Editor's Corner

Adding a negative prefix (un-, dis-, im-, de-, in-, non-) to the beginning of a word usually changes the word’s meaning to the opposite (for example, happy and unhappy, like and dislike, etc.).

I recently ran across a list of words that have negative prefixes; but oddly, no opposing word exists. I found the information interesting, so I’m sharing it with you. I’ll give you the words and the etymology that explains how the words came to be (courtesy of Dictionary.com). All you have to do is move your eyes from left to right and enjoy.

· indelible
When something is indelible, it leaves a mark that cannot be erased or removed. The word refers not only to physical marks, as in “indelible ink,” but to unforgettable memories or experiences. But was anything ever just delible? Not since the 1800s when delible meant “capable of being removed.” By the 20th century, the lonely delible was effectively nonexistent, but its memory lives on…indelibly.

· Impeccable
“The queen has the most impeccable manners.” Though in this example impeccable means faultless, flawless, and appropriately refers to the dexterous manipulation of the royal butter knife, the word once meant “not liable to sin.” This is probably because peccable meant “liable to sin.” Both words are derived from the Latin peccare meaning “to sin,” and though some things might still be sinful, they’ve rarely been peccable since 1900.

· Disgruntled
“I woke up in such a good mood, I was absolutely gruntled!” This may be a lovely sentiment, but no one in the history of English has ever been gruntled, though many have been disgruntled in various ways. When people are disgruntled they are displeased, discontented, sulky, or peevish. The word is derived from the onomatopoetic sound a person makes when in a bad mood, a “grunt,” from the Old English grunnettan. In this case, the prefix dis- intensifies the medieval term of annoyance gruntle, so that to be disgruntled is to be extremely gruntled.

· Disgust
Unlike disgruntled, the dis- in disgust is as negative as they come. Disgust is a feeling of nausea, strong distaste, or loathing. The word is derived from the Latin gustare meaning “to taste,” and though it’s impossible to be simply gusted in English, it’s easy to do something with gusto that is with “zest, relish, and a hearty enjoyment as in eating or drinking.”

· Nonchalant
When people are nonchalant they’re casual, unconcerned, and indifferent. They are often exasperatingly cool, and they are unmoved by situations that tend to rouse emotion in the hearts of passionate people. The word comes to English by way to the 18th century French nonchaloir meaning “to lack warmth (of heart),” but the root calere is derived from the Latin meaning “to be warm.”

· Disheveled
People look disheveled when their hair or appearance is untidy or disarranged, as if they’ve just rolled out of bed. It comes to us from the Old French descheveler literally meaning “to disarrange the hair.” The base term sheveled never entered the English vernacular alone, so next time you roll out of bed with disheveled hair, take heart, looking sheveled simply isn’t an option.

· Debunk
This relatively young word debunk entered the vernacular as a neologism, invented by novelist William Woodward in this 1923 book Bunk. The main character in Woodward’s novel was known for “taking the ‘bunk’ (i.e., nonsense) out of things,” thus revealing a more honest truth. But the word is a derivation of an earlier Americanism, bunkum, or insincere speechmaking that emerged in Congress in 1819 when representative Felix Walker made an inane speech on the behalf of Buncome County, North Carolina.

· Impinge
To impinge upon something is to “encroach” or “infringe” upon it, hindering it in some way as one might impingeupon another’s rights by denying them. The word is derived from the Middle Latin pangere meaning “to fix, fasten” and reintegrated as “to unfix” with the addition of the negative prefix im-. But in the 1530s the negative Latin form impingere grew to mean “to drive into, strike against,” a shade closer to our modern English definition.

· Discombobulate
To discombobulate is to confuse or disconcert as in, “they tried to discombobulate their attackers with a decoy.” Like debunk, discombobulate is also an Americanism, invented around the 1830s as a fanciful new spin on words like discompose and discomfort, and although the prefix remained, the base is still rather discombobulating.

Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar®

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

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Rule 1: Don’t Compress Phrasal Verbs

Many phrasal verbs have noun or adjective forms that are either one word (cutoff, giveaway, handout, makeup) or hyphenated (check-in, drop-off, mix-up, show-off).

The Chicago Manual of Style says, “Don’t compress [a phrasal verb] into a one-word verb … e.g., one burns out (phrasal verb) and suffers burnout (noun).”

Incorrect: The supermarket hired me to handout free samples.

Correct: The supermarket hired me to hand out free samples.

Incorrect: I need to drop-off my brother at the mall.

Correct: I need to drop off my brother at the mall.

The good news is that phrasal verbs always have a space between words. The bad news is that some noun (or adjective) forms of phrasal verbs are hyphenated, and some are not.

