into the swering to L -idnus. relevant entries the discoveries and insights of modern linguistic scholars partitive. As noun, a word, form, etc., stripped of the opaque language in denoting a part of a collective group or which such work is often written. quantity (e.g. any, some; half, portion). The The main parts of speech used in this word is most familiar in partitive genitive, book are as follows: noun, verb, auxiliary a genitive used to indicate a whole verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun (includdivided into or regarded as parts, exing demonstrative and possessive propressed in modern English by of as in nouns), preposition, conjunction, article most of us, half of the ground. The partitive (definite and indefinite), interjection, genitive is a common feature of inflected and numeral. I have tried to avoid using languages: e.g. L Plato totius Graeciae docspecialized terms such as approximator, tissimus fuit 'Plato of all Greeks was the deictic, deixis, and determiner that have not most learned': OE pxs landes sumne d&l yet made their way into the public do'a part of the land'; scipa fela 'many (of) main. Most of the regular terms are ships'. treated at their alphabetical place, but the auxiliary verbs (i.e. be, do, and have) partly. See PARTIALLY. and the modals (can/could, may/might, parts of speech. As a sign of the times, must, shall/will, should/would) are treated as in 1990, an Oxford undergraduate, im- main entries. mediately before his final examinations, party. Quite separate from various uses in which he was eventually placed in Class I, asked me what he called 'an in law (guilty party, third party, etc.), party embarrassing question': could I please preceded by the indefinite article (e.g. a explain to him the difference between pious party, an aggrieved party), has come an adjective and an adverb? I supplied to be used informally (the OED in 1905
borne in mind that there are some contexts, esp. (but not only) after a negative, when the adjective supplies legitimate emphasis (e.g. He had no particular reason for being there as far as I could tell; She didn't write that particular essay but many others just as good).
party | passive territory
576 6 Passive of avail oneself of. I 7 The impersonal passive.
labelled the use low colloquial or slang) to mean 'a person': and more vaguely 'the person (defined by some adj., pronoun, Oxford defeated Cambridge is an active etc.)'. This second use (which seems to expression and Cambridge was defeated by be commoner in AmE than in BrE) was Oxford is its passive equivalent. In passive described by the OED in 1905 as 'Formerly constructions the active subject has becommon and in serious use; now shoppy, come the passive agent, and the agent is vulgar, or jocular, the proper word being (in this case) preceded by by. In practice, person'. The descent of the word into however, in the majority of passives, the mercantile or other types of informality by-agent is left unexpressed (peace was seems to have occurred during the 19c. declared some time ago), or the notional Modern examples: I don't know who the agent is introduced by a different preinjured party is here—R. Carver, 1986; I've position (I am not disenchanted with Henry; known this party for three years now and I a lot of people are concerned about land use). hardly know him at all—D. Goodis, 1986; There are also various restrictions on the June had taken Imogen from her—"What a use of both voices. stout little party'—and settled down for the interview with Imogen on her knee—}. Trol- 1 Constraints. Once pointed out, it is lope, 1990; She was staring right at the obvious that there is no natural passive window, and the man's face was staring rightequivalent of she combed her hair (the at her. What party is he looking for, do you notional passive would be her hair was combed by her), since the pronoun she suppose?'—New Yorker, 1992. cannot idiomatically be converted into party. See PARTICOLOURED. by her in such circumstances; or of she had a nice laugh, since have is one of pasha. Now the normal spelling. See several verbs (to lack, to own, etc.) represBASHA(W). enting a continuing state of affairs not PashtO /'pAjtau/. The official language a single act. On the other hand some of Afghanistan. Thus spelt, not -u, Push-. verbs can be used only in the passive voice (e.g. the creek was reputed to contain blackfish—P. Carey, 1985) and have no acpasquinade. See LAMPOON. tive voice equivalent (we cannot say the pass. (verb). The pa.t. and pa.pple are creek reputes to contain blackfish). Similarly both passed (the remark passed unnoticed; restricted verbs are be said to be (he is said he had passed the afternoon reading). The to be a good writer) and was born (she was related adj., prep., and adv. are all spelt born in London). past (past times;firstpast the post; she hurIn written English only about half of ried past), as is the noun (memories of the the notional forms of legitimate passives past). occur with any frequency (is taken, was taken, will be taken, may be taken, has bee passable /'paisabal/ means 'barely satis- taken, is being taken, etc.); in spoken Engfactory' (a passable performance) or 'able lish other parts of the paradigm occur to be passed' (of a road, mountain pass, somewhat more frequently (may have etc.). Passible /'paesibal/ is a theological been taken, may be being taken), and even term meaning 'capable of suffering', ult. the most extended forms (has been being from L pan, pass- 'to suffer'. See -ABLE, taken, may have been being taken) are occa -IBLE 4. sionally used in spoken English without causing undue inconvenience to the lispassed. See PASS. tener. passer-by. The pi. is passers-by. 2 Scientifically passive. In scientific writing the passive voice is much more passible. See PASSABLE. frequent than it is in ordinary expository or imaginative prose: e.g. the cultures were passive territory. fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde rather than I 1 Constraints. I/wefixedthe cultures with [etc.]; similarly, 2 Scientifically passive. when DNA molecules are placed on a gel; 3 The double passive. an electron is scattered once every 1,000 4 Semi-passives. molecules. In ordinary prose true passives I 5 she was given a watch.
577
are relatively uncommon—usually not more than two on an average page of a book. In scientific work they are a main constituent.
passive territory | passive territory
A related remnant of this kind of construction (but with ellipsis of to be) remains in standard use in AmE: this is the first time in 30 years a person has been 3 The double passive. In constructions ordered deported for fascist activities—NY Times, 1982. This use is first recorded in of the kind members who are found to have AmE in 1781: see ORDER (verb). taken cocaine; the race is thought to be won by those who travel lightest; the satellite is 4 Semi-passives. True passive conscheduled to be put into orbit in March; structions a form part of the systematic vast natural garden, which has to be seen to offiniteverbs. Most of them have a world be believed, a passive verb is comfortably direct active counterpart. Semi-passives followed by a passive infinitive. In a re- (or false passives) occur when an apparview tribunal is required to be reviewed itself ent pa. pple is used immediately after a after thefirstyear the double passive be- copular verb (e.g. to be, to get, to seem): gins to obtrude, though the construction Phoebe was astonished; he was mistrusted in is still acceptable. Some grammarians the village; I must get changed; he seems (including Fowler) have condemned con- transformed. Since in each case the pa. structions in which passive uses of at- pple is formally interchangeable with an tempt, begin, desire, endeavour, hope, intend, adjective (happy; unpopular, ready; differorder, propose, purpose, seek, threaten, ent), and such constructions are better rea few others, are immediately followed garded as consisting of a copular verb by a passive infinitive (e.g. the order was followed by an adjectival complement. attempted to be carried outjno greater thrill There are other intermediate types ('the can be hoped to be enjoyed). Such construcpassive gradient', CGEL 3.74) between tions should be avoided in favour of true passives and semi-passives: e.g. J am sentences written in the active voice. The prepared to take my oath; Fred was tired of OED provides examples of some of them: the taste of hospital food; I'm just fed up with it has been begun to be cleansed—s.v. begin you; the wounds are all healed are passively v. laf, labelled obsolete (in 1887); The evils based constructions but hardly true pasthat were intended to be remedied-Bk of sives, in that they cannot be straightforCommon Prayer, 1662; Was it thus intended wardly converted into active equivalents. and commanded by him to be drunken?—Bentham, 1818; all classes were threatened to 5 she was given a watch. In the 19c. some grammarians expressed reservabe overwhelmed in one universal ruin—Picture tions about such passives. Thus Henry of Liverpool, 1834; Persons who have any Sweet (1898): 'we still hesitate over and interest in lands which are sought to be registry to evade such passive constructions tered can lodge a caution with the registering as she was given a watchpie was granted an officer—law Times, 1891. It is hardly necessary to speak out audience because we still feel that she and against such constructions now, as the he are in the dative, not the accusative fashion of writing them had virtually relation.' This view can now be safely disappeared by 1900. The dictionary discarded. The indirect passive construccaught them at the point of near-extinc- tion {Any Maltese who desired to free himself tion. Of course allowable examples of from his allegiance to the Grand-master was double passives still occur: she couldn't be given a patent-W. Porter, 1858; Under such a charter the mayor is given power and bothered to be interested--D. Lessing, 1985; opportunity to accomplish something—]. it was clear that arms were allowed to be Bryce, 1888) flourished throughout the shipped to Iran—New Yorker, 1986; a young 19c. and is now commonplace (each subman who had saved his life in a Japanese prison camp after he had been sentencedject to was given a printed instruction sheet— be beheaded—M. Bradbury, 1987. And also Working Papers, Macquarie Univ., 1985). stray examples of the condemned group Sweet's hesitation was based on the cirof verbs: e.g. Other records [of Nazi Ger- cumstance that OE giefan 'to give' governed a direct object (ace.) and an many] seized by the Soviet Army, were taken indirect one (with dat. inflection and/or to Moscow and their contents have been begun to be made available to Western researcherspreceded by to). By the 12c. the verb, as now, could govern two objects, direct only in the lastfiveyears-Chicago Tribune, 1990. But they are relatively uncommon. and indirect (te king iaf 6et abbotrice an
past I pasty
578
prior, 1154), but for some 600 years only pastor is now used, esp. in AmE, as the direct object could be placed at the the term for or title of a clergyman or head of a passive construction (e.g. the clergywoman in charge of a nonconformrome of Gartier was never geven to no es- ist church, esp. a Lutheran or Methodist traunger, 1548). By about 1800 the con- one (occas. also a Roman Catholic one). straint on the placing of an indirect In 1989 an American correspondent colobject at the head of such constructions lected a large number of clippings about services, funerals, etc., conducted by pashad disappeared. 6 Passive of avail oneself of. See AVAIL tors in the state of Illinois. The word occurred as a title (Fourth Presbyterian 3.4Church, John M. Buchan, Pastor), and as 7 The impersonal passive. Gowers a general descriptive term (the Roman (1965) advised against the use of it is felt, Catholic pastor of St Norbert parish; The Re it is thought, it is believed, etc., in official Samuel Solomon was pastor of the African and business letters ('it often amounts Methodist Episcopal Church in Gary; Trin to a pusillanimous shrinking from re- Lutheran Church, Evanston... Paul Christen sponsibility'). He was probably right. The son is the pastor). The term was sometimes use or avoidance of the passive in such qualified by words indicating rank (Pastor circumstances often depends on the Emeritus, associate pastor). The pastor of level of formality being aimed at and the Evanshore Presbyterian Church was often on the wisdom of accepting per- a woman. A South Korean Presbyterian sonal or group responsibility for the minister called Moon Lk Hwan was destatement that follows. In general, how- scribed as a dissident pastor. In news reever, it is better to begin by identifying ports, obituaries, and other reasonably the person or group who feel, think, extended pieces, the word minister albelieve, have decided, etc.: thus, After ternated freely with the word pastor. due consideration the Finance Committee has decided not to [etc.]; I feel that the claim pastorale. Now usu. pronounced as made in your letter is too optimistic. three syllables, /paesta'rcul/, but occas. as four /-li/. The pi. is pastorales (formerly past. See PASS. alternating with pastorali). pastel, artist's crayon; light and subdued shade of a colour. Pronounce past tense. It is of interest to note here /'paestal/. (as CGEL 4.16 points out) that in certain circumstances the pa.t. may legitimately pastiche /pœ'sti:J/. Used in two main be used with reference to past and future senses: 1 a medley, esp. a picture or a musical composition, made up from or time: 1 In indirect speech, e.g. Did you say that you had (or have) a house to let? j imitating various sources. How did you find out that I was (or am) 2 a literary or other work of art com- the owner? Such 'backshifts' are optional. posed in the style of a well-known author. Note also What did you say your name (COD 1990) was?' 'Jones.' (G. Greene, 1980). A pa.t. is pastille. Spell thus, not pastil, and pro- used retrospectively with reference to future time in such a sentence as My nounce /'paestil/. pupils will be annoyed that they mistook the past master. The OED says that the use time of your lecture and therefore missed it. of the expression to mean a person who 2 What CGEL calls the 'attitudinal is especially adept in an activity, subject, past': e.g. Do/Did you want to come in now? etc., 'apparently has arisen partly in allusion to the efficiency which results from 3 The hypothetical past is used in senhaving passed through such an office as tences like the following: It's time we left that of master of a freemasons' lodge; to catch the train; If you tried harder, you sometimes it alludes to the efficiency would probably win the game (the implifrom having "passed" the necessary cation being that you probably won't try training or examination to qualify as harder). "master" in any art, science, or occupation'. It is no longer (as it once was) pasty (noun) ( = a pastry case with a written as passed master. sweet or savoury filling) is pronounced
pâté I pay
579
/'paesti/. See TART. The adj. pasty (unhealthily pale), by contrast, is pronounced /'peisti/, thus conforming with paste /peist/. pâté /'paetei/. The accents are obviously needed to distinguish the word from pate ( = the head) and pâte ( = the paste of which porcelain is made). patella /pa'tela/, the kneecap. PI. patellae /-li:/. paten, patten. The first is the now usual spelling of the word for the shallow dish on which the bread is laid at the celebration of the Eucharist; a patten is a (now disused) term for a shoe or clog specially shaped for walking in mud.
For the derivatives patriotic and patriotism the preferred pronunciation seems to be that with initial /'paet-/. In AmE all three words have initial /'pert-/. patrol. The inflected forms are patrolled, patrolling. See -LL-, -L-. patron. 1 Patron is pronounced /'pertran/ and patroness /.pertra'nes/, but the derivatives patronage and patronize both have initial /'paet-/. In AmE initial /'pert-/ is usual for all four words. 2 See CLIENT.
patroness was in regular use from the 15c. to the 19c, principally in the patent l (noun) ( = authority giving a senses 'a woman who promotes social person the sole right to an invention). functions, as balls, bazaars, etc' and 'a Pronounce /'paetant/. So also in Patent female patron saint', but is now seldom Office, and in the phr. letters patent (in used. See -ESS. which patent is an adj.). The pronuncipatten. See PATEN. ation /'pertant/ in these words is not wrong, but is less usual in standard English. In patent leather my impression is pavement. One must keep in mind that /'pertant/ is the more usual of the when travelling that the word means two pronunciations in BrE, but /'paetant/ a paved way for pedestrians in Britain (corresponding to AmE sidewalk) and to in AmE. some extent in the Atlantic States of 2 As adj. and adv. when patently) America, and a paved road elsewhere in means 'evident(ly), obvious(ly)' (it was a America. patent lie; it was patently true) the pronunciation is usu. with /'pert-/ in both BrE pavior, paviour, one who paves. Both and AmE. Clearly the pronunciation of spellings are permissible in BrE (my own the word is unsettled, and resort to the Latin and French words lying behind the preference is for paviour on the model English ones does not help to resolve the of saviour), but only pavior in AmE. problem. pawky. First recorded in the 17c. in pathetic fallacy, the attribution of hu- Scotland and northern dialects in the man feelings and responses to inanimate sense 'artful, sly', from the 19c onward things, esp. in art and literature. The the word has been applied to varieties term was introduced into the language of humour judged to be typical of the by John Ruskin in his Modern Painters Scots: 'having a matter-of-fact, hum(1856). The phrase, which Fowler (1926) orously critical outlook on life, characdescribed as 'common though little terized by a sly, quiet wit' (Concise Scots recognized in dictionaries', received Diet., 1985). scant treatment in the OED but has a full entry in OED 2. pay. 1 In its ordinary senses the pa.t. and pa.pple are, of course, paid. The nautpatio. PI. patios. See -O(E)S 4. ical verb pay, meaning 'to smear or cover with pitch, tar, etc., as a defence against patois. See JARGON 3. wet', is of quite different origin and has patricide. See PARRICIDE. payed as its pa.t. and pa.pple. patriot. The pronunciations /'paetriat/ and /'pert-/ have approximately equal currency in standard BrE at present, with the first perhaps slightly more common.
