Webster's Dictionary of English Usage

994 Pages·2007·29.85 MB·English

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Webster's
Dictionary
of
EnglishUsage.
The definitive guide to Modern English usage.
Scholarship, authority, and the support of more
than 20,000 illustrative quotations from some
of the best writers in the language.
Webster's
Dictionary
of
EnglishUsage
Entry irregardless This adverb, apparently a blend of irre
spective and regardless, originated in dialectal Ameri
can speech in the early 20th century (according to the
History of
American Dialect Dictionary, it was first recorded in
the usage
western Indiana in 1912). Its use in nonstandard
speech had become widespread enough by the 1920s to
make it a natural in a story by Ring Lardner:
I told them that irregardless of what you read in
books, they's some members of the theatrical
profession that occasionally visits the place where
they sleep —Ring Lardner, The Big Town, 1921
Its widespread use also made it a natural in books by
usage commentators, and it has appeared in such
History of
books regularly at least since Krapp 1927. The most
the criticism
frequently repeated comment about it is that "there is
no such word."
Word or not, irregardless has continued in fairly
common spoken use, although its bad reputation has Analysis of
not improved with the years. It does occur in the casual contemporary
speech and writing of educated people, and it even usage
finds its way into edited prose on rare occasion:
... allow the supplier to deliver his product, irre
gardless of whether or not his problem is solved
—John Cosgrove, Datamation, 1 Dec. 1971
... irrespective of whether the source is identified
Examples of
and irregardless of whether all that news is dissem
contemporary -
inated to the general public —Robert Hanley,
usage
N.Y. Times, 25 Oct. 1977
The spherical agglomerates occur in these pow
ders, irregardless of starting composition —Pred-
icasts Technology Update, 25 Aug. 1984
But irregardless is still a long way from winning general
acceptance as a standard English word. Use regardless Conclusion and
instead. recommendation
A GENUINE MERRIAM-WEBSTER9 ISBN 0-0777T-035-cl
More people take our word for it
38915 780877"790327"
Webster's
Dictionary
of
EnglishUsage
Webster's Dictionary of English
Usage is a work of unparalleled au
thority and scholarship from Merriam-
Webster, America's leading dictionary
publisher for almost 150 years. Our
editors have long been documenting
the use of those words that pose spe
cial problems of confused or disputed
usage. Thus this work brings to the
reader resources that include what is
believed to be the world's largest
archive of 20th-century English usage,
almost 14 million citations (examples of
words used in context), collected over
100 years from thousands of sources,
ranging from the Times Literary Sup
plement to Scientific American.
Webster's Dictionary of English
Usage is intended to serve the reader
or writer who wishes to go beyond the
personal predilections of a particular
commentator or the subjective pro
nouncements of a usage panel. It is
ideal for anyone who wants to under
stand the nature of the problematical
usage and what others have had to say
about it; how accomplished writers
actually deal with the matter, whether
what they do is in keeping with the
received wisdom or not; and the basis
for the advice offered.
Webster's Dictionary of English
Usage presents all of these things in a
clear and readable fashion. For those
who love the language this is not just a
reference book to be picked up only to
settle a dispute or solve a practical
writing problem. Here is the real stuff of
language, the opportunity to experi
ence its vitality through more than
MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.
Springfield, MA 01102
20,000 illustrative quotations from the
best writers in the language.
Webster's Dictionary of English
Usage belongs on the bookshelf or
desk of everyone who is serious about
the language. Its wealth of information
and careful guidance will amply repay
the modest investment of its purchase.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES
FROM MERRIAM-WEBSTER
• THE UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY
Webster's Third New International — A
masterpiece of modern defining—more
than 460,000 entries, with 200,000
usage examples and 1,000 synonym
articles. 3,000 terms illustrated. Sim
plified pronunciation key and clear,
informative etymologies. The standard
authority.
• DESK SIZE DICTIONARY
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate—The
newest in the famous Collegiate Series.
Almost 160,000 entries and 200,000
definitions. Entries for words often mis
used and confused include a clear,
authoritative guide to good usage. No
other dictionary resolves more issues
—how to spell it, how to say it, how to use
it. And it is the dictionary that tells you
how old a word is.
• THESAURUS
Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus—At
last a new and innovative thesaurus
that makes word-finding easy. More
than 100,000 synonyms, antonyms,
idiomatic phrases, related and con
trasted words to choose from. An in
valuable guide to a more precise and
effective use of the language.
MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.
Springfield, MA 01102
Webster's
Dictionary
of
English Usage
d ®
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Merriam-Webster Inc., Publishers
Springfield, Massachusetts
A GENUINE MERRIAM-WEBSTER
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Copyright © 1989 by Merriam-Webster Inc.
Philippines Copyright 1989 by Merriam-Webster Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Webster's dictionary of English usage.
