Some Slips and Barbarisms in Written English

It is very useful to use this guide as a checklist to insure that your writing is clear and eloquent. Most word processors have a search and replace function that can be "programmed" to find and change offending terms or usage.

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As used redundantly

In these cases, behavior that is generally considered as socially harmful is given protection under the claims of religious liberty.

Delete the as.

As to

Throughout these millenniums, concepts as to the nature of hysteria, its origin, symptoms, and management, have undergone many changes.

The question as to whether the strata are continuous throughout the area cannot be easily resolved.

In the first instance change as to to of. In the second, delete it or (better) recast the sentence.

Case (= instance; example)

Preferably, restrict case to either medical or legal context. Any other usage tends to be fuzzy; instance or example can usually be substituted

Center around

The difficulties of the administration centered around the problem of finding a new city manager.

Here say centered on or centered in. In other instances what is meant may be cluster or revolve around.

Consensus of opinion

Just consensus, of course: the word means collective opinion.

Contact as verb

If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact this office.

For contact use write or telephone or any other appropriate expression. In technical writing contact as a verb meaning make contact with-in a physical sense-is allowable. The usage illustrated above, is a gross barbarism.

Due to with adverbial force

The confederation itself was short-lived, due to strong and rather ill-conceived opposition from the colonial regime.

Due is a participle and must attach itself to a particular noun. Here change due to to owing to. Some correct uses of due to:

The short life of the confederation was due to...

Pulmonary disorders such as emphysema, due to actual lesions, cause shortness of breath.

During (= in)

During 1965 Albert Schweitzer celebrated his ninetieth birthday.

For during say in. During should be used only to describe an action that continues to occur, recur, or develop-not a finite, simple historical fact.

For example:

During 1965 the cost of living continued to rise.

Enthuse (= to be enthusiastic)

There is no such word in good usage.

Finalize, maximize

For finalize, say complete or make final. For maximize (e.g. ...maximize the benefits of industrialism), there's probably nothing to be done. The nonbarbaric equivalent, increase to the maximum, is awkward, and maximize is firmly established in the jargon of sociology and some other disciplines.

Hopefully

Hopefully, the manuscript will be completed and in your hands by the end of the year.

Say we-I-they hope that... This barbarism is probably the most popular of any in current use. A great many persons who should know better delight in using it.

Intriguing (= interesting)

This word can mean arousing curiosity or (a rarer use ) scheming; it is not properly used in the simple sense of interesting. Plans for disposing of atomic wastes on the moon may be intriguing, but plans for a picnic certainly are not (unless it's a most unusual picnic).

Last (= past; latest)

In the last two months several important persons have died.

For last say past. Reserve last for a context of finality. (After all, there are months ahead&endash; we hope; the ones just past are not the last.) Similarly:

Leonard Bernstein's last work will be presented in concert next Saturday.

Change last to latest if the author/composer is alive and still composing. But:

Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, will be performed next season.

Here last is correct; Verdi will compose no more; and Falstaff was the final opera he wrote.

Media as singular noun

Of the several commonly used nouns of this form (sin. -um, pl. -a), medium/media is probably most frequently misused. Media, like data and memoranda, is plural in number, and must be modified by plural adjectives and followed by a plural verb: These media are... (So too is agenda, even more firmly entrenched as a singular noun, though less frequently used by authors: properly, an item is not on but among the agenda.

Not...nor

There is not a jot of evidence nor a tittle of testimony that Newcomb was culpable in this matter.

Say not...or or neither...nor. Or recast the sentence so: There is not a jot of evidence nor is there a tittle of testimony...

Over ( = more than)

Over ten sonic booms have been widely heard in the past two weeks.

Many careful writers avoid using over in the sense of more than, restricting its use to the meaning of above (in a physical sense).

People (= persons)

Hyde Park is a residential community housing about 40,000 people.

Change people to persons. It is better not to use people when individuals are implied; see dictionary meanings of people.

Portion (= part)

A large portion of the sherds show traces of red paint.

For portion say part or number. Reserve portion for something that has undergone a process of division, or apportionment: a portion of an estate; a pie divided in equal portions.

Presently (= at present)

The research team is presently engaged in an investigation of the carcinogenic properties of oolong tea.

Better, at present, currently, now. Note that the base meaning of presently is soon, or in the near future.

Prior to

Prior to 1953 rising costs were forcing investors to spend more than had been anticipated.

Use before if this is all that is meant. Except in legal writing there is seldom any excuse to use the phrase at all.

Proven

By their very nature, Scott's charges could not be proven.

The past participle of prove is proved. The form proven has no status among careful writers.

Quite

Often used to express a degree of something between somewhat and extremely:

At eight in the morning it was still quite cold.

It should be remembered that this use is colloquial. Properly the adverb means completely:

In this, of course, he was quite wrong.