2 Note that one pays attention (to something) but takes note or notice (of something). The verbs are not interchangeable in these expressions.
pay off | pedantic humour
580
2 The spelling back-peddle (noun and verb) shown in the following examples PC, DC. Now (1996) just as likely to from 1991 issues of the Independent is mean political correctness as police constable, erroneous: (headline) A soft back-peddle by Privy Counsellor, or personal computer. the Russian Communist Party; Croatia peaceable, peaceful. Both words accepted the EC declaration with alacrit joined the language in the 14c. and there while insisting that it would not back-pedd is a substantial overlap of meaning. In on the issue of full independence from Yug general, peaceable means (a) 'disposed to slavia. See PEDLAR. peace, not quarrelsome' (the inhabitants pedantic humour. Children are surare simple, peaceable, and inoffensive), and (b) (less commonly) 'free from violence or rounded by adults who, with varying disorder, characterized by peace' (to do degrees of unawareness and tactlessness, use words which lie outside the range one's duty is not easy in the most peaceable of the very young—words such as alleged, times; peaceable, non-violent behaviour). Peaceful is much the more common of grandiose, immobile, incestuous, palpabl the two words, and means (a) 'charac- purloin, sartorial, vehement, and volumi terized by peace, tranquil' (a peaceful ous. Wise children store them away like country scene), and (b) not violating or precious stones and bring them out for infringing peace (peaceful coexistence). Ex- inspection or polishing and then for examples: (peaceable) From the moment of perimental display at some later date. In adulthood standard speakers find that the child's birth the unity with its mother can for the most part they have settled for never be completely peaceable—P. Roazen, 1985; (peaceably) The baby lay peaceably in a boundaried choice of words and conhis carrycot, and was pleased to be jogglingstructions, a language for life, modified only by important social, domestic, and gently along—]. Trollope, 1989; here is proof political events as time goes on. The that people with very different traditions can limits are not precisely drawn at any live peaceably together—P. Ustinov, 1990; (peaceful) The nights were peaceful and given time and they vary substantially black—L. Erdrich, 1988; (peacefully) The from person to person. But each person's safe haven is instinctively known, and water shone peacefully—E. Jolley, 1981. such havens require a protective zone peccadillo. The recommended pi. is round them. peccadillos rather than peccadilloes. See Outside this zone lie not only the er-O(E)S 7. rors of the vulgar (which give rise to pedagogue. First recorded in the 14c. unlimited mirth), the soft nisticisms of with the meaning 'teacher, instructor', country folk (always respected), and the by the end of the 19c. it had often come barbarous jargon of specialists (unfailto be applied in a contemptuous way to ingly mocked), but also verbal tracts and teachers judged to be pedantic, dog- territories that are unfamiliar and often matic, or severe. It is sometimes spelt therefore mirthful. Overuse of archaisms pedagog in AmE, and is in common use (nay, peradventure, perchance, surcease, et in the US usu. without any implication can bring a secret smile to the lips of an of fussiness or pedantry. Examples: The audience or to readers. Moribund uses of the gerund, the subjunctive mood, mastet; a dryish Scotsman whose reputation and of the infinitive can have the same as a pedagogue derived from a book that he There is a tendency to smile at had written—Sri. Amer., 1955; Georges effect. de those who lard their speech or writing Beauvoir also thought teachers were lowwith foreign expressions, coûte que coûte, minded pedagogues—U Appignanesi, 1988. pari passu, penchant, and so on. Words pedagogy, the science of teaching. The of high formality are also capable of pronunciation recommended is /'peda- eliciting a wry smile: e.g. (mostly drawn ,gDd3i/, with a 'soft' second g. Similarly from the works of Anita Brookner, Peter in pedagogical /-'gDd3ikal/. But see GREEK de Vries, and William Golding) crepitation, G. derogate, edulcoration, infraction, perd pedal. 1 The inflected forms of the verb able, pulchritude, putative, refulgent, sesq pedalian, and simulacrum. Try to define are pedalled, pedalling (but usu. pedaled, them without consulting a dictionary pedaling in AmE). See -LL-, -L-. p a y Off. See PHRASAL VERBS.
pedantry | pelta
58i
and you will see what I mean. There is room for them in the language, of course. My purpose in listing them is not to condemn them but to show that all our linguistic territories are different. The choices we make are a source of wonderment and often, it has to be said, of rich humour. See POLYSYLLABIC HUMOUR.
pedantry. Fowler's classic statement of 1926 is still relevant: 'Pedantry may be defined, for the purpose of this book, as the saying of things in language so learned or so demonstratively accurate as to imply a slur upon the generality, who are not capable or not desirous of such displays. The term, then, is obviously a relative one; my pedantry is your scholarship, his reasonable accuracy, her irreducible minimum of education, and someone else's ignorance. It is therefore not very profitable to dogmatize here on the subject; an essay would establish not what pedantry is, but only the place in the scale occupied by the author; and that, so far as it is worth inquiring into, can be better ascertained from the treatment of details, to some of which accordingly, with a slight classification, reference is now made. The entries under each heading are the names of articles; and by referring to a few of these the reader who has views of his own will be able to place the book in the pedantry scale and judge what may be expected of it. There are certainly many accuracies that are not pedantries, as well as some that are; there are certainly some pedantries that are not accuracies, as well as many that are; and no book that attempts, as this one does, to give hundreds of decisions on the matter will find many readers who will accept them all.' Some of the main entries in which elements of pedantry are discussed in this book are as follows: Choice of words: FORMAL WORDS; LITERARY WORDS; DANTIC H U M O U R ; POLYSYLLABIC
PE-
HUMOUR;
SAXONISM; WARDOUR STREET. Grammar: AGREEMENT; CASES; ELLIPSIS; PREPOSITION (at end); SPLIT INFINITIVE; UNATTACHED PARTICIPLES; VERBLESS SENTENCES. Pronunciation: ESTUARY ENGLISH; FALSE QUANTITY; GREEK G; PRONUNCIATION. Punctuation: AMPERSAND; APOSTROPHE2;
BRACKETS; COLON; COMMA; DASH; EXCLAMATION MARK; FULL STOP; HYPHENS; ITALICS; QUESTION MARK; QUOTATION MARKS; SEMICOLON. Sensitivity: -ESS; ETHNIC TERMS; FEMININE DESIGNATIONS; LINGUISTIC ENGINEERING; POLITICAL CORRECTNESS; U AND NON-U. Spelling: DIDACTICISM; I BEFORE E; MUTE E; SPELLING. Style: ELEGANT VARIATION; U AND NON-U.
peddler. See PEDLAR. pedigree. The corresponding adj. is pedigreed, not pedigree'd. pedlar, the traditional term for an itinerant seller of small items, is losing ground rapidly before the AmE spelling peddler, esp. in the context of the peddling of drugs (in which it is virtually the only spelling). Examples of the contrasting spellings: a cafeteria called inform' ally the Saigon, a place for poets, drug-pedlars and speculators, not professors' daughters—]. le Carré, 1989; We've been missing the independent Senegalese venders in mid-town lately: except for watch peddlers... the venders . . . seem to have vanished—New Yorker, 1989. ped(o)-. See PAED(O)-.
pee. Since the introduction of decimal currency in Britain in 1971 the spelling pee has come into widespread use to represent the pronunciation of the initial letter of 'penny'. Example: May I trouble you for forty-two pee?—R. Rendell, 1974. The pronunciation as /pi:/ is widely condemned by people who prefer /'pern/ as singular and /pens/ as plural. peewit /'piiwrt/. Thus spelt, rather than pewit (q.v). peignoir. Pronounce /'pemwa:/. pejorative. Stressed on the (long) first syllable, thus /'pizclsaratrv/, in the OED (1905) and Daniel Jones (1917), the word is now normally stressed on the second syllable, thus /pi'd3Dr8trv/. pekoe (black tea). Pronounce /'piikau/. (The OED, 1905, recommended /'pekau/.j pellucid. See TRANSPARENT.
pelta, a small light shield used by the ancient Greeks and Romans. PI. peltoe
pelvis I pentameter pelvis. The 'natural' pi. now is pelvises, but in medical work pelves /-vi:z/ is dominant. penal, penalize. Both words are pronounced with a long first syllable, /'pi:n-/, but penalty with a short one, /'pen-/. pénates (Roman household gods). Pronounce /pi'naitiiz/. penchant. Still pronounced in a Gallic manner, /'pàjâ/, in English.
582
thefirstedition is still pending, because fina production details have not been worked out or 'soon to come into existence' (patent pending). A pending tray is, of course, a tray for documents, letters, etc., awaiting attention. pendulum. PI. pendulums (from the 17c. to the 19c. occas. pendula). See -UM 1. penetralia (innermost shrines or recesses) is a pi. noun. It is in origin the neuter pi. of L penetrale, from penetrâlis 'interior, innermost'.
pencil (verb). The inflected forms are pencilled, pencilling in BrE, but often -tied, peninsula is the noun (the Spanish Penin-iling in AmE. See -LL-, -L-. sula) and peninsular the corresponding pendant, pendent, pennant, pennon. adj. (the Peninsular War). They are best These are normally kept apart in the kept strictly apart. The type the Peninsula following manner: pendant is a noun War could be justified by regarding Peninmeaning a hanging jewel or the shank sula as an attributive use of the noun; but and ring of a pocket-watch; also, in naut- the type the Spanish Peninsular is clearly ical language, a short length of rope wrong. fixed on the main- and foremasts of a penman should be used only with refersquare-rigged ship, used for attaching ence to handwriting, not to the writing tackles; also, any length of rope used as of books or articles. The second sense, a means of purchase to a distant object; 'an author, a writer', flourished from the pendent is an adj. meaning (over)hanging; 16c. to the 19c, but is now an affectation. pennant is a nautical word (sometimes written pendant but always pronounced pen-name. See NOM DE GUERRE. 'pennant') for a narrow tapering flag used for signalling or for some other pennant. See PENDANT. specified purpose; pennon is principally a long narrow flag, used esp. as the milit- pennon. See PENDANT. ary ensign of lancer regiments. In the 15c. and 16c. pennon was also used for a penny. The pi. for the separate coins is long, coloured streamer flown from the pennies (he had four pennies in his pocket), mastheads or yardarms of warships on but for a sum of money is pence (an occasions of state or national import- increase of 50 pence). See PEE. In N. Amer, ance, and they are said to have been a one-cent coin is often called a penny, 'on occasions as much as 60-80 feet in pi. pennies. length' (Oxford Companion to Ships and the pension, used in the sense 'a French Sea, 1976). boarding-house' has not been Anglicized pendente Ute, 'during the progress of (though it has been used in English since a lawsuit', is written in italic, and pro- the 17c.) and is pronounced in a Gallic manner, /pàsjô/. nounced /pen.denti "larti/. pending has been used as a preposition pentameter, a verse of five feet. One or quasi-preposition since the 17c. to of the commonest metres in traditional mean 'during, throughout the continu- English poetry is the iambic pentameter, ance o f (pending these negotiations); and i.e. a line consisting of five feet each since the 19c. also to mean 'while await- containing an unstressed syllable foling, until' (afinaldecision cannot be taken lowed by a stressed one: Enforced tô seek pending his trial; pending her return). These some covert nigh at hand. In classical prepositional uses are to be distin- Latin and Greek, pentameter is 'a form of guished from pending used as a predi- dactylic verse composed of two halves cative adj., when it means 'awaiting each of two feet and a long syllable, used decision or settlement' (The printing of in elegiac verse' (COD, 1995).
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penult. Frequently used in phonetics, = the last but one (syllable). Thus referendum /refa'rendam/ has its main stress on the penult. The pen part of the word answers to L paene 'almost*.
penult I per whole at a breakfast and but twelue persons there (1606).
3 To judge from the following comment in the Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage (2nd edn, 1985) the plural form persons still has wide currency in penultimate. William Satire (NY Times AmE: "The basic difference between perBk Rev., 7 June 1981) reported instances sons and people is that persons is usually in American newspapers of penultimate used when speaking of a number of erroneously used to mean 'ultimate, fi- people who can be counted and people nal', as if the element pen- simply added is used when speaking of a large or emphasis to the adj. ultimate. I have an- uncounted number of individuals.' A other from the Chicago Sun-Times, 23 Nov.fresh survey of the evidence, however, 1988: These are the penultimate in quality revealed that persons, whether preceded scarves,' she said [to a customer]. Well, then, by a numeral or not, is tending in both show me the better line,' [the customer BrE and AmE to yield to people, and to cruelly said]. This is the better line', she retreat into somewhat restricted, mostly responded. One can but hope that the (semi-)legalistic use: e.g. in notices in word can maintain its true meaning in lifts, banks, police reports (e.g. killed by the decades ahead. See PENULT. a person or persons unknown). An American correspondent collected people, persons. 1 Though questioned an array of evidence from American many times since the mid-igc, the types newspapers, brochures, etc., of the early 'people preceded by a numeral' and 'people 1990s. A selection of examples: (people) preceded by unspecific adjs. (many, sev- Deluxe dinners for about 16people cost about eral, a few) or the pi. pronouns these and $75", Only $7.95 per person. Minimum 25 those' have been part of the standard people; A tornado injured more than 2opeople language for many centuries: But right in downstate Illinois; (in a book review) the anon a thousand peple in thraste—Chaucer, loss of these two good people; (hotel advertC1386; These people sow the Chaine about isement) Two beds, up to four people and a his necke—Shakespeare, 1590; And many free hot buffet breakfast for all registered giddie peopleflockto him—Shakespeare, guests; About 3,000 people with reserve com1593. Jespersen (1909-49, ii) cites two ponent status remain in the Gulf voluntarily, people dying from a 1722 work by Defoe, the Pentagon said; The airline bombing ... and three thousand peoplefromDisraeli'skilled 270 people; Fewer than 40 people atLotiiair (1870). Further examples: Twenty tended the banquet; It's only people who don' million people suffer from rheumatism each know, or don't care, who will remain at risk year—V. Bramwell, 1988; Four out of five a lot of people out there can do variety shows. people thought that fresh fruit and vegetables By comparison, examples of persons were should be labelled—Which?, 1989; a great much harder to find: (extract from a Federal Savings Bank notice) It is also the many people feel that a hug can make their Board of Directors' view that these provisions day—Chicago Tribune, 1991 ; People have been should not discourage persons from proposing debating abortion for decades, and two people a merger; (from a Movie Ratings Guide) R cannot resolve this issue—Daily Northwestern (Illinois), 1991- Clearly these types are (Restricted). Persons under 17 not admitted legitimate and have been for a long time, unless accompanied by parent or adult guardthough there happens to be no specific ian; (brochure of a religious sect) Open to all persons: prior membership in a twelveentry for them in the OED. step group is not required; (advertisement) 2 Competing with them, however, has the Chinese banquet dinner is only suited for been the specifically plural form persons. a group of at least eight persons. It looks as The OED cites Fyfiene persons from a 14c. if BrE and AmE usage may not be very romance called Richard Coer de Lion and different in the choice of people and peralso a series of later examples, e.g. more sons, but further sampling of the evithan ouer ninety and nine iust persons—Luke dence is needed. (AV) 15: 7, 1611. In Shakespeare we find Time trauels in diuers paces, with diuers per. It is a sound general rule not to persons (1600); Eight Wilde-Boares rosted use this Latin word when an English
peradventure | percentage
584
equivalent exists and is idiomatic: it is used in current speech?—Times, 1982; Perad better, for example, to say that the salary venture they were the only two windows in is £25,000 a year rather than £25,000 per the house—B. Breytenbach, 1984 (SAfr.). year. Office clerks can be forgiven if they See WARDOUR STREET. say that a parcel is to travel per rail or per + name of delivery firm: they are per capita. Properly meaning 'by heads' simply following a long-established com- (in law), 'applied to succession when dimercial convention. But in lay contexts vided among a number of individuals in by is better. In correlative statements of equal shares (opp. to per stirpes)' (OED), per capita has joined per caput as a normal the type ' — head — week', it is probEnglish way of saying 'for each person ably better (on grounds of euphony) to or head (of population)'. Fowler (1926) use per rather than the indefinite article: regarded this use of per capita as 'a mod£200 per head per week, though there are ern blunder, encouraged in some recent notable exceptions, esp. an apple a day dictionaries', but attitudes have changed keeps the doctor away. In a number of fixed and it is now in standard use beside per phrases in which the accompanying caput. Examples: (per capita) For the bulk word is also Latin, per annum, per capita, of humanity per capita consumption remains per diem, per se, etc., and also in per cent, the same—New Statesman, 1965; During th clearly per must be kept. An indication same period, per capita personal consumption of the wide variety of uses of per can be rose 15 percent in terms of constant prices— seen in the following examples: He fell to Dxdalus, 1990; (per caput) It may be argued the ground at thirty-two feet per second—D. that the perik(o)- 'loving' + dxeX,rjs 'free from tax or charge', the second element being p h i Z . See ABBREVIATIONS 1 . regarded as a passable equivalent of free phlegm. The g is unsounded in phlegm or franco, which were formerly stamped on prepaid letters. The plainer words and phlegmy, but is fully pronounced in phlegmatic. stamp triple, treble. If the musical sense of treble is put aside, and also specialized senses in betting, darts, and baseball, the two words are as often as not interchangeable. But there are diverging tendencies. First, though either can be adj., verb, or noun, treble for the moment is the more usual verb and noun, and triple the more usual adj. Secondly, in the adjectival use treble is perhaps increasingly being used to refer to amount ( = three times as much), and triple to plurality (consisting of three usu. equal parts or things), though the distinction is far from absolute. Thirdly, some believe that in AmE, triple is the commoner of the two words in their general uses; others believe that the same tendency is occurring in BrE. A few examples will serve to point up some of the differences between the two words. Others will underline their interchangeability, (treble) treble agent (espionage); a treble brandy; Treble the money would not buy it now; It sells for treble the price of whale oil; a treble difficulty ( — three times the difficulty); Think of a number and treble it; The newspaper has trebled its circulation. (triple) triple agent (espionage); triple alliance; triple century (cricket); triple crown (in sporting events); a triple difficulty ( = a difficulty of three kinds); a triple-layer sponge cake; her triple role as headmistress, gym instructor, and music teacher; The firm's income tripled last year.
tripod. Walker (1791) listed a form with a short i as a variant pronunciation, i.e. /'tnpDd/, but preferred the form with a long i, i.e. /'trai-/. Fowler (1926) thought that the form with a short i was 'now certainly often heard, and is now not unlikely to prevail'. Walker's preferred form has prevailed, not Fowler's, and Or various Atom's, interfering Dance /'traipDd/ is now the only standard form. Leapt into Form (the Noble work of Chance,} Cf. tripodal adj. /'tnpadal/. Or this great All was from Eternity; Not ev'n the Stagirite himself could see; triptych. Pronounce with final /-k/. And Epicurus Guess'd as well as He. As blindly grop'd they for a future State, As rashly Judg'd of Providence and Fate: triumphal, triumphant. Triumphal means only 'in honour of a victory' and Triplets occurring among heroic is properly used only of a celebration (a couplets are sometimes marked by a triumphal march, parade, procession) or of a brace, as, for example, in Pope's Essay on monument erected to celebrate a victory Criticism (1711): (triumphal arch). Triumphant answers to triplet (prosody). Applied to the occasional use, in rhymed-couplet metres, of three lines instead of two to a rhyme; common among the heroic couplets of Dryden and some 18c. poets. An example from Dryden's Religio Laid (1682):
triumvir | troop
794 actual rival forms in -ess, (c) the distribution down the centuries of the 'regular' plural forms in -ices or the Anglicized ones in -ixes. It seems clear, however, that, except in legal language, -trix forms are not greatly in favour at the present time. Of the above (leaving one or two of the legal terms aside) only dominatrix, editrix, and executrix have much currency, the first because of the 20c. fascination with sexual practices, and the other two triumvir /trai'Amva/ or /traiamva/. PL drawing attention to the slight unexpeceither triumvirs or, less commonly, trium- tedness of a woman's holding a hitherto viri /-rai/. See LATIN PLURALS. But triumvir- male-dominated post. ate (set of triumvirs) /trai'Amvirat/ is now 3 Plurals. The notionally regular plural more usual than either plural. form of each of these -trix words, or at trivia (things of little consequence). A any rate those formed between the 15c. 20C. word (first recorded in Logan Pear- and the 18c, is -ices, and such forms sail Smith's title Trivia in 1902), adopted are indeed found (exécutrices, heretrices, from the modern Latin plural of trivtum mediatrices, prosecutrices, etc.) at various ( = 'a place where three ways meet' in times; but there has been a marked tenclassical Latin), it is now used both as a dency over the centuries to use the Anglisingular and a plural noun: Besides, trivia cized forms in -ixes instead, and this has its importance too. Or to put it another tendency seems likely to continue in so far as there is any future at all for words way, trivia have their importance too—Sunday Times, 26 Feb. 1978. In practice it is most in -trix. When the pi. forms in -ices occur frequently used as an uncountable noun: the main stressing pattern of the equivalent male word is sometimes retained Henry's face—calm, almost seraphic, earlier when we had exchanged greetings and talkedand sometimes not. The pronunciations trivia at lunch—narrowed—M. Egremont, given in the New SOED (1993) are as fol1986; Picture to yourself a monstrous skip lows: crammed with trivia: singularly ununique (stress unchanged) executor /ig'zekjuta/, childhood memories, [etc.]—Julian Barnes, executrix /ig'zekjutnks/, and exécutrices 1991; Listeners bored with election trivia /ig'zekjutrisi:z/. might prefer to hear music while watching (stress changed) mediator /'miidierta/, the swingometers with the sound turned mediatrix /mi:di'eitnks/, and mediatrices down—Classic CD, 1991. In such contexts /mi:di'eitrisi:z/. (stress variable) prosecutor /'prosikjuita/, the pertinent pronouns and verbs used with trivia do not reveal its number. prosecutrix /'prosikjuitnks/ or /-'kju:-/, and prosecutrices -trix. 1 For words in -trix that are not /pn)si'kju:tnsi:z/. agent-nouns with a male correlative in No wonder such plural forms tend to be -tor, see CICATRIX; MATRIX. Cf. also -EX, -IX. avoided. 2 Since the 15c. a number of words troche (small medicated lozenge). This in -trix have been formed to signify the altered version of the long obsolete word female equivalent of agent-nouns in -tor. trochisk (from Fr. trochisque, ultimately The most important of these have been from Gk xpoxioKo? 'small wheel') is proadministratrix (first recorded in the 17c), nounced /trauJ7 in BrE and /'trauki:/ in aviatrix (20c), directrix (17c), dominatrix AmE. (16c, then obs., revived in the 20c), editrix (20c), executrix (16c), heritrixfheretrix trochee (prosody) /'trauki:/. A foot con(16c), inheritrix (16c), mediatrix (15c), nar- sisting of one long or stressed syllable ratrix (19c), oratrix (15c), prosecutrix followed by one short or unstressed syl(18c), testatrix (16c). The OED record of lable, i.e. —~, as in manner or body. these feminine derivatives is uneven, trolley. Thus spelt (not trolly). PL trolleys. and it is not possible to make safe statements about (a) their currency at a given troop (verb). Trooping the colour is the time, (b) the currency of notional or orthodox modern term for a ceremonial
triumph in any of its senses, especially those of brilliant success or exultation. The OED entries show that the two words have sometimes been used interchangeably in the past (e.g. triumphal = Victorious' by Gavin Douglas in 1513; and triumphant = 'in honour of a victory' by several writers from 1531 to 1876), but such crossovers are now rare in standard sources.
