“A writer’s best friend” — ^James Kilpatrick, The Writer^s Art J. Dudley Literacy Center Merriam- Webster's CONCI'^ Dictionary of English JJsage NTIALS OF CLEAR EXPRESSION f-: Boston Public Library' MA 021 1C Boston, r Merriam- Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage WITHDRAWN property of the No longer the Boston Public Library. benefited the Library. material Sate ot this Merriam-Webster, Incorporated Springfield, Massachusetts A GENUINE MERRIAM-WEBSTER The name Webster alone is no guarantee of excellence. It is used by a number of publishers and may serve mainly to mis- lead an unwary buyer. Merriam-Webster^^^ is the name you should look for when you consider the purchase of dictionaries or other fine refer- ence books. It carries the reputation of a company that has been publishing since 1831 and is your assurance of quality and authority. © Copyright 2002 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated Philippines Copyright 2002 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Merriam-Webster’s concise dictionary oj English usage, cm. p. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-87779-633-5 — — 1. English language Usage Dictionaries. I. Title: Concise dictionary of English usage II. Merriam-Webster, Inc. PE1464.M47 2002 423'.1—dc21 2002141587 All rights reserved. No part ofthis book covered by the copyrights hereon may be — reproduced or copied in anyform or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, or information storage and retrieval — .systems without written permission ofthe publisher. Made in the United States of America 12 3 4 5 DF:RRD 05040302 Contents Preface iv Explanatory Notes vi A Brief History of English Usage Pronunciation Symbols xvi A Dictionary of English Usage 1 Bibliography 794 Preface Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage is a guide to common problems of confused or disputed usage. It offers information and guidance about these problems by provid- ing readers with the historical backgrounds of the usage and of the attitudes toward the current status of the usage, and recom- it, mendations for writers. Most of the topics treated have been se- lected from existing books on usage, primarily those published in We the second half of the 20th century. have also ranged freely over much earlier books, many of which contain the seeds of cur- rent concerns. Besides dealing with the traditional concerns of usage, we have included entries illustrating idiomatic English usage, chiefly in the area of which prepositions go with nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Although, the listing of idioms here is not exhaustive, we believe that the approximately 500 idioms included are the ones most likely to raise questions, especially for people learning English as a second or foreign language. All of the entries for these idioms include quotations illustrating instances of varying usage. A number of common spelling problems are also discussed briefly. While the emphasis of this work is on usage in writing, a small number of articles is devoted to problems of pronunciation. Insofar as practicable, we have generously supplied the arti- cles with illustrative quotations on the theory that examples of actual usage are more valuable to the person who is grappling with a problem of usage than are the made-up examples many commentators rely on. The bulk of these quotations have been taken from the Merriam-Webster files; however, we have occa- sionally included quotations taken from other published sources, such as historical dictionaries. The sources of all quotations taken from other sources are identified with parenthetical notes. The preface is followed in the front matter by two sections which we recommend to all users of this work. The Explanatory Notes provides information about the conventions used in this A dictionary. Brief History of English Usage provides useful ori- entation for readers who wonder how these usage questions came V Preface to take on such importance to teachers, writers, and others. Fol- lowing the main A-Z section, there is a Bibliography, which serves the dual purpose of recording those dictionaries, gram- mars, commentaries on usage, and other works frequently con- sulted during the writing of this book and providing a source of suggestions for further reading. Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary ofEnglish Usage based is on and abridged from Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, which was prepared under the editorship of E. Ward Gilman and has drawn high praise from scholars, educators, and journalists. Articles for that book were written by Stephen J. Per- rault, Kathleen M. Doherty, David B. Justice, Madeline L. Novak, and E. Ward Gilman, and the entire manuscript was reviewed by Frederick C. Mish, Editor in Chief of Merriam-Webster. E. Ward Gilman provided the updating and abridging necessary to produce the current volume, which was copyedited by John M. Morse. Quotations were verified by Kathleen M. Doherty, who also com- piled the bibliography. Adrienne Scholtz and Jennifer N. Cislo connected the loose wires of cross-reference. Data