Detente -- and that Indo-European root "ten-"

from wordsmith.org

detente (day-TANT) noun An easing of tension between rivals.
[From French détente (loosening, relaxation). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ten- (to stretch) that's also the source of tense, tendon, tenor, pretend, extend, tenure, tetanus, tenterhook, and hypotenuse.]
--"Threats won't ease anyone's fears. Perhaps it's time to give detente a chance. " Mr. Lieberman's Rash Rhetoric; The Hartford Courant (Connecticut); Jun 13, 2007.

How writing bland prose is like pulling a London horse cab

The filmmaker was known for choosing ------- projects, so many critics were surprised that her latest effort was uncharacteristically ------- .

a) innovative . . hackneyed
b) risky . . controversial
c) unusual . . refreshing
d) cerebral . . complex
e) rewarding . . suspenseful

The SAT Question of the Day above turns on a word we find in Harbrace Rule 20c: Choose fresh expressions instead of trite, worn-out ones:
Trite, or hackneyed phrases are those so worn by constant use that they have lost whatever picturesqueness they once possessed. For this reason, we must avoid them.

Trite, or hackneyed expressions:

• red-blooded youth
• busy as a bee
• to point with pride
• last but not least
• it goes without saying
• bite the dust
• breath of fresh air
• smooth as silk

The etymology of the word "hackneyed" is interesting. It probably comes from Hackney in East London, where carriage horses were raised. The word "hack," as in a taxi cab or a banal writer, is a short form of "hackney."

Basically, the history of this word tells us that, if we use our words all day, every day -- the way Londoners used their carriage horses -- our words get worn out and lose their vigor and freshness.

hackney (HAK-nee)

adjective

1. Trite.
2. Let out for hire.

verb tr.

1. To make banal or common by frequent use.
2. To hire out.

noun

1. A breed of horses developed in England, having a high-stepping gait.
2. A horse suitable for routine riding or driving.
3. A carriage or coach for hire.
   

From Robert Pinsky's Poet's Choice in The Washington Post, July 1, 2007.

Pundits and politicians sometimes call on ancient, partly forgotten echoes in order to sound wise or authoritative. Instead of saying an outcome might be good or bad, they say it "augurs well" or "augurs ill." The word "augur" harks back to both religion and empire : the Roman augur was a religious official who determined divine favor or disfavor by making a faith-based survey of the number, direction and location of birds in the sky.
Rhetoric deploys such ghostly, buried roots and invisible shadows of meaning for effect.

Augurs well or augurs ill -- the augur asked the birds

Commas after introductory words containing a verb form

from Ruge Rules

The Rule: Place a comma after any purely introductory group of words containing a verb form.

As in: Instead of forgetting about the incident, he sought out the culprits.

Or: After working the problem, he sat down.

Or (with an understood, or elliptical, "I am"): Once in bed, I go right to sleep.

BUT: be careful about words at the start of a sentence with a verb among them that are actually the subject of the sentence.

As in: To expect every student to do his or her reasonable best is not to expect too much. (No comma.)


This is in the Harbrace College Handbook, under 12b (1).


Rule 12b(2) pertains to Introductory phrases before independent clauses.
It says, "Omit the comma after introductory prepositional phrases when no misreading would result:

As in: In a crisis we chose Lincoln and FDR. In between we choose what's-his-name.

Compare: Because of this, beauty differs radically from truth and goodness in one very important aspect.

Handy for sportswriters and cabinet makers -- shellac

shellac (shuh-LAK) verb tr.
1. To coat or treat with varnish. 2. To defeat easily or decisively. 3. To strike repeatedly; batter.

noun
1. Purified lac (a resinous substance secreted by the female of the lac insect) in the form of thin sheets. 2. Varnish made by dissolving this material in alcohol or other solvent. 3. A phonograph record made of this substance, played at 78 rpm.

[From shell + lac (translation of French laque en ecailles: lac in thin plates).] "The wife and daughter-in-law have grown exceptionally shellaced over the bitching and moaning about my old clunker."
-- Ron Meyer; Computer Has Whirred Its Last; Benton Courier (Arkansas); May 13, 2005.

"Less" for value, degree or amount; "fewer" for number

The Rule: Informally, "less" and "fewer" are interchangeable.
But formal English makes this distinction: "less" refers to value, degree, amount, or to abstract nouns; "fewer" refers to number, or the countable.

Informal: Less children are born during a depression.
Formal: Fewer children are born during a depression.


Harbrace's excellent Glossary of Usage doesn't note a comparable distinction between "above" and "more than," but in my mind there are cases (like dollar figures) in which "more than" seems more exact and other cases (as in percentages) in which "above" seems better.

So--
The city allotted more than $15 million to the new park.
Participation in voting was above 55 percent.

What Sqt. Pepper was to the Beatles -- a magnum opus

magnum opus (MAG-num OH-puhs) noun (plural magnum opuses or magna opera)
A great work of literature, music, art, etc., especially the finest work of an individual.

[From Latin magnum, neuter of magnus (large), opus (work).]

"Bespectacled, bearded and balding, Mr. Chkhartishvili is faintly ill at ease about fame. For years, he earned his living translating Japanese literature and working on what he still considers his magnum opus, a gloomy book entitled The Writer and Suicide. His idea of a goodtime is to stroll around a cemetery."
-- Guy Chazan; Roll Over, Dostoyevsky: Serious Russian Writers Reinvent the Thriller; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Feb 25, 2002.

Of course, it was 50 years ago today-- actually yesterday--that Paul met John at the St. Peter's Church fair in Liverpool. Click here for a story about Liverpool marking the day. Quiz: what song did Paul play for John to show him that me might be a good addition to the Quarrymen?


A: Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock" (last line-- "Get to the top, I'm too tired to rock.")