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troop, troupe | true and false etymology
mounting of the guard, but in the early truculent. The OED (1915) gave preced19c. examples in the OED it was colours ence to /'tru:k-/ in the first syllable, and that were trooped. also in truculence and truculency, but the only standard pronunciation now is troop, troupe. In BrE a troop is an /'trAkjulant/. artillery or armoured unit of soldiers, or a group of Scouts; a troupe is a company true and false etymology. The English of actors or acrobats. A trooper is a private language, perhaps more than any other, soldier in a cavalry or armoured unit has from its earliest times onward drawn (whence the phr. to swear like a trooper), loanwords from many other languagesand a trouper is a member of a theatrical Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Dutch, and company, or, by extension, a reliable, so on—and has usually respelt the uncomplaining person. In other English- adopted words so that they 'fitted in speaking countries the terms troop and with' English conceptions of what constitrooper overlap to some extent with those tutes properly established native models in the UK, but have other applications of spelling, prefixation, suffixation, conas well. jugation, and so on. Some of the incoming words have undergone changes to troublous (adj.). An archaic or literary the point that they seem to the amateur word for 'full of troubles; disturbed to be directly related to similar-sounding (troublous times)'. In most contexts, words of native origin (see e.g. belfry s.v. troubled or troublesome are the more ap- ETYMOLOGY). Many words of native origin propriate words. were respelt at a later stage because of trough. The only standard pronunci- all kinds of spurious associations with ation in the UK now is /tnrf/, though similar-sounding words: e.g., from the Daniel Jones (1917) recommended /troif/, list below, crayfish, forlorn hope, greyhound, gave /trAf/ as a former variant, and added island, shamefaced, slow-worm. Readers a note saying (somewhat mysteriously) who wish to avoid some of the more obvious misconceptions about the ori'Bakers often say trau'. gins of some of the commonest words trousers. Always construed as a plural in the language may find the following noun (his new trousers were given to him bylist a useful starting-point. Really deterhis sister); but, when used attributively mined readers should pursue them in and in compounds, the word loses its The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology final -s: e.g. trouser leg, trouser pockets, (1966) or in its Concise version (1986), or indeed in any standard dictionary of trouser suit. moderate size. The words given are mere trousseau. The pi. form recommended signposts to a huge and complicated subis trousseaus, but trousseaux is also admis- ject. The words in small capitals are the sible. See -x. Both plural forms are pro- few that happen to be treated at their alphabetical places. See also the articles nounced with final /-z/. trout. PI. usu. the same. But old trouts for the affectionately disrespectful slang term. trow. Markedly archaic, but if used it should be pronounced /trau/ both as noun ( = belief) and verb ( = believe). The noun is now rarely used. truculence, truculency. The first entered the language in the 18c. and the second in the 16c. They have been used as synonyms since the 18c. ( = the condition or quality of being truculent), but truculence is now the dominant form of the two. See -CE, -CY. For pronunciation, see next.
ETYMOLOGY a n d FOLK ETYMOLOGY.
AMUCK, not Eng. muck andiron and GRIDIRON, only by soundassociation with Eng. iron (and fire-iron) apparel, not L paw 'provide oneself with' ARBOUR, not L arbor 'tree' barberry, not Eng. berry belfry, not Eng. bell blindfold, not Eng. fold bliss, not Eng. Mess bound (homeward, etc.), not Eng. bind Boxing Day, not pugilistic bridal, not an adjective in -al bridegroom, not Eng. groom BRIER pipe, not Eng. brier (prickly bush) bum (buttocks), not a contraction of Eng. bottom buttonhole (verb), not hole but hold
truffle I try and, try to catgut, not made from the intestines of a cat cinders, not L cineres 'ashes' cockroach, not Eng. cock or Eng. roach COCOA, COCONUT, unconnected
COMITY, not L comes 'companion' convey, not L véhô 'carry' cookie (biscuit, etc.), not Eng. cook COT(E), separate words COURT-CARD, a corruption CRAYFISH, not Eng. fish CURTAIL, not Eng. tail CUTLET, not Eng. cut
DEMEAN (conduct oneself), not Eng. mean dispatch, not Fr. dépêcher egg on, not egg but edge EQUERRY, not L equus 'horse' errand, not L errû 'wander' fall asleep, not Eng. fall but OE feolan 'penetrate into (sleep)' FAROUCHE, not L ferox 'fierce' FOREBEARS, = fore-beers FORLORN HOPE, not forlorn nor hope
FUSE (for igniting explosive), from L fusus 'spindle' GINGERLY, not Eng. ginger GREYHOUND, not Eng. grey
humble pie, a pie made from the umbles (intestines of a deer) incentive, not L incendo 'set on fire' ingenuity, modern sense by confusion of ingenious with ingenuous island, respelt by association with isle Jerusalem artichoke, not Jerusalem but girasole (sunflower) LITANY, LITURGY, first syllables
unconnected MOOD (grammar), = mode, not mood (temper) old dutch, not Dutch but duchess (see NETHERLANDS)
pen, pencil, unconnected PIDGIN, not Eng. pigeon
POSH, not port outward starboard home PROTAGONIST, Gk jtpcbxoç 'first', not L pro'for' recover, not Eng. cover river, not L rivus 'river' run the gauntlet, not gauntlet (glove) but 17c. gantlope (see GAUNTLET) SANDBLIND, not Eng. sand
scissors, not L scindô sciss- 'cleave, tear apart' shamefaced, not Eng. -faced but -fast SLOW-WORM, not Eng. slow
sorrow, sorry, unconnected vile, villain, unconnected walnut, unconnected with Eng. wall WATERSHED, neither a store of water nor a place that sheds water Welsh rabbit, not rare bit nor rarebit truffle. Both the OED (1915) and Daniel Jones (1917) allow the vaguely Frenchsounding variant /'truffà)!/ (the French
796
equivalent is actually truffe), but it is now always pronounced /'trAf(a)l/, at least in standard BrE. American dictionaries list /'tru:-/ as a permissible variant. truly.
S e e LETTER FORMS.
trumpet (verb). The inflected forms are trumpeted, trumpeting. See -T-, -TT-. trunkful. PI. trunkfuls. See -FUL.
trustee, trusty.
The first, which is
stressed on the second syllable, is 'a person or member of a board given control or powers of administration of property in trust with a legal obligation to administer it solely for the purposes specified' (COD). The second, which is stressed on the first syllable, is an archaic adj. meaning 'trustworthy' (a trusty steed) or 'loyal (to a sovereign)' (my trusty subjects); and also a noun (with pi. trusties) meaning 'a prisoner who is given special privileges for good behaviour'. truth. The recommended pronunciation of the pi. truths is with final /ôz/, but /0s/ is also standard. See -TH (0) and -th (Ô). try and, try to. Arguments continue to rage about the validity of try and followed by a n infinitive instead of try to, 'To be used only in informal contexts', 'grammatically wrong' are among the verdicts of some writers on English usage. Fowler's judgement in 1926 was much more lenient. After briefly setting out the facts he concluded: 'try and is an idiom that should not be discountenanced, but used when it comes natural.' He also made out a sort of case for the semantic distinctiveness of try and constructions. In 1983 a Scandinavian scholar, Âge Lind, examined a group of fifty modern English novels of the period 1960-70 and found that try to was likely to occur in certain syntactic conditions, try and in others, and that in some circumstances the choice seemed not to be governed by any particular reason. 'If a subtle semantic distinction exists it does not seem to be observed,' he concluded. Over the last few years I have gathered a wide range of evidence, with the following results. Standard examples of try to occurred in many types of constructions: (preceded by an auxiliary verb) I think we should try to help him as a family—
797
tryst I tubercular, tuberculous
I. Murdoch, 1983; (preceded by the in- and go (e.g. Do go and thank him). These finitive marker to) To try to forget is to try two verbs, however, have no past or presto conceal—T. S. Eliot, 1950; Mr Stratton's ent tense restrictions. Clearly it is idiomoods would always be a mystery, so much matic to say You came and saw me yesterday so that he had ceased to try to fathom them—P. and He went and thanked him last week. So Carey, 1988 (Aust.); (preceded by an ad- the parallel with try and is far from exact. verb) I always try to travel light—R. Elms, tryst. This archaic word for a date, 1988; (separated from the infinitive it an assignation is normally pronounced governs) He's gone his own way, I go mine, /tnst/ now, though the OED (1915) gave or try to—K. Page, 1989. Parallel examples only /traist/. The main AmE dictionaries of try and for all but the last type are give preference to the form with a short not difficult to find: (preceded by an vowel. auxiliary verb) We must try and find him at once—J. R. R. Tolkien, 1954; I will try tsar. Treated under this spelling in the and answer any questions you may have—S.main British dictionaries and under czar Hockey, 1981 (University of Oxford lec- in the main American ones. But both ture); (preceded by the infinitive marker sets of dictionaries concede that there is to) he used to try and draw Dr De Wet out—M.. much variation in practice. The word, du Plessis, 1983 (SAfr.); (preceded by an whichever way it is spelt, has an initial adverb) Frankly, even to try and make some-capital when used with a personal name. body happy is a gross and farcical mistake- Pronounce /zct:/ or /tsa:/. Simon Mason, 1990. -t-, -tt-. Monosyllabic words containing Some other examples are less easy to a simple vowel (a, e, i, 0, u) before t classify: he glanced at her face to try and normally double the consonant before see if she was mollified—P. P. Read, 1986; Isuffixes beginning with a vowel (batted, try and work on the assumption that they're wetter, fitted, plottable, cutter) or before all as smart as I om-Clive James, 1987 a following y {witty, nutty); but remain (Aust.); Let me try and set down the opposingundoubled if the stem contains a diphpoints of view—Julian Barnes, 1991. It thong (baiting, flouting), doubled vowel should be noted that some of the ex- (sooty), or a vowel + consonant (fasted, amples of try and are drawn from the nested, bolting). Words of more than one informal atmosphere of a lecture room syllable follow the rule for monosyllables or (James, 1987) a newspaper interview, if their last syllable is accented, but or from non-British sources. Try and can otherwise do not double the t: thus realso occur idiomatically in the imper- gretted; but balloted, benefited, bonneted, ative in such sentences as Don't try and buffeted, combatant, cosseted, discomfited, frighten me, which, as it happens, is to fidgeted, pilotage, trumpeter. It is inconsistbe found in Thackeray's Vanity Fair (1847). ent to double the -t- in the past tenses It is only when one turns to other of two- or three-syllabled words, though parts of the verb (i.e. tries, tried, trying) such forms as benefitted, cossetted, plumthat a gulf between the two expressions metted, and targetted are not infrequently opens up. Try to substitute tries and (etc.) found in standard sources. for tries to (etc.) in the following exThe recommended forms for three amples, and the impossibility of it all special cases (esp. in the language of becomes apparent: He tries to centre his computers) are formatting (pres.pple),/ormind on that sound-C. K. Stead, 1984 (NZ); matted (pa.t. and pa.pple); inputting I... paced around and tried to absorb all the(pres.pple), inputted or input (pa.t. and details—A. Brookner, 1986; Einar tried to pa.pple); outputting (pres.pple), outputted coach us in semaphore signals—G. Keillor,or output (pa.t. and pa.pple). 1986 (US); as if trying to guess what her tub. For the Tub, see ACADEMY. answer should be—?. P. Read, 1986. Try and gains a small amount of addi- tubercular, tuberculous. Before 1882, tional currency, perhaps, from the use in which year the tubercle bacillus was of and to connect two verbs 'the latter discovered, the two words were used of which would logically be in the infini- interchangeably to mean 'of the nature tive' (as the OED expresses it). The com- or form of a tubercle' and 'in reference monest of such verbs are come (e.g. You to tuberculosis (or tubercular consumpwill come and see us sometimes, won't you?)tion)'. Since then, in medical use,
tuberose | twilight
798
tuberculous has been restricted to the variant, whereas most standard Amersecond of these meanings and tubercular ican dictionaries reverse the order. (The to the first. But in lay use the adjectives OED (1915) gave only the form with /-m/ continue to be used without distinction and Daniel Jones (1917) gave preference of meaning, though tubercular is mark- to the same.) edly the more common of the two words. Tubercular has also been used as a noun Turco-. The normal combining form since the mid-20c. meaning 'a person of Turkish, not Turko-. Thus Turcocentric, having tuberculosis' (e.g. In 1949 Orwell Turcophilia, etc.; Turco-Russian discussions. left the Isle of Jura to enter a convalescent Turcoman. A now mostly discarded varihome for tuberculars at Cranham in Glouces-ant Of TURKOMAN. tershire—I. Hunter, 1980. tureen. Pronounce /tju'riin/ rather than tuberose (noun), (botany) This plant of /ta'riin/ since the word has moved away the agave family, Polianthes tuberosa, is from its earlier form terrine (ultimately pronounced /'tjuibarauz/. It is sometimes from L terra 'earth'). The spelling tureen erroneously written as tube-rose, pro- is possibly modelled on the place-name nounced /'tjuibrauz/. Turin. In AmE the first syllable is usually pronounced /ta-/. Tuesday. For (on) Tuesday, see FRIDAY. turf. In the senses 'a piece of turf cut tug. For tug at one's heartstrings, see STOCK from the ground (used with other pieces PATHOS. to make a lawn)', and 'a piece of peat cut for fuel', the pi. is usu. turves. But tulle. Pronounce /tjuil/. turfs is also a standard form. See -VE(D), tumbrel, tumbril. The first spelling is -VES, etc. recommended. turgid. See TURBID.
tumefy. Thus spelt, not tumify. tumidity, tumidness. See -TY AND -NESS.
turkey. PI. turkeys. Turkish. See TURCO-.
tumour. Thus spelt in BrE, but tumor in AmE. See -OUR AND -OR.
Turkoman. PL Turkomans.
tumulus. PL tumuli /-lai/.
turnipy. Thus spelt. See -P-, -PP-.
tun. See TON.
turnover. See TART.
tunnel (verb). The inflected forms are tunnelling, tunnelled in BrE (also tunneller noun), but usu. tunneling, tunneled (and tunneler) in AmE. See -LL-, -L-.
turps. See ABBREVIATIONS 1.
tu quoque (rhetoric; from L, lit. 'thou also'). An argument which consists in retorting a charge upon one's accuser. A standard example is the medical rejoinder Physician heal thyself. turban. The corresponding adj. is turbaned. See -N-,-NN-. turbidity, turbidness. See -TY AND -NESS. turbid, turgid. The first means '(of a liquid) cloudy, unclear', and '(of a writer's style) confused, obscure'; whereas turgid means 'swollen, distended', and '(of language) inflated, bombastic'. turbine. Most British dictionaries give /'t3:bam/ first and /'t3:bm/ as a permissible
turquoise. The recommended pronunciation in BrE is /'t3:kwDiz/, but /-kwa:z/ is sometimes heard (in imitation of the French equivalent word). In AmE, /'t3:rkoiz/ seems to be the dominant form, i.e. without medial /w/. turret. The corresponding adj. is turreted. See -T-, -TT-. tussore. (In full tussore-silk) This form, pronounced /'tASo:/, has more or less ousted tusser /'tAsa/ in BrE. The dominant form in AmE is tussah /'tAsa/. The word is a late 16c. loanword from Hindi (and Urdu) tasar. tutoress. See -ESS 4. twenties. See NINETIES. twilight. The noun twilight is frequently used attributively or as an adj. (twilight
799
glow, shade, vision, years, etc.) and is greatly to be preferred to the rather uncommon ppl adj. twilit except when the meaning is 'lit by or as by twilight' (a twilit church). In such contexts the choice is not restricted to twilit, as twilighted is also available (warm twilighted evenings; twilighted ages).
-ty and -ness naturally suggested by them. Thus preciosity is limited to literary or artistic style; purity can take a sexual tinge that pureness is without; poverty is often the abject state of being without material possessions, whereas poorness is often merely a substantial step in that direction. Articles under which special remarks
-ty and -ness. (Including some abstract will be found are BARBARISM, BARBARITY, nouns in -ety and -try.) Though any adject- BARBAROUSNESS; BARBARISMS; ENORMITY, ive may be formed into a noun on occa- ENORMOUSNESS; INGENIOUS, INGENUOUS; OBLIQUITY; OPACITY, sion by the addition of -ness, the nouns OBLIQUENESS, of that pattern actually current are sub- OPAQUENESS; PERSPIC-; PRECIOSITY, P R E stantially fewer than those made from CIOUSNESS; SENSIBILITY. For similar disbetween other nearly Latin adjectives with -ty, -ety, or -ity as tinctions their English ending. Thus from one and equivalent terminations, see -CE, -CY; loyal and various we can make for special -IC(AL); -ION AND -MENT; -ION AND -NESS; purposes oneness, loyalness, and -ISM AND -ITY. A few specimens may be added and variousness; but ordinarily we prefer unity, loyalty, and variety. Of the -ty words that classified that have not been cited above, exist, a very large majority are for all but are notable in some way. (a) Some purposes commoner than the corres- words in -ty for which there is no componding -ness words, usage and not anti- panion in -ness, the Latin adjective not Latinism being the right arbiter. Scores having been taken into English: celerity, of words could be cited, such as ability, cupidity, debility,fidelity,integrity, lenity, honesty, notoriety, prosperity, sanity, stupid-utility, (b) Some more in which the -ty ity, for which it is hard to imagine any word has a concrete or other limited good reason for substituting ableness, sense or senses not shared by the other: honestness, etc. On the other hand, words ambiguity, capacity, commodity, fatality, in -ness that are more usual than existing monstrosity, nicety, specialty, subtlety, (c) forms in -ty are rare, though acuteness Some of the few words in -ness that are and conspicuousness have the advantage as much used as those in -ty, or more, of acuity and conspicuity. In general a -ty though the -ty words exist: clearness (clarword that exists is to be preferred to ity), crudeness, falseness, jocoseness, morponderousness, positiveness, its rival in -ness, unless total or partial bidness, differentiation has been established, or tenseness, unctuousness. (d) Some -ness words that have no coris contextually appropriate. Total differentiation has taken place between in- responding word in -ty in common use, genuity and ingenuousness, casualty and though the adjective is of Latin origin casualness, sensibility and sensibleness. Par-and might have been expected to protial differentiation results from the more duce one: crispness, facetiousness, firmness, frequent use made of the -ty words. Both largeness, massiveness, naturalness, obsequiterminations have, to start with, the ab- ousness, pensiveness, proneness, robustness, rudeness, seriousness, tardiness, tediousness, stract sense of the quality for which the tenderness, vastness, vileness. (e) If there is adjective stands; but while most of the also a -tion word, derived from the verb, -ness words, being little used, remain this naturally signifies the process, and abstract and still denote quality only, the -ty word, derived from the adjective, many of the -ty words acquire by much the result: e.g. liberty and liberation, muluse various concrete meanings in addi- tiplicity and multiplication, profanity and tion. Thus curiosity, humanity, variety, be-profanation, satiety and satiation, variety side the senses 'being curious, human, and variation. But sometimes these pairs various', acquire those of 'a curious ob- develop by usage a sharper differentiject', 'all human beings', and 'a sub- ation: e.g. integrity and integration, sanity species'. Or again they may be habitually and sanitation. (/) As the OED points out, applied in a limited way so that the such words as difficulty, faculty, honesty, full sense of the adjective is no longer modesty, and puberty represent Latin
tyke, tike | Tyrrhene, Tyrrhenian formations in which the suffix -tas is directly added to a consonantal stem. The number of these in English is very small. tyke, tike. In its current senses ( = a Yorkshireman, etc.) the more usual spelling is tyke, not tike.
800
typographic, typographical (adjs.). Both forms are current and both are of respectable antiquity (-ic 18c, -ical 16c). The longer form is much the more usual of the two in BrE, and the reverse seems to be the case in AmE. See -IC(AL).
tyrannic, tyrannical (adjs.). The shorter form, recorded in use from the 15c. to tympanum (the ear-drum). PI. tympana: the 19c, has been set aside in the 20c. see -UM 3. Cf. TIMPANI (pi. noun). in favour of tyrannical. See -IC(AL).
type. Be careful to distinguish the mod- tyrannize (verb). The transitive type this attempt to coerce and tyrannize us seems to ern AmE attributive use of the word ( = type of, with ellipsis of of), as in The 110C be coming back into standard use since systems may be used with virtually any type the first edition of this book (1926) approjector, from the use of -type with a peared, when Fowler regarded it as a preceding defining word, as in California- solecism. The traditional construction is tyrannize over (us). Examples of the various type barbecues; Fifties-type social realist films. The first of these sounds forced and calls types: She tyrannised over the older woman for the attention of a copy editor. The in all their personal relations—D. Lindsay, 1987; the priests know nothing, but pretend second is a natural use. to know much and tyrannise over the common -type. Dictionary definitions of various people—New Scientist, 1992; The camps were technical terms in which -type is the largely tyrannized by a volunteer cadre of second element should enable readers prisoners named kapos by the Nazis—NY to work out the meaning of most of the Times Bk Rev., 1992; We can use it to tyranniz contexts in which the word appears on ourselves, to live in the future instead of in the page before them. Thus, from the the present, [etc.]—M. Williamson, 1992. New SOED (1993): tyrant. The original Greek sense of the antetype, a preceding type, an earlier ex- word is so far alive still that readers ample. (But this word is now rare and prototype must be prepared to encounter it, esp. can normally be used instead.) when the context is of an absolute ruler antitype. 1 Something which a type or sym- in a Greek city-state. Neither cruel nor bol represents. 2 A person or thing of the despotic conduct was essential to the opposite type. Greek notion of a tyrant, who was simply archetype. 1 The original pattern or model an absolute ruler owing his office to from which copies are made. 2 In Jungian usurpation. The word connoted the psychoanalysis, a primordial mental concept inherited by all from the collective uncon- manner in which power had been scious. 3 A pervasive or recurrent idea or sym- gained, not the manner in which it was exercised; despotic or 'tyrannical' use of bol in legend, etc. prototype. Thefirstor primary type of some- the usurped position was natural and thing, the original of which a copy, imitation, common, but incidental only. representation, derivative, or improved form tyre, tire (of a wheel). The first is the exists or is made. standard spelling in BrE, and the second typo. Whether used to mean a typo- in AmE. graphical error or a typographer, the pi. tyro (a novice). See TIRO. is typos. See -O(E)S 5. See also ABBREVIA-
TIONS 1.
Tyrrhene, Tyrrhenian. Thus spelt.
Uu U. Anyone who believes that there is a simple relationship between a given letter and the way in which it is pronounced should glance at what follows. It will be self-evident that the pronunciation of the letter u varies according to the circumstances in which it occurs. The list makes no claims to completeness, and the pronunciations given are limited to those of standard BrE. l /A/ ugly, under, undo; /u/ butcher, Jungian, pulpit, put; /u:/ fruit, June, rule, ruminate; /a/ citrus, ukulele (second u); /ju:/ amuse, unit, university; /ju/ fraudulent (medial u), uranium (first u), uvular (second u); /ua/ usual (second u + a); /aua/flour,sour. Note also: /gw/ guano; /kw/ equal, quite; /sw/ suave; (silent) guarantee, fatigue, opaque. 2 Special cases, (a) In the 20c. the retreat of the palatalized /sj-/ in Sue (now usually /su:/, suit, supreme, super, etc.; but its retention (in BrE) in assume; also /-zju:/ in presume, resume, (b) See LU. U and non-U. First, it needs to be said, for the sake of accuracy, that U, as a simple abbreviation for 'upper class (esp. in linguistic usage)' was introduced by A. S. C. Ross, a professor of linguistics, in a 1954 issue of the learned journal Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, and, together with its antonym non-U ('not upper class'), was turned into a cult by Nancy Mitford when she included the essay in a book of essays that she edited in 1956 called Noblesse Oblige. The intention was to identify expressions and modes of behaviour which marked off the aristocracy (or upper class) from those deemed not to be so fortunate. This national game entertained the nation for decades and is still played, though perhaps with diminishing power, as the century draws to a close. The subject had fascinated Nancy Mitford long before Alan Ross wrote his article. For example, in ch. 4 of her largely autobiographical novel The Pursuit of love (1945): Uncle Matthew: T hope poor Fanny's school (the word school pronounced
in tones of withering scorn) is doing her all the good you think it is. Certainly she picks up some dreadful expressions there.' Aunt Emily, calmly, but on the defensive: *Very likely she does. She also picks up a good deal of education.' Uncle Matthew: 'Education! I was always led to suppose that no educated person ever spoke of notepaper, and yet I hear poor Fanny asking Sadie for notepaper. What is this education? Fanny talks about mirrors and mantelpieces, handbags and perfume, . . . Aunt Emily: . . . (All the same, Fanny darling, it is called writing-paper you know—don't let's hear any more about note, please.)
Any bald list of U and non-U expressions tends to be misleading: the contextual nuances and qualifications need to be examined item by item. But a list (mostly drawn from Ross and/or Mitford) follows, nevertheless. non-U u bike cycle false teeth dentures God Bless (when — saying goodbye) house home lavatory, loo toilet looking-glass mirror luncheon (in middle dinner of day) pudding sweet, dessert rich wealthy scent perfume he sick (or vomit) be ill Sorry? (when Pardon? something is not clearly heard) table napkin serviette vegetables greens writing-paper notepaper The mood of the language game did not escape the gentle satirical eye of John Betjeman. His poem 'How to Get On in Society' (1954) sets the scene to perfection: Phone for thefish-knives,Norman, As Cook is a little unnerved; You kiddies have crumpled the serviettes And I must have things daintily served.
uglily I -urn Are therequisitesoil in the toilet? The /rills round the cutlets can wait Till the girl hasreplenishedthe cruets And switched on the logs in the grate. It's ever so close in the lounge, dear, But the vestibule's comfy for tea And Howard is out riding on horseback So do come and take some with me. Now here is a fork for your pastries And do use the couch for your feet; I know what I wanted to ask you— Is trifle sufficient for sweet? Milk and then just as it comes, dear? I'm afraid the preserve's full of stones; Beg pardon, I'm soiling the doileys With afternoon tea-cakes and scones. The sociolinguistic diversion of U and non-U is tending to be pushed to one side by the comico-sinister rivalries of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.
Uglily. This formally correct adverb is usually avoided on grounds of euphony, and replaced by in an ugly way or the like. See -LILY.
ukase (arbitrary command). Pronounce /jui'keiz/.
802
meaning 'of last month' (your letter of the 12th ult.) Cf. L ultimo mense 'in the last month'. See COMMERCIALESE.
ultra, orig. a Latin preposition and adverb meaning 'beyond', was adopted as an English noun in the early 19c. (pi. -as), meaning a person who goes beyond others in opinion or action of the kind in question. This was no doubt a development of its use as a prefix in such adjectives (and nouns) as ultra-revolutionary (-ries), ultra-royalist(s) (in France). Such compounds were curtailed into ultra (adj. and noun); but this was no longer felt to be, like sub when used for subaltern or subscription, an ABBREVIATION. It won independence of any second element, its own meaning being sufficient, and became a synonym of the now more usual extremist. ultramontane (adj.) means (a) on the other side of a mountain range, esp. the Alps, from the speaker or writer (L ultra 'beyond', mons, mont- 'mountain'); (b) a strong adherent or supporter of the papal authority (the point of view being that of France or other countries north of the Alps). The history of ultramontanism, a movement which began in the early 19c, is complex: accounts of it must be sought elsewhere.
-ular. Such adjectives are technically made from diminutive nouns in -ule (e.g. pustular from pustule) but do not necessarily convey diminutive senses themselves. A glandule is a small gland, but glandular means 'of glands' not 'of small glands'. Cellular means 'of or consisting ultra vires. Pronounce /Altre 'vaiariiz/. of cells', not necessarily of the small cells ululate (verb). Pronounce /'juiljulert/ or known to biologists as cellules. A selection (as I prefer) /'A1-/. of other -ular adjs. will suffice to show the incompleteness of possible -ular word -Um. For general remarks on the plural families. In the following list, the adj. is of Latin nouns adopted in English, see followed by the corresponding -ule noun LATIN PLURALS. Those in -um are numer(if any), and then by any related adjs. ous and call for special treatment. The angularl~Iangulated; timàar\-\àrculatory\ Latin plural being -a, and the English globular/gtobule/gtobose; granularjgranulel -urns, three selections follow of nouns granulated, granulose, granulous; modular\ (1) that now always use -urns, either as modulej-; molecular\molecule\-; tubular\tu- having completed their naturalization, bule/tubulate(d), tubulous; valvular/valvule/-. or for special reasons; (2) that show no signs at present of conversion, but alUlna. PI. ulnae /'Alni:/. ways use -a; (3) that vacillate, sometimes with a differentiation of meaning, someult. See ULTIMO. times in harmony with the style of writultima /'Altima/. In linguistics, the last ing, and sometimes unaccountably. syllable of a word, as always, decorum. 1 Plurals in -urns only. Those marked t Contrast ANTEPENULT; PENULT. are not Latin nouns, and the -a plural for them would violate grammar as well Ultimatum. PI. ultimatums (for preferas usage: ence), or ultimata. See -UM 3. albums, antirrhinums (and other plant Ultimo. Also abbrev. as ult. Formerly, but names), asylums, ^begums, ^conundrums, delphiniums, Elysiums, tfactotums, forums, now rarely, used in commercial letters,
8o3
umbilical | unartistic, inartistic
^harmoniums, laburnums, lyceums, museums, colloquial standard of dialectal forms of nasturtiums, nostrums, •fpanjandrums, two different personal pronouns, him [the pendulums, premiums, ^quorums, fTargums ladies liked 'un—P. Hill, 1977) and one (those (also Targumim), fvade-mecums, pariorums, striped uns [se. roses] have no smell—G. Eliot, vellums. 1859). 2 Plurals in -a only. Further comments may be found under those listed in small un-. 1 For the asymmetry of many uncapitals: and in- forms (e.g. unstable but instability), see IN- AND UN-. ADDENDA, AGENDA, bacteria (and many other scientific terms), continua, corrigenda, curricula, DATA, desiderata, effluvia, errata 2 For the cancelling negation of the type not uncommon see NOT 3. (see ERRATUM), fraena, labia, maxima, minima, momenta, opercula, opuscula, ova, 3 Danger of ellipsis after un-words. Unpalladia, phyla, pudenda, puncta, quanta,touched means 'not touched', but with sacraria, scholia (and other learned words the difference that it is one word and of this kind), scuta, septa, simulacra, solaria, not two, a difference that in some cirstrata, triclinia, triforia, vela, vexilla, viatica, cumstances is important. In I was not vivaria. touched, and you were the word touched is 3 Words with either plural (with pref- understood to be repeated, and does not erences, not always very marked, given carry the not with it. But in I was unin brackets): touched, and you were, the ellipsis does not aquarium (-a), compendium work in the same way: un- cannot be (-a), consortium (-a), cranium (-a) (-urnsdetached in as not was in the other example. jocular use for heads), dictum (-a), In emporium (-a), encomium (-urns), equilibrium the following example (cited by (-urns), exordium (-urns),florilegium(-a), Fowler, 1926): Dr Rashdall's scholarship is unquestioned; most of his writings and frustum (-a), fulcrum (-a), gymnasium (-urns), opinions on ecclesiastical matters are, what honorarium (-a), interregnum (-urns), lustrum (-a), mausoleum (urns), MEDIUM (-urns in is meant is that most of them are quesspiritualism; -a of the newspaper, etc., tioned, not unquestioned. Ellipses, like world), memorandum (-a), menstruum (-a), computer commands, work with mechmillennium (-a), moratorium (-urns), anical planetarium (-urns), plectrum (-a), podium (-a),logic, and must be treated with caution. proscenium (-urns), referendum (-urns), rostrum (-a), sanatorium (-urns), scriptorium (-a), sensorium (-a), serum (-a), spectrum (-a),unabashedly. Five syllables. See -EDLY. speculum (-a), stadium (-a in ancient-world contexts; -urns for modern sports grounds), unaccountable. Occurrences that are for sternum (-a), symposium (-a), trapezium the (-a),time being, and to the spiritualist, unactympanum (-a), ultimatum (-urns), vacuum (countable by natural causes. Unaccountable urns). ( = not to be accounted for), like reliable, belongs to a legitimate class of words. See also CANDELABRUM. But to use by after it, compelling the umbilical. Pronounced /Am'bilik(a)l/, reader to resolve it into its elements, is stressed on the second syllable, less com- asking too much. Read instead not to be monly /Ambi'laik(a)l/, with stress on the accounted for by. third syllable and with the diphthong /ai/ in that syllable. The same double unadornedly, unadvisedly. Five sylpattern is found in the noun umbilicus. lables in each. See -EDLY. The pi. of umbilicus is either umbilici /-sai/ or umbilicuses: see -us 1. unanimous. See NEM. CON. umbo (shield-boss, knob, etc.). PI. either unapt, inapt, inept. See INAPT. umbones /Am'baunLz/, as in Latin, or umbos (see -O(E)S 6). unarguable. See IN- AND UN-. umbra. PI. either umbras or umbrae /-bri:/. unartistic, inartistic. The second is the usual word; but since it has acquired umlaut. Pronounce /'umlaut/. a sort of positive sense, 'outraging the 'un. Sometimes written without the canons of art', etc., the other has been apostrophe, it represents a rendering in introduced for contexts in which such
unashamedly | unattached participles condemnation is not desired; the unartistic are those who are not concerned with art. See IN- AND UN-.
