Sunday, May 31, 2015

Sense vs. Sensibility

A reader asks about the words in a Jane Austen title:

You may already have discussed ‘sense’ and ‘sensibility’, but if not, could you program an entry. I am not sure if Jane Austen’s word meant something particular to that time. Is there a distinction to meanings between/among ‘sensibility’, ‘sensitivity’ and ‘sensitiveness’, and add in ‘sense’ too?

Sense has twenty-nine numbered definitions in the OED, several of them with subsections. Sensibility has seven numbered definitions, four of them with subsections. I shall confine the remarks in this post chiefly to the words as Austen used them in the title of her 1811 novel.

The word sense occurs dozens of times in the novel, with various connotations, including these:

sense of honor
sense of merit
in one’s right senses
sense enough to call for help

As used in Austen’s title, sense refers to what modern speakers still mean by “common sense”: “combined tact and readiness in dealing with the everyday affairs of life; general wisdom.”

The novel focuses on the love life of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Elinor represents the Sense of the title. Even when her heart is breaking, she maintains a polite façade of courtesy and tact, reasoning that what can’t be helped is not to be agonized over.

Marianne represents the Sensibility of the title, what modern speakers might call sensitivity, or even hypersensitivity. When Marianne suffers emotional anguish, everyone knows about it.

Austen sets up the differences between the sisters in her description of the way they deal with the death of their father. Elinor feels the same grief as her mother and sister, but, unlike them, she is able to govern her feelings and attend to practical matters. Marianne and their mother, on the other hand, wallow helplessly in their sorrow and refuse to be comforted:

Marianne’s abilities were, in many respects, quite equal to Elinor’s. She was…clever; but eager in everything: her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation. She was generous, amiable, interesting: she was everything but prudent. The resemblance between her and her mother was strikingly great.

Elinor saw, with concern, the excess of her sister’s sensibility; but by Mrs. Dashwood it was valued and cherished. They [Marianne and her mother] encouraged each other now in the violence of their affliction. The agony of grief which overpowered them at first, was voluntarily renewed, was sought for, was created again and again. They gave themselves up wholly to their sorrow, seeking increase of wretchedness in every reflection that could afford it, and resolved against ever admitting consolation in future.

Sensibility in the sense of the quality of being easily and strongly affected by emotional influences was still a fairly new usage in Austen’s day, giving the title a certain up-to-date catchiness.

The plural, sensibilities, is current in modern usage to mean “feelings as to what is appropriate or decent”:

The treatment of low, disgusting, unpleasant, though not necessarily evil, subjects should always be subject to the dictates of good taste and a regard for the sensibilities of the audience.—The Hays Motion Picture Production Code, 1930.

And while the boundaries have clearly been pushed way back, movies continue to emerge which challenge our notions of what is acceptable, depicting acts of sex and violence in increasingly graphic style and often offending the sensibilities of the prudish and conservative.—Recent blog post about 21st century films.

Related post:
Sense and Nonsense

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Saturday, May 30, 2015

Disruptive and Disruptor

Until recently, the words disrupt, disruptive, disruption, and disruptor were negative words used to describe actions detrimental to perceived social order. For example:

Man in Elbow Room Disruption Fights Police, Damages Cruiser
Twelve protesters disrupted a speech by Condoleeza Rice at Norwich University in Vermont.

Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi has announced the arrest of several “election disruptors” in Tehran.

Ideally, chronically disruptive students should be placed in high-quality alternative education settings where they can receive long-term, intensive interventions

In the realm of science fiction, a disruptor is a weapon that can destroy a human being in a very unpleasant manner by disrupting cellular structure.

Now, however, thanks to Clayton Christensen, a consultant and an entrepreneur whose 1992 Harvard DBA dissertation describes an academic theory of “disruptive innovation,” the nouns disruption and disruptor have taken on a positive connotation, at least for some denizens of Silicon Valley:

Nowadays every corporate executive wants to disrupt; the word has become a mark of forward-thinking decisiveness—though it is sometimes attached to strategies that are more about cost-cutting than game-changing. And in Silicon Valley, belief in disruption has taken on a near religious tinge. All that disrupts is good; all that stands in disruption’s way (such as, say, San Francisco taxi companies or metropolitan daily newspapers) deserves to perish. –Justin Fox, “The Disruption Myth,” The Atlantic, October 2014.

In this context, disruption refers to the phenomenon of old technology being upstaged by newer technology. This new disruption names a situation in which a company that was the leader in a certain field finds itself losing money because another company, with newer technology, takes the lead away from them. An example given in the Atlantic article is what happened “when electronic cash registers went from 10 percent of the market in 1972 to 90 percent just four years later,” causing the National Cash Register Company to experience big losses.

Six years before Christensen’s dissertation, Dick Foster described the same phenomenon in conventional language in a book called Innovation: The Attacker’s Advantage.

In Business-speak, disruption is a new word for innovation. Innovators have become disruptors.

Spelling note: Both OED and M-W show the spelling disruptor as “an alternative spelling” of disrupter, but the -or ending seems to be more common. A Google search of “disrupter” returns about 429,000 hits to 1,020,000 for “disruptor.” The Ngram Viewer shows disrupter ahead until 1995, when disruptor pulls ahead.

For those readers looking for a synonym for innovation that doesn’t convey the negativity of disruption, here are some possibilities:

change
alteration
revolution
upheaval
transformation
metamorphosis
breakthrough
new measures
new methods
modernization
novelty
creativity
ingenuity
innovation
inventiveness

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Friday, May 29, 2015

Till vs. Until

A reader asks,

Isn’t the shortened version of until spelled ’til, not til or till?

I know that till is a word (I worked as a grocery store cashier as a teenager), so I understand why it doesn’t get flagged by spellcheck when some writers incorrectly shorten the word until as till.

