Archive for May, 2008
May 13th, 2008
The word “orient” is rooted in the concept of where the sun rises.
As a verb, it retains the meaning “to arrange with reference to the east.” It also can be “to set in agreement with the points of a compass,” a skill useful in the sport of “orienteering.”
“Orient” also has acquired the more general meanings of “adjust or adapt to,” “acquaint with” and “correct.”
So why do we need to add a syllable to create “orientate,” a word that covers exactly the same ground? For the answer, we would have to travel back to the mid-19th century, when it first appeared, in England, where they still use it much more often than Americans do. And that trip would be most disorienting.
“Orientation” is obviously a useful noun, but “orientate” as a verb is one of the few words I really don’t care for.
May 12th, 2008
The more varied and crowded the media field gets, the more some people want to lump us together. So far, those arguing for “media” as a collective noun and therefore singular are in the minority, but the ranks are growing.
The Register Star follows Associated Press style: “Media” is plural. Many dictionaries, usage guides and other stylebooks agree.
There was a time when journalists were referred to as “the press,” no matter what medium was used to disseminate their information. Nowadays, those who don’t use a printing press often prefer “media.” Related terms still seem to be OK, though: press agent, press secretary, the pressroom in the White House and press conference.
By the way, the AP prefers “news conference” for that last one, even though the news value of a “press conference” can be questionable. No matter what it’s called, all the media show up.
May 9th, 2008
I’ve been using The Associated Press Stylebook for 35 years, so I’m accustomed to “people,” not “persons,” as the plural of “person.”
Webster’s supports this stance while explaining that “people” was formerly used “only to indicate an indefinite number of persons.” Such a distinction is now usually considered pedantic, although it still does the job in references to “missing persons reports” and the like.
Of course, “people” also can be singular, as a collective, and in that sense “peoples” is the plural.
“The people of Africa” refers to everyone on the continent.
“The peoples of Africa” refers to the various groups of people who share a language and similar customs.
May 8th, 2008
Many people not named Obama have been having fun with the Rev. Wright episode, including wordplay with the name “Wright” (see shameless example above).
What I haven’t seen, and I don’t see everything, is any comment on his first name, Jeremiah, which also was the name of a Hebrew prophet.
From Jeremiah’s lamentations in the Bible, his name can be applied to any “person pessimistic about the future,” and the noun “jeremiad” is “a long lamentation or complaint.”
But, hey, what’s in a name?
May 7th, 2008
Continuing the theme of “English isn’t Latin,” the standard definition of “decimate” is “to destroy or kill a large part of.”
Yes, the “deci-” comes from the Latin for “ten,” and the word comes from the Roman approach to military discipline in which one in 10 soldiers were randomly chosen to be slain to teach the survivors a lesson.
Thankfully, that practice has disappeared, and so has the necessity of preserving the “one-tenth” aspect of “decimate.”
However, the word should not be used as a substitute for “destroy” (it isn’t that heavy) or in references to trivial injuries or setbacks (it isn’t that light).
May 6th, 2008
The word “data” is a plural (the singular is “datum”) in Latin, but the tide is turning in English.
There are still plenty of instances in which we treat “data” as plural — “the most recent data show,” for example.
However, its treatment as a collective noun is on the rise — “The data in this study is flawed.”
The use of “datum” is almost unheard of these days, except in scientific circles. The simplest solution is to substitute “information” for “data” when a singular sense is desired.
May 5th, 2008
Some Americans seem to have an inferiority complex when it comes to language and culture. We have been free of British rule for more than 200 years. We should be able to break away from British English, too.
For example, in American English the preferred spellings are “theater,” not “theatre,” and “center,” not “centre.” The British spellings are OK in proper names — our own MetroCentre, for instance — because a name is what it is. Even so, some people might detect a whiff of pretension.
The same goes for pronouncing the first syllable of “either” with a long “i” sound instead of a long “e,” or “aunt” to rhyme with “taunt” rather than saying “ant.” These also are vestiges of British English.
Such affectations are most popular in New England, where the region still has “England” in its name, for crying out loud!
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