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Rumbustious

Hannah McCall 3 Comments

CloudRumbustious means ‘boisterous’, ‘turbulent’ or ‘unruly’. It is thought to be late 18th century in origin, and it is probably an alteration of the word robustious. Robustious means ‘sturdy’, ‘boisterous’ or ‘rough or violent in manner’.

Rumbustious is typically used in British English. Rambunctious is a variation that originated in the United States and it is now slightly more common than the original (according to the OED).

I like this early usage of one of the many forms of rambunctious:

“Och, Misther McGeever, now..I niver heerd no man accuse you of bein’ anyway rambunkshus about yer nabor’s house.” Century Magazine, 1899

‘Affect’ and ‘effect’

Hannah McCall 20 Comments

EffectAffect and effect are often used incorrectly, particularly in student essays. In most contexts, affect is a verb and effect is a noun. When you affect something, it produces an effect – and I think that is where some of the confusion stems from.

Affect

Affect as a verb means ‘to influence or change’ or ‘to make a difference to’, and it is the most common use of affect.

The new rules will affect thousands of people.

It can sometimes mean ‘to pretend’ or ‘to take on or adopt something pretentiously’.

I affected a happy disposition.
He was known to affect an American accent.

It has limited usage (usually related to psychology) as noun referring to an emotion or feeling.

His reaction displayed a happy affect.

Effect

Effect as a verb means ‘to do’ or ‘to bring about’.

I will effect change.

But the most common usage of effect is as a noun meaning ‘a result’.

It had an immediate effect.

The a, an or the test

If you struggle to work out which word you need to use, this simple test might help. Does a, an or the appear in front of it? Or if you inserted a, an or the would the sentence make sense?

The effect was insignificant.
It could an affect your lifestyle.

If the answer is yes, you probably need effect (the noun). If the answer is no, you probably need affect (the verb).

‘Gourmand’ and ‘gourmet’

Hannah McCall 3 Comments

MealGourmand and gourmet have similar meanings, and they can be used as synonyms. However, one is typically considered to be more complimentary than the other.

A gourmand is a person who enjoys eating and often eats to excess. The original (15th century) meaning was ‘glutton’. Although it later acquired the meaning of ‘a judge of good food’, gourmand is not usually a flattering description.

A gourmet is a person with a refined taste in food. It has always had this meaning (originating in the early 19th century). You can use gourmet attributively (e.g. ‘a gourmet meal’) but you cannot do so with gourmand.

If you wish to compliment someone on their excellent palate, gourmet is the word to use.

 

Quicksticks

Hannah McCall 3 Comments

I don’t think I ever say this word to human beings – I reserve it for when my cat is being particularly obstructive. It sounds nicer than ‘get a sodding move on’.

SticksQuicksticks means ‘quickly’ or ‘without delay’. It is apparently shortened from the phrase in quick sticks. The meaning of quick here is ‘living or animate’ rather than ‘fast’.

It has been suggested that the stick referred to is a type of walking stick, but it might be more useful to compare it to stick as a nautical term for a mast or yard. That’s the sort of stick referenced in the phrase up sticks, meaning ‘to prepare to move’, ‘to pack up and go’, or ‘to remove oneself’.

I especially like this early usage from 1867:

“This is a bad business, Bob: if that ‘ere doctor ain’t here pretty quick-sticks,..it’s all over with this chap.” Example Better than Precept, M. A. Mackarness.

Quicksticks has a modern usage as a type of hockey, played to introduce children to the sport. It has 4 players on each side and uses a large, light ball.

Reflexive pronouns

Hannah McCall 7 Comments

A reflexive pronoun is any pronoun ending in -self or -selves: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves.

They allow the writer or speaker to refer back to the subject later in the sentence. They therefore appear in sentences where two noun phrases refer to the same person(s) or thing(s):

James saw himself in the mirror

The reflexive pronoun is used because the subject and the object of the sentence refer to the same thing. You will find that some verbs need to appear with a reflexive pronoun:

Laura prides herself on her honesty

An intensive reflexive (or emphatic) pronoun is different. The sentence doesn’t need it to make sense:

I myself did it
She made the cake herself

The reflexive pronoun serves to emphasise the noun phrase. This is common and not at all controversial.

However, there are objections to using reflexive pronouns in the place of object and subject pronouns – for example, using myself in place of me or I. Me is the object pronoun, and I is the subject pronoun.

