Editor's Corner

Several of you asked about the term “lieutenant” after my email yesterday about military terms. The most common question was “Why do the British pronounce it leftenant?” Nobody seems to know the real story about how that evolved, though there are certainly a lot of theories. My favorite was from someone in the UK who said something like, “The British don’t like the French, so they refused to pronounce it the way the French would.”

From The Grammarist

Lieutenantis the only spelling of the word denoting a second in charge, a deputy, or a rank in the armed forces and (in the United States) police services. The spelling is the same in all varieties of English, regardless of pronunciation. Confusion sometimes arises because, in the U.S., the word is routinely said “lootenant” (or sometimes “lyootenant”), while in the United Kingdom and other countries of the British Commonwealth the preferred pronunciation is “leftenant.” The “American” pronunciation is, however, becoming commonplace in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and even the U.K., albeit mostly outside official usage.

Like a great many words in English (e.g. drought, colonel, sergeant, debt, etc.), the modern pronunciation may not be phonetic and sometimes seems to be downright antiphonetic. The British pronunciation of lieutenant derives from its history, much of which remains obscure. Premodern spellings (e.g. luff-, leif-, etc.) show that the “lef-” pronunciation has a long history but was by no means the sole one. At some point, spelling and pronunciation diverged in Britain, only to converge again later in the United States. To confuse matters further, the British Royal Navy traditionally pronounced the word “luhtenant,” although this seems to have fallen out of favor.

Neither the British nor the American way of saying lieutenant is inherently better or worse than any other. The choice depends on context (it might be inappropriate to say “lootenant governor” in Canada, for instance) and, to some extent, personal preference

Here is the etymology of the word, from Wikipedia.

The word lieutenant derives from French; the lieu meaning "place" as in a position (cf. in lieu of); and tenant meaning "holding" as in "holding a position"; thus a "lieutenant" is a placeholder for a superior, during their absence (compare the Latin locum tenens).

In the 19th century, British writers who considered this word either an imposition on the English language, or difficult for common soldiers and sailors, argued for it to be replaced by the [word] "steadholder." However, their efforts failed, and the French word is still used, along with its many variations (e.g. lieutenant colonel, lieutenant general, lieutenant commander, flight lieutenant, second lieutenant and many non-English language examples), in both the Old and the New World.

And here are some photos from Pearl Harbor last week, because my idea of “Spring Break” is a little different from other people’s. J

Pearl Harbor

Model of the sunken USS Arizona and the USS Arizona Memorial

Actual photo of the ship and the memorial [KC – This one is from the internet.]

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

Here’s a list of military terms that we have adopted into civilian life, from Daily Writing Tips. Photos from Pearl Harbor and Oahu trip to be included in later posts!

captain: ultimately from Latin caput (“head”), originally referring to the leader of a war party and later to a military officer in command of a set unit or a ship; later, applied in general to a leader or head of a group or team.

cavalry: from Italian cavaliere (“horseman”), a body of soldiers mounted on horses (and later those assigned to mechanized units); by extension, from the cliché in movie westerns of a US cavalry unit coming to the rescue of the protagonists, used in references to one or more people who bring aid to others.

lieutenant: from Old French lieu tenant (“in place of”), originally, an officer who was deputy to a captain but later also a specific military rank; in civilian usage, a right-hand man or woman or a subordinate.

muster: from Latin monstrare (“to show”)—interestingly, akin to monster—referring to an assembly of military personnel or serving as a verb synonymous with assemble, but also pertains to any assembly, collection, or inventory, or to a sample or specimen.

picket: from French piquer (“pierce”), a group of soldiers assigned to guard a camp, or the action of doing so; in civilian usage, a distinct meaning of “protesting during a demonstration or strike” or a reference to a sharp stake, such as one that is part of a picket fence.

rank-and-file: from Old English ranc (“strong”) and Latin filum (“cord” or “thread), the arrangement of military personnel in rows and columns; by extension, a reference to ordinary employees or members as opposed to those in leadership roles.

reserve: from Latin reservare (“keep back”), one or more units of soldiers kept more or less in readiness in case they are needed as reinforcements; in general usage, anything kept in stock or kept apart from a general issue or supply.

scout: from Latin auscultare (“heed,” “listen”), a person, sometimes a local civilian—or a group called a scouting party—sent to explore, observe, or search to obtain information about the enemy; in entertainment or sports, someone who observes prospective performers or recruits.

sergeant: from Latin serviens (“servant”), originally referred to a servant but later applied to an experienced common soldier who supervised others under command of a nobleman or knight; the term now denotes an experienced soldier or police officer holding the rank of sergeant or (in the military) a variation of the rank such as staff sergeant.

task force: from taxare (“tax”), a unit formed temporarily to achieve a specific objective; the sense in civilian usage is the same.

troops: from Old French trope (“band,” “company”), also the source of troupe, collectively refers to soldiers (in singular form the name of a specific military unit, not a designation for a single soldier); in general usage, an informal reference to a company’s employees or an organization’s members (as in “Round up the troops for a meeting”).

wingman: originally a term for a pilot who supports the leader of a flying formation, now also slang for someone who backs up a person who seeks to approach potential romantic…partners.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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The topic of scurvy came up during lunchtime the other day. The folks in my department like to keep lunchtime conversations light. I wanted to know more about the origin of this word, so I did some research and found this interesting article from Daily Writing Tips that lists some adjectives derived from words used to describe medical condition or diseases.

1. lousy

Lousy, meaning “contemptible” or “inferior,” or “ill,” derives from the name of the parasitic insect known as the louse (plural lice), several species of which infest humans. Thanks to their literally irritating presence, the adjective originally meaning “infested with lice” came to have other, figurative connotations, including “replete with,” inspired by the notion of swarming lice.

Two other words are associated with lice: Crumb, a nineteenth-century slang word for lice based on their appearance, came to refer to a “lousy,” or detestable, person. Also, nit, the word for young lice, is the basis of the verb nitpick and the noun and adjective nit-picking (note the differing compound treatments), which refer to the precise grooming behavior of removing lice from the body. By extension, the words came to apply to excessively detailed (and often uncalled-for) criticism.

2. mangy

Mangy, meaning “bare” or “worn,” or “seedy” or “shabby,” stems from the medical condition known as mange, caused by parasitic mites that lodge themselves in skin or in hair follicles. The conditions afflicting humans are called scabies and demodicosis, depending on the area of infection, but in fur-covered mammals, the disease is popularly known as mange. Because it causes hair loss, animals afflicted with mange have bald spots in their coats and are described as mangy. (This term is therefore often used to refer to a poorly groomed or otherwise neglected dog.) By extension, distressed floor and furniture coverings are described as mangy, and a messy, neglected room or other location might also be referred to as such.

3. measly

The adjective originally associated with the name of the virus-borne disease called measles, which causes a rash on the body as well as other symptoms, came to be used as a scornful term denoting a very small or unacceptably small amount.

4. rickety

Rickety, meaning “shaky” or “unstable,” or “in poor physical condition,” derives from the medical condition known as rickets, which as a result of Vitamin D or calcium deficiency in children and young animals causes deformed, soft bones. By extension, it refers not only to the unsteady movement of an afflicted person or animal but also any such movement or condition, especially in furniture or structures. (Rickettsia, the name of which is derived from the surname Ricketts, is an unrelated affliction.)

5. scurvy

Alone among these terms, scurvy is a noun form as well as an adjective. It began as a variant of scurfy, and literally refers to Vitamin C deficiency resulting in weakness and bleeding and/or swollen gums. (The scientific name for Vitamin C, ascorbic acid, derives from the Latin term scorbuticus, which is based on the Germanic forebear of scurfy and scurvy.) Scurvy began life as an insult among sailors, who, due to lack of access to fresh food containing Vitamin C, were among those most likely to be afflicted.

On a related note, the slang word limey originally referred to English sailors and sailing ships because the Royal Navy introduced rations of lime juice to prevent scurvy among its crews; by extension, the mildly derogatory term (originally lime-juicer) was assigned to British immigrants by longtime residents of Australia and other British colonies.

Jackie Solano | Technical Editor | Symitar®

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123 | Ph. 619.542.6711 | Extension: 766711

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Yesterday, I wrote about gender-neutral titles (police officer, insurance agent, etc.), and I heard from a lot of you—thank you all for your thoughtful responses! Today, I want to discuss ways to avoid being gender specific with your pronouns.

We all know that we should avoid using the pronoun he to refer to everyone. But how do you do that gracefully? I’ve seen writers switch back and forth between he and she from paragraph to paragraph (not so graceful, really). I’ve also seen people use a hybrid like s/he (kind of odd and clunky). Most commonly, people use the term he or she. All three of those options are awkward, though. They draw attention to the phrasing rather than the message. Good writing should never do that.

An easy way to fix this is to use plural forms. For example, use the plural form students rather than the student so that you can use the pronoun they or their (rather than he or she) on the second reference.

From this: The student must register two weeks before he or she starts the course.

To this: Students must register two weeks before they start the course.

When you must speak about a singular individual, try replacing the pronoun (he or she) with an article (the or an). For example, you can say the student instead of he or she.

From this: The prerequisite must be met before he or she can register.

To this: The prerequisite must be met before the student can register.

Of course, you can also rephrase the sentence to avoid using he or she.

From this: If the student has not met the prerequisite, he or she cannot enroll in the course.

To this: Students who have not met the prerequisite will not be able to enroll in the course.

And one more thing, there is a big push from many circles to use they instead of he or she. For example, “The student should be told on the first day of class that they need to have met the prerequisite.” Although many people don’t like it, they has been usedto refer to singular nouns since the 1300s—it’s called “the singular they.” In the past few years, I’ve read a number of articles from grammarians who argue that it’s time to make the single they standard usage.

Don’t shoot the messenger.

On a lighter note, I recently had a very happy he or she incident. I found out my son and daughter-in-law are having a he baby in August.

Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar®

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123 | Ph. 619.278.0432 | Ext: 765432

It’s a lovely spring day, so I thought we’d stir up some controversy and talk about gender-neutral language: terms like police officer (rather than policeman) and mail carrier (rather than mailman). Kara has covered this topic before, but I read a good article, and I like to share.

The article I read mentions a college student who tested her instructor by using the word mankind rather than humankind after being expressly directed to use only gender-neutral terminology in her essay. The student found out how serious the instructor was when, as warned, points were deducted from her score for the use of this one word.

So why do this professor and most authorities believe that gender-neutral terminology is important? Well, for one thing, it is more accurate. Consider the term policeman. When we hear this term, most of us instinctively imagine a man in a police uniform. Many women serve on the police force, however, and the term policeman (and the image it elicits) disregards all those brave women. The exclusion is usually not intentional, but it occurs all the same.

The goal of gender-neutral language is to be inclusive. To help you achieve that goal, I’ve compiled a partial list of gender-neutral titles from the internet. (Tomorrow, we’ll talk about gender-neutral pronouns. I hope you can survive the suspense!)

In case this topic is a little too serious, don’t think of this rule as mandatory. Think of it as persondatory.

Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar®

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123 | Ph. 619.278.0432 | Extension: 765432

Symitar Technical Publications Writing and Editing Requests

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Many people are confused by the words purposely and purposefully. Are they synonyms? Is purposely even a real word?

Let’s start with some definitions from Merriam-Webster:

· purposely: with a deliberate or an express purpose : on purpose : INTENTIONALLY, DESIGNEDLY, EXPRESSLY

· purposefully: full of determination : guided by a definite aim

Although the two words are close in meaning, there is a subtle difference. You could say that purposely means "on purpose" and purposefully means "with a sense of purpose."

Merriam-Webster notes, "In everyday use, purposely is fine to merely show that something was done or said on purpose (as opposed to accidentally). But if that thing was done or said with a deliberate aim or intention, then purposefully is the adverb to use."

In case the distinction still seems fuzzy, here are some examples (four I made up, and two from recent news stories).

Example: The vandal purposely painted a bad word on the dumpster.

The vandal’s finger didn’t slip and fall onto the spray can nozzle, but he had no goal beyond causing mischief. The vandal chose the dumpster arbitrarily.

Example: The vandal purposefully painted "LIAR" on the front door of the senator’s campaign headquarters.

The message and the choice of target were deliberate. The vandal didn’t just want to cause mischief; he wanted to embarrass the senator and make a political statement.

Example: Alice purposely walked into the lecture hall.

Alice didn’t walk through the wrong door, but she wasn’t full of determination. She might be attending a lecture or trying to get out of the rain.

Example: Alice purposefully walked into the lecture hall.

Alice didn’t just wander into the lecture hall; she had determination and a definite aim. She might be the lecturer, or she might be extremely confident about taking the final exam.

Example: "Report: Driver purposely crashed during Border Patrol chase" – San Diego Union-Tribune

The driver allegedly chose to crash his SUV after the Border Patrol started chasing him. However, crashing wasn’t the driver’s goal (as it might be for a Hollywood stunt driver who crashes purposefully).

Example: "It’s the willfully eccentric characters and purposefully obtuse scenes that fuel enthusiasm for [the television show
Twin Peaks]." – NPR

Obtuse scenes in Twin Peaks aren’t just "on purpose"—they’re the whole point. Twin Peaks is a mystery show, and director David Lynch deliberately disorients the audience with dreamlike imagery and cryptic dialogue.

Ben Ritter | Technical Editor | Symitar®
8985 Balboa Avenue | San Diego, CA 92123
619-682-3391 | or ext. 763391 | www.Symitar.com

Symitar Documentation Services

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In my last post, I wrote about using periods in acronyms and initialisms (tip: don’t do it!). Today, just for fun, I’d like to talk about words that look like abbreviations, but aren’t.

One of our readers recently alerted us to the following sentence, which appeared in The New York Times: “The two examples above – G.P.A. and ACT – provide just a glimpse into the growing field of data and analysis relating to college admissions.”

The New York Times uses periods in initialisms so readers don’t try to pronounce them as words. GPA is an initialism. It stands for grade point average. So far, so good.

But ACT is also pronounced one letter at a time (“A-C-T,” not “act”). Why didn’t The Times put a period after each letter?

Surprisingly, ACT is not an initialism; since 1996, those three letters have been the full name of the test. (From 1959 to 1995, it was called the American College Test.)

The other major college admissions test, the SAT, followed suit. It used to be the Scholastic Aptitude Test. In 1990, it became the Scholastic Assessment Test. Since 1997, it’s just SAT.

SAT is to Scholastic Assessment Test as AT&T is to what?

Words that started as abbreviations but lost their original meaning are called orphan initialisms or empty initialisms.

They usually occur when an organization wants to shift its focus, but doesn’t want to lose its name recognition. For example, AT&T (formerly American Telephone & Telegraph) discontinued telegraph service in 1991. The cable network AMC (formerly American Movie Classics) is best known these days for original shows like The Walking Dead, not classic films.

Here is a partial list of companies and other organizations that have rebranded themselves using just their initials:

· 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company)

· A&E (Arts & Entertainment Network)

· AARP (American Association of Retired Persons)

· ACT (American College Testing)

· AMC (American Movie Classics)

· AMC Theatres (American Multi-Cinema)

· AMF Bowling Centers (American Machine and Foundry)

· AOL (America Online)

· AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph)

· BP (British Petroleum)

· CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System)

· CNBC (Consumer News and Business Channel)

· Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow)

· ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Networks)

· IFC (Independent Film Channel)

· KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken)

· MTV (Music Television)

· Nabisco (National Biscuit Company)

· SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test; Scholastic Assessment Test)

· Sega (Service Games)

· Texas A&M (The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas)

· TLC (The Learning Channel)

· TNT (Turner Network Television)

· VH1 (Video Hits One)

Ben Ritter | Technical Editor | Symitar®
8985 Balboa Avenue | San Diego, CA 92123
619-682-3391 | or ext. 763391 | www.Symitar.com

Symitar Documentation Services

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Happy Friday!

Today’s Editor’s Corner stems from the following question: What do you call those tiny bits of confectionary, which add a delightful crunch and festive flair to desserts ranging from ice cream cones to doughnuts to birthday cakes? According to this article from Cakespy (via the curious Peggy E.), the answer depends on where you live.

Sprinkles is the term favored in most of the United States, and is actually quite broad: it is used to not only to refer to those tiny cylinders of garnishing magic, but is also used to refer to sanding sugar, nonpareils, and even dragées (those little silver balls that will break your teeth on cakes!).

