LawProse Lessons

wed. This verb is traditionally inflected “wed / wedded / wedded.” As a past-tense form, “wed” is a variant that Webster’s New International Dictionary (2d ed.) labels “dialectal.” Stick with “wedded” — e.g.: o “Last year, the singer [Dan Fogelberg] wed [read ‘wedded’] his longtime fiancée, Anastasia Savage, who shares his love of oil painting.” …

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waylay / waylaid / waylaid. Occasionally the past tense or past participle is misspelled *”waylayed” — e.g.: o “Keggi’s career was waylayed [read ‘waylaid’] in 1993 when she drank some bad water and was stricken with lingering symptoms from E-Coli bacteria.” Paul Harber, “They’re Going the Distance,” Boston Globe, 24 Apr. 1997, at C10. o …

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Miscellaneous Entries. veld /velt/ (= an open, nearly treeless grassland) is the standard spelling. *”Veldt” is a variant (chiefly in South African English). vendor (= one who sells) is the standard spelling. *”Vender” is a variant. “Vendor” is pronounced /VEN-duhr/, not /VUN-dor/. venerable = (of people) worthy of being venerated, revered, or highly respected and …

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Miscellaneous Entries. variable, adj.; variant, adj.; variational; *variative. “Variable” = subject to variation; characterized by variations. “Variant” = differing in form or in details from the one named or considered, differing thus among themselves (Concise Oxford Dictionary). “Variational” = of, pertaining to, or marked or characterized by variation. *”Variative” shares the senses of “variational”; because …

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vouchsafe. “Vouchsafe” ordinarily denotes “to grant something in a condescending way,” or, more neutrally, “to grant something as a special favor.” The word is often mildly sarcastic — e.g.: “Gen. Powell’s opinions, as he has been vouchsafing them, were unformed or, where formed, oddly out of date.” “America’s Son,” Nat’l Rev., 27 Nov. 1995, at …

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violoncello. “Violoncello,” not *”violincello,” is the correct spelling for the bass member of the violin family. Not surprisingly, the word is often misspelled — e.g.: o “He used a violincello [read ‘violoncello’] for the body of the female figure.” Robert L. Pincus, “Surrealist Max Ernst Just Having Fun with Sculpture,” San Diego Union-Trib., 19 July …

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vice versa. “Vice versa” (= the other way around; just the opposite) should be the fulcrum for reciprocal referents. That is, “Mike likes Ellen and vice versa” says that Ellen also likes Mike. The subject and the object could be switched around, leaving the verb intact — e.g.: “You can adjust the slide to allocate …

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very. Part A: As a weasel word. This intensifier, which functions as both an adjective and an adverb, surfaces repeatedly in flabby writing. In almost every context in which it appears, its omission would result in at most a negligible loss. And in many contexts the idea would be more powerfully expressed without it — …

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Miscellaneous Entries. unknown quantity (= a person or thing whose characteristics haven’t been assessed) was originally a mathematical phrase. It became popular in the mid-20th century. Since then, some people have misunderstood the phrase as “unknown quality” — e.g.: “‘She is an unknown quality [read ‘quantity’] as a legislator, but you don’t come in here …

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