Editor's Corner

Good morning, and welcome to another beautiful Thursday.

I love it when my grammar resource sites provide me with unusual lists of words, which MSN did recently. They sent me (and millions of other people) a list called “10 Words That Don’t Mean What You Think They Do.” Ah, just my cup of tea! Some of these might be surprising to you, so read on and enjoy.

1. Contingency: There’s no such thing as "a contingency of experts," "of French chefs," "of Chinese ministers," or the like. A contingency is something that might happen ("We must prepare for every contingency"). A group of people is a contingent.

2. Disinterested: If you’re not interested in something, you’re uninterested. "Disinterested" means that you have no direct stake in something, financially or in some other sense. A judge in a courtroom should always be disinterested in the proceedings, though they may interest [the judge] very much.

3. Exhibit: If you go to the museum to see a Picasso exhibit, you’re just seeing one painting or print or whatever. An exhibit is a single item. Think "Exhibit A." An exhibition is a whole collection of exhibits, which is probably what drew you to the museum.

4. Flagrant: People use "flagrant" to mean obvious, as in "a flagrant error" or "a flagrant invitation." It means something stronger than that, though—not just obvious but particularly offensive or objectionable. The aforementioned error and invitation are more correctly "blatant."

5. Further: San Francisco isn’t further from New York than Boston is and you didn’t run further than you should—it’s "farther" in both cases. "Farther" refers to physical distance, "further" to non-physical or metaphorical ones ("Let’s not take this argument any further.”)

6. Infamous: This adjective gets applied to all kinds of things these days—"The restaurant’s infamous chocolate cake," "The team’s infamous victory over their rivals," and so on—when what people actually mean is "famous" or "celebrated." "Infamous" isn’t a compliment: It means disgraceful or having a bad reputation.

7. Insure: You can’t insure that something bad won’t happen. You can insure yourself—that is, buy insurance—so that you’ll be compensated if something bad does, but what you want to try to do is ensure that something bad won’t happen. "Ensure" means to guarantee or make certain; "insure" means to buy insurance or otherwise indemnify.

8. Notorious: See "infamous," above. "Notorious" sometimes gets used in the same way ("The restaurant’s notorious chocolate cake.") But it doesn’t just mean famous—it means famous in a bad way, or known unfavorably.

9. Penultimate: This is the penultimate word in this list. And, no, it’s not the last one. The last word is the ultimate one; "pen-" is a Latin prefix meaning "almost," and "penultimate" means second-to-last.

10. Tortuous: It sounds like something that tortures you, but that would actually be "torturous." "Tortuous" means winding or twisting, like a road that curves up a mountainside.

Enjoy your day!

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry™

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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