entry was per- formed by Louise Johnson under the supervision of Veronica P. McLymont. Proofreading was done by Cynthia S. Ashby. Robert D. Copeland directed the book through editorial and typesetting stages. As we said of our first Dictionary ofEnglish Usage, so can we We say of this volume: believe it contains a wealth of information, along with some quite practical advice, and we are confident that you will find it a useful, interesting, and sometimes entertaining work of reference. Explanatory Notes Articles proportion of the elements vary with the requirements of the topic, of course. Each article in this dictionary, like the entries in a general dictionary, is intro- Citation of Sources duced by one or more boldface words in- dicating the subject for discussion: Sources cited within the text of an ar- — media ticle as distinct from —illustrative quota- tions, discussed below are handled in glimpse, glance two different ways. Works cited infre- reason because quently are identified at each appearance is by author, title, and date of publication. agreement: indefinite pronouns Works cited frequently are treated in a different way, in order to conserve space. — Words that are homographs are distin- References to these works chiefly guished by italic labels indicating part of books of commentary on English usage, handbooks for writers of various kinds, speech: — grammars, and dictionaries take a hold, verb shortened form, most often the author’s hold, noun last name and the date of the book’s pub- lication (as Fowler 1926 or Bolinger An article that treats more than one 1980). aspect of its subject may be divided into Handbooks and dictionaries cited as sections, each section introduced by a sources of usage opinion may instead be boldface arabic numeral. Where seems identified by an element of the title com- it bined with the date (as Prentice Hall useful, the topic of the section is indicat- ed with an introductory word or phrase: 1978 or Heritage 1969). A dictionary referred to as a record of locate . . . usage is usually given its title without a 1. Locate “settle.” . . . date on its first appearance in an article (as Dictionary of American Regional En- 2. Located “situated.” . . . glish) but is thereafter referred to by a 3. Locate “find.” customary abbreviation (as DARE). The . . . exception to this last rule is the Oxford English Dictionary, which is consistently The articles in this dictionary are too cited by the well-known abbreviation diverse and many are too complex for all OED. Noah Webster’s An American Dic- to be treated according to a single uni- tionary of the English Language and its form pattern. The longer ones, however, successor editions are cited in this way: usually contain all or most of the follow- editions from 1828 to 1909 appear as ing elements: origin and development of Webster and the year of publication. The the usage with examples, origin and de- two most recent (and most familiar) edi- velopment of criticism of the usage, the tions are simply called Webster’s Second contemporary status of the usage with and Webster’s Third, for the most part, examples, review of alternatives, summa- but a date is sometimes added when it ry and recommendation. The order and seems to be helpful in the context. VII Explanatory Notes Full references to all works cited in date is usually that of original publica- these ways appear in the Bibliography at tion, even though we may have consulted the end of this volume. a modern edition. We have taken a few liberties with the sources of quotations, generally omitting Illustrative Quotations initial the when it is part of the title of a periodical, and abbreviating supplement, This book includes thousands of illus- magazine,journal, Siud review. Short titles trative quotations intended to clarify and like Robinson Crusoe and Tom Sawyer to test the discussion. These may very oc- are used for a few well-known works. casionally be run in with the text but are usually indented and are always followed by an attribution, typically consisting of Cross-Reference the author’s name (if known), the title of the book or serial, and the date of publi- Directional cross-references to articles cation. When the sources discussed in the where relevant discussion may be found last section are quoted, however, the are employed liberally throughout the usual shortened form of attribution is book. These may take any of several used. forms. If the term where the discussion is We have not italicized the word or located is mentioned within the text, a construction being illustrated in a quota- parenthetical “(which see)’’ is placed im- tion, so that the typographic conventions mediately after the term. All other cross- of each passage as we found it can be re- references are in small capital letters; produced with reasonable accuracy. We they may appear at the end of an article have tried not to interfere with spelling. or section of an article, or they may re- If the editor of an old work cited in a ceive separate entry: wmeodhearvneeudisteidonit;moifdetrhneiezdeidtotrheprsepselelrivnegd, goSeoed al1s.oFfeeeellgboaodd,, ffeeeell