804
Fowler went on to approve of sentences in which certain participles have acquired the character of (marginal) prepositions or subordinating conjunctions, unashamedly. Five syllables. See -EDLY. and can stand before a noun or a clause unattached participles. Some gram- without disturbing the logicality or marians call them dangling, hanging, grammatical soundness of the sentence: or misrelated participles. Fowler (1926) Talking of test matches, who won the last?; called them unattached participles, and Considering the circumstances, you were cited an example from a letter: Dear Sir, justified; Roughly speaking, they are identiWe beg to enclose herewith statement of your cal; allowing for exceptions, the rule may account for goods supplied, and being desir- stand. His judgement was surely right. ous of clearing our Books to end May will youIn such examples the participial form is kindly favour us with cheque in settlement pernow normally seen to be in harmony return, and much oblige. The reply ran, Sirs, with what follows. Modern examples come easily to hand: Assuming her memYou have been misinformed. I have no wish to clear your books. The mistake in the ory isn't impaired, she's aware of the mix-up first letter was to attribute the desire to and if she chooses to ignore it, so be it; the wrong person. Such failures to look Knowing my mother, this is her way of ahead and consider the grammatical punishing us (both from letters in the compatibility of the following clause are Chicago Tribune, 1987); 'Speaking of money,' exceedingly common, especially in said Beryl, 'do you mind my asking what you unscripted speech. Lord Belstead, speak- did with yours?' (A. Munro, 1987). Someing on BBC Radio 4 in January 1988 about what more debatable is the use in scienhis own role after the resignation of tific work of using as a semi-unattached Lord Whitelaw as Leader of the House participle: Using carbon monoxide, his hicof Lords, said, Being unique, I am not going cups were cured for 30 minutes, but they came in any way to imitate him. He did not back again (the writer, not his patient's intend to imply that he was himself hiccups, used carbon monoxide). See also unique. A commentator on World at One the separate articles on BASED ON; CON(BBC Radio 4) at the end of May the same SIDERING; GIVEN (THAT); GRANTED; JUDGyear spoke of the Reagan/Gorbachev ING BY. Some of the other key words in consummit meeting: After inspecting a guard of honour, President Reagan's motorcade structions of this type are barring, exceptmoved into the centre of Moscow. In Decem- ing, owing to (first recorded as a ber, 1987, Richard Ingrams wrote about prepositional phrase in the work of Sir the house in which he grew up: Now Walter Scott), provided, providing, seeing, demolished, I can call it to mind in almost and supposing. Some of them can also be perfect detail. Obviously the entire motor- used with that, with an added touch of cade did not inspect the Russian troops, slight formality: Even assuming that the and Mr Ingrams had not been demol- Socialist government was seriously committed ...all this could only be accomplished ... (a ished. 1986 issue of a sociological journal). Naturally such misrelated clauses are not restricted to unscripted speech: Pick- Many of the constructions are traced ing up my Bible, the hill seemed the only placeback to earlier centuries by the OED. For to go just then—J. Winterson, 1985; While example, considering construed as a preserving ... as a sentry outside St James's position with a simple object is found as Palace, on an extremely hot day in 1980, theearly as the 14c: And gentilly I preise wel thy Queen Mother sent an equerry down who wit... considerynge thyyowthe(Chaucer). instructed my partner and I [sic] to perform Provided (that) and providing {that) conour duties on the opposite side of the road strued as quasi-conj unctions have also which was shaded and much cooler—letter been used for several centuries. Modern in Independent, 1991; While serving in the examples of the various keywords of this type are strewn about in books, journals, RAF in North Africa the cockroaches and other creatures baked in the bread provided an and newspapers in every part of the Enginteresting gauge as to how long the recipient lish-speaking world: Considering his gene had served out there—letter in Independent, pool, Sean Thomas Harmon is probably among the better-looking babies born Monday 1993-
805
unavowedly | unbend
(Chicago Tribune, 1988); Given bad light... and so on—standing there quietly on the a nervous enemyfiringthis way and that maysideline, and also the centuries-old faildo most of our work for us (M. Shadbolt, ure to fault overt examples of unat1986 (NZ) ; Granted, it was not hard to inter- tached participles, make the game of est a security man, who apartfroma regulargrammatical relatedness just that little soldier had the most boring job on earth (T. bit harder to play. Keneally, 1985 (Aust.)); Granted that any See ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTION; MISREinterpretation is partial... nevertheless there LATED CLAUSES, etc. is a difference ... between [etc.]' (D. Lodge, 1992). Unavowedly. Five syllables. See -EDLY. It is a remarkable fact that criticism— and ridicule—of unattached participles unaware(s). Unaware is a predicative did not begin until about a century adj. usually followed by of (he was unaware ago. Historical grammarians—Jespersen, of her presence) or that + clause (I was unVisser, and others—and the OED cite clear aware that you had moved to Brussels); and, examples from the Middle Ages onwards. archaically in BrE, an adverb (A Zephyr A small selection must suffice: Tis giuen ... gathering round her unaware Fill'd with out, that sleeping in mine Orchard, A Serpenthis breath her vesture and her veil—R. stung me—Shakespeare, 1602; Having ap- Bridges, 1885-94). Unawares is only an plied a smelling-bottle to her nose, the blood adverb, esp. meaning 'unexpectedly' (he began to revisit her cheeks—Smollett, 1748; stumbled on them unawares; the question Meeting some friends and singing with them took him unawares) or 'inadvertently' in a palace near the Hague his pen fails him(dropped it unawares). to express his delight—R. L. Stevenson, 1887. Scores of other examples have been unbeknown(st) (adjs). (in predicative dredged up from the past. use). Both the shorter and the longer To conclude, here is an elementary ex- form are current in standard English ample of a correctly attached participle: though their distribution is puzzling. Looking atfim, I remembered thefirsttime I Unbeknown entered the language in the had seen him—Encounter, 1988. And here 17c. and the -st form in the mid-igc. are further examples of incorrect or Unbeknownst seems to be the dominant questionable uses: Being a vegan bisexual form of the two at present, but the ordinwho's into Nicaraguan coffee picking and ary word for the notion is still by far boiler suits, you could safely assume that I vote Labour—Private Eye, 1988; By giving this unknown. Apparently unbeknown and unyoungster the chance to repair and race old beknownst were regarded for a period 'as cars, he's not tempted to steal new ones- out of use except in dialect or uneduHome Office advt in Times, 1989; Men- cated speech or in imitations of these' tioning [ = when I mentioned] a love of folk (Fowler, 1926), but these limitations no music, Mynors immediately produced a set oflonger apply. Examples (both of which the most beautiful original broadside balladshappen to be American): where, unbefor me to look at—Times, 1989; Driving nearknownst to me, they had reached a deadlock home recently, a thick pall of smoke turned outabout whether or not to publish—Bull Amer. to be a bungalow well alight while the ownerAcad. Arts & Sri., 1989; whose real father, and neighbours watched helplessly—Oxfordunbeknownst to her, is her mother's one-time Times, 1990; Watching the President strugglefewish lover—NY Rev. Bks, 1990. with the crisis in Lithuania, the answer apunbend (verb) means 'to change from pears to be yes—NY Times, 1990; Yesterday, after conferring with my senior national sec- a bent position, to straighten', and also urity advisers and following extensive consul-'to relax from stress or severity' (she likes tations with our coalition partners, Saddam to unbend with a gin and tonic after a visit Hussein was given one last chance- from her hypochondriac friend). By contrast, statement by President Bush in Chicago the adj. unbending normally means 'unTribune, 1991. It must be admitted that yielding, inflexible; austere' (she knew how unattached participles seldom lead to unbending her father was), though it can ambiguity. They just jar. Yet all those pre- be used in the literal sense ('not stoopuses- ing') as well (the tall old foreigner stood positional and conjunctional considering (that), given (that), speaking of,erect and unbending).
unbias(s)ed | underway unbias(s)ed. The form with a single s is recommended, but that with ss is often found in standard sources. See -s-, -ss-. lincia (copper coin in Roman antiquity). PI. unciae /'Ansii:/.
806
of underlie, on the other hand, are underlay and underlain respectively (e.g. the principles of justice and retribution that underlay the beliefs of Anglo-Saxon rulers in the eighth century; The manners she had taught him were underlain by hostility to strangers).
Uncle Sam. See SOBRIQUETS.
underneath (prep.). From earliest times in competition with below, beneath, and un-come-at-able. This hangdog word, under, this word is tending to be refirst recorded in 1694 and characterized stricted to its literal sense, 'directly beby Dr Johnson as 'a low, corrupt word', neath or covered by' (underneath the arches has clung on in the language as a syn- of the bridge; he wore a bullet-proof vest onym of 'unattainable' and 'inaccess- underneath his uniform). Figurative uses ible', but is now rarely used. By contrast, of the word have tended to drift into un-get-at-able, first recorded in 1862 and archaism (Philosophy, thou canst not even equally a homespun formation, is in Compel their causes underneath thy yokereasonably common use. An example: Coleridge, 1822) and are now uncomThe little untouchable, ungetatable thing, sit-mon. As Fowler (1926) expressed it, 'its ting so close to him and yet so completely range is much narrower than that of removed—E. von Arnim, 1925. Cf. unput- under, being almost confined to the physdownable (of a book), so engrossing that ical relation of material things (cf. 'unone cannot stop reading it. derneath the bed' with 'under the uncommon. The old slang or colloquial stimulus of competition').' See BELOW; use as an adverb = remarkably (an uncommon fine girl), first recorded in 1794. has nearly died out, and is no longer in place in standard English outside the dialogue of period novels and in the representation of dialect speech.
BENEATH.
understatement. See LITOTES; MEIOSIS.
under the circumstances. See CIRCUMSTANCE. undertone. See OVERTONE.
unconcernedly, unconstrainedly. Both words pronounced as five syllables.
under way. After the adoption of the Dutch word onderweg in the mid-i8c, our ships, away from their moorings, uncontrollable. Now the dominant were said to be under way. About forty form, rather than incontrollable. Both years later some people connected with words entered the language in the 16c. the sea, cleverly but erroneously, associated the phrase with the weighing of See IN- AND UN-. anchors and used under weigh instead. uncontrolledly. Five syllables. See-EDLY. They were followed by myriads of writers, including Thackeray (But though the uncooperative, uncoordinated. Both steamer was under weigh, he might not be words are now written solid, i.e. without on board, Vanity Fair, ch. 67). For nearly a hyphen or diaeresis. See co-. two centuries, writers, whether of the way or the weigh camp, regularly wrote uncountable nouns. See COUNT NOUNS; the expression as two words, under way MASS NOUN. or under weigh: thus Captain Marryat, under (prep.). See BELOW; BENEATH; AND Washington Irving, Byron, Carlyle, and many others. Then something happened. UNDERNEATH for distinctions. The mysterious force that in earlier cenunderlay, -lie. The confusion described turies had brought a great many other in the entry LAY AND LIE is worse con- adverbs together (any + way -> anyway) founded in the compounds. See the re- struck again. Ships, projects, experimarks on OVERLAY. The pa.t. and pa.pple ments—almost anything—from the 1930s of underlay are both underlaid (e.g. it makes onward began in some circles to get good sense when underlaid to the soprano underway. Uncle Sam was partly to blame part; the scent of lavender was underlaid with but so was John Bull in the form of some darker tones of meat). The pa.t. and pa.pple of our most competent young writers— See -EDLY.
807
underwhelm | unidiomatic -ly
Martin Amis and William Boyd, for in- and the longer one 'not economical, stance. From the latter: They walked arm- wasteful; not sparing or thrifty'. See ECOin-arm into the club where the dance was NOMIC, ECONOMICAL. underway. And from a 1987 issue of the NY Rev.Eks: America's declared foreign policyunedited, inedited. See INEDITED. of fostering stability ...in Central America unequal. In the sense 'inadequate in might at last get underway. The joined-up ability, resources, etc.', it is construed form is now entered in some dictionar- with to + a noun (he was unequal to the ies, and the New SOED (1993) even gives task) or to + gerund (it was clear that he was it precedence over the unjoined form. unequal to completing his thesis). (Formerly Most style books recommend under way, also with to + infinitive: . . . to complete and so for the moment do I. The older ...) variant under weigh seems to have virtually disappeared, though it was used by unequalled. Thus spelt in BrE, but usu. Anthony Burgess in his Little Wilson and unequaled in AmE. See -LL-, -L-. Big God (1987): arrangements were already unequivocal. The standard correspondunder weigh. ing adverb is unequivocally, not uniquivocunderwhelm (verb). An artificial, but ably. successful, mid-2oc. jocular adaptation of overwhelm. It means 'to leave unim- unescapable (first recorded in 1614) pressed, to arouse little or no interest has now retreated in favour of inescapable in', and has wide currency in standard (first recorded in 1792). See IN- AND UN-. English sources everywhere. Examples: Both the prose and the play are underwhelm- unessential (first recorded in 1656) is still sometimes used interchangeably ing—TLS, 1972; The Sparks Street post office with inessential (first recorded in 1677). ran out of applications ... but a survey of See IN- AND UN-. other post offices ... showed the public was generally underwhelmed—Ottawa Citizen,unexceptionable, unexceptional. The 1978. first means 'with which no fault can be undeservedly, undesignedly. Both found; entirely satisfactory'; and unexcepwords are pronounced as five syllables. tional means 'not out of the ordinary; usual, normal'. See EXCEPTIONABLE. See -EDLY. undigested, undiscriminating. These are the customary forms now, not the corresponding forms in in- (indigested, indiscriminating), both of which were formerly in use. Cf. indigestion, indiscriminate. See IN- AND UN-. undisguisedly. Five syllables. See -EDLY. [indistinguishable. Now less common than INDISTINGUISHABLE. See IN- AND UN-.
undistributed middle, in logic, a fallacy resulting from the failure of the middle term of a syllogism to refer to all the members of a class in at least one
unfeignedly. Four syllables. See -EDLY. un-get-at-able. See UN-COME-AT-ABLE.
ungula /'Angjuli:/.
(hoof,
claw). PI. ungulae
unhuman, inhuman. Both words have been in use for centuries (unhuman since the 16c, inhuman 15c.) in a range of similar meanings clustered round the broad sense 'not characteristic of the behaviour, appearance, etc., of a human being'. At present inhuman is much the more usual. See IN- AND UN-.
uneatable. See INEDIBLE.
unidiomatic -ly. In a number of articles in this book, it is shown that there is often a fine idiomatic line to be drawn between adjectives and adverbs, and also between 'simple' adverbs and corresponding forms in -ly. See e.g. DEAR,
uneconomic, uneconomical. The shorter form means 'not economic, incapable of being operated profitably',
TIGHT, TIGHTLY; WIDE. Standard speakers
premiss. See SYLLOGISM.
undisturbedly. Five syllables. See -EDLY. undoubtedly. See DOUBTLESS.
DEARLY; DIRECT, DIRECTLY; HARDLY 1; HIGH, HIGHLY; IRRESPECTIVE; LARGE, LARGELY; PRETTY; RIGHT; SURE, SURELY;
uninterest | unique
808
for the most part instinctively know say that—he was totally uninterested in both which form is appropriate in a given of us—G. Greene, 1980; Classical historiocontext. But for foreign learners of the graphy was on the whole uninterested in local language, young children, and dialect provincial history—London Rev. Bks, 1981; To speakers (those, that is, who may try viewers who are uninterested in politics, it to adopt standard usage in particular was worse than the World Cup-Observer, circumstances), the going is much more 1990. difficult. For such groups the addition of -ly to an adjective must seem to be Union Jack, As the New SOED expresses the obvious way of forming an adverb, it, '(a) orig. & properly, a small British since the majority of adverbs do indeed Union flag flown as the jack [se. a small end in -ly and correspond to a clearly national flag usu. flown from the bow] related simple adjective: angryIangrily, of a ship; later & now usu., a Union flag gaylgaily, merelmerely, usual\usually, etc.of any size or adaptation, regarded as But the application of any such simple the national flag of the United Kingdom; rule, that is to regard the addition of -ly (b) US (union jack) a jack consisting of the as the only way of turning an adj. into union from the national flag.' a word meaning 'in the manner of, after unique. Some small modern dictionarthe style of, etc.', is to fall far short of ies allow weakened uses of the word understanding how the language works. to go unchallenged. For example, the It is not necessary to assemble here Cambridge International Diet, of English specimens of unidiomatic uses in which (1995). after stating that as an adj. unique -ly is missing where it is wanted or is is 'not gradable', defines it as follows: present when it is not needed, as numer- 'being the only existing one of its type or, ous examples are to be found in the [emphasis mine] more generally, unusual or articles listed above, as well as in others. special in some way'. (And so it is gradable Standard speakers also need no special after all?) The COD (1995) first lists its guidance about the difference of mean- primary meaning ('of which there is only ing between such types as he had arrived one; unequalled; having no like, equal, late and he had arrived lately. But there are or parallel'), but adds what it calls a always special cases which may surprise disputed use, 'unusual, remarkable (a even the most articulate of readers, as unique opportunity)'. All around us, in for instance the jocular use of the double print and in speech, is abundant eviadverb MUCHLY and the transatlantic use dence illustrating the 'correct' or of THUSLY. Three examples of adverbs 'proper' use, but also examples (esp. lacking the notional -ly (taken from when unique is preceded by adverbs such standard sources of the 1980s): I burrow as comparatively, more, most, rather, somedeep into my notebook; He took a great leap what, very, and some others) of the and landed square on the glossy back [of a secondary disputed (or informal) use. horse]; Leo would be the first to concede that What are we to make of this? he had spread himself too thin. Origin. L Unicus yielded Fr. unique (and uninterest. This relatively uncommon Sp., Pg., and It. unico) 'single, sole, alone word (it is not even listed in COD 1995) of its kind', and in these Continental is first recorded in 1890 and is used only languages the word is still mainly rein the sense 'lack of interest, indiffer- stricted to contexts in which one-ness is ence'. Modern examples: She had no idea implied (e.g. Fr. sens unique 'one-way ... whether all men went through periods of road',filsjfilleunique 'only son/daughter'). uninterest—S. Faulks, 1989; In undergrade The French word made its way into Engates it tends to produce uninterest or rejection lish at the beginning of the 17c, at first when compulsory—English, 1991. Cf. DIS- narrowly restricted to mean 'single, sole, solitary' (e.g. He hath lost... his unie Son INTEREST. in the veryflowerof his age, C1645). The uninterested means 'not interested, OED points out that it was 'regarded as indifferent' and has been in regular use a foreign word down to the middle of since at least 1771 (OED). It is now being the 19th c, from which date it has been challenged in this sense by DISINTER- in very common use, with a tendency to take the wider meaning of "uncommon, ESTED, but remains the standard and recommended form. Examples: I wouldn't unusual, remarkable".'