Many speakers believe that the till in such expressions as “Till death do us part” and “Till the end of Time” should be written ’til, as if it were a shortened version of until.

In fact, till is not a shortening of until. It is a freestanding word that can be used as a preposition and as a conjunction in the same ways as until. Both words are documented with the sense of “up to the time of” as early as the 1300s.

Till is more common in speech and until in writing, but both have been used interchangeably by generations of writers.

Shakespeare uses both in All’s Well That Ends Well (c.1604):

Go, tell the Count Rousillon, and my brother,
We have caught the woodcock, and will keep him muffled
Till we do hear from them.

Our rash faults
Make trivial price of serious things we have,
Not knowing them until we know their grave.

Dickens uses both till and until in Great Expectations (1861):

I was not expected till to-morrow; but I had my keys, and, if Herbert were gone to bed, could get to bed myself without disturbing him.

Until she opened the side entrance, I had fancied, without thinking about it, that it must necessarily be night-time.

George Orwell does it in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949):

The new ration did not start till tomorrow and he had only four cigarettes left.

Very likely the confessions had been rewritten and rewritten until the original facts and dates no longer had the smallest significance.

The form ’til is a fairly recent invention, created by writers in the mistaken belief that spoken till is a shortening of until and should therefore be written with an apostrophe for the missing syllable un-.

Bottom line: Till is a perfectly good English word. ’Til is nonstandard.

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25 French Food-related Terms in English

Note: The pronunciation of these terms varies according to how familiar the speaker is with French. Usually, getting close is good enough. I’ve included pronunciation for six terms that may be especially tricky for some English speakers.

1. à la carte
Food items that can be ordered individually and not as part of a set meal are ordered à la carte. The French word carte means card or menu. For example, a true à la carte menu would list each item separately, with individual prices: chicken legs, $4; broccoli, $2; rice, $1.50, and so on.

2. à la mode
This French expression means “according to the fashion” and can be applied to clothing, furniture, dances, or anything that goes in and out of style. In US usage, the term is applied as a post-modifier to desserts. It usually means “with ice cream,” as in “pie à la mode.”

3. apéritif
An apéritif is an alcoholic drink, taken before a meal to stimulate the appetite.

4. au jus  
Chiefly US, au jus is used as a post-modifier to indicate that a dish, usually meat, has been prepared or served in a gravy containing its own juices.

5. au gratin
A dish prepared au gratin has been sprinkled with breadcrumbs or grated cheese browned in the oven or under the grill. The French verb gratiner means “to brown.”

6. baguette
A long, thin loaf of French bread.

7. bon appétit
A salutation before eating.

8. café au lait [ka-fay oh lay]
Coffee taken with milk.

9. cordon bleu  
Literally, “blue ribbon,” the expression reflects the sense of “first class.” In culinary usage, “a cordon blue” is “a first-class cook.”

10. crème brûlée
A cream topped with caramelized sugar, served as dessert.

11. cuisine
The ordinary word for kitchen in French, cuisine is also used to describe a manner or style of food preparation.

12. en brochette
A brochette is a skewer. En brochette refers to food cooked, and sometimes served, on brochettes, or skewers, like shish kebab. Food served en brochette is generally grilled. 

13. maître d’hôtel  
Maître is French for master. The maître d’hôtel is the host or manager of the “front” of a formal restaurant, the part that serves the customers. British speakers shorten the phrase to maître, but American speakers refer to this person as the maître d. The responsibilities of a maître d’hôtel generally include supervising the wait staff, taking reservations, and welcoming guests.

14. omelette (US omelet)
A dish traditionally made of beaten eggs fried in a pan and folded over. Sometimes other ingredients are added to the egg mixture.

15. petit four
A small fancy cake, biscuit, or sweet, usually served with coffee after a meal. The literal meaning is “little oven.”

16. plat du jour
Literally, “plate of the day, the plat du jour is a dish prepared in addition to the usual menu, available only on that day.

17. pot-au-feu
The literal meaning is “pot on the fire.” It can refer to a large traditional French cooking pot or to something cooked in one, usually a thick soup of meat and vegetables.

18. prix fixe [pree-feex]
A prix fixe meal typically includes several courses, but, unlike à la carte pricing, prix fixe indicates that all the courses are included under one “fixed price

19. roux  [roo]
A mixture of fat and flour heated together and used in making sauces and soups. In the United States, a spicy roux is a staple of Cajun cooking in New Orleans.

20. sauté  
The French verb sauter means “to jump.” Vegetables that are sautéed are fried in a pan with a little butter over a high heat, while being tossed from time to time.

21. sommelier [so-mel-yay]
A sommelier is a wine waiter or wine steward.

22. soupçon  [soup-sohn]
Soupçon is French for suspicion. In cooking, a soupçon is a very small quantity or slight trace of something, “a pinch.”

23. soupe du jour
Like the plat du jour, the soupe du jour (“soup of the day”) is the advertised specialty on a given day.

24. vinaigrette
A vinaigrette is a dressing of oil and wine vinegar, sometimes with herbs used with salads and cold vegetables

25. pièce de résistance [pee-es duh ray-seez-tahnce]
In general usage, the phrase may refer to the prize item in a collection. For example, “The museum’s pièce de résistance is an exact reproduction of an American eighteenth century carpenter’s tiger maple chest.” In reference to food, the pièce de résistance is the main or most difficult-to-resist part of a meal.

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Thursday, May 28, 2015

Don't Be Driven by the Three-Email Rule

Lately people in business writing classes have been asking about the three-email rule. That's the rule espoused by Phil Simon, author of Message Not Received: Why Business Communication Is Broken and How to Fix It. Simon touched on the rule...

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Internet Initialisms

Although I’ve adopted a few initialisms such as BTW, LOL, and IMHO in my own informal writing, I’m mostly ignorant of the alphabet soup current on Twitter and other social media sites.

