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A to Z of English usage myths.
It'll be a busy hour. Mute the conversation or #usagemyths if you want out. Thread ↓
It'll be a busy hour. Mute the conversation or #usagemyths if you want out. Thread ↓
A is for ALTERNATIVE. Peevers say you can't have more than two alternatives, because Latin. This is the etymological fallacy. #usagemyths
(A piece I wrote for @MacDictionary on the strange belief that you can only have two "alternatives": macmillandictionaryblog.com/how-many-alter… #usagemyths)
B is for BEG THE QUESTION. Pedants say it can't mean "raise the question", but the data beg to differ: stancarey.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/rai… #usagemyths
C is for CONJUNCTIONS or COORDINATORS. Because sticklers say you can't start a sentence with them. And that's just plain silly. #usagemyths
D is for DECIMATE="destroy"; DIFFERENT THAN; DOUBLE NEGATIVES; and DUE TO="because of". All are fine, if not always appropriate. #usagemyths
Anyone who says DECIMATE must mean "kill one in ten" should also call October "December". That's the rule. #usagemyths #etymologicalfallacy
(More on "different than": stancarey.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/dif…
Double negatives: macmillandictionaryblog.com/aint-nothin-wr…
"Due to": ahdictionary.com/word/search.ht… #usagemyths)
Double negatives: macmillandictionaryblog.com/aint-nothin-wr…
"Due to": ahdictionary.com/word/search.ht… #usagemyths)
E is for ENTHUSE, a back-formation in long, useful existence. Some purists consider it "wrong" and "stupid". It's neither. #usagemyths
F is for FLAT ADVERBS, like "drive SLOW". Peevers think they're adjectives used wrong(ly). Doubly false. macmillandictionaryblog.com/flat-adverbs-a… #usagemyths
G is for GRAMMAR: applied unhelpfully to spelling, punctuation, diction & random bugbears, seldom—outside linguistics—to syntax & morphology
H is for HOPEFULLY. Die-hards say it can only mean "in a hopeful manner". Hopefully they'll cop on, because frankly that's daft. #usagemyths
I is for IRREGARDLESS. Haters say it's not a word, because that's their wish. It's nonstandard, but it is a word. Look it up. #usagemyths
I is also for INVITE. Peevers irrationally hate nouning & verbing. This one's unsuited to formal use, but colloq OK: macmillandictionaryblog.com/is-invite-acce…
J is for JEOPARDIZE. Webster 1828 called it "useless"; a later critic found it "foolish and intolerable", jeopardizing his cred. #usagemyths
K is for KEY = "vital, essential". Prescriptivists even in the 21stC reject its status as an adjective. The usage dates to 1832. #usagemyths
L is for LESS. Pedants loathe its use with count nouns ("less pedants") despite 1000 years of regular use in literature & speech #usagemyths
L is also for LITERALLY. Some hate its non-literal use, but it's been around for literally centuries: stancarey.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/lit… #usagemyths
Also: "literal meaning" is literally a contradiction in terms. The peeve is (figuratively) hoist with its own petard stancarey.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/lit…
M is for MAN. Reactionaries say it's fine as a generic term for people. No: it's sexist and insidious. #usagemyths
N is for NONE. Peevers say it must take a singular verb, ignoring a thousand years of common use with singular and plural verbs. #usagemyths
O is for ONGOING. Haters hate it; style guides try (and fail) to ban it. There's nothing wrong with it. stancarey.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/the… #usagemyths
P is for PASSIVE VOICE. Said to be bad by peevers, who usually misidentify & always mischaracterize it. stancarey.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/fea… #usagemyths
Q is for QUOTE. Purists say it can't be a noun: they confuse formality with correctness and overlook the benefits of brevity. #usagemyths
R is for REASON WHY. Sticklers hate its redundancy but not that of "place where" or "time when". It's 800 years old & standard. #usagemyths
S is for SPLIT INFINITIVE. Bogus rule against it is based on Latin-fetishism & leads to mangled English: stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/how… #usagemyths
T is for TRANSPIRE. Peevers say it can't mean "occur"—a usage centuries old & standard. There's no sound basis for the objection #usagemyths
U is for UNIQUE. Pedants insist that it's absolute: that nothing can be "very unique". Their argument is illogical and spurious. #usagemyths
V is for VERBING. Peevers hate it, but only when they think it's new—they constantly use verbings that were established earlier. #usagemyths
W is for WHICH in restrictive clauses. Peevers insist on "that". The so-called rule is a useless upstart stancarey.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/tha… #usagemyths
W is also for WHOM. Pedants say it's obligatory in object position ("who to follow"), but normal English is much more flexible. #usagemyths
X is for XMAS. Traditionalists abhor this short form, unaware of its thoroughly traditional use. X for Christ: a millennium old. #usagemyths
Y is for YOU, singular, once decried the way singular THEY is nowadays. Why accept one & not the other? stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/sin… #usagemyths
Z is for ZOOM. Bernstein said that this term, being from aviation, should only mean "upward mobility". English went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #usagemyths
(Thanks for your patience, protests, and replies/RTs. I'll catch up later.)
Oh, and here's an earlier A to Z you might enjoy:
