The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation (16 page)

See
parody, satire
.

Saver
: someone or something that saves or conserves.

Savor
: to appreciate.

Scent
: an aroma; a fragrance.

Sent
: taken; moved.

As noted earlier, few people say “firstly,” and fewer yet say “fifthly,” “sixthly,” “seventeenthly,” etc. Many adverbs do not end in -
ly
. It makes more sense to use
second, third
, and
fourth
rather than
secondly, thirdly
, and
fourthly
.

See
biannual, biennial, semiannual
.

Sensual
: relating to sexual pleasure.

Sensuous
: relating to or affecting the physical senses.

Serf
: a slave.

Surf
: waves.

See
cereal, serial
.

Set
: to place something somewhere.

Sit
: to take a seat.

Sew
: to stitch.

So
: as a result; in the manner indicated.

Sow
: to scatter or plant seed.

Shear
: to cut; to clip.

Sheer
: pure; steep; translucent.

This is found only in a direct quotation (note the brackets). An editor inserts [
sic
] directly after a word or sentence to notify readers that something is off or incorrect, but is being reproduced exactly as it originally appeared.

See
cite, sight, site
.

It's not the same as
simple
. It means “oversimplified,” as in
Your simplistic argument leaves out too many facts
.

At a memorial service, a well-meaning soul remembered a renowned artist as “a simplistic man.” Some occasions are too solemn for foolish language lapses. Trying to express something commendable, the speaker instead said the dear departed had been a simpleton.

See
because, since
.

See
cite, sight, site
.

Despite its popularity, the slash (/), technically known as a
virgule
, is frowned on by purists. Other than to indicate dates (
9/11/2001
) or separate lines of poetry (“Celery, raw / Develops the jaw”), it has few defensible uses in formal writing.

Usually a hyphen, or in some cases the word
or
, will suffice. Instead of writing
the novelist/poet Eve Jones
, make it
the novelist-poet Eve Jones
. Rather than
available to any man/woman who is qualified
, make it
any man or woman
.

“The virgule is a mark that doesn't appear much in first-rate writing,” says Bryan A. Garner in
A Dictionary of Modern American Usage
. “Use it as a last resort.”

Sleight
: dexterity; skill.

Slight
: slender; of little substance.

Many think
snuck
is the past tense of
sneak
, but it's not, at least not yet. The past tense of
sneak
is
sneaked
.

See
sew, so, sow
.

Soar
: to fly high.

Sore
: painful; in pain.

Sole
: the bottom of a foot; a type of fish (nouns); single; solitary (adjectives).

Soul
: essence; the spirit apart from the body.

Some
: an unspecified number.

Sum
: the total from adding numbers.

Son
: male offspring.

Sun
: the star that is the central body of our solar system.

See
sew, so, sow
.

Staid
: solemn; serious.

Stayed
: remained; waited.

Stair
: a step.

Stare
: to gaze intently.

Stake
: a wager; an investment; a pole.

Steak
: a cut of meat.

Stationary
: in one place; inactive.

Stationery
: writing paper.

Steal
: to rob.

Steel
: an iron alloy (noun); to toughen (verb).

Step
: a stair (noun); to move by lifting the foot (verb).

Steppe
: vast grassland.

It started out as
stamping grounds
, which is still preferred by most dictionaries.

Words like
straitjacket
and
strait-laced
are frequently misspelled using
straight
, which is incorrect, but understandable. Wouldn't a “straightjacket” be just the thing to straighten you up and straighten you out? Doesn't “straight-laced” aptly describe a person of refinement (the
lace
part) who lives the “straight life”? This is why some authorities accept
straight-laced
as an alternative spelling. But a
strait
is a narrow channel, and it is that sense of “confinement with little room to maneuver” that generated these terms.

Note the second
a
in
stratagem
.

Both words refer to plans of action. But
stratagem
denotes trickery. It is a scheme to deceive or outwit.

See
some, sum
.

See
son, sun
.

Sundae
: ice cream with syrup.

Sunday
: a day of the week.

See
prone, supine
.

Never “suppose to.” Don't drop the
d
in usages like
You're supposed to be here
.

See
serf, surf
.

See
empathy, sympathy
.

Tack
and
tact
are commonly confused when discussing strategy.

A
tack
is a course of action.

Tact
is discretion.

We decided to try a new tack
is correct, but “a new tact” is what a lot of people say, mistakenly thinking “tact” is short for
tactic
.

Tail
: the hindmost animal appendage.

Tale
: a story.

See
bring, take
.

Taught
: trained; educated.