When a reader recently introduced me to the combination DRTL, I realized that this new language represents not just a kind of shorthand, but also a new philosophy of written language. This particular construct, DRTL, seems to me to symbolize the new philosophy:

DRTL = Didn’t Read, Too Long.

Strings of commonly understood letter combinations such as FYI (For your information), TGIF (Thank God it’s Friday), and ASAP (As soon as possible) pre-date the Internet, of course, but they never occurred in the profusion that exists now. Readers who share my lack of currency in Abbreviation-Speak may find the following list useful.

AFAIK: As far as I know
AIUI: As I understand it
BTDT: Been there, Done that
BTW: By the way
F2F: Face to face
FOAF: Friend of a friend
FWIW: For What it’s worth
GAL: Get a life
GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out
HTH: Hope that helps
IANAL: I am not a lawyer
ICYMI: In case you missed it
IIRC: If I recall correctly
IMHO: In my humble opinion
IMO: In my opinion
IRL: In real life
ISTM: It seems to me
JK (also J/K) Just kidding
LOL: Laughing out loud
OMG: Oh, My God
OTOH: On the other hand
OTT: Over the top
STW: Search the Web
TIL: Today I learned
TMI Too much information
TTYL: Talk to you later
WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get

Of course this list is a mere scratching of the surface. And I’ve deliberately left out the ones that contain a gratuitous F. Nevertheless, even a short list may help a few codgers navigate Twitter with a little more comprehension. HTH.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Top 10 Confused Words in English [E-F]

The words in the following list represent misunderstanding of the words’ meanings and not simply an inability to spell them correctly. This post covers words starting with the letters e and f (the a-b list is here, and the c-d one here).

1. economic / economical
Both adjectives are related, but have distinct meanings. Economic refers to economics or the economy: “Reagan’s economic policies came to be known as ‘Reaganomics.’ ”

Economical means, “giving good value in relation to the resources used”: “Buying in bulk is an economical way to shop.”

2. ensure / insure
To ensure is to guarantee: “The librarian held his passport to ensure that he would return the book before leaving.”

To insure is to enter into an agreement to assure against future loss: “The Joneses decided to insure their house against flood as well as fire.”

3. envelop / envelope
The word without the final e is a verb meaning “to surround”: “Come, let me envelop you in my arms.” The word with the final e is a noun, meaning “container for a letter”: “She placed the letter in the envelope and sealed it with a kiss.”

The verb is pronounced with stress on the second syllable. For the noun, the stress falls on the first syllable. As for the pronunciation of the noun’s first syllable, both EN and ON are heard. For an extended commentary on the pronunciation of envelope, see The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations by Charles Elster.

4. famous / infamous
Many bloggers seem to be unaware that these two words are not interchangeable. Not only have I seen people like Hitler and Al Capone referred to as “famous,” I’ve recently seen infamous used in reference to people who, as far as I know, are not noted for doing bad things. Both adjectives mean “well known,” but famous means well known for admirable qualities, whereas infamous implies despicable behavior. Princess Diana is famous for her work in ridding the world of landmines. The gangster John Dillinger was an infamous bank robber.

5. farther / further
A great deal of ink, real and virtual, is spilled insisting that further must never be used in reference to physical distance. According to this argument, we may say, “I walked farther than you,” but not, “I walked further than you.” This is one of those prissy distinctions that has found its way into stylebooks, but is belied by centuries of usage. Either farther or further is acceptable in the context of physical distance. However, as Paul Brians (Common Errors in English Usage) puts it, “Some people get really testy about this.”

Further, on the other hand, is the preferred form in abstract and figurative senses:

“This office will be closed until further notice.” Further is the only choice as a verb: “Mr. Smith’s generous donation will enable us to further our plans for expanding the homeless shelter.”

6. flaunt / flout
“To flout” is to express contempt for something. If you’re showing something off, you’re flaunting it. If you’re disregarding a law, a rule, or a social convention, you’re flouting it. For example: “I unfriended Charlie because he was constantly flouting civil behavior with his vulgar language.” “She is unbelievably wealthy, but she doesn’t flaunt it.”

7. flounde / founder
Used as verbs, these two words are often confused.
Literally, to flounder means “to struggle”: “The cat floundered desperately in the water.”

Literally, founder may be used in any of the following senses:

[of a building] to fall down
[of a horse] to fall helplessly to the ground
[of a ship] to fill with water and sink

Figuratively, flounder retains the meaning of “to struggle” with the added connotations of ineptness, confusion, or embarrassment: “He floundered for a bit, trying to figure out how to rephrase the question.”

Figuratively, founder means “to fail”: “Even with that money, there’s no guarantee the daycare wouldn’t founder later.”

8. forbear / forebear
The first, forbear, is a verb meaning “to refrain from”: “Prince Charles will forbear from making political pronouncements when he becomes king, The Observer reported yesterday.” The second, forebear, is a noun meaning ancestor: “The British must rediscover the boldness and ambition of their Victorian forebears, say the politicians.”

9. forward / foreword
The confusion between these words is understandable. The adjective forward describes something that is in front of or ahead of something else. The noun foreword is a preface, a brief essay that stands at the front of a book. An easy way to keep them straight is to pay attention to the word in foreword. A foreword is made up of words.

10. fortuitous / fortunate
Both words derive from Latin fortuna, “luck or chance.” Fortuna could be either good or bad; it was what happened to a person. In modern English, fortunate has the connotation of good fortune only: “It was fortunate for him that someone heard his cries for help.”

Fortuitous, on the other hand, retains the notion of happenstance or accident. “A fortuitous meeting” is an accidental meeting. However, because of the similarity of fortuitous to fortunate, the expression “a fortuitous meeting” is most commonly understood to mean a meeting that was lucky as well as coincidental.