The following table shows some of the most common phrasal verbs we use in our documentation and the appropriate noun (or adjective) form of each.

When in doubt about hyphenating a noun, consult your preferred dictionary (we use Merriam-Webster).

Rule 2: Don’t Use Redundant Phrasal Verbs

The Chicago Manual of Style says, “Avoid the phrasal verb if the verb alone conveys essentially the same meaning—e.g., rest up is equivalent to rest.”

This rule is a specific case of a more general principle in technical writing: don’t use unnecessary words.

I couldn’t find a list of redundant phrasal verbs, but I thought of some more examples:

In my next post, I’ll discuss two more rules for writing about phrasal verbs. Until then, keep on keeping on (or just keep keeping).

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

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Many English language learners consider phrasal verbs to be one of the most difficult parts of our language. But many native English speakers use phrasal verbs every day without even knowing what they are.

Merriam-Webster defines a phrasal verb as “a phrase (as take off or look down on) that combines a verb with a preposition or adverb or both and that functions as a verb whose meaning is different from the combined meanings of the individual words.”

You May Already Be an Expert

If you don’t think you’re a phrasal verb expert, read the following example and pay attention to how different prepositions (up, in, out, on, and for) change the meaning of the verb call.

Example: This morning, I called up a call-in show to call out our hypocritical mayor and call on listeners to call for his resignation. Then I called in sick and called on my baseball-playing neighbor (who was called up to the majors) to call in a favor.

Phrasal Verbs Are Hard

Learning phrasal verbs requires memorizing them (through dedicated study or by hearing them spoken over and over). Even if you know the meaning of the word call and the word out, you can’t logically deduce the meaning of the phrase call out (“to publicly criticize or fault someone”).

Phrasal verbs are unforgiving. Using the wrong preposition can sound awkward (“calling up sick”) or can change your meaning in unintended ways (“checking out” your grandma instead of “checking on” her).

Even if you have a good ear for phrasal verbs in general, there are some mistakes you should avoid. Tomorrow, I’ll discuss some of these mistakes.

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

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I recently wrote a post about the words historic and historical. And that research got me thinking about the words economic and economical. Are these words interchangeable?

They are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, economic means “relating to economics or the economy.” The word economical means “giving good value or return in relation to the resources used or money spent; sparing in the use of resources or money.”

Daily Writing Tips has this take on this word pair:

So, government policies to do with finance would be economic but fuel-efficient cars would be described as more economical.

The main confusion arises when writers use “economic” when they really mean “economical.” Take, for example, the phrase “economical with the truth,” a euphemism for lying brought into popular usage by the British civil servant Robert Armstrong.

Armstrong used the phrase correctly, but many do not, referring instead to being “economic with the truth.” A simple web search will reveal many thousands of instances of this phrase, although it is essentially meaningless.

In colloquial English, the distinction between the two words is often blurred, but it is always useful to know the correct meanings.

As an aside, the adverb for both words is the same: economically.

I’ll sign off now to make sure that this post is an economical use of your time.

Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar®

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

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I expect the subject line of this email to cause some controversy (or at least some cringing). Plenty of people contend that ain’t is not a word. Those who allow that it is a word, still consider it to be nonstandard, at best. Ain’t has definitely proven to be one of our more notorious English contractions.

But what’s actually wrong with it, other than the belief that it is improper? Let’s break it down and look at the history.

While researching topics for the Editor’s Corner recently, I learned that in the 18th century, most contractions (can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, ain’t, etc.) were frowned upon. Interestingly, all these contractions, except ain’t, are now considered acceptable. They’re informal, but they are not considered wrong. However, there is still a very strong stigma against the contraction ain’t. Most people consider it to be improper and crude—but we use it for fun (for example, “Ain’t gonna happen!” and “Say it ain’t so!”).

When you break it down, the phrasal contraction “ain’t I”(short for “am I not”) makes more sense and is more grammatically correct than “aren’t I,” (which is short for “are I not”). This example illustrates that what becomes “standard English” is not always logical. Like I’ve said before, language rules are determined by how we actually use language—no matter what the experts say.

Now, I am not saying we should start using ain’t in our professional writing. Obviously, we should stick with standard usage and follow commonly accepted rules, which leaves ain’t out of the picture unless we’re communicating informally. But isn’t it interesting how this poor little contraction got such a bad rap? It just ain’t right.

Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar®

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

Way back in the day, more than five years ago, I did several Editor’s Corner articles on homonyms. According to the dictionary, homonym can mean either:

· One of two or more words pronounced alike, but different in meaning or derivation or spelling (as in to, too, and two) [also known as a homophone]

· One of two or more words spelled alike but different in meaning or derivation or pronunciation (as the bow of a ship, a bow and arrow) [also known as a
homograph]

One of the most common sets of homonyms you’ll see is they’re/their/there.