bwealdll.y.. . . the old spelling, we have used that. We have only very rarely modernized under the circumstances See CIR- spelling on our own and then only to CUMSTANCES. make old words more easily recogniza- We ble. have, however, silently corrected No separate entry is made, however, if a few typographical errors irrelevant to it would fall immediately before or after the matter under discussion. the article where the discussion is locat- Quotations have been dated, insofar ed. Thus, the misspelling quandry is dis- as possible, in order to establish the an- cussed at quandary, but no entry for the tiquity of a locution or its currency at former appears. some particular time or to show when an unfamiliar writer was working. As a reader you can generally assume that any Pronunciation quotation from the last fifty years or so — represents current usage editors have Articles on problems of pronunciation frequently preferred a clear older quota- necessarily include pronunciation re- tion to an ambiguous or unhelpful newer spellings. The symbols used in these one. respellings are essentially those of The date given for a work that has Merriam-Webster’s New Collegiate Dic- passed through several editions is, in gen- tionary, Tenth Edition, and are explained eral, the date of the edition actually seen on the Pronunciation Symbols page, by us. Exceptions are made for famous which faces the first page of the diction- works of earlier periods, for which the ary. A Usage Brief History of English Engli—sh usage today is an area of dis- The process was certainly not completed course —sometimes it seems more like within the 15th century, but increasingly dispute about the way words are used the written form of the language that and ought to be used. This discourse modern scholars call Chancery English makes up the subject matter of a large had its effect, in combination with other number of books that put the word usage influences such as the newfangled process in their titles. Behind usage as a subject of printing from movable type. lies a collection of opinions about what English grammar is or should be, about The English Renaissance the propriety of using certain words and phrases, and about the social status of those who use certain words and con- But the rise of Standard English did not structions. A fairly large number of these by itself generate concern over usage. opinions have been with us long enough There was no special interest in language to be regarded as rules or at least to be re- as such at that time. Not until near the ferred to as rules. In fact they are often re- end of the 15th century did the intellectu- garded as rules of grammar, even if they al ferment of the European Renaissance concern only matters of social status or begin to be felt in England. By the middle vocabulary selection. And many of these of the 16th century the English Renais- rules are widely believed to have universal sance was in full flower, and the revival of application, even though they are far learning and letters brought with it a con- from universally observed. scious interest in the English language as a medium for literature and learned dis- course. There were those who had their Chancery English doubts about its suitability. Still, the de- sire to use the vernacular rather than To understand how these opinions and Latin was strong, and some of the rules developed, we have to go back in doubters sought to put flesh on the bare history, at least as far back as the year bones of English by import—ing words from 1417, when the official correspondence of Latin, Italian, and French the European Henry V suddenly and almost entirely languages of learned and graceful dis- stopped being written in French and start- course. Among those who enriched En- ed being written in English. By mid-centu- glish from the word stock of Europe were ry many government documents and even Sir Thomas Elyot and Sir Thomas More. private letters were in English, and before Opposed to these enrichers of the lan- 15(X) even statutes were being recorded in guage were purists such as Roger Ascham the mother tongue. This restoration of and Sir John Cheke, who preferred their English as the official language of the English, rude as it might be, untainted by royal bureaucracy was one very impor- foreign imports. The imported learned tant influence on the gradual emergence terms became known as inkhorn terms, of a single standard dialect of English out and their use and misuse by the imper- of the many varied regional dialects that fectly educated b—ecame the subject of already existed. English now had to serve much lively satire some of it written by the functions formerly served by Latin Shakespeare, among many others. and French, languages which had already In addition to the controversy over im- assumed standard forms, and this new re- ported words there were other concerns, ality was a powerful spur to the formation such as the state of English spelling. In of a standard in writing English that could those days people mostly spelled things be quite independent of variable speech. the way they sounded, and there was little