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Monday, May 25, 2015

Verb Review #9: There Is / There Are

A reader asks about the use of “there is” and “there are”:

I am writing to express my puzzlement over whether to use “there is” or “there are”. When I was reading a script, I came across [this] sentence: “In his arms there are a whole bunch of corn husks.” Should it not be “there is”?

Plenty of native speakers experience a sense of puzzlement when it comes to “there is” and “there are.”

The grammar is clear. A singular subject takes a singular verb. Therefore, “There is” should be used to introduce a singular noun and “There are” should introduce a plural noun:

There is a long line at the checkout counter.
There are twenty-five students in this class.

In sentences like these, the word there is used as a sentence opener. The true subject comes after the verb. This construction is known variously as “a delayed subject,” “an expletive construction,” and “a dummy subject.”

Here are the sentences rewritten to put the subjects at the beginning:

A long line is at the checkout counter.
Twenty-five students are in this class.

English speakers are not accustomed to having to think ahead when constructing a spoken sentence. They are also fond of reducing words to simpler forms. There’s seems to have become the same kind of reduction for “there are” as gonna for “going to” and gimme for “give me.”

“There is” contracts to there’s, but “There are” has no easy-to-pronounce contraction.

There’re for “there are” may be pronounceable for some speakers, but not for all. And, apart from dialogue, it should never be necessary to write “there’re.”

Perhaps the awkward pronunciation of “there’re” is one reason so many speakers take the path of least resistance and open sentences with There’s, without regard to the grammatical number of the true subject.

The example in the reader’s question sounds like a stage direction: “In his arms there are a whole bunch of corn husks.” It is a badly written sentence on two counts:

1. The verb should be is and not are because the true subject is singular: bunch.

2. The sentence begins with the phrase “in his arms.” An additional sentence opener is not required: “In his arms is a whole bunch of corn husks.”

If the sentence is a stage direction, a more straightforward way to express the thought might be “He is carrying an armload of corn husks.”

There’s as a sentence opener without regard to the true subject is a feature of colloquial spoken English that no amount of chiding will eliminate.

Formal speech is another matter. News announcers, advertisers, and other professionals who address large audiences have a responsibility to observe grammatical agreement when opening a sentence with there.

In written English, sentences that begin with there is or there are can easily be edited to observe agreement. In most cases, such sentences usually benefit from being rewritten to put the true subject first.

Related post: The Delayed Subject with “There”

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An Application of Motivating Language Theory in Mexican Organizations

The purpose of the current study was to extend organizational communication scholarship by examining the influence of culture on the use of motivating language by supervisors in Mexican organizations. Furthermore, the influence of motivating language on employees’ perceptions of their supervisors’ communication competence and their own job satisfaction and organizational commitment was examined. Participants included 158 full-time employees from a number of organizations located in Mexico. The current findings indicate that supervisors in organizations located in Mexico, tend to use direction-giving language most frequently followed by meaning-making language and empathetic language. Direction-giving language was also indicated as the greatest predictor of communication and organizational outcomes. A discussion of the current findings highlighting expectancy violations theory was also offered.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Causing a Furor, Not a Fury

Although furor and fury derive from the same Latin verb, furere, “to rage, be mad,” when the intended meaning is “public uproar,” furor is the better choice.

Although anger is often one of the emotions expressed in a public upheaval of interest and comment, it isn’t always. Sometimes a furor may be caused by excessive admiration. In fact, the word that Americans and Canadians spell furor and British speakers spell furore, entered English from Italian furore, “enthusiastic popular admiration.” Here’s an example in which furor is used without the connotation of anger:

With the first indication of his appearance, wide-eyed teenage girls gripped the edge of their chairs, stamped their feet in passionate furor and started clutching each other for emotional support.

In the following examples, “to cause a fury” is a poor substitute for “to cause a furor”:

Original: Two cases of Ebola have caused a fury in Texas.
Better: Two cases of Ebola have caused a furor in Texas.

Original: The first Matisse show in New York caused a fury that delighted Stieglitz.
Better: The first Matisse show in New York caused a furor that delighted Stieglitz.

Furor conveys the ideas of objection and argument that fury does not.

Here are some synonyms to clarify the difference between fury and furor:

fury
fierceness
ferocity
violence
turbulence
tempestuousness
savagery
severity
intensity
vehemence
force
forcefulness
power
strength

furor
commotion
uproar
outcry
fuss
agitation
pandemonium
disturbance
hubbub
tumult
turmoil

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Cryptid

The lovely word cryptid came to my attention in reference to the ivory-billed woodpecker. One of these birds, long believed to be extinct, was sighted in eastern Arkansas in 2004. As no subsequent sightings have been reported, the survival of the species is still disputed.

Cryptid is of recent coinage, suggested in 1983 by J. E. Wall in a publication of the International Society of Cryptozoology, as a word “to replace sensational and often misleading terms like monster.”

Note: The Google Ngram Viewer shows use of cryptid as early as 1963, but the appearance in the ISC newsletter is most likely the cause of the word’s meteoric rise from 1990 to the present.

Cryptozoology may be a pseudoscience, but the word cryptid is a useful addition to the English vocabulary, joining other English words that derive from Greek kryptos, “hidden”:

crypt (1583)
An underground cell, chamber, or vault; especially, one used as a burial place and typically lying beneath a church.

cryptogram (1827)
A piece of cryptographic writing; anything written in code or cipher.

cryptology (1844)
The science, study, or practice of encrypting and decrypting information.

cryptonym (1862) 
A pseudonym or code name; esp. one given to a spy or to a clandestine operation.

crypsis (1956) Cryptic coloration or behavior that enables an animal to conceal its presence.

Cryptozoology (1968)
The study of unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose existence or survival to the present day is disputed or unsubstantiated.