809
United Kingdom | unless and until
Distribution now. It is a simple matter point to another within a larger area: a to lay one's hands on 20c. examples of the palace or even a city' (OCELit., 1985). The traditional, ungradable sense of unique dramatic unities were not widely (which is the one recommended in this favoured by English dramatists of the book): the unique and infrequently seen por- period. For example, Shakespeare trait of Sidney from the Upper Reading Roomadopted them only in The Tempest and frieze—Bodl. Libr. Rec, 1986; Hopkins's innerThe Two Gentlemen of Verona. ear is awash with an infinite and exquisite sense of unique vocal patterns—TLS, 1987. Ituniversity. At some point in the 20c. is almost equally easy to find examples of the word began to be construed without the weakened sense ('remarkable', etc.), the definite article. 'After I went to esp. when unique is tautologically pre- school I went to the university,' wrote ceded by certain adverbs (more, most, very, an elderly professor to me in 1986, 'not to university.' Example of the modern etc.): Toad Hall,' said the Toad proudly, 'is an eligible selfcontained gentleman's residence,use: Kolya, who resents the fact that I went very unique—K. Grahame, 1908; Almost theto university instead of doing national sermost unique residential site along the south vice—C. Rumens, 1987. In AmE, to/at the coast—advt in Country Life, 1939; Our Insti-university is the normal construction tute is a very unique place, not only bridgingwhen the reference is non-specific, i.e. the gap between Christians and Jews but alsothe older convention is retained there. between academics and clergy—New Yorker, 1993; Some design choices become so uniqueunlawful. See ILLEGAL. that they border on the eccentric and make a property difficult to sell—Chicago Tribune,unlearned, -nt. See LEARN (verb). 1995unless and until. A modern 'strengthIt must, I think, be conceded that ened' extension of until (the words unless unique is losing its quality of being 'not and are often omissible without discerngradable' (or absolute), but copy editors ible loss of meaning). Fowler (1926) exare still advised to query such uses while pressed doubts about its legitimacy, but, the controversy about its acceptability by citing numerous examples of its use, continues. drew attention to its frequency. The OED United Kingdom. Now (1998), Great provides further examples from standBritain and Northern Ireland; from 1801 ard sources beginning with the following: We should as a rule stick to that until 1922, Great Britain and Ireland. pronunciation unless and until wefindanunities. The unities, or dramatic unities, other native whose speech we have reason to are the unity of time, the unity of place, think is more characteristic—Daniel Jones, and the unity of action. In the past the 1937. Recently the type has also appeared terms were sometimes said to be derived in the forms unless or until and until and/or from Aristotle's Poetics, but this is only unless: Until and unless he discovered who he partially true, as Baldick points out in was, everything was without meaning—D. Potter, 1986; Iraq ... announced that it his Concise Oxford Diet. Literary Terms (1990): 'In fact Aristotle in his discussion of would honor the cease-fire ordered by the UN tragedy insists only on unity of action, Security Council, until or unless the other mentioning unity of time in passing, belligerent, Iran, violated it—Chr. Sci. Monitor and says nothing about place.' These 1987; But this is not now the case and unless principles of dramatic composition were or until it becomes so, the judgement of the formulated by English and continental Australian Supreme Court remains very queswriters of the 16c. and 17c. According to tionable—Times, 1987; Tape 7 was not to Baldick, Jean Mairet's Sophonisbe (1634) be played unless or until you experienced was the first French tragedy to observe 'Blockage'—?. Carey, 1991; Membership of the unities. Mairet and others believed the House of Commons is still the only legitimthat a play should have a unified action, ate qualification for real power in Britain without subplots, and should represent and likely to remain so unless or until our the events of a single day within a single national identity is totally submerged in Eursetting. But certain variations were per- ope—Spectator, 1991. As CGEI (13.38) points missible: 'The place the stage repres- out, phrases of the type as and when, if ented was allowed to shift from one and when, and unless and until 'weaken
unlike | unparliamentary expressions the expectation' and, as such, need no defence. See as and when (AS 6); IF AND WHEN.
810
practice of the House, includes an Appendix of Unparliamentary Expressions. It reads as follows (with footnote references deleted): unlike. When used as an adj., unlike 'From time to time the Chair has interposes no special problems, whether used vened to deal with the use of certain to mean 'not like' (Utterly unlike in temper expressions in debate, which, in the conand tone) or 'dissimilar' (two animals as text in which they were used, were abusunlike as the bear and the lion). So too ive or insulting and of a nature to cause when it is used as a preposition meaning disorder. A list of some of these expres'dissimilar to' (a man wholly unlike anyone sions is set out below. It must however she had met before) or 'uncharacteristic of be emphasized not only that the list is (a person)' (it is unlike him to be late for not exhaustive but also that the permiswork). Fowler (1926), however, gave two sibility of some of them would depend special warnings: '(a) I counted eighty-nine upon the sense and temper in which rows of men standing, and unlike in Lon- they were used: don, only occasionally could women be distin-Blackguard, Blether, Cad, caddishness, Ca guished. Unlike is there treated as though umny, gross, Corrupt, corruption, Coward, it had developed ... adverbial power...; Criminal, Dishonest, Dog, Duplicity, Gutter it has not, and something adverbial (in snipe, Hooligan, Humbug, Hypocrites, Impercontrast with London ways?) must be substi- tinence, Impudence, Jackass, behaving like a, tuted, (b) M. Berger, however, does not appear Lousy, Malignant attack, Murderer, Persona to have—unlike his Russian masters—the gift honour, not consonant with, Pharisees, Prevarof presenting female characters. As with icating, Pup, cheeky young, Puppy, impertimany negatives, the placing of unlike is nent, Rat, Ruffianism, Slanderer, Slander, important; standing where it does, it malignant, Stool-pigeons, Swine, Traitor, must be changed to like; unlike would be Treason, charges of, Vicious and vulgar, Vil right if the phrase were shifted to before lains, Wicked.' "does not appear".' Later editions continue to treat the subject in great detail but do not include un material, if chosen instead of the such lists. For lists of words and phrases ordinary immaterial, confines the mean- allowed and disallowed in the Parliaing to 'not consisting of matter', and ments of the Commonwealth one must excludes the other common meaning of turn to the annual issues of The Table, immaterial, viz. 'that does not matter', an annual publication of the Society of 'not important or essential'. See IN- AND Clerks-at-the-Table in Commonwealth UN-. Parliaments. The 1994 issue of The Table, after noting unmoral. See AMORAL; IMMORAL. that 'Straightforward accusations of disunparalleled. Thus spelt (in all major honesty are not recorded, since they are universally unacceptable. Simple expleforms of English). tives and abuse are likewise omitted', unparliamentary expressions. From gives systematic lists of words, phrases, time to time Members of Parliament and sentences disallowed, or objected to, overstep the mark in the deeply ritual- in parliamentary assemblies throughout istic manner in which they accuse their the Commonwealth in 1993. They inpolitical opponents of improprieties of clude the following: (Canada) lapdog; various kinds and resort to expressions When it comes to Brians and hypocrisy, that deemed by the Speaker (or Chairman of Brian takes the cake; Judas; wounded hyena; a Committee) to be 'unparliamentary' rat, hypocrite, jackass; (India, Rajha Sabah) and therefore unacceptable. The author- mad dog; horsetraders; terrorists; (India, Lok itative guide in such matters is the most Sabah) Buffoonery; Then let half of them go recent edition of Sir Thomas Erskine to hell and half to heaven; You are all sinners May's A Treatise upon the Law, Privileges,(New South Wales) he tried to massage the Proceedings and Usage of Parliament (first honourable member for Bligh; boofhead; (NZ) published in 1844). The 19th edn (1976), He's one of the laboratory rats; He is suffering for example, after setting down a de- from what looks to me like mad cow disease; scription of the complex procedures and (UK House of Commons) a friend and ally
8ii
unpractical | unthinkable
'(of a difficulty, question, problem, etc.) of Saddam Hussein; lickspittle; clever little sod; Baroness Bonkers; (Victoria, Aust.) Dirty not soluble' since the Middle Ages, and for 'incapable of being dissolved in a little rat; Great big,flap-moutheddork. The normal procedure in such cases liquid' since the early 18c. On the other is for the Speaker to intervene and call hand, unsolvable is a relative newcomer upon the offending Member to withdraw (early 19c, once also in a dictionary of 1775) in its primary sense of'not able to the offending expressions, or make a sufficient apology for using them. More be solved'. severe penalties follow if the Member unstable is the standard form of the refuses to retract or apologize. adj. (rather than instable), but the corresunpractical. Unpractical and impractical ponding noun is instability. See IN- AND are both used to mean 'not practical (of UN-. a person, a proposal, etc.); but impractical unstringed, unstrung. The verb unis also now quite widely used to mean string in all its senses now normally has 'not practicable'. See IMPRACTICABLE, IMunstrung (rather than unstringed) as pa.t., PRACTICAL. pa.pple, and ppl adj. (she unstrung the unprecedented. The second (stressed) beads before restringing them; an unstrung syllable is pronounced /-près-/, not harp; gave new life to his unstrung nerves). /-pris-/. unthinkable. From the 15c. onwards, unravel (verb). The inflected forms are unthinkable has been in standard use in unravelled and unravelling in BrE, but the philosophical sense 'unable to be often unraveled and unraveling in AmE. imagined or grasped in the mind, unimSee RAVEL (verb). aginable'. This sense is still current. By the beginning of the 20c, however, it unreadable. See ILLEGIBLE. was beginning to be used in various unreligious, chosen instead of the usual extended ways, applied, for example, to irreligious, excludes the latter's impli- courses of action that were regarded by the speaker or writer as unacceptable or cations of sin, blasphemy, etc., and means 'outside the sphere of religion'. too horrible to contemplate (civil war, It is therefore a synonym of non-religious. extreme action by terrorists, etc.) or just highly unlikely or undesirable. Fowler unrepairable. A rarish doublet of the (1926) denounced all such extended uses: more usual irreparable 'that cannot be 'anything is now unthinkable from what rectified or made good'. On the differ- reason declares impossible or what imaences of meaning and the positioning gination is helpless to conceive down to of the stress, see IRREPARABLE. what seems against the odds (as that Oxford should win the boat-race), or unreservedly. Five syllables. See -EDLY. what is slightly distasteful to the speaker unrestrainedly. Five syllables. See -EDLY. (as that the Labour Party should ever form a Government).' Fowler's condemunrivalled. Thus spelt in BrE, but often nation of these extended or weakened unrivaled in AmE. uses has largely gone unheeded. Modern dictionaries simply record such uses as unsanitary. First recorded in the 19c, part of the standard language or at most unsanitary has largely given way to insani- part of standard colloquial English. tary (also a 19c. coinage) in BrE, but both A wide range of modern examples of forms are in common use in AmE. this very common word follows: In these circumstances the removal of British troops unseasonable. See SEASONABLE, SEAwas unthinkable—C. Allen, 1990; In itself, SONAL. the idea of representing 322 million Eurounsolvable differs from insoluble in hav- peans by 518 elected Europarliamentarians ing its reference limited to the sense of is not unthinkable—EuroBusiness, 1990; the English verb solve, and not covering, What we would spend abroad without a as insoluble does, various senses (dissolve qualm is unthinkable extravagance at as well as solve) of the Latin verb solvere. home—M. Duffy, 1991; Margaret Thatcher Insoluble has been the standard word for give up? Unthinkable—N. Wyn Ellis, 1991;
until I up
812
The ambition became a compulsion, failureit is also occasionally used in other cirliterally unthinkable—R. Ferguson, 1991; cumstances: e.g. Readers... may well wonCameras were produced from tracksuit pock-der ... whether each religious group dealt ets, and souvenir snaps, of a form unthinkablewith in the separate chapters is unique unto itself—Bull. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci., 1993. only a year ago, were taken—Daily Tel., 1992; The notion that you should give a new [television] channel a particular qualitative chargeuntoward. Pronounced as three syland invite it to be different in particular wayslables, i.e. /Anta'woid/, but as /An'tauad/ is almost unthinkable today—Independent,in certain circles, esp. in rapid speech. 1992; In Romania communism and fascism Normally as two syllables in AmE., i.e. /An'toird/ or /An'taurd/, but also as three, are still on intimate terms, and genuine dei.e. /Anta'wo:rd/. communization remains unthinkable without an exorcism of the authoritarian rightist unvoiced (phonetics). See VOICED (adj.). past—New Republic (US), 1992; We have achieved in North America, Western Europe,unwashed. For the Great Unwashed (or and Japan a 'zone of peace' within which it the g. u.) see SOBRIQUETS. is fair to say war is truly unthinkable—A. and H. Toffler, 1994 (US). An element up. I 1 Complexity. of the unimaginable or the incogitable 12 up to date. resides in all of them: the link with 3 up to, down to. the traditional uses of the word is not I 4 up and. entirely broken. 1 Complexity. This most complicated word requires great subtlety of treatuntil. 1 until, till. See TILL. ment in dictionaries. It is used as adverb, 2 until or till for before or when. In the preposition, adjective, noun, and verb, following type, until (or till) is sometimes and with great diversity within each part said to be unidiomatically used for before of speech. A syndicated column in some or when: In one of the city parks he was major American newspapers in 1994 (reseated at one end of a bench, and had not producing a letter to the Reader's Digest been there long until a sparrow alighted at some 25 years earlier) provides an amusthe other end. The OED (s.v. till conj. IC) ing introduction to some of the idiocomments on this type: 'Formerly and matic uses of the word: still dial, and in U.S. used after a negative principal clause, where before (or when) 'We've got a two-letter word we use conis now substituted in Standard English.' stantly that may have more meanings The last example given is one of 1756:1 than any other. The word is up. It is easy was not long set till Margaret came to see to understand up, meaning toward the me. But the OED gives no examples of sky or toward the top of a list. But when this type s.v. until, and it would seem we waken, why do we wake upl At a best to reserve judgement about the con- meeting, why does a topic come up? And struction until more evidence of its exist- why are participants said to speak up? ence is found. Why are officers up for election? And 3 unless and until (and variants). See why is it up to the secretary to write up a report? The little word is really not UNLESS AND UNTIL. needed, but we use it anyway. We 4 until such time as has its uses, with brighten up a room, light up a cigar, an implication of uncertainty whether polish up the silver, lock up the house the event contemplated will ever hap- and fix up the old car. At other times, pen. But often it is mere verbosity for it has special meanings. People stir up until. trouble, line up for tickets, work up an appetite, think up excuses and get tied unto. The COD (1995) correctly labels it up in traffic. To be dressed is one thing, as an archaic variant of to prep, (in all but to be dressed up is special. It may be uses except as the particle to forming confusing, but a drain must be opened the sign of the infinitive). It survives up because it is stopped up. We open up mainly in fixed phrases (do unto others; a store in the morning, and close it up faithful unto death; take unto oneself), but in the evening. We seem to be all mixed
813
up about up. In order to be up on the proper use of up, look up the word in the dictionary. In one desk-sized dictionary, up takes up half a column; and the listed definitions add up to about 40. If you are up to it, you might try building up a list of the many ways in which up is used. It may take up a lot of your time, but if you don't give up, you may wind up with a thousand.'
up and down | upcoming
up for a journey to London and down for one from it preceded the adoption of those expressions by the railways. Perhaps the idea of accomplishment latent in up made it seem the right word for reaching the more important place. Geographical bearing was immaterial; going north from London was no less down than going south. "At Christmas I went down into Scotland," wrote Lord Chancellor Campbell in 1845, "and, crossing the Cheviots, was nearly lost in a snowAll these and many more are treated in our standard dictionaries. For some storm." "You don't mean to say," said discussion of a few of them (give up, etc.), Miss La Creevy, "that you are really going all the way down into Yorkshire this cold See PHRASAL VERBS. winter's weather, Mr. Nickleby." 2 up to date. This phrase should be 'The railways conformed. They gave written as three words unhyphened, ex- the name up-line to that on which their cept when it is used as an attributive trains arrived at their London terminal adjective; then it is hyphened: you are and down-line to that on which they left. not up to date; bring the ledger up to date; When a railway was built without any but an up-to-date model. direct connexion with London the up3 up to, down to. These phrases often line was that on which trains ran to have distinct meanings: e.g. (up to) not the more important terminus ...' British more than (you can have up tofive),less Rail South West Region confirmed (1995) than or equal to (sums up to £10), occupied that the same terminology is still used, with or busy with (what have you been up i.e. the trains arriving at mainline stato ?); (down to) having used up everything tions travel on the up-line and those leavexcept (down to their last tin of rations). ing mainline stations travel on the downBut both can mean 'until': cf. up to the line. Cross-country journeys sometimes present; from Elizabethan times down to therequire different terms. It seems likely, but is difficult to estabnineteenth century. In such contexts the choice of up to or down to depends on lish, that passengers now speak of going the vantage point of the speaker. More up to London, over to London, down to puzzling is the choice that is idio- London, as appropriate, depending on matically available to us when either the location of the starting-point. But in down to or up to may be used when the the circles in which I move in Oxfordsense required is 'be incumbent on, be shire most people speak of going up to the responsibility o f (it is down to/up to London. I do not recall anyone saying I am going down to Edinburgh (or even to you to make the decision). Cf. DOWN TO. Birmingham, Lincoln, etc.) in the half4 up and ( + verb). Followed by a verb, century that I have lived in Oxfordshire. up and means 'do (something) suddenly 2 In relation to Oxford and Cambridge. To or unexpectedly' (he just upped and vanished; she upped and married her cousin; a member of these universities up means suddenly the division ups and marches toin residence. An undergraduate goes up Aldershot). This use is first recorded in at the beginning of term and remains R. L. Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883): up until he goes down at the end of it And you have the Davy Jones's insolence to (unless he has the misfortune to be sent down earlier). But this special use relates up and stand for cap'n over me! only to the universities, not to the cities. up and down. Gowers (1965) com- A businessman (say) travelling to Oxford mented as follows: 'As geographical or Cambridge would use up, down, over terms these words are ordinarily used in to Oxford (or Cambridge), whichever is their natural senses. We speak of going geographically appropriate. down to the south and up to the north, down to the sea and up country from the upcoming (adj.). One of my most hardcoast. But two special uses are worth line correspondents remarked (July noting. 1 In relation to London. The use of 1994) that "upcoming seems to be ousting
upon I us
814
the perfectly serviceable forthcoming [in which is almost always construed with British English]'. It is true that this Amer- a verb meaning 'hit' (go, slap, etc.) and ican use of the word (first recorded in head, seems to have been first noted in the OED in this sense in 1959) is gradually the late 1970s (OED) in the language of making its way into English-speaking US blacks, and to have spread from there countries outside the US, but it is by no to other forms of informal AmE. means ousting forthcoming yet. It just seems irresistible to some writers in cer- upstairs. As adverb (go upstairs) stressed tain contexts from time to time. Ex- on the second syllable, but as adj. (the amples: No change in the law was required,upstairs loo) on the first. See NOUN AND the existing statute was merely being clarifiedADJECTIVE ACCENT. and there was no need to insert a special upward(s). 1 As adj. the standard form clause in the upcoming Finance Bill—Daily is upward (an upward movement of the voice; Tel, 1984; Guinness Peat Aviation... angrily upward mobility). As adv. the normal but rejected its merchant hanks' advice to sell its not invariable form in BrE is upwards, shares at little more than $20 a share in its but in AmE mostly but not invariably upcomingflotation—Economist,1992; And in upward. real life, Doucett will appear in an upcoming 2 upwards of (rarely upward of). First 'pictorial' in Playboy-Globe & Mail (Toronto), 1993; The MORC Level 30 would recorded in 1721 (OED) in the sense be the boat for the upcoming Cup—Canad.'(rather) more than', it remains in standYachting, 1994: he told last week of the ard use (there were upwards of a hundred spectator who telephoned Selhurst Park to people at the wedding reception). Occas., enquire about Wimbledon's upcoming game- according to the OED and to dialect sources, it is used to mean '(rather) less Spectator, 1995. than' in some regions in England. Occas. upon. 1 For (up)on all fours, see FOUR. also when upwards of is used of a large 2 According to the OED 'The use of the figure it means no more than 'approximately' (upwards of £250,000), but it is one form or the other [sc. on or upon] has been for the most part a matter of best to assume that the meaning is individual choice (on grounds of rhythm, '(rather) more than' unless there is conemphasis, etc.) or of simple accident, textual evidence to the contrary. although in certain contexts and phrases Uranus. One hears this word stressed there may be a general tendency to pre- on the first syllable from time to time, fer the one to the other.' The choice i.e. /'juaranas/, but more often, in my seems almost wholly arbitrary, and there subjective judgement, on the second, i.e. is no saying why one has taken root in /ju'remas/. I am bound to report, however, some phrases and the other in others: that most of the standard desk dictionaronce upon a time, row upon row of seats; but ies in Britain and America give priority on no account, have it on good authority; to first-syllable stressing. Kingston upon Thames, Burton-upon-Trent; but Henley-on-Thames, Newark-on-Trent. urinal. The dominant pronunciation in BrE is that with the second syllable uppermost. See -MOST. bearing the main stress, i.e. /ju'ram(a)l/, but the form withfirst-syllablestressing U p r i g h t . See NOUN AND ADJECTIVE ACis also standard, and is the only one in CENT. standard use in AmE. upside (adj.). He was not a person looking for love in all the wrong places, but it was US (pron.). 1 Its normal uses as the something that just slapped him upside the objective form of the pronoun we (somehead—Chicago Tribune, 1990 (of a spacetimes in its reduced form *s) are unrepilot in Star Wars); No, he did not. Never markable: They despise us; Let's look in at did. And if he did, he would have gotten a the party ...We needn't stay long; Both of us frying pan upside his head—Newsweek, 1995write books; Have you ever seen two giggling (ex-wife of the American footballer O. J. angéls ... like us?; he looks down upon us Simpson, denying in a TV interview that country people; it's only us. he had ever slapped her). This thoroughly 2 It can legitimately be used instead American use of the adjective upside, of we in certain circumstances. Thus you
815
are as well-informed as us (more formally as we (are)). For other examples, see CASES and WE. In colloquial use it can also be used instead of me (Done your homework, Oakley? Give us a look at it). 3 The main erroneous type is shown in Us country boys have to stick together (read We country hoys ...). 4 A minor optional type is shown in So it's been strange, us being in England because of me (our being would be equally acceptable). See OUR; WE.
