Loathe vs. Loath

I'm loath to bring this up, but here's something I loathe: when loath is used incorrectly.

Loath ≠ loathe

Loath is an adjective and means reluctant.

Loathe is a verb and means to detest.

Actually, I don't loathe this mistake, it simply annoys me. But it worked in the first sentence.




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Regrettably vs. Regretfully

Regrettably means unfortunately.

Regretfully means with regret.

Regrettably he submitted his manuscript; we returned it regretfully.

Sometimes it just works out that way.

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How do you become a copy editor?

Here's a not uncommon question from a reader:

I stumbled upon your blog today while trying to look up insure versus ensure. My question is, how does one get involved in the copy editing field? Is this something you can do from home? I work in a library—if the budget cuts get nasty I want to have some other options available to me.

Good question. It seems every copy editor has a different path to this noble pursuit. Some seem to have been born to it. I took a more circuitous route.

Although I always loved to read—a habit my mother, an avid reader, instilled in me—I never thought I would write or edit words.

My dream was to become a photographer. For years, I seem to have seen the world through my camera—another gift from my mother, for my 16th birthday. I eventually realized my passion for photography was greater than my talent. That's when I switched to words.

Still, I didn't study English or literature or journalism. I studied political economy. After graduate school, I worked in a think tank on a book project. Two of the writers were non-native English speakers. They asked me to clean up their writing before it was sent out for review. I wasn't bad at editing and learned a lot on the job. I took some copy editing classes at the local university and improved my skills.

I later became a reporter and writer. Then an editor. And eventually a copy editor.

My advice to those interested in becoming a copy editor is to find someone to practice on. Edit a friend's writing. (I did this back in the day with my friend Steve, whose writing and spelling were atrocious. Our friendship survived my pedantic editing.) Or volunteer with an organization that puts out a newsletter or has a blog. Get some experience, and see if you even like copyediting. (I'll be honest: It's not glamorous work, though I do find it fulfilling.) Take some classes at the local university. Make some contacts, and see what happens.

That's how I became a copy editor. If you have a story or advice you'd like to share, please post it in the comments.

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Majority are vs. Majority is

Happy new year! I hope the majority of you are enjoying 2012.

Or is that "majority is enjoying"?

A dear friend who battles with colleagues on grammar asked for clarification recently. Here's what I wrote:

Majority can take a singular or plural verb; it depends on the context. If a group is acting as a whole, then it would be singular, such as "the majority of council members has voted in favor." But if they are acting as individuals, then it would be plural. Such as: "the majority of my readers are enjoying the new year".


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Incentivize vs. Incentives

If you're the president of the United States, you can get away with using "incentivize."

Speaking about Medicare earlier this week, President Obama said:

So what we’ve said is let’s incentivize providers to do a more efficient job and, over time, we can start reducing those costs.

Yes, incentivize is in the dictionary: to provide with an incentive. Why not just say that, rather than use this ungainly business babble?

How about giving incentives to providers? Or encouraging providers?

I agree with Bryan Garner's description of incentivize as a barbarism. "There is no good incentive to use" the word, he says.

Even if you're the president of the United States.

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Rice Paddy Redundant

You know those annoying guys that know everything about everything? Well, I'm not one of them.

But perhaps even more annoying, I know a little something about a lot of things. It's the nature of my profession: to soak up random facts and tidbits of information. So when a topic comes up in conversation, I can usually–and often do–throw in a factoid. One of my friends actually finds it amusing, not annoying. Go figure.

A recent example: rice paddy. We've all heard the term. But did you know that it's etymologically redundant?

Paddy comes from the Malay word padi, meaning rice. So technically, "rice paddy" means "rice rice."

Rice field or paddy field are preferred where I work. But sometimes we let it stand if it adds "flavor" to a story.

That's your factoid for today.

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Best Grammar Blog nomination

Here's a blatant plug. This blog has been nominated for Best Grammar Blog of 2011 by Grammar.net. If you're feeling generous, click on the badge to vote. Thanks.

Update: Thanks for all your support! I'm officially nominated. Voting is taking place until October 17. Click here to enter your vote.

Argos

You probably know by now that I love words. They inspire me every day, and my livelihood depends on them.

When I decided to adopt my first dog 13 years ago, I had already thought long and hard about what word to name him. He would be called Argos.

In Homer's Odyssey–my all-time favorite book–the loyal and faithful dog Argos is the only one to recognize King Odysseus when he finally returns to his homeland after 20 years. Odysseus had raised Argos as a puppy. During Odysseus's absence, Argos had been neglected, but he remained loyal to his master to the end.

Thirteen years ago I adopted a smart and adorable Labrador retriever puppy and named him Argos. What I didn't know then but learned over time was just how apt his name was. Modern-day Argos was as loyal, faithful, and noble as his ancient namesake. He was my companion and best friend, and I can honestly say that I am a better person today for having had him in my life.

Sadly, my Argos died suddenly last week. Fortunately, he died peacefully in his bed at home and didn't suffer.

For once, words fail me in expressing my sadness over Argos's passing. But his name and memories live on.

That vs. Which

A recent reader query:

I'm an attorney and I sometimes have trouble deciding when to use "that" and when to use "which" in legal briefs. If you had any insight that would be greatly appreciated.

Good question. These so-called "relative conjunctions" can be a bit hard to master at first, but with a little explanation and experience using them correctly, they quickly become second nature.

First, the technical answer. If you're familiar with grammar rules, it should make sense:

As a general rule the relative conjunction which introduces nonrestrictive clauses; that introduces restrictive clauses.

In lay terms: If dropping the clause would change the meaning, use that without commas.

Examples:

Jokes that are off-color do not belong in the magazine.
This joke, which is off-color, does not belong in the magazine.