Cryptids more sensational than the ivory-billed woodpecker include the following:

Abominable Snowman
Big Foot
chupacabra
Fouke Monster
Kelpie Water horse
Loch Ness monster
Mermaids
Sea serpents
Sewer alligators

For a lengthy list of cryptids, see the Wikipedia article.

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Friday, May 22, 2015

Discomfort and Discomfiture

A reader asks,

Can you explain the origin of the word discomfiture? This seems to be a recent invention; I was not coming across this word about 10 years ago. However, recently its use has increased. Is it the same as discomfort?

Discomfiture is not as common a word as discomfort, but it has been used continuously in English since Chaucer’s day. Discomfort is a little earlier, dating from about 1350, when it meant “deprivation of happiness.”

The earliest OED citations show discomfiture used with the meaning “defeat in battle.” Meanings that developed from there include “frustration of plans or hopes; utter disappointment; perplexity, confusion.” In time, the meaning weakened to include lesser emotions, such as unease, embarrassment, and similar-sounding discomfort.

Although the words may be considered synonyms, discomfiture implies a stronger sense of unease and confusion than discomfort because it combines the connotation of both defeat and embarrassment. Even when defeat is not implied, discomfiture suggests a sense of agitation that discomfort lacks.

I never was more completely whipped in a criminal case, and I always thought Judge Miller enjoyed my discomfiture more than anyone else.

So terrible was his appearance that Spitz was forced to forego disciplining him; but to cover his own discomfiture he turned upon the inoffensive and wailing Billee and drove him to the confines of the camp.

Tempting as it is, though, to smile at the court’s discomfiture, the bigger issue here is whether the federal judiciary should be so actively engaged in the details of the electoral process. 

Discomfort implies a sense of uneasiness, inconvenience, or mild physical pain.

If you have a comfort zone, you must also have a discomfort zone. 

Why Getting Comfortable With Discomfort Is Crucial To Success

About a dozen new teachers of criminal law at multiple institutions have told me that they are not including rape law in their courses, arguing that it’s not worth the risk of complaints of discomfort by students.

If you experience any discomfort in your eye after doing an activity in which a small particle could have entered your eye, such as hammering or working under a car, don’t ignore it. 

I would save discomfiture to describe the kind of discomfort that includes embarrassment on the part of the person feeling it.

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Thursday, May 21, 2015

Mediation, Arbitration, and Litigation

In general usage, mediate and arbitrate are synonyms. However, as a reader pointed out when I used the words mediator and arbitrated in a sentence illustrating the difference between uninterested and disinterested, the roles of mediator and arbitrator in a legal context are distinct.

Note: Like arbitrator, the noun arbiter also means “one who judges.” Arbiter usually refers to someone who judges matters of taste or etiquette: “Gradually, the arbiters of the New York art world caught on. Superlatives in The New York Times became almost routine.”

The reader, who has served as both mediator and arbitrator, explains the difference this way:

As a mediator, I help to facilitate a resolution of matters in dispute, a resolution…that all parties then agree to. I do not decide the matter, the parties do.
 
As an arbitrator, I act as a judge – although I consider the parties’ respective proposals for resolution, I decide how the matters will be resolved.

Because litigation is time-consuming and extremely expensive, processes called mediation and arbitration have become popular as alternatives or adjuncts to litigation.

litigation: any lawsuit or other resort to the courts to determine a legal question or matter.

mediation: an attempt to settle a legal dispute with the help of a mediator (neutral third party) who works with the disputants to find points of agreement and reach a fair solution.

arbitration: an informal trial presided over by a person or panel of persons (neutral third parties) who are not judges in the judicial system.

Mediation may or may not result in a satisfactory settlement. With arbitration, the disputing parties (usually) agree in advance to accept the decision of the arbitrator/s.

Sources: FindLaw.com and Law.com

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Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Mistakes With Regard

The English word regard has multiple meanings as both noun and verb. A common error is to attach an s to the noun in certain expressions.

Incorrect: In congressional questioning, assessment of Clinton’s performance at State in regards to the Benghazi attack was split by party line.—US News & World Report.
Correct : In congressional questioning, assessment of Clinton’s performance at State in regard to the Benghazi attack was split by party line.

Incorrect: Texas Tech wants all or nothing in regards to A&M rivalry—NBC Sports.
Correct : Texas Tech wants all or nothing in regard to A&M rivalry.

Incorrect: Yoga outfit said to stretch truth in regards to assets —New York Post.
Correct : Yoga outfit said to stretch truth in regard to assets.

Incorrect: IRS Provides Guidance With Regards to Same-Sex Married Couples
—Nova Southeastern University site.
Correct : IRS Provides Guidance With Regard to Same-Sex Married Couples.

Incorrect: If he was seen to be taking the party line and demonstrating strong leadership with regards to opposing the bill, this would do his chances no harm whatsoever.—UK History Learning site.
Correct : If he was seen to be taking the party line and demonstrating strong leadership with regard to opposing the bill, this would do his chances no harm whatsoever.

When does regard take an s?

1. When it is used to close a letter:
Best regards,
George

2. When it is preceded by as:
As regards the issue of complexity, this is quite evident: the brain is one of the most complex systems we know.

3. When it is used as a third person present tense singular verb:
Respect is very important in the way Scorsese works with actors and also the way he regards his audience.

Related posts:
In Regard to Your Letter
In Regards To

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10 Ways To Form a Compound Noun

Compound nouns are of three kinds: open, hyphenated, and closed.

As the names imply, “open compounds” are written as separate words, “hyphenated compounds” are written with one or more hyphens, and “closed compounds” are written as a single word.

Many compounds begin as open, progress to hyphenated, and finish as closed. Because of the modern preference to avoid hyphenating words as much as possible, newly created compounds tend to develop closed forms earlier than they might have in the past. Some compounds written as one word in US usage are hyphenated in British usage.

