Стивен Пинкер - The Sense of Style - The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century

averse, disinclined (*

I’m not adverse to doing that

.)

It should be

I’m not averse to doing that.

appraise

ascertain the value (

I appraised the jewels

.)

apprise, inform (*

I appraised him of the situation

.)

It should be

I apprised him of the situation.

as far as

As far as the money is concerned, we should apply for new funding.

*As far as the money, we should apply for new funding.

The

is concerned

(or

goes

)

is redundant and wordy, but without it readers wait for the other shoe to drop. The error is encouraged by the lure of the similar

As for,

which needs no such continuation.

beg the question

assumes what it should be proving (

When I asked the dealer why I should pay more for a German car, he said I would be getting “German quality,” but that just begs the question

.)

raises the question (*

The store has cut its hours and laid off staff, which begs the question of whether it will soon be closing

.)

The “raise the question” sense is more transparent (particularly when the question is urgent, as if it were begging to be raised), and it is common enough that many dictionaries list it. But the “circular reasoning” sense is standard in the scholarly communities that originated the expression and has no good substitute, so using

beg

to mean “raise”

will irritate such readers.

bemused

bewildered

amused

Dictionaries and the Usage Panel are clear on this.

cliché

noun (

Shakespeare used a lot of clichés

.)

adjective (

*“To be or not to be” is so cliché

.)

Don’t be fooled by the French –

é,

which often creates adjectives like

passé

and

risqué;

the adjective is

clichéd,

“being a cliché,” analogous to

talented,

“having talent.”

credible

believable (

His sales pitch was not credible.

)

credulous, gullible (*

He was too credible when the salesman delivered his pitch

.)

–

ible

and –

able

mean “able,” in this case “able to be believed, able to be credited.”

criteria

plural of

criterion

(

These are important criteria

.)

singular of

criterion

(*

This is an important criteria

.)

Nails on a chalkboard.

data

plural count noun (

This datum supports the theory, but many of the other data refute it

.)

mass noun (*

This piece of data supports the theory, but much of the other data refutes it

).

I like to use

data

as a plural of

datum

, but I’m in a fussy minority even among scientists.

Data

is rarely used as a plural today, just as

candelabra

and

agenda

long ago ceased to be plurals. But I still like it.

depreciate

decrease in value (

My Volvo has depreciated a lot since I bought it

).

deprecate, disparage (*

She depreciated his efforts

.)

The “disparage” sense is not a malaprop, and it’s accepted in dictionaries, but many writers like to reserve that sense for

deprecate

.

dichotomy

two mutually exclusive alternatives (

the dichotomy between even and odd numbers

)

difference, discrepancy (*

There is a dichotomy between what we see and what is really there

.)

A tacky attempt to sound fancy-shmancy. The

tom

means “cut,” as in

atomic

(originally “unsplittable”),

anatomy,

and

tomography

(x-ray cross sections).

disinterested

unbiased; without a vested interest (

The dispute should be resolved by a disinterested judge.

)

uninterested (*

Why are you so disinterested when I tell you about my day?

)

The “uninterested” sense is older, and has a continuous and respectable history. But since we have the word

uninterested

and lack an exact synonym for

disinterested

, readers will appreciate your maintaining the distinction.

enervate

sap, weaken (

an enervating commute

)

energize (*

an enervating double espresso

)

Literally “to remove the nerves” (originally “to remove the sinews”).

enormity

extreme evil

enormousness

The allegedly incorrect usage is both old and common, but many careful writers reserve

enormity

for evil. Some use

enormity

in the hybrid sense “deplorable enormousness,” writing of the

enormity

of population pressure in India, the task faced by teachers in slums, or the stockpile of nuclear weapons.

flaunt

show off (

She flaunted her abs

.)

flout (*

She flaunted the rules

.)

A malaprop based on the similar sound and spelling, together with the shared meaning “brazenly.”

flounder

flop around ineffectually (

The indecisive chairman floundered.

)

founder, sink to the bottom (*

The headstrong chairman floundered.

)

In practice

flounder

and

founder

are often interchangeable, being two ways of slowly failing. To keep them straight, remember that

to flounder

is what flounders do;

to founder

is related to other bottom-words like

foundation

and

fundamental.

fortuitous

coincidental, unplanned (

Running into my ex-husband at the party was purely fortuitous

.)

fortunate (*

It was fortuitous that I worked overtime because I ended up needing the money

.)

Many writers, including a majority of the Usage Panel, approve the “fortunate” sense (particularly in the hybrid sense of good luck), and it is recognized in most dictionaries. But some readers still bristle.

fulsome

unctuous; excessively and insincerely complimentary (

She didn’t believe his fulsome valentine for a second.

)

full, copious (*

a fulsome sound; *The contrite mayor offered a fulsome apology

.)

The “copious” sense is historically respectable, but the Usage Panel hates it, and it could get you into trouble, because readers may assume you’re impugning something when you don’t mean to.

homogeneous

with the suffix

-eous

, pronounced “homogenius”

with the suffix

-ous

, pronounced like “homogenized”

homogenous

is listed in dictionaries, but it’s a corruption which crept in after homogenized milk became popular. Similarly,

heterogeneous

is preferable to

heterogenous

.

hone

sharpen (

hone the knife, hone her writing skills

)

home in on, converge upon (*

I think we’re honing in on a solution

.)

AHD