I can see where this becomes important in legal briefs, since each one sets up a different category: restrictive (that; one particular case or class of cases) and nonrestrictive (which; supplemental or nonessential information).

Bryan Garner, in his exhaustive and authoritative Garner's Modern American Usage, offers these helpful guidelines:

First, if you cannot omit the clause without changing the basic meaning, the clause is restrictive; use that without a comma. Second, if you can omit the clause without changing the basic meaning, the clause is nonrestrictive; use a comma plus which. Third, if you ever find yourself using a which that doesn't follow a comma (or a preposition), it probably needs to be a that.

I hope that information, which I've gleaned over years of editing, is helpful to you.

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Apostrophize II

A reader who found this blog by searching for "apostrophize" sent the following example of the word's use in "an old McGruffey Reader":

An exchange paper thus apostrophizes on marriage:

Marriage is like a flaming candle light,
Placed in the window on a summer night,
Inviting all the insects of the air
To come and singe their pretty winglets there.
Those that are out butt heads against the pane,
And those within butt to get out again.

The reader, Tom, wrote: "The first comment in your entry for 'apostrophize,' and this selection from the reader, might enhance one's understanding of the meaning of the word. Or at least generate a smile."

It definitely brought a smile to my face. Thanks, Tom!

Wildebeest vs. Wildebeests

Lions and tigers and wildebeests…

Or is that wildebeest?

I received an email this week from a reader who wondered about the rules for pluralizing animals. He was concerned about the inconsistency in "millions of wildebeest, zebras, and antelope." Here's how I answered:

Don't sweat it too much. The English language is a hodge-podge of words borrowed and adapted from other languages. (For example hodge-podge is a variant of hotchpotch, a word from 1583 that stems from hochepot, an even older Anglo-French word.) That means there's no single answer to plurals for nouns, including animals.

As you know, standard plurals end in "s": cats, dogs, snakes. There are also non-standard plurals that we are all familiar with: deer, mice. Then there are the ones that fall in the middle, such as wildebeest/wildebeests. Both plural forms for wildebeest are acceptable.

How to decide which one to use? In my office we follow the preferred plural form as listed in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. If the plural is non-standard, then the definition lists the preferred plural first and variants after. In the wildebeest definition, it says: pl wildebeests also wildebeest. So we use wildebeests as the plural. Similarly, we would use antelope for the plural form.

My advice is to choose a dictionary to follow and consistently apply the preferred plural.

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Staunch vs. Stanch

Little Edie knows best.

As she spells out in this terrific clip from Grey Gardens, Little Edie is a staunch woman–firm and steadfast.

Stanch is a verb: to stop or check the flow of, as in stanch the bleeding.

This post is dedicated to my dear, staunch friend Andy.

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Dodge That Dangler

What's wrong with this sentence?

Enticed by reports of the richness of the land, the first three ships...

In a word: dangler.

That's short for dangling modifier, or grammar speak for mismatched subject and verb. In this case, the opening phrase says that the subject, "the first three ships," were "enticed by reports of richness." Of course we know the people onboard were enticed, not the ships themselves. The "dangling" part is the missing intended subject: sailors.

Here's a fix: Sailors on the first three ships were enticed by reports of the richness of the land.

A colleague said the dangler was fine and didn't need fixing, since it was obvious we meant the people in the ships, not the ships themselves.

"Nice try," I replied.

It's not polite to dangle in public.

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Dashing off

I'm dashing off to Phoenix this week for the American Copy Editors Society annual conference.

On Thursday I'll be giving a talk about editing maps and graphics. And on Friday I'm on a panel discussing apps for iPads and other tablets. If you're at the conference, be sure to say hi.

Speaking of dashes, I noticed a pile up of them in the February Vanity Fair article on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the diplomatic cable dump. Here's the last paragraph:

But convergence goes only so far–there's no reason to think that either party has shed its basic outlook, or ever will, or could. The conflict is as old as civilization itself–between those who cherish what institutions provide and those who distrust everything that institutions stand for. At the moment, in journalism, neither seems to have the upper hand–and neither can do without the other.

At least the writer kept herself to only one dash per sentence. But one dash every sentence is hardly better. Good writers–and editors–know to use dashes sparingly. Otherwise they lose their effect in highlighting a point or making a strong aside. If everything is set off, then nothing stands out.

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Fondue vs. Fondant

It's not often that the misuse of a word leads to a death threat. But that was the case last week in Dorchester, Massachusetts:

A disagreement over the correct use of the word "fondue" led a Dorchester woman to threaten to kill a cake store clerk on Friday, according to Brookline police.

This lede is from the account in the online newspaper Wicked Local Brookline. Apparently, the suspect entered the Party Favors Brookline store and took offense when the clerk corrected her usage of the word "fondue" when she meant "fondant icing." From Wicked Local:

“Fondue, fondant, who gives a f---. You’ve had an attitude the whole time,” Bogues [the suspect] told the employee, according to the police report.

Bogues then allegedly threatened to kill the store clerk. Oh my.

Is this simply a case of you say "fondue," I say "fondant"?

Nope. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., defines fondant as "a soft creamy preparation of sugar, water, and flavorings that is used as a basis for candies or icings." And as anyone who lived through the 1970s knows, fondue is a dish with melted cheese (or other hot liquid, such as chocolate) that you dip pieces of food into. (Fondue seems to be making a comeback. A dear college friend recently invited me over for a fondue dinner, and in the same week he was invited to his neighbor's place for another fondue party. Coincidence, or hot trend?)

Here's the point of this post: Beware whom you correct. (Notice the "whom" not "who"!) If you upset the wrong person, they might just skip the fondue and try to do you in.

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