A reader comments: I have seen and heard the word homogeneous used to refer to a multiracial or multicultural society, whereas I would have used heterogeneous. Surely homogeneous describes an “unmixed” group of people or things? Homogeneous is from a Greek word meaning “of the same kind.” It is often used in the context of describing a … Read more
Posts on the topic of pronunciation usually provoke a lot of attention, often drawing heated defenses of one pronunciation over another and suggesting that only one can ever be “correct.” In fact, “correct” pronunciation differs from century to century and from region to region. Words are affected by pronunciation changes of two kinds: 1. Changes … Read more
A friend whose novel is in the works for publication has been told by her editor that “publishers hate semicolons.” Wondering if this were a common attitude, I did a little exploring. Apparently writers, if not publishers, have harbored strong feelings about this punctuation mark for some time: With educated people, I suppose, punctuation is … Read more
A reader browsing the DWT site reacted disdainfully to the use of who as an object in a DWT post about letter writing: With all due respect, if you’re going to give advice, not only on content but on grammar, surely you need to double and triple-check that what you write is correct. The reader … Read more
A reader alerted me to a new use of the word unctuous that has escaped me until now: When did “unctuous” start having a positive connotation? Watch any cooking show lately and it’s likely you’ll hear someone describe a dish as “unctuous,” as if that’s a good thing. Many celebrity chefs seem to now use … Read more
A non-native English speaker wonders about this use of the word anniversary in a business communication: The prices and products below are based on a 36-month contract, free unit and free installation. Tracker experiences an across-the-board anniversary increase (inflation based) every October. The reader comments, I cannot remember ever seeing “anniversary” used in this context. … Read more
A reader asks, Can you illustrate how “little” and “small” are correctly used? As adjectives, little and small are often interchangeable, but sometimes one will not do in place of the other. Either is used to describe people or things of reduced dimensions: Last night I saw upon the stair/A little man who wasn’t there… … Read more
A reader was startled when a television announcer misused the word centurion: Perhaps one of your columns could cover the meanings of “centurion” and “centenarian.” A news anchor on KTTC-TV, Rochester, Minn., just announced “There is a new centurion in Clear Lake, Iowa.” (This “new centurion” is a woman celebrating her 100th birthday. A centenarian … Read more
1. Incorrect: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius Tuesday urged the European Union (EU) to arm Iraqi Kurds to fight Islamist militants who have overran the country’s northern areas and triggered security crisis for its inhabitants. (Business Standard) Correct : French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius Tuesday urged the European Union (EU) to arm Iraqi Kurds to … Read more
When I read the following in a movie review, I assumed that the word pitted was a typo for the word pitched in the sense of presented: In its tireless promo campaign, the film is pitted as a racial comedy… However, when I did a little exploring, I found numerous examples of the verb pitted being used as … Read more
Seven common conjunctive adverbs are however, moreover, therefore, thus, consequently, furthermore, and unfortunately. A common error is to use them in place of an ordinary coordinating conjunction like and, but, or, nor, so, for, or yet. This type of error creates punctuation problems that are easily corrected. For example: Giving children the opportunity to make … Read more
A reader asks, Would you please tell me the difference between “baleful” and “baneful.” I know both adjectives relate to “evil.” Both of these adjectives derive from ancient Old English words. In Beowulf, a bane is a murderer. By extension, bane came to mean anything that causes destruction. In time, bane came to be a … Read more