Then used redundantly

If Professor Schefold's contention is true, that the artist intended to represent a demon dog from the underworld, then he has succeeded admirably.

The then is quite unnecessary: delete.

Though (= however)

The primitive family, though, seems to have been more elaborately organized.

A colloquial usage. Change to however.

Though, although (subordinate conjunction)

Some editors never allow though but change it in every instance to although. This rule probably goes too far. When a short subordinate clause follows the main clause, it may properly be introduce by though. So:

It is appropriate to check page proofs as carefully as one does galley proofs, though this is seldom necessary.

But:

Although English is not her native tongue, she speaks it perfectly idiomatically.

Linotype composition is to be used for the book, although hand setting may be resorted to for the title page and other display matter.

In elliptical expressions though is usually better than although:

The new typist, though slow, is extremely accurate.

Only though, of course, can be used in the expression as though.

Too used redundantly

Not too much is known of the early career of this politician.

A colloquial usage. Delete too.

Transpire (= happen)

It transpired that the company had been bilked of several million dollars.

OK if the author means It became known that... but not correct if he means It happened that….

-Type

There is a relative lack of research dealing with the impact of Western-type schools on African societies.

Still a little colloquial. Better, Western type of.

Under the circumstances

Under these circumstances, Decatur has no choice but to accept the challenge.

Better, in these circumstances. The phrase is a particular favorite of scientific writers, who use it to mean under these conditions.

Virtually (= nearly; almost)

Virtually every resident of San Francisco hopes to spend the rest of his life there.

Properly, virtually means in essence or in effect but not in fact, and so a phrase like virtually every... is a logical absurdity. The word should not be used as an elegant variation of nearly or almost.

While (= although; whereas; and)

While most elements of the gross national product are under control of the government, some of those are incompletely reported.

Roughly 75 percent of government employees were salaried, while 25 percent received weekly of semi-monthly wages.

Preferably, change the first while to although or whereas, the second to and. While has temporal significance only, in careful writing.

Yet as coordinate conjunction

Goods and services seemed to increase during the years in question, yet the gross national product remained static.

Change yet to but or insert and, or change the comma in a semicolon. The use of yet as a conjunction should be avoided.

Catch-all words of vague meaning: facet, factor, aspect, phrase

Think of them as metaphors. Is the author's factor in this situation really a factor, i.e., something multiplied with something else to produce a result? Is his facet a face, an outer aspect? Often he means simply part of section or component.

Excess verbiage:

Faults of parallel construction

Both in time and space...

Say In both time and space...

Either he had to leave at one or two o-clock.

Place either after at.

Faulty ellipsis

...American society officially ranks freedom of religion at least as high, and probably higher, than freedom of speech.

The phrase as high must be followed by as; so than cannot be made to serve double duty. Make the sentence read ...at least as high as, or higher than, freedom of speech. Or (better) recast.

Illogical use of en dash:

from 1960-65; between 1960-65

From 1942-45, Smith served in the United States Navy.

Change to: from 1942 to 1945 or during the years 1942-45; say between 1960 and 1965.

Refined use of conditional for indicative mood

The primary value, however, would seem to be aesthetic.

Change would seem to seems. This usage is highly favored by scientists of all kinds and is usually employed to make a personal opinion more palatable by disguising it as a third-person statement in the conditional mood. Be ruthless in beating the woulds for such offenses.

The great controversy: which or that

Many authors and editors feel that the use of which in subordinate clauses should be limited to nonrestrictive situations. That is, which introduces a clause of the type that is normally set off by commas and might without changing its meaning be enclosed within parentheses:

Saint Mark's Cathedral, which one sees immediately upon entering the square, is a dazzling Byzantine-and-Gothic confection.

Which would not be used, however, according to this rule, in a restrictive clause such as the one in the following sentence:

The buildings that close the square to the north are the cathedral and the doge's palace.

Every manuscript editor should be thoroughly familiar with the distinction and should recognize in every instance whether a particular clause is restrictive or nonrestrictive. Whether or not he should then jump in with both feet and pitch out every restrictive which is another matter. If it were only careless, turgid, tedious and unschooled authors who use which in this way, the decision would be easy. But it isn't: some which-users are careful writers with a powerful style of their own, and to change every restrictive which to that would be presumptuous.

The best policy is probably this. If the author's use of which seems to be the result of carelessness or ignorance, change which where appropriate; if is seems to be a conscious element of style, leave it. (In the first instance, it might be a good idea to send the author a chapter or two to get his reaction, especially if his copy was thickly larded with which clauses.)

The distinction does not apply, of course to the interrogative use of which:

Which method is preferred?

Or to such uses as:

The building in which the action took place...

And many find which preferable for restrictive clauses that do not immediately follow the nouns they modify:

The essay was a mixture of fact, opinion, and fancy which reflected very well the author's learning and personal style.