amanuensis -- from the Latin (servus) a manu, a slave with secretarial duties: meaning one employed to write from dictation or to copy manuscript.
This word often shows up as a euphemism of sorts for a ghost writer -- My Turn at Bat by Ted Williams, as told to John Underwood; Iacocca by Lee Iacocca with Ralph Novak; or Learning to Sing by Clay Aiken and Allison Glock.
The word appears in texts about the Bible in the Middle Ages. For example, God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible refers to the men who in 1605 refined, corrected and improved previous translations of the Bible as "Amanuenses of the words of God." (Note the plural.)
By using this word, a skilled writer is usually implying with a wink that there was a lot more than just dictation and pure secretarial work being done ---as there usually is, even in pure secretarial work!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sanguine -- bloody good spirited, eh?
from wordsmith.org
sanguine (SANG-gwin)
adjective:
1. Cheerfully optimistic or confident.
2. Having a healthy reddish color.
3. Blood-red.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French sanguin, from Latin sanguineus (bloody), from sanguis (blood).
USAGE: "Still, let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us be quite sober."Abraham Lincoln; Letter to James C. Conkling; Aug 26, 1863.
sanguine (SANG-gwin)
adjective:
1. Cheerfully optimistic or confident.
2. Having a healthy reddish color.
3. Blood-red.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French sanguin, from Latin sanguineus (bloody), from sanguis (blood).
USAGE: "Still, let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us be quite sober."Abraham Lincoln; Letter to James C. Conkling; Aug 26, 1863.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Mnemonic devices (for spelling)
A mnemonic device is one that assists the memory, from the Greek mnemon--mindful. (Mnemosyne was the Greek goddess of memory and the mother of the Muses by Zeus.)
We all know "I before e, except after c, or when sounded as "a", as in neighbor or weigh." Fewer people know the mnemonic sentence that can help us remember the major exceptions: "Neither leisure foreigner seized the weird heights."
FedEx executive Shane O'Connor writes, "I remember one class in which [Ferdinand E.] Ruge was teaching us a way to remember how to correctly spell “exhilarate,” since it is often misspelled “exhilerate.” He stood in front of the class in his gray pinstriped three-piece suit and swung his pocket watch fob around as he sang, "La la la la la la la. Exhi-LA-rate exhi-LA-rate."
Try these---
There is a rat in separate. 0A
I have an independent dentist. (We also have an independent superintendent, who comes from Boston.)
The principal is my pal. "Principal" can also refer to a matter or thing of primary importance, or the capital sum placed at interest, due as a debt, or used as a fund, as in the principal of a loan.
A principle is a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine or assumption. As in, you are always true to your principles.
For the dance, your attendance is requested, just as it will be for you descendants.
A vast area was devastated.
Finally, something definite.
Like the letters you'll write on it, stationery has an "e" in it. (As opposed to stationary, or unmoving, objects.)
We're all all grateful for congratulations.
The U.S. Capitol building has a dome on it -- as do the "o"s in both words. Confusingly, Washington., D.C., is the capital of the United States.
Why? The former word comes from the Capitoleum , the temple of Jupiter at Rome that sat atop the Capitoline hill. The latter comes from the Latin capitalis, meaning chief, or principal, (derived from the Latin word caput, meaning "head"). All you have to remember is the building has a domed "o." All other meanings are with an "a."
How can you learn for sure to spell tough words, like occurrence, or accommodate? Or parallel? One good start is to pay a visit to Harbrace Chapter 18: Spelling and Hyphenation. The first seven pages are invaluable for anyone.
We all know "I before e, except after c, or when sounded as "a", as in neighbor or weigh." Fewer people know the mnemonic sentence that can help us remember the major exceptions: "Neither leisure foreigner seized the weird heights."
FedEx executive Shane O'Connor writes, "I remember one class in which [Ferdinand E.] Ruge was teaching us a way to remember how to correctly spell “exhilarate,” since it is often misspelled “exhilerate.” He stood in front of the class in his gray pinstriped three-piece suit and swung his pocket watch fob around as he sang, "La la la la la la la. Exhi-LA-rate exhi-LA-rate."
Try these---
There is a rat in separate. 0A
I have an independent dentist. (We also have an independent superintendent, who comes from Boston.)
The principal is my pal. "Principal" can also refer to a matter or thing of primary importance, or the capital sum placed at interest, due as a debt, or used as a fund, as in the principal of a loan.
A principle is a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine or assumption. As in, you are always true to your principles.
For the dance, your attendance is requested, just as it will be for you descendants.
A vast area was devastated.
Finally, something definite.
Like the letters you'll write on it, stationery has an "e" in it. (As opposed to stationary, or unmoving, objects.)
We're all all grateful for congratulations.
The U.S. Capitol building has a dome on it -- as do the "o"s in both words. Confusingly, Washington., D.C., is the capital of the United States.
Why? The former word comes from the Capitoleum , the temple of Jupiter at Rome that sat atop the Capitoline hill. The latter comes from the Latin capitalis, meaning chief, or principal, (derived from the Latin word caput, meaning "head"). All you have to remember is the building has a domed "o." All other meanings are with an "a."
How can you learn for sure to spell tough words, like occurrence, or accommodate? Or parallel? One good start is to pay a visit to Harbrace Chapter 18: Spelling and Hyphenation. The first seven pages are invaluable for anyone.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
How should we pronounce "long-lived"?
from Garner's Usage Tip of the Day
long-lived, adj.