Bibliography: p. 974
1. English language—Usage—Dictionaries.
PE1460.W425 1989 428/.003 88-37248
ISBN 0-87779-032-9
All rights reserved. No part of this book covered by the copyrights hereon may
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Made in the United States of America
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Preface
Webster's Dictionary of English Usage examines and ers, and others. The Explanatory Notes attempt to antic-
evaluates common problems of confused or disputed ipate users' questions with information about the con-
English usage from two perspectives: that of historical ventions employed within the dictionary itself. Fol-
background, especially as shown in the great historical lowing the last entry is a Bibliography, which serves the
dictionaries, and that of present-day usage, chiefly as dual purpose of recording those commentaries on usage,
shown by evidence in the Merriam-Webster files. Most dictionaries, grammars, and other works frequently con-
of the topics treated have been selected from existing sulted during the writing of this book and being a source
books on usage, primarily those published in the second of suggestions for further reading.
half of the 20th century; a few have emerged too recently It is the fate of most of the harmless drudges in the
to have yet become part of the tradition of usage com- lexicographical world to receive their most material
mentary. We have also ranged freely over much earlier tribute in the unread front matter of a book. This time-
books, many of which contain the seeds of current con- honored tradition will be continued here. By rights the
cerns. Most of our topics have been commented on by entire Merriam-Webster editorial staff could be listed,
numerous writers; the pet peeves of individual com- since almost everyone has contributed at least indi-
mentators have in the main been passed over. During rectly, but instead we will list only those who worked
the course of writing this book, new books on usage directly on the book. Staff members are grouped accord-
were published, and they find mention in entries written ing to their several tasks. The conspicuous avoidance of
after they were received, but no systematic attempt has alphabetical order in listing names is intended only to
been made to incorporate mention of them in entries provide a temporary escape from the tyranny of the
written before they were received. alphabet.
Besides articles dealing with the traditional concerns The articles were written by Stephen J. Perrault,
of usage, we have included many illustrating idiomatic Kathleen M. Doherty, David B. Justice, Madeline L.
English usage, chiefly in the area of which prepositions Novak, and E. Ward oilman. They were taken in hand
go with which nouns, verbs, and adjectives. In our selec- for copyediting by James G. Lowe, Madeline L. Novak,
tion of these we have simply included those that have John M. Morse, and Stephen J. Perrault. The quotations
come readily to our attention and have not tried to have been verified by Kathleen M. Doherty, who also
make an exhaustive search for them. A thorough treat- compiled the bibliography. Eileen M. Haraty has con-
ment of English idioms would require an entire book at nected all the loose wires of cross-reference. The both-
least as large as this one. We think our selection is fairly ersome business of proofreading has been carried out by
generous—there are about 500 entries—and we have Daniel J. Hopkins, Paul F. Cappellano, Peter D. Haraty,
been careful to illustrate instances of varying usage. A Julie A. Collier, Kelly L. Tierney, and Robert D. Cope-
number of common spelling problems are also dis- land, as well as some of the aforementioned. The manu-
cussed briefly. While the emphasis of this work is prop- script was deciphered and turned into readable type-
erly on usage in writing, a small group of articles has script for the compositor by Georgette B. Boucher,
been devoted to problems of pronunciation. Barbara A. Winkler, and Helene Gingold; other kinds of
Insofar as practicable, we have generously supplied invaluable clerical assistance have been performed by
the articles with illustrative quotations on the theory Ruth W. Gaines and Gloria J. Afflitto. Madeline L.
that examples of actual usage are more valuable to one Novak directed the book through its typesetting stages.
who is actually grappling with a problem in usage than Francine A. Roberts cajoled copies of rare books from
are the made-up examples many commentators rely on. various college and university libraries. The entire
The bulk of these quotations have been taken from the manuscript has been reviewed by Frederick C. Mish,
Merriam-Webster files. We have supplemented our own Editorial Director.
resources, as necessary, with quotations taken from James Thurber once referred in a letter to "the perils
other published sources, such as the historical dictio- of typo and garble." No reference work is immune from
naries and Otto Jespersen's seven-volume Modern these perils in spite of the diligent efforts of copy editors
English Grammar. We have tried to identify parenthet- and proofreaders. We can only hope that if you encoun-
ically every citation taken from these publications. ter a typo or garble that has slipped through, you are not
This preface is followed in the front matter by two misled or confused. We would be glad to know of any
sections which we recommend to all users of this work. that are found.
A Brief History of English Usage will provide useful ori- We believe that Webster's Dictionary of English
entation for readers who wonder how questions involv- Usage contains a wealth of information, along with
ing no more than a tiny portion of the huge vocabulary some quite practical advice, and that you will find it a
of English and a handful of grammatical constructions useful, interesting, and occasionally entertaining work
came to take on so much importance to teachers, writ- of reference.
E. Ward Gilman
Editor
4a
Explanatory Notes
Articles of the title combined with the date (as Prentice Hall
1978 or Heritage 1969).
