Joe’s English Usage Guide
Prescriptive-Descriptive: The prescriptive approach
involves the handing down of rules by those claiming to have a special
knowledge of or feeling for a language.
Prescriptivists tend to be conservatives who regard the language change
with suspicion, if not disdain. The
descriptive approach involves the objective description of the language as it
is actually used. Descriptive advice is
base solely on usage, rather than on any feeling about what “should” be
correct. These categories are not very
firm. There are few presc4riptivists
who would always reflect a usage regardless of how common it is and what sort
of people use it. Conversely, few
descriptivists would argue that any construction is acceptable as long as it
can be found in the writing or speech of a native speaker.4
Bring-Take: Use bring for movement
from a farther place to a nearer on and take for movement from nearer to
farther.2 In most dialect of
American English bring is used to denote motion toward the place of speaking or
the place from which the action is regarded.
Take is used to denote motion away from such a place.1
Further-Farther: Strictly speaking, farther
refers to additional distance and further refers to additional time,
amount, or other abstract matters.2
Come-Go: Come: To advance toward
the speaker or toward a specified place; advance.1 Go: To move or travel; proceed. To move away from a place; depart.1
Lay-Lie: Lay is a transitive
verb (principle parts lay, laid, laid) that means “put” or “place”; it is
nearly always followed by a direct object.
Lie is an intransitive verb (principle parts lie, lay, lain) that
means “recline” or “be situated.”2
Myself: The –self pronouns, such
as myself, yourselves, and herself, are sometimes used as
emphatic substitutes for personal pronouns, as in Like yourself, I have no
apologies to make. The practice is
particularly common in compound phrases: Ms. Evans or yourself will have to
pick them up at the airport.
Although these usages have been common in the writing of reputable
authors for several centuries, they may sound overwrought. A large majority of the Usage Panal
disapproves of the use of –self
pronouns when they do not refer to the subject of the sentence. Seventy-three percent reject the sentence He
was an enthusiastic fisherman like myself.
Sixty-seven percent object to The letters were written entirely by
myself. The Panal is even less
tolerant of compound usages. Eighty-eight
percent find this sentence unacceptable: The boss asked John and myself to
give a brief presentation.
That-Which: That always introduces
restrictive clauses. Which can
introduce both restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses, but in formal speech and
writing many prefer to use which only for nonrestrictive clauses.2 The standard rule is that that should
be used only to introduce a restrictive (or “defining”) relative clause, which
serves to identify the entity being talked about; in this use it should never
be preceded by a comma. Only which
is to be used with nonrestrictive (or “nondefining”) clauses, which give
additional information about an entity that has already been identified in the
context; in this use, which is always preceded by a comma.1 A which clause goes inside
commas. A that clause does not.3
Fewer-Less: Fewer refers to
individual countable items, less to general amounts.2 The traditional rule holds that fewer
is used with expressions denoting things that can be counted (fewer than four
players), while less is used with mass terms denoting things of
measurable extent (less paper, less than a gallon of paint). However, less is idiomatic in certain
constructions where fewer would occur according to the traditional
rule. Less than is used before a
plural noun that denotes a measure of time, amount, or distance: less than
three weeks; less than $400; less than 50 miles.1
Accept-Except: Accept is a verb
meaning “receive.” Except is
usually a preposition or conjunction meaning “but for” or “other than”; when it
is used as a verb, it means “leave out.”2
Affect-Effect: Usually affect is a
verb, meaning “to influence,” and effect is a known, meaning
“result.” Effect occasionally is
used as a verb meaning “to bring about.”2
“At this point in time”: Wordy for now, at
this point or at this time.2
Can-May: Strictly, can indicates
capacity or ability, and may indicates permission. In most speech the distinction is not
observed, can being used for both meanings.2
e.g. – i.e.: E.g. is short for a
Latin term, exempli gratia, that means “for example.” The more specific term i.e., short
for the Latin id est, means “that is.”3
Good-Well: Good is an adjective,
and well is nearly always an adverb.
Well is properly used as an adjective to refer to health.2 When it’s an activity being described, use well,
the adverb. When it’s a condition or a
passive state being described, use good, the adjective.3
Hanged-Hung: Though both are past tense
forms of hang, hanged is used to refer to executions and hung
is used for all other meanings.2
Nauseated-Nauseous: It’s the difference between
sick and sickening. You are made sick (nauseated)
by something sickening (nauseous).
Never say, “I’m nauseous.”
Even if it is true, it’s not something you should admit. “I’m nauseated by the nauseous cigar!”
said Ethel.3
Who-Whom: The traditional rules that
determine the use of who and whom are relatively simple: who
is used for a grammatical subject, where a nominative pronoun such as I
or he would be appropriate, and whom is used elsewhere.1 Who does something (it’s a subject,
like he), and whom has something done to it (it’s an object, like
him). A preposition often comes just
before whom, but not always. A
better way to decide between who and whom is to ask yourself who
is doing what to whom.3
Myriad: Throughout most of its history
in English myriad was used as a noun, as in a myriad of men. In the 19th century it began to
be used as an adjective, as in myriad men; this usage became so well
entrenched that many people came to consider it as the only correct
possibility. In fact, both uses have
not only ample precedent in English but also etymological justification from
Greek, inasmuch as the Greek word murias from which myriad derives
could be used as either a noun or an adjective. Both uses may be considered equally acceptable, as in Samuel
Taylor Coleridge’s “Myriad myriads of lives.”1 It originally meant “ten thousand,” but myriad
now means “numerous” or “a great number of.”
Avoid “myriads” or “a myriad of.”3
Via: This means “by way of,” not
“by means of.” Mark drove to
Tanglewood via Boston. Not: Mark drove to Tanglewood via car.3
Whence: Not from whence. The “from” is built in. Whence means “from where.” The same is true of hence and thence.3
Toward: No final s (“towards”),
although that is how they say it in Britain.
Similarly, in American English, standard practice is not to add a final s
to forward, backward, upward, onward, downward, and so on.3
Restaurateur: Notice that there is no N.3
Irregardless: This is not a word – it is a
crime in progress! The word you want is
regardless.3
Bi/Semi: In theory, bi attached
to the front of a word means two and semi means half. In practice, bi sometimes means semi,
and semi sometimes means bi.
You are better off avoiding them when you want to indicate time periods;
instead, use “every two years” or “twice a week” or whatever. I don’t recommend using the following terms,
but in case you run across them, here is what they mean.3
Biennial:
every two years
Biannual:
twice a year or every two years
Semiannual:
every half-year
Bimonthly:
every two months or twice a month
Semimonthly:
every half-month
Biweekly:
every two weeks or twice a week
Semiweekly:
every half-week
Caveat: A warning or caution. A qualification or explanation.1
References: