It was 1958, on a summer's eve, and the Sierra air was pure and clean. My sixth-grade friends and I were horsing around in front of the Sonora Youth Center. Some friendly banter arose between us and an older group in a pickup truck, two high school boys and one girl. Our jabber rose to shouts as they sped away. From the pickup came this response: the girl, seated in the middle of the cab, turned and gave us the finger through the rear window. More ...

Once upon a seminar in the mid-1980s, a cadre of graduate teaching assistants gathered to hear a talk delivered by the author of a textbook designed for courses in freshman English. "This is an exciting time to teach writing," she intoned, "because it's not just about writing anymore." She extended her arms from a billowing smock of clashing colors and balanced an invisible balloon upon her head. "Writing is about self-realization. You have the power to help your students discover their own uniqueness." Mere writing, stringing words together with concision and clarity, suddenly seemed pedestrian. What those TAs could not figure out, though, was how her textbook, damp with its New Age mist of self-discovery, could help to teach anyone how to write anything one might generously call English. More ...

You don't have to use long words when you write. Most of the time, you can make your points quite well with short ones. In fact, big words may get in the way of what you want to say. And what's more, when you write with short words, no one will need to look them up to learn what they mean. More ...

Although few people can complain of another's grammatical mistakes with impunity, that is, without revealing their own, we are hopeful that "Grumbling About Grammar" will encourage us all to pay more heed to how the language is used — by ourselves as well as by others — while bettering our ability to speak and write it.

meretricious Misused for meritorious. • I informed her that that was a meretricious plan except for the fact that it involves lying. USE meritorious. [Journal for June 2000] • They serve the public interest by reminding readers not to believe a message simply because it is widely distributed, and carries the meretricious authority of the published word. USE meritorious. [Back in the African American] • If the Other Side is Wrong, their arguments, however meretricious, will not in the end survive exposure to ours. USE meritorious. [The Implications of Gödel's Theorem]

Meretricious means of or relating to a prostitute; falsely or vulgarly attractive; pretentious. It does not mean meritorious, having merit, deserving of honor. More ...

Under certain circumstances, after the sampling part of that process is taken ... it's supposed to go forward with a more fulsome process. — Theodore Olson, attorney for George W. Bush

"Full" or "complete" is what Olson meant, not fulsome, which means insincere or offensive flattery. If someone is to make such an error, it's best not to do so, as Olson did, before the U.S. Supreme Court. More ...

We all know far too well how to write everyday English, but few of us know how to write elegant English — English that is expressed with music as well as meaning, style as well as substance. The point of this feature is not to suggest that people should try to emulate these examples of elegant English but to show that the language can be written with grace and polish — qualities that much contemporary writing is bereft of and could benefit from.

After the fire was well kindled we repeated the ceremony of the previous day; and more wine was poured over Shelley's dead body than he had consumed during life. This, with the oil and salt, made the yellow flames glisten and quiver. The heat from the sun and fire was so intense that the atmosphere was tremulous and wavy. The corpse fell open and the heart was laid bare ... and as the back of the head rested on the red-hot bottom bars of the furnace, the brains literally seethed, bubbled, and boiled as in a cauldron, for a very long time. — E. J. Trelawny, Last Days of Shelly and Byron More ...

Whereas a witticism is a clever remark or phrase — indeed, the height of expression — a "dimwitticism" is the converse; it is a commonplace remark or phrase. Dimwitticisms are worn-out words and phrases; they are expressions that dull our reason and dim our insight, formulas that we rely on when we are too lazy to express what we think or even to discover how we feel. The more we use them, the more we conform — in thought and feeling — to everyone else who uses them.

I'm bored (he's boring) Being boring is preferable to being bored. The boring are often thoughtful and imaginative; the bored, thoughtless and unimaginative.

We would do well to shun those who whine about how bored they are or how boring another is. It's they, these bored ones, who in their eternal quest for entertainment and self-oblivion are most suited to causing trouble, courting turmoil, and coercing talk. More ...

Words often ill serve their purpose. When they do their work badly, words militate against us. Poor grammar, sloppy syntax, misused words, misspelled words, and other infelicities of style impede communication and advance only misunderstanding. But there is another, perhaps less well-known, obstacle to effective communication: too many words.

(what is) a (the) manner (means; mechanism; method; procedure; process; technique) by which how. • The manner by which the man ultimately inflicts himself on his companion is, of course, immaterial. How the man ultimately inflicts himself on his companion is, of course, immaterial. • We will now examine the process by which natural and global marketing activities are controlled. We will now examine how natural and global marketing activities are controlled. • What is the means by which a nation can increase investment? How can a nation increase investment? • The answer should describe a process by which all corners are equally likely to be chosen. The answer should describe how all corners are equally likely to be chosen. More ...

Inadequate though they may be, words distinguish us from all other living things. Indeed, our worth is partly in our words. Effective use of language — clear writing and speaking — is a measure of our humanness. What's more, the more words we know and can correctly use, the broader will be our understanding of self, the keener our acquaintance with humankind.

atlantean (at-lan-TEE-an) adj. of or relating to Atlas; having great strength. More ...

Each month, "Oddments and Miscellanea" will focus on a particular matter of faulty grammar, slipshod syntax, or improper punctuation. This month's admonition:

Avoid foreign terms that are not thoroughly naturalized when there is no need for them. More ...

Among the best written, if least read, books are those that we will be featuring each month in "On the Bookshelf." No book club selections, no best-selling authors are likely to be spoken of here. Best-selling authors, of course, are often responsible for the worst written books.

Herbert Read: English Prose Style More ...

It is our dismal duty today to consider the evil that prescriptivists may do to the cause of clear communication. More ...

I have been a professional copy editor for ten years. I adore our language and find much of The Vocabula Review educational and stimulating. However, I become nauseated when I read statements such as "Best-selling authors, of course, are often responsible for the worst written books" and "Two people are apparently not enough to write a grammatically correct sentence at People magazine, where the writing is so often reminiscent of someone who never did graduate from high school."

I wince when I come across shoddy writing and incorrect grammar in print. But I also wince when I read or hear of educated people coming across as snooty and condescending. While I do agree with your assessment of the sentence in People magazine, I felt your condemnation of the writers was mean and unnecessary.

Perhaps educating the masses with a little less venom would serve you well. People are more likely to accept that they've made a mistake when they're not vilified for it. Of course, these people you chide are most likely not reading The Vocabula Review. So I suppose you'll have to keep impressing yourselves with your high-minded views and opinions.

And I find it sad that I felt compelled to read this letter over a few times before sending it, solely because I didn't want to be attacked for any incorrect usage.

Jen Bulat
jbulat@flywheelmedia.com More ...