Each article in this dictionary, like the entries in a gen- A dictionary referred to as a record of usage is usually
eral dictionary, is introduced by one or more boldface given its title without a date on its first appearance in an
words indicating the subject for discussion: article (as Dictionary of American Regional English) but
is thereafter referred to by a customary abbreviation (as
media
DARE). The exception to this last rule is the Oxford
glimpse, glance
English Dictionary, which is consistently cited by the
reason is because
well-known abbreviation OED. Noah Webster's An
agreement: indefinite pronouns
American Dictionary of the English Language and its
Words that are homographs are distinguished by italic successor editions are cited in this way: editions from
labels indicating part of speech: 1828 to 1909 appear as Webster and the year of publi-
cation. The two most recent (and most familiar) edi-
hold, verb tions are simply called Webster's Second and Webster's
hold, noun Third, for the most part, but a date is sometimes added
when it seems to be helpful in the context.
An article that treats more than one aspect of its sub-
ject may be divided into sections, each section intro- Full references to all works cited in these ways appear
duced by a boldface arabic numeral. Where it seems use- in the Bibliography at the end of this volume.
ful, the topic of the section is indicated with an
introductory word or phrase:
Illustrative Quotations
locate...
1. Locate "settle." ... This book includes thousands of illustrative quotations
2. Located "situated." ... intended to clarify and to test the discussion. These may
3. Locate "find." ... very occasionally be run in with the text but are usually
indented and are always followed by an attribution, typ-
The articles in this dictionary are too diverse and
ically consisting of the author's name (if known), the
many are too complex for all to be treated according to
title of the book or serial, and the date of publication.
a single uniform pattern. The longer ones, however, usu-
When the sources discussed in the last section are
ally contain all or most of the following elements: origin
quoted, however, the usual shortened form of attribu-
and development of the usage with examples, origin and
tion is used.
development of criticism of the usage, the contempo-
We have not italicized the word or construction being
rary status of the usage with examples, review of alter-
natives, summary and recommendation. The order and illustrated in a quotation, so that the typographic con-
ventions of each passage as we found it can be repro-
proportion of the elements vary with the requirements
duced with reasonable accuracy. We have tried not to
of the topic, of course.
interfere with spelling. If the editor of an old work cited
in a modern edition modernized the spelling, we have
used it; if the editor preserved the old spelling, we have
Citation of Sources used that. We have only very rarely modernized spelling
on our own and then only to make old words more eas-
Sources cited within the text of an article—as distinct ily recognizable. We have, however, silently corrected a
from illustrative quotations, discussed below—are han- few typographical errors irrelevant to the matter under
dled in two different ways. Works cited infrequently are discussion.
identified at each appearance by author, title, and date Quotations have been dated, insofar as possible, in
of publication. Works cited frequently are treated in a order to establish the antiquity of a locution or its cur-
different way, in order to conserve space. References to rency at some particular time or to show when an unfa-
these works—chiefly books of commentary on English miliar writer was working. As a reader you can generally
usage, handbooks for writers of various kinds, gram- assume that any quotation from the last fifty years or so
mars, and dictionaries—take a shortened form, most represents current usage—editors have frequently pre-
often the author's last name and the date of the book's ferred a clear older quotation to an ambiguous or
publication (as Fowler 1926 or Bolinger 1980). This unhelpful newer one.
form of attribution has conveniently allowed us to refer The date given for a work that has passed through
either to author or to work as the discourse requires. several editions is, in general, the date of the edition
The context will always make clear which reference is actually seen by us. Exceptions are made for famous
intended. works of earlier periods, for which the date is usually
Handbooks and dictionaries cited as sources of usage that of original publication, even though we may have
opinion may instead be cited by an identifying element consulted a modern edition. This policy has inevitably
5a
6a Explanatory Notes
led to some inconsistencies that the observant reader throughout the book. These may take any of several
may notice between our dates and those given by other forms. If the term where the discussion is located is
sources. These are most likely with old works (as the mentioned within the text, a parenthetical "(which see)"
poems of Chaucer or the plays of Shakespeare) for is placed immediately after the term. All other cross-ref-
which we may have used one conventional set of dates erences are in small capital letters; they may appear at
while an older reference work, such as the Dictionary of the end of an article or section of an article, or they may
Americanisms or the Oxford English Dictionary, may receive separate entry:
have used a different one. Similar problems are created
by different editions of a work. Henry Alford's A Plea good 1. Feel good, feel well....
for the Queen's English, for instance, originally appeared See also FEEL BAD, FEEL BADLY.
in 1864. Our copy is the American edition of 1866.
under the circumstances See CIRCUMSTANCES.
Some usage commentators may refer to the earlier edi-
tion and others to the later; you may thus find his name No separate entry is made, however, if it would fall
with 1864 in one place and 1866 in another. immediately before or after the article where the discus-
We have taken a few liberties with the sources of quo- sion is located. Thus, the misspelling quandry is dis-
tations, generally omitting initial the when it is part of cussed at quandary, but no entry for the former appears.
the title of a periodical, and abbreviating supplement,
magazine, journal, and review. Short titles like Robin-
son Crusoe and Tom Sawyer are used for a few well- Pronunciation
known works.
Articles on problems of pronunciation necessarily
include pronunciation respellings. The symbols used in
Cross-Reference these respellings are essentially those of Webster's Ninth
New Collegiate Dictionary and are explained on the
Directional cross-references to articles where relevant Pronunciation Symbols page, which faces the first page
discussion may be found are employed liberally of the dictionary.