The traditional American English preference, both in this phrase and in "short-lived," has been to pronounce the second syllable /lIvd/, not /livd/. (The sense is "having a long life," and the past-participial form has been made from "life" [/lIf/], not the ordinary verb "live" [/liv/].)
But the predominant practice today -- and the British English preference -- is /livd/. The American tendency to make it a short "-i-" is perhaps explainable on the analogy of the ordinary word "lived"; the British tendency may be influenced additionally by the phrase "long live the Queen."
long-lived, adj.
The traditional American English preference, both in this phrase and in "short-lived," has been to pronounce the second syllable /lIvd/, not /livd/. (The sense is "having a long life," and the past-participial form has been made from "life" [/lIf/], not the ordinary verb "live" [/liv/].)
But the predominant practice today -- and the British English preference -- is /livd/. The American tendency to make it a short "-i-" is perhaps explainable on the analogy of the ordinary word "lived"; the British tendency may be influenced additionally by the phrase "long live the Queen."
Friday, March 13, 2009
Pied -- the piper wore multicolored attire
from www.wordsmith.org
pied (rhymes with pride)
adjective: Having patches of two or more colors; multicolored.
ETYMOLOGY: From pie (magpie), referring to a magpie's black and white plumage, from Latin pica (jay or magpie). The Pied Piper of legend owes his moniker to his multicolored attire.
USAGE: "The pair of women came first, one strangely dressed, in pied clothes of three or four eras."Michael Chabon; The Mysteries of Pittsburgh; William Morrow; 1988.
pied (rhymes with pride)
adjective: Having patches of two or more colors; multicolored.
ETYMOLOGY: From pie (magpie), referring to a magpie's black and white plumage, from Latin pica (jay or magpie). The Pied Piper of legend owes his moniker to his multicolored attire.
USAGE: "The pair of women came first, one strangely dressed, in pied clothes of three or four eras."Michael Chabon; The Mysteries of Pittsburgh; William Morrow; 1988.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Make Sure Those Pesky Introductory Phrases and Clauses Agree With the Subjects They Modify
From today's NFL: In Brief wire reports -- "Seven months after forgiving teammate Steve Smith for his nose-breaking sucker punch, the Carolina Panthers released starting cornerback Ken Lucas to clear about $2.3 million in salary-cap room." [Hyphen added by me.]
We imagine the wire service means that seven months after forgiving Steve Smith, Ken Lucas was released by the Panthers.
Wrong: While riding a bus, the tornado ripped through our town.
The Rule: make sure introductory phrases or clauses agree with the subjects of the sentences they modify.
There are two ways to fix the sentence above:
1) While I was riding a bus, the tornado ripped through our town.
2) While riding a bus, I saw the tornado rip through our town.
This is covered in Harbrace 25b: Revise Dangling Modifiers
Although any misplaced word, phrase, or clause can be said to dangle, the term dangling modifier applies primarily to incoherent verbal phrases and elliptical clauses (that is, clauses with implied subjects and verbs) that do not refer clearly and logically to other words in the sentence. To correct a dangling modifier, rearrange the words in the sentence to make the modifier clearly refer to the right word, or add words to make the meaning clear and logical.
When verbal phrases or elliptical clauses come at the beginning of a sentence, the normal English word order requires that they immediately precede and clearly refer to the subject of the sentence.
Turn to Section 25 of Harbrace for excellent illustrations of the many kinds of dangling modifiers.
Below is an example of a related problem, a subject with an imprecise or unclear antecedent.
SAT Question of the Day™
Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A.
Although less important to the early development of jazz than New Orleans and Chicago, New York City's contributions were important toward transforming jazz out of a quaint, little-known folk music into an international genre of great significance.
a) New York City's contributions were important toward transforming jazz out of
b) New York City's contributions were important as they transformed jazz from
c) the contributions made by New York City were important in transforming jazz out of
d) New York City made important contributions toward transforming jazz from
e) New York City made important contributions, they transformed jazz out of
We imagine the wire service means that seven months after forgiving Steve Smith, Ken Lucas was released by the Panthers.
Wrong: While riding a bus, the tornado ripped through our town.
The Rule: make sure introductory phrases or clauses agree with the subjects of the sentences they modify.
There are two ways to fix the sentence above:
1) While I was riding a bus, the tornado ripped through our town.
2) While riding a bus, I saw the tornado rip through our town.
This is covered in Harbrace 25b: Revise Dangling Modifiers
Although any misplaced word, phrase, or clause can be said to dangle, the term dangling modifier applies primarily to incoherent verbal phrases and elliptical clauses (that is, clauses with implied subjects and verbs) that do not refer clearly and logically to other words in the sentence. To correct a dangling modifier, rearrange the words in the sentence to make the modifier clearly refer to the right word, or add words to make the meaning clear and logical.
When verbal phrases or elliptical clauses come at the beginning of a sentence, the normal English word order requires that they immediately precede and clearly refer to the subject of the sentence.
Turn to Section 25 of Harbrace for excellent illustrations of the many kinds of dangling modifiers.
Below is an example of a related problem, a subject with an imprecise or unclear antecedent.
SAT Question of the Day™
Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A.
Although less important to the early development of jazz than New Orleans and Chicago, New York City's contributions were important toward transforming jazz out of a quaint, little-known folk music into an international genre of great significance.
a) New York City's contributions were important toward transforming jazz out of
b) New York City's contributions were important as they transformed jazz from
c) the contributions made by New York City were important in transforming jazz out of
d) New York City made important contributions toward transforming jazz from
e) New York City made important contributions, they transformed jazz out of
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