-us I use (use your discretion), pa.t. used /juizd/ (she used him for her own ends).
2 The matter is much more complicated when used to (less commonly, and usu. in colloq. contexts, use to) is used in the sense 'did or had in the past (but no longer) as a customary practice'. Both used to and use to are pronounced the same, i.e. /juzstu:/, unstressed /-ta/. (The problem of whether use(d) to is an anomalous verb or a full verb is discussed by Eric Jorgensen in English Studies, 69 -US. The plurals of nouns in -us are (1988); some of the examples that follow troublesome, l Most are from Latin are taken from this article.) Used to can second-declension words, whose Latin also, of course, be used with a following plural is -i (pronounced /ai/); but when noun or pronoun in the meaning 'accusthat should be used, and when the Eng- tomed to, familiar with'. The main types are: (a) + noun or prolish plural -uses is better, has to be decided for each separately; see LATIN noun: she had got used to the sissy ... thinPLURALS and the entries for individual blooded climate of Auckland—D. M. Davin, 1986; And youll have to get used to it—New words (CIRRUS, DISCUS, FUNGUS, LOCUS, Yorker, 1988. (b) + gerund: Susan ... has UTERUS, etc.). accrued so much fame as a musher that she 2 Many are from Latin fourth-declenis used to being a curiosity—New Yorker, 1987; sion words, whose Latin plural is -Us He still isn't used to her being old enough to (pronounced /-u:s/); but the English plural -uses is almost always preferred, drive—ibid., 1988. (c) + infin. I know what as prospectuses. The Latin ending -us is you're thinking, Patrick, and I used to think occasionally seen in a few of the rarer it too—K. Amis, 1988; 'I used to wonder,' he words, e.g. lusus, meatus, senatus. Words went on now, 'if ever we'd meet again.'--W of this class, which must never have Trevor, 1988; I used to joke bleakly that he plural in -i, are afflatus, apparatus, conspec- had run off with my Muse—Guardian, 1990. tus, hiatus, impetus, lapsus, nexus, plexus, (d) had used + to-infin.: She had used to squat with old Makata on the ground—M. prospectus, sinus, status. Spark, 1969; As a teenager he'd used to 3 Some are from Latin third-declen- wander up there and clamber around—M. sion neuters, whose plurals are of du Plessis, 1989 (SAfr.). (e) (Only in very various forms in -a; so corpus, genus, opus, informal contexts) With do-support in make corpora, genera, opera, which are negative and/or interrogative construcalmost always preferred in English to tions: He didn't use to wear gloves—P. -uses. Cheney, 1964; What time did she used to 4 Callus, octopus, platypus, polypus, and return?—I. Thomas, 1972; 'It didn't use to virus, nouns variously abnormal in Latin, be that way,'Manuel said—New Yorker, 1986; can all have pi. -uses and usually do; for Prostate cancer ... didn't used to be a probany alternatives, see the words. lem—Times, 1995. (/) (Now regarded as 5 Some English nouns in -us are in somewhat formal) Without do-support in Latin not nouns, but verbs, etc.; so ignor- negative and/or interrogative construcamus, mandamus, mittimus, non possumus; tions: You usen't to be like that—A Christie, for these, as for the dative pi. omnibus 1964; The Mistress usedn't to sleep well at and the ablative plural rebus, the only night—A Christie, Poirot Loses a Qient possible plural is the English -uses. (n.d.); He used not to sweat like that— 6 Some English nouns in -us are not I. Fleming, 1964; I used not to dream— Latin words at all: e.g. caucus (perh. Al- N. Bawden, 1987. The negative/interrogative type gonquin), rumpus (prob. fanciful). Use(d)n't people to ... is also found, esp. usable. Thus spelt, not useable. in spoken English and in informal letuse (verb), l Pronounced /ju:z/ when it ters, and arguments rage as to whether means 'bring into use, bring into service' it is 'better' than the type Didn't people
usherette | uvula
816
century and a half beside use (continuously in use since the 13c). In virtually all contexts where one or the other word is needed to cover the sense 'to bring into service', use is the more satisfactory usherette. See -ETTE 4. A recent ex- word. But a case can be made out for ample: What the hell are you holding that utilize when the required sense is 'to torch for as if you were a bloody usherette? make practical use of, to turn to ac—A. N. Wilson, 1990. count'. The boundary is nevertheless a murky one and it is not all clear why usual. The standard pronunciation is utilize is preferred to use in the following /'jui3ual/, not the slipshod /'ju:3(8)l/. examples: utilizing the electric kettle and the little packets provided—A. Thomas Ellis, usufruct. Pronounce /'juizjufrAkt/ or 1990; Levy utilizes eight Bodleian manu/'jus-/. scripts; Katzenéknbogen utilizes, inter alia, Uterus. PL uteri /-rai/ rather than uteruses. Bodleian MS. Opp. 34, while Chavel relies heavily on Oxford Corpus Christi College He See -us 1. MS. 165-Bodl. Libr. Rec, 1992. utilitarian. See HEDONIST. utmost, uttermost. See -MOST. use(d) to ...? Restructuring of the sentence is often the way out. People used to ... didn't they? is perhaps the best way to avoid the problem.
Utilize. This mid-i9c. loanword from Fr. utiliser has led a precarious life for a
UVUla. Pronounce /'juivjula/. PL uvulae /-li:/ or uvulas.
Vv vacation is in America the ordinary unconnected words valence and valency. word for what we call a holiday. In Britain See next. it is not so used except (often abbreviated to vac.) for the interval between terms valence, valency. In chemistry, in the in the law courts and universities. The form valence (e.g. in C. A. Coulson's 1952 corresponding word for Parliament is book Valence), used for 'the power or recess. Used as an intransitive verb mean- capacity of an atom or group to combine ing 'to take a vacation' (they always vaca- with or displace other atoms or groups tion in Miami), vacation is mostly in the formation of compounds; a unit of this' (New SOED, slightly abridged). The restricted to AmE. dominant form in BrE for this phenomvaccinate is technically synonymous enon seems to be valency; in AmE valence. with inoculate, but in practice v. tends But scientists often cross linguistic barto be restricted to mean to inoculate riers, and the geographical distribution (someone) in order to procure immunity of the two forms cannot be pinned down from smallpox, and i. for measures taken neatly. to procure immunity from other diseases (poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, etc.). -valent. In scientific use, practice varies widely in the pronunciation of comvacillate. Thus spelt, not vacc-. Pro- pounds ending in -valent, such as bivalent, nounce /'vaesilert/. divalent, trivalent, and polyvalent. In broad vacuity, vacuousness. The two forms terms, in chemistry the main stress is placed on the penultimate syllable, have coexisted for more than three cenwhich is given a long vowel, /bai'veilant/, turies, but vacuity has always been the /dai'veilant/, /poli'veilant/, etc. But in cytodominant one of the two. See -TY AND logy, immunology, etc., it appears that -NESS. these compounds have been influenced vacuum. PI. (in ordinary use) vacuums; by ambivalent and equivalent, and are therefore stressed on the antepenult (in scientific use) vacua. See -UM 3. with the a short, i.e. /'brvalant/, etc. Even vade-mecum (modL., lit. 'go with me'), in these subjects, however, the i in divala handbook, guidebook, etc., carried con- ent is not shortened, i.e. the word is stantly for ready reference. Pronounce pronounced /dai'veilant/. /va:di 'meikam/. PI. vade-mecums. valet. The noun is pronounced either vagary. In the OED (1916) the only pro- /'vaelei/ (my preference) or /'vaelit/; in AmE nunciation given was that with the stress also /va'lei/. The verb, now also commonly on the second syllable, i.e. /va'gean/, but used in BrE in the sense 'to clean, esp. it is now normally stressed on the first, the inside of, a motor vehicle', has pa.t. i.e. /'veigari/. Cf. QUANDARY. and pa.pple valeted /'vaeleid/ or /'vaehtid/, in AmE also /va'leid/, and pres.pple valetvagina. Invariably pronounced ing. /va'd3ama/. The adj. vaginal is /va'd3am(a)l/ in BrE but /'vaed3m(a)l/ in AmE. PI. (in valise. In BrE pronounced /va'liiz/, now ordinary use) vaginas, (in medical use) archaic except as a term for a soldier's vaginae /-ni:/. kitbag. In AmE pronounced /va'liis/, a small piece of hand luggage. vainness. So spelt, with -nn-. valance (a short curtain round the Valkyrie. Pronounce with the stress frame or canopy of a bedstead, etc.). either on the first syllable, i.e. /'vaelkin/ Pronounce /'vaelans/, and spell with -ance, (my preference), or on the second, i.e. not -ence, thus distinguishing it from the /vael'kiari/. PI. -s.
valley | various valley. Pi. valleys. valour, valorous. For spellings see -OUR AND -OR; and -OUR- AND -OR-. The noun is spelt valor in AmE.
818
may owe some of its persistence to the Biblical 'with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning' (Jas. 1: 17). varia lectio. PI. variae lectiones.
valve. For the preference of valvular (not variance. *It is utterly at variance from the diminutive in meaning) over valval and habit of Chaucer. Idiom demands with, not valvar, except in technical senses in bot- from. any and medicine, see -ULAR.
variant (noun), as compared with varivan Dyck, Van Dyck, Vandyke, van- ation and variety, is the least ambiguous dyke. The name of the Flemish painter name for a thing that varies or differs Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) was Angli- from others of its kind; for it is concrete cized to (Sir Anthony) Vandyke while he only, while the others are much more lived in England. The derived noun and often abstract. Variation is seldom adj. are usually spelt Vandyke (so Vandyke concrete except in the musical sense, beard, Vandyke brown). But in the sense 'a and variety seldom except as the classifypainting by van Dyck' (there are several ing name for a plant, animal, mineral, van Dycks in Buckingham Palace) it is per-etc., that diverges from the characteristhaps best to preserve the original Flem- ics of its species. ish spelling of the name. varicose. Pronounce /'vaenkaus/. vanguard. See AVANT-GARDE. variegated. The OED (1916) gave it five vanity. 1 Vanity is occas. used in its old syllables, i.e. /'veanagertid/, but it is now sense of futility, waste of time, without usu. pronounced as four, i.e. /'vearigertid/, any of its modern implication of conceit except in AmE, in which the pronunci(I haue seene all the workes that are done ation with five syllables is the dominant vnder the Sunne, and behold, all is vanitie, one. and vexation of spirit—Eccles. 1:14). 2 The appurtenances of this wicked variorum, when used as a noun, has pi. world that the candidate for Confirma- -urns; see -UM 1. The word is a compendious way of saying editio cum notis vation in the Church of England is required riorum, and means an edition of a work to renounce together with the devil and all his works, are its pomps and vanity, that contains the notes of various commentators on it. Variorum is a genitive not, as often misquoted, vanities. plural in Latin, not the neuter nominavantage. See ADVANTAGE. tive singular that a bookseller took it to vapid. Of its corresponding nouns, be when he offered a good variorum edition vapidness is usually better than vapidity including variora from MSS. in the British (in strong contrast with the nouns of Museum. rapid), except when the sense is 'a vapid remark'; then -ity prevails, and still more the plural -ities. See -TY AND -NESS.
various. Unlike certain, few, many, several, some, etc., the adj. various may not be used idiomatically as a pronoun followed by vapour and its belongings. For the spell- of, at least in BrE. The type He gave me ing of the word itself, see -OUR AND -OR. various of his books has been recorded Allied words are best spelt vapourer, occasionally since the later part of the vapourings, vapourish, vapourless, vapoury; 19c. in AmE sources, but it is rare enough but vaporific, vaporize {-zation, -zer), vapor-not to be treated in CGEL (1985) nor in ous (-osity). For the principle, see -OUR- the second edition of the OED (1989). Some recent Amer, examples: In my suitAND -OR-. case was a range of prevention and education variability, -bleness. Both are in cur- materials that had been developed by various rent use, without any clear difference of of the programs I had visited—M. Dorris, sense or application, though variability 1989; Saddam Hussein and various of his is the more common of the two. This is Ba'athist confederates ... may be war crimunusual (see -TY AND -NESS); but, while inals under definitions established by inter -ity would be expected to prevail, -ness national law—T. Dupuy, 1991; Various of his
varlet | -ve(d), -ves
819
colleagues, including the oleaginous StewartA'ntyou come vastly late?—Sheridan, 1799). {James Spader), offer to go with him if he is but became less common as time went dismissed—Amer. Spectator, 1994on, and is now in restricted use. varlet, a menial or rascal (historically 'an attendant on a knight'), is now used only archaically or jocularly.
vast majority. See MAJORITY 1, 4.
VAT. See
TAX.
vaudeville. The recommended pronunciation is /'voidavil/, rather than /'vaud-/.
varsity. A word used with true idiomatic flavour only by those who have a direct connection with a particular university, 've. Abbrev. form of have. Since the 18c. and only then in a narrow range of (according to the OED) often joined to a contexts. From the OED: I have such faith previous word, esp. a modal verb or a in the old University (never use the horrid personal pronoun, in the representation word 'varsity, my lad; don't vulgarise the oldof speech. Examples: I've a good mind to place)—H. Kingsley, 1872; It seems to me take the tram-E A. Guthrie, 1885; You that the real attractions of varsity life are would've thought at least she could've cut reserved for the sportsman and the loafer— the bobbles off—Margaret Forster, 1986; E. H. W. Meyerstein, 1908. These give a Can't've been a nightmare, then, can it?—Pat hint of the barriers placed around the Barker, 1991. word. In the universities of Oxford and Cambridge the Varsity (or Varsity) match -ve(d), -ves, etc. from words in -/ and is the annual rugby football match -fe. Corresponding to the change of sound between teams from the two universit- discussed in -TH (0) AND -TH (5) that takes ies. Outside BrE the subtleties of usage place in the plural, etc., of words ending are endless. In AmE the normal generic in -th, like truth, there is one both of name is college, but in practice (as in BrE) sound and of spelling in many words the name of the institution generally ending in -/ or -fe, which become -ves, stands alone (He's at Princetonlat Cam- -ved, -vish, etc. As the change is far from bridge\at the Sorhonne, etc.). In New Zea- regular, and sometimes in doubt, an land, in informal use, people are alphabetical list follows of the chief sometimes said to be studying at varsity or words about which some doubt may playing in the varsity team. But in Australia exist, showing changes in the plural of and New Zealand students go to Uni or the noun and in the parts of the verb go to the Uni. You have been warned. and in some derivatives (d.). When Sophistication and local knowledge are alternatives are given the first is recomneeded in all contexts when general or mended. specific references to universities are beef. PL beeves oxen, beefs kinds of beef; called for. See UNIVERSITY. d. beefy, calf. PL calves; v. calve; d. calfish. vascullim (botanist's specimen-case). PL dwarf. PL dwarfs or dwarves; v. dwarf, pa.t. vascula. See -UM 2. dwarfed; d. dwarfish, dwarfism, elf. PL elves; d. elfin; elvish, elfish, vase. The standard pronunciation in half. PL halves; v. halve, BrE now is /va:z/ and in AmE /veis/ (but handkerchief. PL handkerchiefs, also /veiz/). The pronunciation /vo:z/ also hoof. PL hooves or hoofs; v. hoof, hoofed, had 'some currency in England' at the hoofing; d. hoofy. beginning of the 20c. (OED, 1916). knife. PL knives; v. knife, knifed, knifing, leaf. PL leaves; v. leaf, leafs, leafed, leafing; vastly. In contexts of measure or com-leaved; d. leafy, parison, where it means by much, by a life. PL lives; v. live; -lived; d. lifer, great deal, as is vastly improved, a vastly loaf. PL loaves. oaf. PL oafs; d. oafish, larger audience, vastly is still in regular proof. PL proofs; v. prove, pa.pple use. Where the notion of measure is provedlproven. wanting, and it means no more than roof. PL roofs or rooves. 'exceedingly, extremely, very' as in I scarf. PL scarves or scarfs, should vastly like to know, is vastly popular, scurf, d. scurfy having scurf; scurvy paltry, it was fashionable in the 18c. (e.g. The mean, City ... was vastly full of People—Defoe, self. PL selves; d. selfish, 1722; This is all vastly true—E Burney, 1782; sheaf. PL sheaves; v. sheave; adj. sheaved.
