Loosening up and unraveling a mystery

Add comment July 24th, 2008

The prefix “un-” usually transforms the main word into its opposite. This generally holds true, from “unabashed” to “unzip.”

As pointed out in Mark Davidson’s “Right, Wrong, and Risky,” there are at least two common words that mean the same as their “un-” versions.

Once upon a time, “ravel” (rhymes with “travel”) meant “to make complicated or tangled,” but these days that’s considered rare. Now it’s the same as “unravel”: “untwist,” “untangle” or “make clear.”

Either one is acceptable, but “unravel” works better for me, because it’s all about undoing something.

However, in the case of “loosen” and “unloosen,” I choose “loosen.” Why? Because logically, “unloosen” seems to be saying “tighten up.”

Do we really need “presently”?

Add comment June 20th, 2008

A long time ago, the word “presently” meant “instantly.” Pretty soon it evolved into “soon.” Now it can mean “now.”

Most usage experts frown on “presently” as “now.”

John B. Bremner, in “Words on Words,” had the best solution:

“Because ‘presently’ means both ‘now’ and ’soon,’ why not say ‘now’ when you mean ‘now,’ and ’soon’ when you mean ’soon’?”

Hard to argue with that, but some people just seem to be drawn to words and phrases that appear to be more impressive, such as “prior to” instead of “before,” “following” for “after” and even “currently” for “now.”

Sometimes there are legitimate style reasons for such choices, but usually they are ill-advised.