July 3rd, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
In my previous offering, I quoted a sentence containing the phrase “a baseless crotchet.” Now there’s a word you don’t see very often.
In this instance, “crotchet” means “a peculiar whim or stubborn notion.”
You’re more likely to encounter its adjective, “crotchety,” for “cantankerous; eccentric.”
The former definition of “crotchet,” now archaic, was “a small hook” or “a hooklike part or device.”
So, in case you were wondering, yes, it’s related to “crochet,” which is French for “small hook.” And that means in that type of needlework, a “crochet hook” is literally a “hook hook.”
Also in this family is the lawn game “croquet,” in which mallets are used to hit balls through hoops.
I assure you that I didn’t expect this to end up here: There were no mallets aforethought.
(I’m almost ashamed of that one — almost.)
July 2nd, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
The Associated Press clings to the notion that “over” is better for “spatial relationships” (”the cow jumped over the moon”) and “more than” is better “with numerals” (”he now makes more than $1 million a year”).
The AP can be excruciatingly slow to change its ways. In “Garner’s Modern American Usage,” Bryan A. Garner says “over” and “more than” are interchangeable in the latter instance, adding “and this has been so for more than 600 years.” (I would have said “over 600 years” to underscore the point.)
Garner concludes with, “The charge that ‘over’ is inferior to ‘more than’ is a baseless crotchet.”
I doubt there are many readers who are confused by this use of “over” when they see it, so it also passes the comprehension test.
And it’s a heck of a lot easier to fit into headlines.
July 1st, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
‘Tis the season for stories about power usage, which means it’s time for this reminder: There’s a hyphen in “kilowatt-hour.”
This is generally the case for terms that combine two types of measurement: kilowatt-hour (power and time); foot-pound (distance and weight); light-year (speed and time).
By contrast, terms that combine a unit of measure and a simple modifier are generally two words: square mile, cubic centimeter, fluid ounce, liquid quart, dry quart, troy ounce, board foot.
And while I’m on the topic, another reminder about light-year: It’s not a unit of time but of distance — how far light can travel in a year. And at 186,000 miles per second, that’s a fur piece — and I don’t mean a mink coat.
June 30th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
Just in case this hasn’t been covered already:
“Chrysler saved by Fiat” could have been a headline about the recent agreement to get the U.S. automaker out of bankruptcy.
It also might have been “Chrysler saved by fiat” (lowercase “f”).
The word “fiat” comes from a form of the Latin verb “fieri,” meaning “to become, come into existence.”
In English, it has three principal definitions: “an order by legal authority; a sanction, authorization; any arbitrary order.”
Which one of those you might apply to the Chrysler-Fiat deal depends on your view of whether it was necessary or of the government’s role in it.
By the way, the name of the car company is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, which would be tough to fit in a logo.
June 29th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
Beware of the temptation to make things sound more impressive or mysterious by tacking on useless adjectives.
Recently, for example, I encountered the phrase “linear feet” — and more than once.
A foot, by definition, is a unit of length, a linear measure. If other dimensions are involved, we use square foot or cubic foot.
There are also “foot-candles” to measure illumination and “foot-pounds” and “foot-tons” to measure energy or work.
But when figuring length, a foot is just a foot, and a sigh is just a sigh, as time goes by.
June 11th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
A common problem in English is a verb hooked up with the wrong preposition. Less common but by no means rare is a verb carrying a preposition as excess baggage.
For example, “continue on,” “admit to” and “divide up.”
In “The negotiators decided to adjourn for the night and continue on in the morning,” delete “on.”
In “Spanky finally admitted to taking the cookies,” delete “to.”
In “Smith’s accomplices insisted they divide up the money first,” delete “up.”
However, these are not “search-and-replace” usages. For example, the prepositions should stay in the following:
“We’ll surely get lost if we continue on this road.”
“Spanky admitted to me that he took the cookies.”
“Let’s split the money before we divide up and split.”
And now my head is splitting.
June 10th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
There are “blocks,” and then there are “blocs.”
Most of the time, we need the one with the “k”: starting block, cellblock, concrete block, building block, city block, block grant, block letters, writer’s block, block and tackle, block that kick, and blockhead, for example.
But for references to political alliances, use “bloc” (without the “k”): voting bloc, the old Soviet bloc, and so on.
Although powerful blocs are able to block legislation, “bloc” isn’t a verb — not yet, anyway. Perhaps if the “bloc” bloc were to pressure dictionary editors. …
June 9th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
Last time, I explored the difference between “cabinets” as furniture and “Cabinets” as assemblages of people.
Interestingly, the people who are Cabinet members generally are called “secretaries.” And a “secretary” is also a type of writing desk, “especially one topped with a small bookcase.”
Additionally, because “chairman” is increasingly unacceptable in some circles because of its gender reference, the use of “chair” for the top dog of an organization is on the rise. Many word people are not ready to accept this one, insisting that “chair” means something sat on, not a sitter.
I think this is a losing battle, especially since “chair” seems to be generally accepted as a verb for “to preside over.” ”Chair” as the generic noun seems to be superior to “chairman” (but what if he’s a she?), “chairwoman” (but what if she’s a he?) and “chairperson” (oh, the humanity!).
I love to sit, but I can stand “chair” for a person.
June 8th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
Rockford’s new school superintendent is working on who will be members of her Cabinet.
Associated Press style is to capitalize any Cabinet that’s made of people, from the presidential one on down.
This is to distinguish it from the kind of cabinet that is a piece of storage equipment. That one is lowercase. Even if you had a really large cabinet and people lived in it, it would be lowercase.
And when they left it, that wouldn’t be the same as coming out of the closet.
June 5th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
“Pole” and “pull” aren’t exactly homonyms, but they sound similar enough to cause some confusion.
For example, the village of Cherry Valley has some old buildings it needs to do something with. They’re “pole barns,” not “pull barns.” If you conduct a Google search for “pull barn,” you will find some examples of this erroneous usage. But mostly you’ll get “pole barns.”
They are so named because traditionally their structure involves poles set in the ground.
I don’t have a clue what sort of “pull” would be needed to build a “pull barn.” It probably would have to be political.
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