Taut
: stiff; tightly stretched.

Team
: a group with the same goal (noun); to form a squad (verb).

Teem
: to swarm.

Although it produces tremors and makes the ground tremble, an earthquake is a
temblor
, not a “tremblor.”

A
tenant
is someone who pays rent to use or occupy a property. But “tenant” is often mistakenly used in place of
tenet
, a fundamental belief or principle held true by a group or organization.

Than
is used for comparison.

Then
means “next,” “after that.”

See
who, which, that
.

Their
: belonging to them.

There
: in that place.

They're
: contraction of
they are
.

They're
in
their
car over
there
.

Instead of “those kind of things,” say either
those kinds of things
or
things of that kind
. Better yet:
things like that
.

Always use
till
. You won't find a reference book anywhere that recommends '
til
. Writer John B. Bremner declares brusquely, “Either
till
or
until
, but not '
til
.”

It's natural to assume that '
til
is a contraction of
until
. However,
till
predates
until
by several centuries.

To
: in the direction of; toward.

Too
: also; excessively.

Two
: the number after
one
.

Tort
: a breach of contract.

Torte
: a rich cake made with little or no flour.

Tortuous
: winding; twisting:
a tortuous trail
.

Torturous
: painful; causing suffering:
held under torturous conditions
.

Not to be used arbitrarily. How is
totally convinced
different from
convinced
?

The
Associated Press Stylebook
insists on
toward
, but both are acceptable and mean the same thing.

The celebrity issued a statement through his attorney that he was “sorry and saddened over what transpired.” This usage of
transpire
, though common, is incorrect. The word doesn't mean “occur” or “happen.” Something that transpires is revealed or becomes known over time. The Oxford online dictionary gives this example: “It transpired that millions of dollars of debt had been hidden in a complex web of transactions.”

See
temblor
.

Troop
: a body of soldiers.

Troupe
: a group of traveling performers.

Mike is a real trouper
. Many would spell it “trooper.” But a
trooper
is either a cop or a soldier in the cavalry, whereas a
trouper
, according to the
American Heritage Dictionary
, is “a reliable, uncomplaining, often hard-working person.”

Note the spelling: no
e
.

This word is often just window dressing. How is
I truly believe
different from
I believe
?

Turbid
means “muddy,” or “unclear,” literally and figuratively. Both a river and a poem may properly be called turbid.

Turgid
means “swollen,” literally and figuratively. One may suffer physically from a turgid limb, or mentally from a turgid (i.e., pompous and bombastic) speech.

See
disinterested, uninterested
.

The Big Easy is one of America's most unique cities
. Drop
most
. What's wrong with saying
one of America's unique cities
?

Unique
is, on its own, a potent word, and it must never be accompanied by an intensifier, since modifying it saps its considerable power. When you use
unique
, put it out there alone—otherwise, say
unusual
.

Unique
belongs to a group of words called
absolutes
or
incomparables
. Examples include
dead, equal, essential, eternal, opposite, supreme
. Such words resist being modified. Modifiers like
more, most, absolutely, rather
, and
very
either strip them of their strength or result in foolishness.

“Would you say ‘very one-of-a-kind'?” asks Roy Blount Jr. in his book
Alphabet Juice
. Adding
very
or
absolutely
to
unique
, Blount says, “is like putting a propeller on a rabbit to make him hop better.”

All the way back in the 1940s, George Orwell blew the whistle on this pretentious word in his classic essay “Politics and the English Language.” Orwell advised writers to get over themselves and go with
use
. But
use
is so humble, so mundane, whereas
utilize
really sounds like something. Bureaucrats in particular love to use
utilize
.

Vain
: futile; narcissistic.

Vane
: a blade moved by wind:
weather vane
.

Vein
: a blood vessel; a mood.

Venal
: corrupt,” “able and willing to be bribed.”

Venial
: “forgivable.”

Any writer who inadvertently drops the
i
in a sentence like
Her lapse was venial
may want to think about getting a good lawyer.

Verses
: lines of poetry.

Versus
: as compared to another choice; against.

Serious writers are wary of
very
. Very often, this very word is very unnecessary.

Viable
means “able or fit to live”:
viable cells, a viable fetus
.

In popular usage,
viable
has become synonymous with
possible
,
workable
,
feasible
. Many purists consider this unacceptable. Roy Copperud, in
American Usage and Style
, says “the word has had the edge hopelessly ground off it.”

Vial
: a small container.

Vile
: evil, depraved.

Vice
: a bad habit; an immoral practice.

Vise
: a device used to hold an object firmly.

See
literally
.