Bryan A. Garner

sly. “Sly” (= wily, cunning, sneaky) preferably makes “slyer,” “slyest,” and “slyly.” But some writers use the variant spellings *”slier,” *”sliest,” and *”slily” — e.g.: o “The land has been creeping slily [read ‘slyly’] out to sea for the last twenty centuries or so.” Steven Moore, “The Beast in the Vatican,” Wash. Post, 15 Sept. …

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slough (2). Today: Misspelled "sluff" as a Verb. "Slough off" (= [1] to shed an outer skin; or [2] to cast off, discard) is sometimes incorrectly written *"sluff off" (a phonetic spelling) — e.g.: "As he delves deeper into a lousy world in which people steal children for money, he expands, sluffs [read 'sloughs'] off …

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Language-Change Index. The third edition of Garner’s Modern American Usage reflects several new practices. Invariably inferior forms, for example, are now marked with asterisks preceding the term or phrase, a marking common in linguistics. The most interesting new feature is the Language-Change Index. Its purpose is to measure how widely accepted various linguistic innovations have …

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Miscellaneous Entries. skill-less — so hyphenated — is sometimes misspelled *"skilless." E.g.: "Regardless of what people think, it's not a skilless [read ‘skill-less’] job," said a clerk at a West End Safeway. Mike Sadava, No Stores to Shut if Strike Hits Safeway, Edmonton J., 21 Mar. 1997, at B3. skim milk; *skimmed milk. Though the …

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slink / slunk / slunk. So inflected. *"Slank" and *"slinked" are nonstandard variants in the past tense and past participle — e.g.: o "The advent of the riders bruited by scurvid curs that howled woundedly and slank [read ‘slunk’] among the crumbling walls." Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, Or, The Evening Redness in the West 97 …

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sling / slung / slung. So inflected. As a past-tense form, "slang" is dialectal. As a past participle meaning "placed in a sling," "slinged" can be convenient, but it can also be startlingly ambiguous — e.g.: "Pediatric experts such as Dr. William Sears claim slinged babies are more alert." Sue Gleiter, "Baby on Board: Sling …

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slew, n. "Slew" (= a large number), which most commonly appears in the phrase "whole slew," is sometimes miswritten "slough" (= a stagnant bogpronounced /sloo/) — e.g.: o "Watch for a whole slough [read 'slew'] of indictments to be issued today stemming from a major cargo theft ring involving baggage handlers at O’Hare Airport." Michael …

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slay / slew / slain (1). Today: Generally. "Slay" = (1) to kill; or (2) to overwhelm, often with delight. In sense 1, the verb has gradually been disappearing from common use except in poetry, headlines, and references to crime victims — e.g., "her son was slain by a stranger in 2002." Even that usage …

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Slang (3) Today: The Middle Road. So where does the truth lie? Perhaps somewhere in between the two views. If the focus is on speech, then slang undoubtedly has its place in every normal person's mouth. Some will use it more than others. It grows out of a desire for novelty (freshness), experience shared with …

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Slang (2). Today: More Reactions. Although prescriptive linguists are often depicted as stern opponents of slang, the most prescriptive of them all saw its place: "A little racy slang may well be used in the course of one's daily talk; it sometimes expresses that which otherwise would be difficult, if not impossible, of expression." Richard …

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Slang (1). Today: Generally. "Slang," a notoriously difficult term to define, has potentially four characteristics: (1) it is markedly lower in dignity than standard English; (2) it typically surfaces first in the language of people with low status or with a low level of responsibility; (3) it is more or less taboo in the discourse …

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*slanderize. *"Slanderize" is a needless variant of "slander," vb. It seems to occur mostly in speech — e.g.: o "'If you're a politician, you should give an awful lot of thought to what you're saying, particularly when you're going to slanderize [read 'slander'] your opponent.'" Sam Howe Verhovek, "Sticking with One of Their Men," N.Y. …

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Miscellaneous Entries. signal, vb., makes "signaled" and "signaling" in American English, "signalled" and "signalling" in British English. significance; signification. These should be distinguished. "Significance" = (1) a subtly or indirectly conveyed meaning; suggestiveness; the quality of implying; or (2) the quality of being important or significant. "Signification" = (1) the act of signifying, as by …

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Skunked Terms. When a word undergoes a marked change from one use to another — a phase that might take ten years or a hundred — it’s likely to be the subject of dispute. Some people (Group 1) insist on the traditional use; others (Group 2) embrace the new use, even if it originated purely …

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skew; skewer. To "skew" is to change direction; to "skew" statistics is to make them misleading, especially by including some factor that is irrelevant to the inquiry. To "skewer" is (1) to impale, or (2) figuratively, to satirize or criticize. As a noun, a "skewer" is (1) a stick or rod that food is impaled …

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