vehement, vehicle | verbal
820
shelf. PI. shelves; v. shelve. velum /'viilam/, a membrane. PI. vela /-la/. staff. PI. staffs, (mus. etc.) stoves; v. STAVE. See -UM 2. thief. PI. thieves; v. thieve; d. thievery, thievish. turf. PI. turves or turfs; v. turf; d. turfy, velvet makes velveted, velvety (adjs.). See wharf. PI. wharves or wharfs; d. wharfage,-T-, -TT-. (Aust. and NZ) wharfie. wife. PI. wives, venal, venial. These words are so alike wolf. PI. wolves; v. wolf, woljs, wolfed; d. in appearance that they are sometimes wolfish, wolvish. confused in spite of their being so unlike vehement, vehicle. The OED (1916) gave in meaning: venal 'able to be bribed, priority to an h-less pronunciation of influenced by bribery'; venial 'excusable, both words, but included forms with the pardonable'. h fully pronounced as legitimate variants. In standard English now the h is never pronounced. But in vehicular the h is fully sounded. Cf. ANNIHILATE, ANNIHILATION.
velamen /vi'leiman/, an enveloping membrane of an aerial root of an orchid. PI. velamina /-irnna/. velar (adj.). (phonetics) Of a sound: articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the soft palate, esp. in the pronunciation of /k/, /g/, and /rj/. Cf. GUTTURAL; PALATAL.
veld (open country in southern Africa). Pronounced /velt/ in the UK, but /felt/ in S. Africa. Sometimes still written in the older form veldt. velleity, volition. Volition in its widest sense means will-power. In a narrower but more usual sense it means an exercise of will-power for a specific purpose—a choice or resolution or determination. Velleity (now rare) is an abstract and passive preference. It is properly used either in direct opposition to volition or, when volition is understood in its widest sense, as equivalent to that inactive form of it which is sometimes called 'mere volition'. The man in Browning's 'Time's Revenges' (1845):
vendor, vender. Vendor is the customary spelling in BrE in the legal sense 'the seller in a sale, esp. of property', and in the sense 'a vending-machine'. In AmE, vender is often used in both these senses. venery. The word meaning 'sexual indulgence' is distinct in origin from that meaning 'hunting'. Both are pronounced /'venan/. Both are now archaic. venison. The OED (1916) and Fowler (1926) gave pride of place to the pronunciation /'venzn/ (two syllables). But this has now been supplanted by three-syllabled forms, either /'venis(a)n/ or /-z(a)n/. venturesome, venturous. See ADVENTUROUS.
venue. Pronounce /'venju:/. This term, once common in the sense 'a thrust or hit in fencing' (dbs.—OED), and still used in law as the place appointed for a jury trial (esp. lay, and change, the venue) has largely taken over from rendezvous, meeting-place, setting, etc. as the place where an event (a concert, a race-meeting, etc.) is scheduled to take place. veranda. Now usu. thus spelt, rather than verandah.
verbal. This common adj. has several established senses including: 1 Of the nature of a verb (verbal noun). —A ' nd I think I rather ... woe is me! —Yes, rather would see him than not see, 2 Concerned with or involving words If lifting a hand could seat him there only rather than things or realities (OpBefore me in the empty chair position between these two modes of speaking To-night,' is rather verbal than real—B. Jowett, 1875). is expressing a velleity, but not in the 3 Consisting or composed of words ordinary sense a volition. And the OED (the verbal wit and high-flown extravagance quotes from Bentham (1808): In your of thought and phrase which Euphues had Lordship will is volition, clothed and armedmade fashionable-J. R. Green, 1874). with power—in me, it is bare inert velleity. 4 Expressed or conveyed by speech vellum (fine parchment). PI. vellums. See instead of writing; oral (The archbishop believed that a verbal agreement was all which -UM 1 .
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verbal noun, verbal substantive | verbs in -ie, -y, and -ye
would be demanded of him—J. A. Froude, 1877). All four senses have a long history of recorded use (1, 3, 16c- ; 2, 1 7 c - ; 4, late 16c- ), but since the late 19c. some usage commentators have drawn attention to the possible ambiguity of sense 4, and have expressed a preference for oral in such contexts. Perhaps the best policy for the present is to restrict verbal in sense 4 to a few fixed phrases (e.g. verbal agreement, contract, evidence); but use oral in most other circumstances when a formal distinction is contextually called for between a spoken and a written statement. It is worth noting that the oral tradition believed to have preceded the writing down of ancient poetry (Greek, Old English, etc.) is always so called, never the verbal tradition, verbal composition, etc.
that the less said the better, but more often in fact a way of soliciting attention to what has been said as weightier than it seems.
verbs from nouns. Throughout its history, English has made selective use of its power to press nouns into service as verbs, a process falling under the general name of CONVERSION (where examples are given). Despite the calmness with which Henry Alford greeted such new verbs in his book The Queen's English (1864) ('I do not see that we can object to this tendency in general, seeing that it has grown with the growth of our language, and under due regulation is one of the most obvious means of enriching it'), cries of anguish are almost invariably heard when a fresh example of conversion is noticed. Thus: 'The collapse of the tongue that Milton spoke into various verbal noun, verbal substantive. A mutant babbles is proceeding apace. We noun in -ing formed as the present parti- were told by one of the Post Office robots ciple of a verb and used as a noun (e.g. trained to handle enquiries that our request for further details of one of their smoking in smoking is forbidden). services should be "attentioned" on the verbatim. Pronounce /v3:'bertim/, not application form' (Oldie, 7 Jan. 1994). At/-'bait-/. tention (verb) is not registered in dictionaries yet and may well remain as part of verbless sentences. The occasional the personal vocabulary of the 'office use of verbless sentences in radio and robot' in question. What cannot be questelevision broadcasts is acceptable: e.g. tioned, however, is the legitimacy of the This report from Paul Reynolds; And so for process of linguistic conversion. the main points of the news again. Sentences that lack a verb or are in other ways verbs in -ie, -y, and -ye sometimes 'incomplete' are often found in good give trouble in the spelling of inflexions fiction, used as stylistic devices of various and derivatives. The following rules apkinds, as afterthoughts or re-expressions, ply to the normally formed parts only, as a way of avoiding extensive listing, to and are merely concerned with the quesrepresent broken thoughts, and so on. tion whether -y-, -ie-, or -ye- is to be used Examples of various types: Friday morn- in the part wanted. 1 -ay: plays, played, ing. By tube to a lecture at the London Schoolplaying, player, playable is the model for of Economics—Encounter, 1981; It asserts it-all except lay, pay, and say, and their self as impassive, impenetrable, enigmatic.compounds (inlay, repay, gainsay, etc.), Alluring—M. Leland, 1987; That way, theywhich use -aid instead of -ayed. Allay, can work out their aggression. Once a year- assay, bay, belay, decay, delay, essay, flay, New Yorker, 1987: 'So,' my mother said. okay, relay, sway, etc., follow play (thus 'Maybe that's what this is. Just a coincid- allayed, assayed, etc.). ence.'—New Yorker, 1987; Made her want to 2 -ey: conveys, conveyed, conveying, conweep sometimes. And not so much for her as veyer (one who conveys), conveyable. All for the kids. Their future. If you could call follow this type, except that purvey, surit that-A. Duff, 1990 (NZ). For further vey, have purveyor, surveyor, and convey has examples, see SENTENCE. conveyor for the machine. verb. sap. Abbrev. of L verbum sapienti 3 -ie: ties, tied, tying. Other words in sat est, a word is enough for the wise this group (die, lie (tell an untruth), vie) person. Ostensibly an apology for not follow this type, and also for the most explaining at greater length, or a hint part have no -ex, -or, or -able forms in
verdigris | verse
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common use. Hie has either hieing or intensively = 'deserving its name'. Examples: They had a succession of governors hying as its present participle. 4 -oy: destroys, destroyed, destroying, des-who were veritable brigands—A. Harwood, troyer, destroyable. This pattern is followed 1869; At Rochefort there was ... a veritable hail of tiles, slates, etc. blown off the roofsby annoy, cloy, deploy, employ, enjoy, toy, etc. Standard, 1897; The book is a veritable encycThere appear to be no exceptions. lopedia of great sentences—Writer's Digest 5 -uy: buy, guyed, buying, buyer, buyable.(US), 1988; Tree ferns from the humid forests Buy (and its compounds, e.g. underbuy) of Tasmania, Chileanfirebushes,the dove tree and guy are the only two verbs in this from China ... these secret gardens are a group. veritable Noah's Ark of fabulous, rare plants6 -y after consonant: tries, tried, trying, Garden, 1991; And yet the waves—all of the Atlantic—surged against mangrove, courida, trier, triable; denies, denied, denying, denier, concrete defences: a veritable sea wall—Glob deniable; copies, copied, copying, copier, copiable. Neither number of syllables, place & Mail (Toronto), 1991; The baby ... of accent, nor difference between -y /1/ idealizes the breast as though it were free of and -y /ai/ , affects the spelling of the all frustration, as a veritable inexhaustible inflected forms. But see DRIER; FLYER; SHY. cornucopia of pleasure-J. Sayers, 1991; she 7 -ye: dyes, dyed, dyeing, dyer, dyable; lost no time in establishing a veritable spider's dyeing is so spelt to avoid confusion with web of an old-girl network—Gourmet (US), dying from die (cf. singeing). Eyeing is also 1992. It is not used in English, as véritable is recommended, rather than eying, because it more obviously preserves the in French, to mean 'authentic, genuine (of leather, pearls, tears, anger, etc.)'. connection with eye.
verdigris. Though adopted from OF vert vermeil. Pronounce /'v3:meil/ rather de Grèce (cf. modF vert-de-gris) as early as than /-mil/. the 14c, its pronunciation in English is still unsettled. The possibilities are (in vermilion. Thus spelt in OUP's house order of preference) /'V3:digri:/, /-griis/, style, but vermillion is also standard. and /-gns/. All three pronunciations are listed in the standard BrE and AmE dic- vermin. In each of its senses, esp. 'mamtionaries, but not in the same order. The mals and birds injurious to game, crops, final element has no connection with etc.; vile or despicable persons', usu. treated as a plural (e.g. these vermin infest the word grease. everything; such vermin as them are a danger verger (church official). Thus spelt ex- to the community). But it is capable of cept in St Paul's Cathedral in London being used as a singular: e.g. You vermin! and Winchester Cathedral, where the (addressed to one person). There is no 17c. variant spelling virger is still used. plural form vermins. veridical (adj.). Apart from its technical vermouth. In BrE stressed on the first use in psychiatry, '(of visions, etc.) coin- syllable, i.e. /v3:ma0/, and in AmE on the ciding with or representing real events second, i.e. /var'mu:0/. or people', veridical has little currency now except in formal language, = vernacular. For vernacular, idiom, slang, truthful; true or faithful to an original. etc., see JARGON. verify. For inflexions, see VERBS IN -IE, etc. 6. verily will not be forgotten as long as the Gospels are read, but outside biblical contexts it has rarely been used except rhetorically since the end of the 19c. veritable had a strong presence in the language from the 15c. to the 17c, but then fell out of use until it was revived as a Gallicism in the 19c, esp. used
verruca /va'ruika/. PI. (in ordinary use) verrucas; (in scientific use) verrucae /-si:/. verse has several meanings, including (a) a poetical composition, poetry (wrote many pages of verse); (b) a metrical line in a poem that conforms with the poem's rules of prosody (in ordinary use called a line); (c) a STANZA of a poem; (d) each of the short numbered divisions of a chapter in the Bible.
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versify. For inflexions, see VERBS IN -IE, etc. 6.
versify | very
I did under MUCH, by setting down some of the standard, unopposable uses of very. It is most often used with adverbs: They vers libre /vear 'li:bra/. Also called free are grasping the nettle very slowly; She fell verse. Versification or verses in which dif- asleep very soon; They admired each other ferent metres are mingled, or prosodie very much; and with adjectives: She always restrictions disregarded, or variable wore very thin black silk stockings; Thomas rhythm substituted for definite metre. was sent to a very select private school; We Perhaps now the dominant form of verse. children led a very sheltered life; These are An example (taken at random from the people who are very afraid; And a very good London Review of Books, 6 Apr. 1995): evening to you (a conventional greeting used by public entertainers); less comThe table was a wreck. monly with nouns: At issue is the very Bleared glasses stood nature of the system he shaped; He was Half-empty, bottoms stuck to wood. ashamed of the very thing that gave him so Cigarette stubs: much pleasure. Ashes: In the 20c. it has also come to be used Bits of bread: qualifying a noun or proper name used Bottles leaning, adjectivally for emphasis: The total effect Prostrate, is very Kirov ( = very much in the style Dead. of the Kirov ballet); It's a band all dressed up in green-and-black—very art deco. It also A pink stocking: a corkscrew: often occurs in conjunction with much: A powder puff: a French-heeled shoe: During the reign of Matilda the kingdom was Candle-grease. very much divided; Not seeing D. didn't A dirty cup. matter very much; Neither management nor An agate saucepan, bottom up. performers cared very much about who The reviewer of the poet's work com- understood what. mented: 'The . . . description of the end 2 very or much before a passive partiof the party is full of details, but the short lines level them all into throwaways, as ciple. The principle governing the choice if only short stabs at speech were pos- of very or much before a passive participle sible, as if syntax was beyond all human is not easy to formulate. Some examples, hope. The very colons are full of despair all drawn from standard sources of the ...' There are better examples of vers libre 20c: (much) Right now, a much enfeebled Soviet Union is receiving cheap grain from in the work, for example, of Ezra Pound America; His father was much respected in and T. S. Eliot. that pretty town; The Stroves were much verso. PL versos. See -O(E)S 3. verso, recto. The verso is the left-hand given to hanging their tenants; Kafka was page of an open book or the back of a much cosseted by the ladies in his office; The printed sheet of paper or manuscript, as Dwarves are not much differentiated, (very) I'm very annoyed. Go away; Frank's very opposed to the recto. involved with squash this week; It got him vertebra /'v3:tibra/. PL vertebrae /-bri:/. very worried; You're acting very annoyed vertex, highest point, angular point of and upset, (very much) I believe your triangle, etc. PL vertices /'V3:tisi:z/. [ = one's] experience is very much connected to your [ = one's] memories. vertigo. After at least two centuries of A partial principle emerges. If the fluctuation, vertigo seems to be always word qualified is more adjectival than pronounced now as /'V3:tigau/. Formerly participial, the qualifier to use is very also stressed on the second syllable, (or very much). Conversely, if the word which was pronounced as either /-'tiigau/ governed is clearly a passive participle, or /-'taigau/. PL -O(E)S 3. much is normally required. As Fowler (1926) expressed it, 'It will at once be vertu. See VIRTU. admitted that I was much tired is improved very. 1 It should be borne in mind that by the substitution of very for much, very and much are complementary, each whereas, in I was very inconvenienced, much being suited to places in which the other has undoubtedly to be substituted for is unnatural or wrong. Let me begin, as very.' But it has to be admitted that there
-ves I vicegerent is a grey area where the choice is difficult. And there are many passive participles which by their nature are incapable of being qualified by either much or very (defeated,finished,forced, located, undetected, unsolved, etc.). -ves.
See -VE(D), etc.
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that many peoplefindcomfort in discovering, via pages in newspapers and magazines, that others share their dilemmas—C. Rayner, 1995; By listening to Friends' opinions, we will be more successful at promoting membership of the organisation to other graduates via the mailing—memo from the Development Office of the Univ. of Oxford, 1995.
vesica /'vesika/. The bladder. PL vesicae /-si:/. The OED (1917) gave only /vi'saika/, a pronunciation still current, with others, in AmE. Cf. L vesica. See FALSE QUANTITY. The derivatives vesical adj., vesicle noun have a short /e/ in the (stressed) first syllable.
viable. This 19c. loanword from French first had the sense '(of a foetus or newborn child) capable of maintaining life; cf. Fr. vie', but soon began to be used from time to time in figurative and extended ways, e.g. What we have here is a romance in embryo; one, moreover, that never attained to a viable stature and constitution (1883). vest. In BrE a vest is an undergarment It was not until the 1940s, however, that worn on the upper part of the body, it became a vogue word applied to any equivalent to AmE undershirt. In AmE a concept, plan, project, proposition, etc., vest is the term for what in BrE is called judged to be workable or practicable, a waistcoat. In former times (17-19C.), vest esp. economically or financially. Like all was used for a variety of men's and vogue words it (and also its correspondwomen's garments. At the present time, ing noun viability) has been repeatedly in addition to the primary senses given put to the sword by protectors of the above, an athlete's top garment is some- language, but half a century on it still times called a vest; and in AmE the term is remains widely in use. Attitudes change also used for a short sleeveless woman's slowly and it is probably advisable for jacket. the present to use other, well-established vet (noun) is a well-established abbrevi- terms instead (e.g. feasible, practicable, susation (see ABBREVIATION 1) of veterinary tainable, tenable, workable), at least until surgeon, and in AmE of veteran. From the the stigmata of fashionableness and first of these has come the main two overuse cease to be attached to viable. senses of vet (verb), namely to examine viaticum (Eucharist given to a person or treat (an animal); and to examine (a near death). PL viatica. See -UM 2. scheme, a preliminary draft, a candidate, etc.) carefully and critically for errors or vibrato (music). Pronounce /vi'bra:tau/. deficiencies. PL vibratos: see -O(E)S 6. veto. PL vetoes. See -O(E)S 1. The inflected vibrator. Thus spelt, not -er. parts of the verb are vetoes, vetoed, vetoing. vicar. See RECTOR.
vexillum (a military standard, etc.). PL vexilla. See -UM 2.
vice (noun) (clamping device). Thus spelt in BrE, but vise in AmE.
via /'vaia/. Used as a preposition = 'by way o f (London to Sorrento via Naples) it vice /'vaisi/ (prep.), in the place of, in is in origin the ablative of L via 'way, succession to (appointed Secretary vice Mr road'. As such it was formerly printed Jones deceased). In origin the ablative of L with a circumflex accent and in italics vix, vie- 'change'. (thus via), but no longer. Via is less com- vice- /vais/ is the same word as the fortably used to mean 'by means of, preceding one, but used as a combining through the agency o f in such a context form meaning 'acting as a deputy or as He sent the parcels via rail (read by). But substitute for' (vice