Sprinkles

Dragées

Jimmies is a term with a fun story: legend holds that the Just Born Candy Company in Pennsylvania (producer of PEEPS candy) began producing sprinkles in the 1930s and, since a gentleman named Jimmy ran the sprinkles machine, the product was named after its maker. While the product in question was specifically chocolate sprinkles (also the best kind to make trompe l’oeil caviar, btw), usage seems to have spread to multicolored sprinkles as well. This term is most commonly used in Pennsylvania, and the northeast United States.

Hundreds-and-Thousands is the term favored in England as well as countries which speak British English; this term seems to refer specifically to the tiny, round type of nonpareil sprinkles.

Hundreds-and-Thousands

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

Recently, I was caught using the word principle when I should have written principal (thanks, Ron). As penance, I thought Id take a minute to define these two words, which are linguistically related: both terms generate from the Latin word prmus, meaning prime or first.

My mistake occurred because the word principal, when used as a noun, has two meanings. It can mean the chief or head of an organization (like the principal of a school), or it can mean the amount of money that can earn interest. I came to this financial world from a background in education, and I knew that I wasnt talking about the school principal, so, without thinking further (famous last words), I mistakenly used the word principle to mean the amount of money that can earn interest. Oh, so WRONG!

What makes this word pair even more confusing, is that along with serving as a noun (with two meanings), the word principal, can also serve as an adjective that means the most important. For example, Human encroachment and loss of habitat are the principal reasons that tigers are endangered.

The word principle, on the other hand, only serves as a noun, and it means an accepted rule of action or conduct or a fundamental doctrine or tenet. For example, It is against my principles to hide the fact that I used the wrong word (and Ron would snitch on me anyway).

To recap

Principle is a noun that has only one meaning: Rule of action or conduct/fundamental doctrine or tenet

Principal can be a noun or an adjective and has the following meanings:

o (noun): Chief or head of an organization (or most important person in a group)

o (noun): An amount of money that is put in a bank or lent to someone and that can earn interest

o (adjective): Most important

This is a good reminder that spell check doesnt catch everything. We need to review our own writing, and when possible, have Ron (or someone you trust) review your writing, too

.

Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123 | Ph. 619.278.0432 | Extension: 765432

Symitar Technical Publications Writing and Editing Requests

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I want to thank Phil R. for bringing these words (and the etymology of discussion, “dashed to pieces”) to my attention. While concussion, discussion, and percussion sound alike, you might think they are completely unrelated outside of their spelling. In fact, they are all from the same root originally, as you can see in their etymologies below. From my favorite etymology website, Online Etymology Dictionary:

concussion (noun)

c. 1400, from Latin concussionem (nominative concussio) "a shaking," noun of action from past participle stem of concutere "shake violently," from com "with, together" (see com-) + quatere "to shake" (see quash).

Modern brain injury sense is from 1540s.

discussion (noun)

mid-14c., "examination, investigation, judicial trial," from Old French discussion "discussion, examination, investigation, legal trial," from Late Latin discussionem (nominative discussio) "examination, discussion," in classical Latin, "a shaking," from discussus, past participle of discutere "strike asunder, break up," from dis- "apart" (see dis–) + quatere "to shake" (see quash).

Meaning "a talking over, debating" in English first recorded mid-15c. Sense evolution in Latin appears to have been from "smash apart" to "scatter, disperse," then in post-classical times (via the mental process involved) to "investigate, examine," then to "debate."

percussion (noun)

early 15c., "a striking, a blow; internal injury, contusion," from Latin percussionem (nominative percussio) "a beating, striking; a beat as a measure of time," noun of action from past participle stem of percutere "to strike hard, beat, smite; strike through and through," from per "through" (see per) + quatere "to strike, shake" (see quash).

Reference to musical instruments is first recorded 1776.

Robitussin® (noun)

From Latin robitussinem (nominate robitussio) “striking the chest hard.”

Reference to cold medication first used in 1951. Recorded in MC Chris’s song, The Tussin, 2001.

Okay, I totally made the last one up, except the part about the song, and it is definitely not safe for work, so no links today!

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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