Compound nouns are formed by combining different parts of speech. This list of ten is not exhaustive.

1. noun + noun
wheeler-dealer
bedroom
shoelace

2. noun + preposition/adverb
hanger-on
voice-over
passerby (Br. passer-by)

3. noun + adjective
attorney general
battle royal
poet laureate

4. noun + verb
airlift
haircut
snowfall

5. adjective + noun
high school
poor loser
redhead

6. adjective + verb
well-being
whitewashing

7. preposition/adverb + noun
off-ramp
onlooker

8. verb + noun
singing lesson
washing machine

9. verb + preposition/adverb
warm-up
know-how
get-together
follow-through

10. word + preposition + word
free-for-all
mother-in-law
word-of-mouth

Most compound nouns form their plurals like any other noun: by adding an s to the end of the word: wheeler-dealers, washing machines, onlookers.

A few, like mother-in-law and hole in one do not place the s at the end, but on the most significant word: mothers-in-law, holes in one.

Some compounds of French origin in which the adjective stands last have more than one acceptable plural (depending upon the dictionary):

attorney generals or attorneys general
court martials or courts martial
film noirs, films noir, or films noirs
runner-ups or runners-up

Because there are no hard and fast rules regarding the writing of compound nouns, stylebooks advise writers to consult a dictionary when in doubt.

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Sunday, May 17, 2015

Nauseated vs. Nauseous

A reader sent me this request:

Would you please do a blast-out about the word nauseated versus nauseous?

The noun “blast-out” is new to me, but I presume it means something like the following:

a strongly worded admonition to English speakers to get the difference between these two words straight once and for all, blast it!

The more I research usage and write about it, the less inclined I am to blast out about anything, especially word pairs like nauseous and nauseated.

The supposed distinction is that people are nauseated, whereas nasty, disgusting things are nauseous. For example, women in the early stages of pregnancy often feel nauseated. A stagnant pool of foul-smelling water is nauseous.

The OED give two definitions of the adjective nauseous:
1. Of a thing, causing nausea.
2. Of a person, affected with nausea.

For at least 179 years, English speakers have been using nauseous in the sense of “feeling the urge to throw up”:

In speaking of the effect of bloodletting, Mr. Lizars says that ‘the patient feels nauseous and sick even to vomiting’. (OED citation dated 1836).

A search on the Ngram Viewer of “feel nauseated” and “feel nauseous” shows a convergence of both terms in 2000.

In popular usage, nauseous is frequently used to mean nauseated, whereas nauseating has largely replaced it to describe disgusting objects or odors: Drivers of General Motors’ popular Chevrolet Cruze sedan are complaining that the vehicle’s new car smell is a nauseating stench.

Everyone’s entitled to defend a preferred usage, even one that’s clearly headed for extinction. One of my own language peeves is to hear the word disinterested in a context that calls for uninterested. In my heart-of-hearts, I know it’s a distinction that goes unobserved more often than not, but I’ll continue to observe it in my own writing and to recommend it to others.

Speakers to whom the distinction between nauseous and nauseated is important should observe it in their own speech and writing. Insisting that everyone do it is futile. Like civil public discourse, careful language has become a minority value. Those who care about it don’t need to be blasted; they need only to be informed.

Related Articles
What To Do About Non-standard English
”Disinterested” Is Not the Same as “Uninterested”

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The Changing Meaning of School

Since Shakespeare’s time at least, children have been portrayed as being reluctant to go to school:

…the whining school-boy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. —As You Like It, II:vii,148-150.

That’s a sad fate for school, a word that originated in the context of enjoyable leisure time.

Our word school comes from Latin schola, “learned leisure.” Schola was free time during which educated men could sit around and talk about ideas. The talk might lead to lecturing and arguing, so from meaning “free time for talking about ideas,” schola came to mean debate, dispute, lecture, dissertation.

More and more definitions were added. A schola could be “a place where learned disputations are carried on.” Then, the followers of a favorite lecturer or philosopher were called “a schola.”

Note: School in the expression “a school of fish” derives from Middle Dutch schole, “flock of animals.”

In modern English, school has numerous meanings and occurs in several idioms.

School can mean any of the following:

An establishment or institution for the formal education of children or young people.

The building or set of buildings used by a school.

A place, environment, experience, etc., which forms or develops a person’s character or behavior.

A group of people who follow or are influenced by the teaching of a particular person, or who share similar principles, ideas, or methods.
A group of people who share a particular opinion, practice, or custom.

A particular type of doctrine or practice as followed by a group of people.

An institution in which instruction of a particular kind is given.

A department in a college or university.

Here are a few examples of these different uses:

A painting of Mary Stuart by an unknown artist of the School of Clouet hangs at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Spenser earned his degree in the school of hard knocks, so he is ready when a Boston university hires him to recover a rare, stolen manuscript.

You have to understand, he’s definitely old school when it comes to understanding different cultures.

This is a discussion of Marxism-Leninism as a school of thought as opposed to a political practice.

The Colorado School of Mines Board of Trustees announced that Paul C. Johnson is the finalist for president of Colorado School of Mines.

The Missouri School of Journalism at University of Missouri in Columbia is a journalism school which may be the oldest formal journalism school in the world.

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Saturday, May 16, 2015

Belt Idioms

A striking headline from The Daily Beast got me thinking about all the expressions that make use of the noun belt.

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Thursday, May 14, 2015

Dissembled vs. Disassembled

A reader offers this interesting use of dissembled: On CNN a state department spokesperson just referred to our soldiers having dissembled some weapons in the hands of Iraqis.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

To Garnish vs. To Garnishee

A reader wonders about the verbs garnish and garnishee.

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10 Wrong Ways to Start Your Emails

Do you want your email readers to delete your messages immediately? Of course you don't. Who would? Then you must avoid these 10 bad ways of starting emails. ​ 1. Spell the reader’s name wrong, use a nickname rather than...

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Note or Notice

A reader wonders if there is a significant difference of connotation between the verbs “to note” and “to notice.” The question arose as he tried to decide between the following sentences to express the inner dialogue of a character.

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Monday, May 11, 2015

Don’t They Have Spell Check?

We all know that spell checkers aren’t much help in catching homonyms. English speakers are still expected to discern the difference between pear, pare, and pair by drawing on what they should have learned in school.

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Sunday, May 10, 2015

Sumptuous

In response to my post about the use of the word unctuous in the context of cooking, several readers suggested that speakers might be confusing unctuous with sumptuous.

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Saturday, May 9, 2015

“Comprised of” Revisited

More than one reader has chided me for writing “comprised of” in a recent post. Here’s the culprit:

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Friday, May 8, 2015

Etymons and Lemmas

If you understand the meaning of etymon and lemma in the two following statements, you may want to skip this post.

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Are You Going to Adopt a Modern "Essentials" Textbook?


Are you going to adopt a modern “Essentials” textbook with extensive integration of mobile communication in every chapter, or are you going to saddle your students with a commonly adopted “Essentials” text that is stuck in the last decade?


Bovee & Thill's Online Magazines for Business Communication's insight:


Because of complacency and a lack of knowledge about the topic, most business communication textbook authors are ignoring the mobile revolution. In fact, they’re pretending that it doesn’t even exist.


In light of these facts, are your students being served well? There is one team that’s always on the cutting edge: Bovee and Thill. The fact they are the only business communication textbook authors currently writing about mobile tells you everything you need to know about which author team conscientiously revises its books and keeps them current. (Bovee and Thill were also the first authors to discuss social media and digital communication in their texts.)


Adopt the only modern "Essentials" text: Business Communications Essentials by Bovee and Thill.


See how your text compares to Business Communication Essentials with this interactive checklist.





Symbolic and Important

A reader brought the following quotation from a statement by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) to my attention.

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Thursday, May 7, 2015

An Online Magazine for Business Communication Instructors: Teaching a Modern Business Communication Course

An Online Magazine for Business Communication Instructors: Teaching a Modern Business Communication CourseAn online business communication magazine, via the website Scoop.It, is Teaching a Modern Business Communication Course.

This curated site, by the world's leading authors of business communication textbooks, Courtland Bovee and John Thill, covers a wide variety of topics reflecting the diverse subject matter of the course to which this magazine relates. Topics covered recently include

Are You Going to Adopt a Modern "Essentials" Textbook?

The Myth That All Business Communication Textbooks Are the Same

20 Grammar Mistakes That Even Smart People Make

How Instructors Can Stop Being Scared of Twitter

Google for Instructors: 100+ Tricks

New materials are regularly added to the magazine. In addition to articles, you'll also find PowerPoints, videos, and infographics.

An Online Magazine for Business Communication Instructors: Business Communication 2.0: Social Media and Digital Communication

An Online Magazine for Business Communication Instructors: Business Communication 2.0: Social Media and Digital CommunicationAn online business communication magazine, via the website Scoop.It, is Business Communication 2.0: Social Media and Digital Communication.

This curated site, by the world's leading authors of business communication textbooks, Courtland Bovee and John Thill, covers a wide variety of topics reflecting the diverse subject matter of the course to which this magazine relates. Topics covered recently include

New Technology That Will Change Business Communication

17 Tips for Writing an Effective E-Mail Subject Line

Coca-Cola No Longer Have to Listen to Voice Mails

10 Maxims for Successful Blogging

How Much Do You Know about Social Networking? Take This Quiz to Find Out?

New materials are regularly added to the magazine. In addition to articles, you'll also find PowerPoints, videos, and infographics.

If you're teaching a business communication course, this is a "must-see" publication.











Here's How to Get Google to Remove Embarrassing Search Links


Here is how to request a link be removed from Google.


Bovee & Thill's Online Magazines for Business Communication's insight:

"Google already agrees to take down personal information that could pose a threat, such as identity theft or financial fraud and offensive images.


"Google still suggests going straight to the webmaster of the page and asking them to take it down, especially since removing a link from Google listings doesn't remove the page from the internet, or from any competing search engines such as Bing or Yahoo." . . .



10 Brilliant Strategies for Writing Viral Content


Write viral content, reach millions, and rule the Internet.


Bovee & Thill's Online Magazines for Business Communication's insight:

"There are certain websites, writers, marketers and content creators who seem to rule the Internet. Everything they put out there seems contagious, capturing an audience of millions and sparking conversations on social media." . . .



Are You Going to Adopt a Modern "Essentials" Textbook?


Are you going to adopt a modern “Essentials” textbook with extensive integration of mobile communication in every chapter, or are you going to saddle your students with a commonly adopted “Essentials” text that is stuck in the last decade?


Bovee & Thill's Online Magazines for Business Communication's insight:


Because of complacency and a lack of knowledge about the topic, most business communication textbook authors are ignoring the mobile revolution. In fact, they’re pretending that it doesn’t even exist.


In light of these facts, are your students being served well? There is one team that’s always on the cutting edge: Bovee and Thill. The fact they are the only business communication textbook authors currently writing about mobile tells you everything you need to know about which author team conscientiously revises its books and keeps them current. (Bovee and Thill were also the first authors to discuss social media and digital communication in their texts.)


Adopt the only modern "Essentials" text: Business Communications Essentials by Bovee and Thill.


See how your text compares to Business Communication Essentials with this interactive checklist.





Are You Going to Adopt a Modern "Essentials" Textbook?