He contacted myself
My sister and myself went to the beach

Sentences such as those above tend to occur when people are trying to be polite or aren’t quite sure which pronoun to use. The first example is standard as follows:

He contacted me

You will probably find that perfectly natural. The subject and object are not the same, and the verb requires an object to act on. Many people find sentences like the second example harder to deal with. If you aren’t sure which pronoun to use, remove the additional subject:

Myself went to the beach

You will probably find that sounds unnatural. The sentence needs a subject pronoun:

I went to the beach

The original sentence would be considered standard as follows:

My sister and I went to the beach

You will read differing opinions on how strict you need to be about using reflexive pronouns when the subject and object are not the same. Fowler’s has a good summary of uses that can be considered acceptable – including when the reflexive pronoun is part of a compound subject or object and when it is the object of a preposition.

I tend to think you should only use a reflexive pronoun where you need one or where it makes a point.

Thank you to Woebegone but Hopeful for suggesting this post.

‘Flaunt’ and ‘flout’

Hannah McCall 6 Comments

I am always surprised by the number of people who supposedly flaunt rules.Rules

Flaunt

  • to display ostentatiously

Flout

  • to deliberately disobey or to display contempt for

The misuse is so widespread that, according to the Oxford English Corpus, the second and third commonest objects of flaunt are law and rules. The commonest object is wealth. Although the wrong use has been prevalent since the 1940s, it was not seen before the 20th century.

Adumbrate

Hannah McCall 2 Comments

Adumbrate is a formal word for giving a general idea or description of something without any details.

ShadowIt has the following meanings:

  • to outline
  • to give a faint indication
  • to foreshadow
  • to overshadow or obscure

Adumbrate is a verb but there are other forms available to you: the noun is adumbration, the adjective is adumbrative and the adverb is adumbratively.

The OED lists the first recorded usage of adumbrate as occurring in 1537:

“You as fore runners, dydde adumbrate Christis passion.” Erasmus’ Comparation Vyrgin & Martyr, Thomas Paynell (translator).

I picked it as this week’s interesting word primarily because of its Latin origins. The Latin adumbrat- means ‘shaded’, and is from the verb adumbrare. Ad- means ‘to’ and umbrare means ‘cast a shadow’.

Oxford Dictionaries

Hannah McCall 12 Comments

Library2Have you got a library card? Here’s something you might not know: most UK libraries subscribe to resources from Oxford University Press (OUP). If you live outside the UK, it is worth checking if your local library has a subscription too.

It is a huge range of resources, but perhaps the key ones for writers are the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford Reference and Oxford Dictionaries online. There’s information about how to access them on the OUP’s website.

I recommend taking advantage of the premium resources on oxforddictionaries.com. The login page is here, and the library card login box is on the right-hand side. Once you have logged in you will see the Premium tab.

The premium resources are:

  • New Hart’s Rules: The Oxford Style Guide
  • Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Usage
  • New Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors
  • Pocket Fowler’s Modern English Usage

If you want your work to conform to UK publishing standards, you should use New Hart’s as your guide. It is really very good.

The New Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors is a handy guide for any spellings or names you aren’t sure of, or if you want help with hyphenation and capitalisation.

Pocket Fowler’s does not contain all the nuances of the full-size version, but it is still very helpful.

And they are all available for free and from the comfort of your own home.

 

Membership upgrade

Hannah McCall 23 Comments

There has been a small amendment to my About page: I have achieved an upgrade to intermediate member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders.

The Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) is a UK-based organisation for editorial professionals. Its aims are to ‘promote high editorial standards’, to ‘uphold the professional status of editors and proofreaders’, and to ‘encourage the use of services offered by SfEP members’.

The SfEP has an outstanding reputation for encouraging and promoting editorial excellence. I was therefore thrilled that the society’s admission panel judged that I have fulfilled the criteria for intermediate membership. I proved my training and experience, and the panel is satisfied with my professional competence.

And as a bonus, I am now allowed to use this membership logo:

SfEP-badge-[Intermediate-Member]-Retina

If anyone reading this is thinking about upgrading, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to talk to someone who has been there and done it.

‘Faint’ and ‘feint’

Hannah McCall 2 Comments

They may be pronounced the same way, but faint and feint have very different meanings. Perhaps the most confusing usage is that of feint as a word for lined paper – the lines may be faint but the type of paper is feint (or feint-ruled).

Faint

  • barely perceptible; lacking clarity, brightness or volume
  • possible but unlikely
  • lacking conviction, force or enthusiasm
  • feeling weak and/or dizzy
  • a sudden loss of consciousness
  • to lose consciousness for a short time
  • to grow weak or feeble

FeintFeint

  • a deceptive or pretend movement designed to distract
  • to make a deceptive or distracting movement
  • paper printed with faint or pale lines across it