Today and tomorrow, I will share the list of homonyms and definitions from the group at Daily Writing Tips.

1.
add: increase
ad: abbreviation for advertisement

2.
aid: help
aide: one who helps

3.
block: area bounded by streets, or an obstacle or a solid object
bloc: group with ideas or ideology in common

4.
cannon: piece of artillery
canon: collection of works, or regulation, or standards or rules or a collection of them

5.
canvas: durable, heavy protective material
canvass: debate, examine, or go out in search of responses

6.
chomp: bite down
champ: bite down (same meaning, but idiom is “champ at the bit”)

7.
compliment: praise
complement: complete or enhance

8.
conscious: aware
conscience: adherence to or regard for fairness or moral strength

9.
council: deliberative or legislative body
counsel: legal adviser

10.
discrete: separate
discreet: modest, prudent, unobtrusive

11.
fair: event for entertainment, exhibition, and trade
fare: specific type of food

12.
phase: carry out or introduce a stage, or adjust for synchronicity
faze: disturb

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

Some of you may already be familiar with the term smishing. For those of you who aren’t, smishing is a scam in the form of a text message. The “smisher” attempts to get you to log on to a fraudulent website or to call a phone number and provide personal information.

The word smishing is a portmanteau of SMS (short message service) and the word phishing. Merriam-Webster is tracking the usage of the word smishing to determine if it should be added to the dictionary.

This article provides some tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of smishing. Remember to think before you click.

Jackie Solano | Technical Editor | Symitar®

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

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Happy Friday!

I hope that your upcoming weekend looks safe, warm, and minus any hurricanes, fires, or other natural disasters.

In past articles, we’ve talked about different colors and associated phrases and meanings, and today I’d like to share an article with you about the phrase “in the pink.” From The Grammarist:

In the pink is an idiom that dates back at least the 1600s, but has a very unexpected origin. An idiom is a figure of speech that is a word, group of words or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is not easily deduced from its literal definition. We will examine the definition of the idiomatic phrase in the pink, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.

In the pink is an English idiom that means to be at the peak of health, to be in perfect condition. The expression in the pink to mean to be at the peak of health goes back to the 1500s when the word pink did not refer to a color. At that time, the word pink referred to a certain type of flower called dianthus, still referred to as pinks in the English vernacular, today. Pinks, the flowers, were considered the pinnacle of floral design and so the word pink came to mean anything that was the pinnacle of excellence. The word pink is derived from the Danish term pinck oogen, which translates as half-closed eyes or small eyes, a clear reference to the appearance of the dianthus flower. Unbelievably, the word pink to mean a color was not used until the end of the 1700s, and not in general use until the 1800s.

Examples:

As a world famous media personality, she has good reason to be in the pink. (The Daily Mail)

“He’s in the pink of health considering his age,” Abella said. (The Philippine Star)

Dianthus Pink Kisses

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

Last week, I wrote a post about historical swear words. And the word historical made me think. I know that many of us are confused about whether to use the word historic or the word historical. I looked up this word pair to see if there is an easy way to remember which word to use in specific circumstances. It turns out there is a nifty mnemonic.

First, let’s start with definitions for each.

· Historic means “something important or influential in history.”

· Historical means “anything from the past.”

You visit historic sites (important sites like Stonehenge or the Coliseum); you share historical Elizabethan swear words with your friends.

The mnemonic to help you remember which word to use comes from William Safire: “Any past event is historical, but only the most memorable are historic.”

If you want to read more about these two words, the Grammar Girl website has an interesting article.

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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Dear Editrix,

Can you offer some tips on the use of the term cybersecurity…or is it cyber security?

Thanks!

Secure in the South

Dear Secure,

What great timing you have! Here on the JHA island of Symitar, we just enjoyed a fantastic educational conference, and it was full of presentations about the topic of cybersecurity. Being one of the editors of these presentations, I noticed that different people used different rules for cyber. Some used it as a prefix (cyberattack) and others used it as an adjective (cyber attack).

We should definitely all be using the same terminology here. At JHA, we use the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) and Merriam-Webster as our primary resources. In this case, CMOS did not offer any help, but Merriam-Webster did.

According to our favorite dictionary, cyber should be used as a prefix. (Incidentally, the AP Style Guide agrees.) Following are some of the more common cyber-related words, along with the preferred spelling:

· cyberattack

· cyberbullying

· cybercafe

· cybersecurity

· cyberspace

· cyberstore

I hope this helps!

Kara

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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