Are you going to adopt a modern “Essentials” textbook with extensive integration of mobile communication in every chapter, or are you going to saddle your students with a commonly adopted “Essentials” text that is stuck in the last decade?


Bovee & Thill's Online Magazines for Business Communication's insight:


Because of complacency and a lack of knowledge about the topic, most business communication textbook authors are ignoring the mobile revolution. In fact, they’re pretending that it doesn’t even exist.


In light of these facts, are your students being served well? There is one team that’s always on the cutting edge: Bovee and Thill. The fact they are the only business communication textbook authors currently writing about mobile tells you everything you need to know about which author team conscientiously revises its books and keeps them current. (Bovee and Thill were also the first authors to discuss social media and digital communication in their texts.)


Adopt the only modern "Essentials" text: Business Communications Essentials by Bovee and Thill.


See how your text compares to Business Communication Essentials with this interactive checklist.





Are You Going to Adopt a Modern "Essentials" Textbook?


Are you going to adopt a modern “Essentials” textbook with extensive integration of mobile communication in every chapter, or are you going to saddle your students with a commonly adopted “Essentials” text that is stuck in the last decade?


Bovee & Thill's Online Magazines for Business Communication's insight:


Because of complacency and a lack of knowledge about the topic, most business communication textbook authors are ignoring the mobile revolution. In fact, they’re pretending that it doesn’t even exist.


In light of these facts, are your students being served well? There is one team that’s always on the cutting edge: Bovee and Thill. The fact they are the only business communication textbook authors currently writing about mobile tells you everything you need to know about which author team conscientiously revises its books and keeps them current. (Bovee and Thill were also the first authors to discuss social media and digital communication in their texts.)


Adopt the only modern "Essentials" text: Business Communications Essentials by Bovee and Thill.


See how your text compares to Business Communication Essentials with this interactive checklist.





Different Word Pronunciations in the U.S.

"In this 90-second clip below, we explore how some of the most contentious words and phrases are pronounced in the different parts of the country...You must login or register before you view this content.      Related StoriesTips for Establishing an Employee Texting Policy5 Red Flags Employers Spot on ResumesSix Tips for Producing Powerful Online...

Business Communication Instructor News, Volume 50

Infographic résumés are getting a lot of buzz these days. We cover them in all three of our business communication textbooks and provide a variety of examples via our Real-Time Updates and Business Communication Headline News services. In certain situations, a well-designed infographic résumé used at the right point in the job application process can be a great tool. On the other hand, an infographic résumé that is poorly designed, poorly produced, or used inappropriately can torpedo an applicant's chances. Understanding why infographic résumés can help or hurt can be a great lesson in effective business communication—for any type of document or message.

Are You Going to Adopt a Modern "Essentials" Textbook?


Are you going to adopt a modern “Essentials” textbook with extensive integration of mobile communication in every chapter, or are you going to saddle your students with a commonly adopted “Essentials” text that is stuck in the last decade?


Bovee & Thill's Online Magazines for Business Communication's insight:


Because of complacency and a lack of knowledge about the topic, most business communication textbook authors are ignoring the mobile revolution. In fact, they’re pretending that it doesn’t even exist.


In light of these facts, are your students being served well? There is one team that’s always on the cutting edge: Bovee and Thill. The fact they are the only business communication textbook authors currently writing about mobile tells you everything you need to know about which author team conscientiously revises its books and keeps them current. (Bovee and Thill were also the first authors to discuss social media and digital communication in their texts.)


Adopt the only modern "Essentials" text: Business Communications Essentials by Bovee and Thill.


See how your text compares to Business Communication Essentials with this interactive checklist.





Are You Going to Adopt a Modern "Essentials" Textbook?


Are you going to adopt a modern “Essentials” textbook with extensive integration of mobile communication in every chapter, or are you going to saddle your students with a commonly adopted “Essentials” text that is stuck in the last decade?


Bovee & Thill's Online Magazines for Business Communication's insight:


Because of complacency and a lack of knowledge about the topic, most business communication textbook authors are ignoring the mobile revolution. In fact, they’re pretending that it doesn’t even exist.


In light of these facts, are your students being served well? There is one team that’s always on the cutting edge: Bovee and Thill. The fact they are the only business communication textbook authors currently writing about mobile tells you everything you need to know about which author team conscientiously revises its books and keeps them current. (Bovee and Thill were also the first authors to discuss social media and digital communication in their texts.)


Adopt the only modern "Essentials" text: Business Communications Essentials by Bovee and Thill.


See how your text compares to Business Communication Essentials with this interactive checklist.





Are You Going to Adopt a Modern "Essentials" Textbook?


Are you going to adopt a modern “Essentials” textbook with extensive integration of mobile communication in every chapter, or are you going to saddle your students with a commonly adopted “Essentials” text that is stuck in the last decade?


Bovee & Thill's Online Magazines for Business Communication's insight:


Because of complacency and a lack of knowledge about the topic, most business communication textbook authors are ignoring the mobile revolution. In fact, they’re pretending that it doesn’t even exist.


In light of these facts, are your students being served well? There is one team that’s always on the cutting edge: Bovee and Thill. The fact they are the only business communication textbook authors currently writing about mobile tells you everything you need to know about which author team conscientiously revises its books and keeps them current. (Bovee and Thill were also the first authors to discuss social media and digital communication in their texts.)


Adopt the only modern "Essentials" text: Business Communications Essentials by Bovee and Thill.


See how your text compares to Business Communication Essentials with this interactive checklist.





Will Today’s Students Push More Companies to Embrace Social Learning?

Via newsgroups, bulletin boards, and other information-sharing platforms, learning in various forms was one of the earliest social uses of digital networking. Moving into the Internet, World Wide Web, and social media eras, the opportunities to teach and learn online expanded beyond what even an optimistic dreamer might’ve envisioned decades ago. From informal crowdsourcing of […]