Editor's Corner

Someone asked me for a little more information and background on the French word sans, meaning without. First, she wanted to know if there was an opposite of sans, which I would say is avec (with). However, I think perhaps she was trying to get to something deeper.

Here are a few definitions and etymologies I found in the Online Etymology Dictionary.

· sans (adverb)

early 14c., from French sans, Old French sen, sens (with adverbial genitive) "without, except, apart, not counting," cognate with Provençal senes, Old Catalan senes, Old Spanish sen (Spanish sin), Old Italian sen, from Vulgar Latin *sene, from Latin sine "without," enlarged form of sed, se "without," from PIE root *sen(e)- "apart, separated" (see sunder). In reference to fonts, 1927, short for sans-serif.

· sans-culotte (n.)

also sansculotte, "lower-class republican of the French Revolution," 1790, from French, literally "without breeches;" see sans + culottes. Usually explained as referring to the class whose distinctive costume was pantalons (long trousers) as opposed to the upper classes, which wore culottes (knee-breeches), but this is not certain. Related: Sans-culottes; sans-culotterie.

· sans-serif(adjective)

also sanserif, 1830, from French sans "without" + English serif, from earlier ceref, perhaps from Dutch schreef "a line, a stroke," related to schrijven "to write," from Latin scribere (see script (n.)).

· sans souci (adv.)

"without care or concern," French. Name of Frederick the Great’s royal palace at Potsdam.

Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam, Germany

Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam, Germany

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

Dear Editrix,

When you quote something with a misspelling, do you put a [sic] next to it?

Inquiring from El Cajon

Dear Inquiring,

What a good question! The short answer is “yes, you should put a [sic] next to a misspelled word in a quotation.” Here at work, we don’t often quote other people or references for our technical documentation, so we don’t have the opportunity to use this word often. In the academic world, I would expect it to come up more often, when people are writing papers and making references to other books or articles.

Below, I’ve included more detail on this topic from The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, including a little quiz! Scroll down to see the answers.

Sincerely,

Editrix

Using [sic] Properly

Sic is a Latin term meaning “thus.” It is used to indicate that something incorrectly written is intentionally being left as it was in the original. Sic is usually italicized and always surrounded by brackets to indicate that it was not part of the original. Place [sic] right after the error.

Example: She wrote, “They made there [sic] beds.”

Note: The correct sentence should have been, “They made their beds.”

Why use [sic] at all? Why not just make the correction? If you are quoting material, it is generally expected that you will transcribe it exactly as it appeared in the original.

The word sic is also a command to attack (used especially in commanding a dog). The past tense is either sicced or sicked.

Examples: Sic ‘em, Fido. Fido sicced (or sicked) the burglar.

Note: With this meaning, the word is not italicized or enclosed in brackets.

Be careful, however, because the word sick, meaning ill, is also a homonym of sic.

Example: Ananda felt sick with the flu yesterday.

Pop Quiz
Place [sic] where needed.

1. I can lend you no more then ten dollars.
2. Who’s turn is it to speak?
3. I don’t know witch way to turn.
4. How did the weather effect your vacation plans?
5. Don’t you think that every one should attend the meeting?

Pop Quiz Answers

1. I can lend you no more then [sic] ten dollars. (than)
2. Who’s [sic] turn is it to speak? (Whose)
3. I don’t know witch [sic] way to turn. (which)
4. How did the weather effect [sic] your vacation plans? (affect)
5. Don’t you think that every one [sic] should attend the meeting? (everyone)

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Imagine that you’re on a first date. You went to a movie, and now you’re talking over dinner. Your date says, "That movie was awesome. It’ll win Best Picture for sure." You thought the movie was awful: the worst you’ve seen in years.

As your eyes drift to the nearest exit, a thought crosses your mind: "How did words as etymologically similar as awesome and awful come to be near-opposites?"

The word awe dates from before the 12th century, according to Merriam-Webster. Its original meaning (now obsolete) was "intense fear, dread, or terror."

When awful appeared in the 13th century (from awe and -ful), it meant "inspiring awe," or, more specifically, "causing dread or terror."

Between the 13th century and the turn of the 17th century, awe picked up a few more meanings (again from Merriam-Webster):

· fear mixed with dread, veneration, reverence, or wonder

· veneration and latent fear inspired by something sacred, mysterious, or morally impressive

· reverent wonder with a touch of fear inspired by the grand or sublime especially in nature or art

"Intense fear" became "fear," which became "latent fear," which became "a touch of fear." And "reverence" and "wonder" took over.

When awesome appeared in 1598 (from awe and -some), it meant "expressive of awe" or "deeply reverent"—no sign of fear.

The meanings of awful and awesome softened somewhat over the last 400 years, but they kept their negative and positive connotations (respectively).

So, when you and your date discuss the latest blockbuster’s artistic merits (or lack thereof), you’re using definitions similar to the following:

· awful: extremely unpleasant, disagreeable, or objectionable

· awesome: extremely or amazingly good

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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When one of our coworkers sent me a note that said Schadenfreude was interesting, I’m assuming he meant the word, not the EP by the band Lubricated Goat.

While I’ve seen and read the word, I realized I couldn’t define it, so I looked for more information on the internet. Here’s some interesting information I found on Wikipedia.

Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. Borrowed from German into English and several other languages, it is a feeling of joy that comes from seeing or hearing about another person’s troubles or failures. It is similar in meaning to the English term "to gloat" (which has no noun equivalent), meaning to express pleasure or self-satisfaction at one’s own success or at another’s failure. [KC – Yikes! These are people you don’t want to party with!]

Spelling and Etymology

Though normally not capitalized in English, the term schadenfreude is sometimes capitalized to mimic German-language convention, as German nouns are always capitalized.

The corresponding German adjective is schadenfroh. The word derives from Schaden (damage, harm) and Freude (joy). Schaden derives from the Middle High German schade, from the Old High German scado, and is a cognate with English scathe. Freude comes from the Middle High German freude, from the Old High German frewida, and is a cognate with the (usually archaic) English word frith. Schadenfreude can be enjoyed in private or it can be celebrated openly. [KC – Is it just me, or does this last sentence sound like an advertisement for an expensive cigar or a bottle of fine wine?]

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed the mornings are starting to get darker and there are more school buses on the road now. It seems like summer has already ended, even though we have a few weeks left. Just so we don’t forget the fabulous times at the beach or out in the sun, let’s have a look at some surfing terms from page 635 of I Never Knew There Was a Word for It, by Adam Jacot de Boinod.

Hey Dude!

Surfers follow the waves; and though you can find something to ride on in Newquay [KC – In Cornwall, Great Britain.], they’re altogether bigger, better, and harder to stay on in Big Sur and Bondi…

· shark biscuit (Australian slang c.1910) a novice surfer

· hang five (US 1960s) to ride with the toes of one foot hooked over the front of the board

· knots the bruises and cuts gained from battling the waves and his board (a surfer’s status mark)

· grubbing falling off your board while surfing

· frube a surfer who does not catch a wave for the whole time they are in the water

· hodad (1962) a show-off who hangs around surfing beaches, boasting of his exploits and trying to pick up girls, who has rarely, if ever, tried to surf

· Cowabunga! (Australian slang 1954) a shout of elation on surfing down a superb wave

Bondi Beach (Sydney, Australia)

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

Good morning. I’ve decided it’s fun day Monday today, so I want to talk about a humorous type of expression called a wellerism. The name derives from the character of Sam Weller in Charles Dickens’s book The Pickwick Papers. Wellerisms are a type of wordplay in which the second half of a phrase undermines the first half in a humorous way. These sayings are usually constructed around a cliché or well-known phrase.

As you can tell, it’s difficult to explain what they are, and since they’re fun to read (if you like corny wordplay), I think examples would be better. I’ve gathered these examples from various websites:

· “Don’t move, I’ve got you covered,” said the wallpaper to the wall.

· “Each moment makes thee dearer,” as the parsimonious tradesman said to his extravagant wife.

· “Eureka!” said Archimedes to the skunk.

· “I hope I made myself clear,” said the water when it passed through the filter.

· “I’m at my wit’s end,” said the king as he trod on the jester’s toe.

· "I stand corrected," said the man in the orthopedic shoes.

· "Is this a hearing?" asked the deaf juror judgmentally.

· “It all comes back to me now,” said the Captain as he spat into the wind.

· “I’ve been to see an old flame,” remarked the young man returning from Vesuvius.

· “My business is looking good,” said the model.

· “Oh, how blue I am,” mourned the poet, as his fountain pen spattered upon him.

· “Simply remarkable,” said the teacher when asked her opinion about the new dry-erase board.

· "So I see," said the blind carpenter as he picked up his hammer and saw.

· “That’s my mission in life,” said the monk, as he pointed to his monastery.

· “These are grave charges,” murmured the hopeless one, as he perused the bill for the burial of his mother-in-law.

· “That’s an old gag,” said the cashier, as the bandit stopped up his mouth.

· "We’ll have to rehearse that," said the undertaker, as the coffin fell out of the car.

Click here if you want more information about wellerisms. Now go forth and make this a good Monday.

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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Happy Friday!

Today I have another tidbit for you from the book I Never Knew There Was a Word for It, by Adam Jacot de Boinod. Today is about the Australian brand of English, from p.531.

Loose Kangaroos

Australians, in particular, specialize in scorn for the intellectually challenged. In the 1950s you could have been as mad (or silly) as a cut snake, a hatful of worms, or a Woolworth’s watch. More recently, in the 1980s [KC – Okay, this book was published nearly 10 years ago.], you might have been a couple of tinnies short of a slab or a few snags short of a barbie (where a tinnie is a beer can, a slab is a stack of cans, and a snag is a sausage). Then again, the real idiot or drongo couldn’t blow the froth off a glass of beer, knock the skin off a rice-pudding, pick a seat at the pictures, find a grand piano in a one-roomed house, or tell the time if the town-hall clock fell on them. Other memorable expressions of Antipodean* scorn include there’s a kangaroo loose in the top paddock and the wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.

*The Antipodeans were a group of Australian modern artists who asserted the importance of figurative art, and protested against abstract expressionism. They staged a single exhibition in Melbourne during August 1959.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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Unpaired words are words that would appear to have related words but do not. I previously wrote about the unpaired words uncouth, feckless, hapless, reckless, and ruthless. Today, let’s look at three more: bashful, disgruntle, and unkempt.

Bashful

Definition: socially shy or timid; diffident, self-conscious

Etymology: Middle English abaschen ("to lose one’s composure") was shortened to basshen, and then to bash.

Is bashless a word? No, but unabashed is similar in meaning.

Disgruntle

Definition: to make ill-humored or discontented

Etymology: Middle English grunten ("to grunt") became Modern English gruntle ("to grumble"), which is still used in some British dialects.

The prefix dis- usually means "do the opposite of," but in a few words (like disgruntle and disannul), dis- is an intensifier. So a person who is disgruntled grumbles all the time.

Is gruntle a word? Yes, and not just in the British sense of "to grumble." In 1926, someone gave gruntle the secondary meaning "to put in good humor."

Unkempt

Definition: not combed

Etymology: Old English cemban ("to comb") became Middle English kemben, which became Modern English kemb, whose past participle is kempt.

Is kempt a word? Yes. It means "combed." Merriam-Webster says it’s dialectical, but it doesn’t say which dialect.

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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I’m always looking for new and interesting books on grammar, English, words, and other such things to share with you. One of my recent purchases did not end up being a favorite, but I have found a few things I can share with you. This book is called I Never Knew There Was a Word for It, by Adam Jacot de Boinod.

This first piece is from page 447 and is titled “You’re safer with prison.” It is a list of words that mean something completely different in English than they do in other languages. Travelers beware!

· Atum Bom: Portuguese tinned tuna

· Bimbo: Mexican bread (We know this one!)

· Kevin: French aftershave

· Polio: Czech detergent

· Vaccine: Dutch aftershave

· Flirt: Austrian cigarettes

· Naked: New Zealand fruit and nut bar

· Noisy: French butter

· Happy: Swiss chocolate

· Prison: Ugandan body spray

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

You may be asking yourself, what’s up with Editrix? She hasn’t been giving us her undivided, loving attention these days. We’ve been getting book quotes and articles and etymologies, but some of the questions we’ve asked haven’t been answered yet.

My dear readers, you are always in the spotlight of my mind’s eye, but you are not always at the front of the editing queue. This is our busiest time of the year, and I promise, I still have your emails and will eventually get to them.

But not today; today I’m phoning it in with an excerpt from But Can I Start a Sentence with “But”? Advice from the Chicago Manual of Style Q&A.

Question: I am agitated about the institutional inconsistency on this point and found the College Board to be of no help, so I turn to you. What is the proper treatment of an associate degree? As I have stated it, or is it “associates” or “associate’s”?

Answer: Someday someone will do something about institutional inconsistency, and then we can all retire. Meanwhile, both “associate degree” and “associate’s degree are widely used and they both seem reasonable and logical. Even if the board never decides on one or the other, you can.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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