Do I Make Myself Clear? by Harold Evans

Author:Harold Evans
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / Editing & Proofreading, Language Arts & Disciplines / Grammar & Punctuation, Language Arts & Disciplines / Style Manuals, Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2017-03-28T00:00:00+00:00

Replica/Reproduction: Ask for your money back if you buy “a virtual replica” of the Eiffel Tower, the Parthenon, or any work of art. You may have bought a good reproduction, copy, duplicate, model, facsimile, but a replica is one re-created by the original creator, so there is no such thing as “a virtual replica.” It either is or isn’t. James Kilpatrick, who manned the barricades to defend the integrity of replica, was cross, with reason, that the respected Smithsonian magazine offered “an almost incredibly authentic replica of the Titanic—a replica that measured 3 inches in length.” At a cooking show, the French brought a three-and-a-half-foot “replica” of the Eiffel Tower made out of glazed uncooked pasta.

Skeptic/Denier: The skeptic questions the evidence; the denier flatly rejects it.

Stationary/Stationery: Stationary, adjective, is static; stationery, noun, is writing material.

Supine/Prone: Supine is lying faceup, a synonym for spineless, ineffective, indolent. Prone is lying facedown or vulnerable and naturally inclined to some negative quality—accident-prone, anger-prone.

Synthetic: Not a synonym for false, as in “a synthetic excuse.” It means “placed together,” from the Greek syn, “together,” and tithemi, “to place.” Think of synthetic rubber, made by placing its constituents together rather than by extraction from a plant.

Terrorism: The use of threats or violence to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.

Titivate/Titillate: To titivate is to adorn or smarten. The seducer may do that to himself, but he will seek to titillate the victim—to excite pleasantly.

Transpire: Wrongly used to mean, merely, “happen.” It comes from the Latin spirare, “breathe.” To transpire is to emit through the surface of leaves or skin and, figuratively, is best used for when some fact oozes out, especially a secret.

Urban/Urbane: Urban means “of a city”; urbane means “courteous, suave.” Not all people in urban areas are urbane.

Uxorious/Luxurious: The rental agency meant to say the seafront apartment was luxurious, but advertised it as uxorious. That’s a word for a husband’s doting devotion to his wife, a characteristic surely beyond reproach.

Viable/Feasible: Viable means “capable of independent life”—a viable fetus or seed or, figuratively, in the sense of “capable of succeeding,” candidate. Feasible means “capable of being done, accomplished”—a feasible plan.

Vice: It would be a pity if it became a synonym for sex. There are many vices. It should be used as the opposite of virtue—unless you happen to admire the website Vice.

Viral: Unwelcome adjective as related to Ebola, Zika, and other nasty viruses. Much desired by websites in the Internet age (since 1999); an item “gone viral” has been passed person to person so many times as to seem contagious.

Virtually: Incorrectly used to mean “nearly all”; e.g., “Virtually all the chocolates were eaten.” Virtually is useful for an imprecise description that is more or less right, close enough, as good as. “He’s virtually the manager.” He does not have the title but he manages the business.

While: It can have a temporal meaning to indicate two things were going on at the same time: “While he was embracing her, the husband arrived with her mother.” It makes no sense to say that the 2:00 p.

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