Scylla and Charybdis, between. As described by Homer, Scylla /SiL-uh/ was a sea monster who had six heads (each with a triple row of teeth) and twelve feet. Though primarily a fish-eater, she was capable of snatching and devouring (in one swoop) six sailors if their ship ventured too near her cave in the Strait …

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regiment. “Regiment” (= a military unit made up of several battalions) is coming to be misused for “regimen” (= a systematic plan designed to improve health, skills, etc.) — e.g.: o “Wealthy people plagued with weak nerves and ‘auto-intoxication’ flocked to the San, as it was known, from all over the world to undergo a …

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premises. “Premises” (= a house or building) has a curious history. Originally, it denoted in law the part of a deed that sets forth the names of the grantor and grantee, as well as the things granted and the consideration. Then, through hypallage, it was extended to refer to the subject of a conveyance or …

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overly. Although it’s old, dating from about the 12th century, “overly” is almost always unnecessary because “over-” may be prefixed at will: “overbroad,” “overrefined,” “overoptimistic,” “overripe, ” etc. When “overly” is not unnecessary, it’s merely ugly. Some authorities consider “overly” semiliterate, although the editors of the Merriam-Webster dictionaries have used it in a number of …

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Noun Plague. This is Wilson Follett’s term for the piling up of nouns to modify other nouns (Modern American Usage 229 (1966)). When a sentence has more than two nouns in a row, it generally becomes much less readable. The following sentence is badly constructed because of the noun-upon-noun syndrome, which (sadly) is more common …

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methodology. “Methodology,” strictly speaking, means “the science or study of method.” But it is now widely misused as a fancy equivalent of “method” or “methods” — e.g.: o “Defenders of scientific methodology [read either ‘scientific methods’ or ‘the scientific method’] were urged to counterattack against faith healing, astrology, religious fundamentalism and paranormal charlatanism.” Malcolm W. …

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judgment. Part A: Spelling. “Judgment” is the preferred form in American English and in British legal texts, even as far back as the 19th century. “Judgement” is prevalent in British nonlegal texts and was thought by H.W. Fowler to be the better form (Modern English Usage 1 at 310). Part B: American and British Legal …

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Illogic (4). Today: “Times Less Than.” Brand Y may cost twice as much as Brand X, but that doesn’t mean Brand X is twice as cheap as Brand Y. Farburg may be two times as far away as Nearville, but that doesn’t mean Nearville is two times closer than Farburg. Big Dog may be twice …

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Illogic (3). Part A: Danglers and Misplaced Modifiers. Every dangler or misplaced modifier perverts logic to some degree, sometimes humorously — e.g.: “I saw the Statue of Liberty flying into Newark.” To avoid these disruptions of thought, remember that a participle should relate to a noun that’s capable of performing the participle’s action. Part B: …

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Illogic (2). Today: Illogical Comparisons. This lapse occurs commonly in locutions such as “as large if not larger than,” which, when collapsed, becomes “as large than”; properly, one writes “as large as if not larger than.” Similar problems occur with classes of things. For example, when members of classes are being compared, a word such …

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Illogic (1). Today: Logic vs. Idiom. Anyone who would dare drag logic into a discussion on language must do so warily. For centuries, grammarians labored under the mistaken belief that grammar is nothing but applied logic and therefore tried to rid languages of everything illogical. But to paraphrase Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, the life of …

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hoi polloi. “Hoi polloi” = the common people, the masses. Because “hoi” in Greek means “the” (plural), “the hoi polloi” is technically redundant. But the three-word phrase predominates and ought to be accepted. What shouldn’t be accepted, though, is the growing misuse of “hoi polloi” to refer to the elite. This might occur through a …

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fortuitous; fortunate. Strictly speaking, “fortuitous” means “occurring by chance.” E.g.: “Unless the victim dies, the law cannot assume that the transgressor really meant to kill — even though whether the victim lives or dies might be entirely fortuitous.” Jerome H. Skolnick, “A Capital Offense Spared by Luck?” L.A. Times, 27 Aug. 1993, at B7. But …

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especial; special. Traditionally, “especial” (= distinctive, significant, peculiar) is the opposite of “ordinary” {the press is usually given especial access}. “Special” (= specific, particular) is the opposite of “general” {this community has special concerns}, though increasingly “special” is driving out “especial.” “Especial” is so rarely used in American English today — even in learned journals …

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diffuse; defuse, vb. To “diffuse” something is to disperse it from a single source. To “defuse” is to make something threatening safe, especially a dangerous situation or a bomb (by deactivating it). “Diffuse” can have very different connotations, depending on its context, because of how dispersal can work. When dye is dropped into water, as …

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Zeugma (2). Today: Erroneous Uses. Sometimes zeugma is a kind of grammatical error, as when a single word refers to two or more words in the sentence when it properly applies to only one of them. One type, the nontransferable auxiliary, plagues writers who habitually try to express their ideas in the alternative — e.g.: …

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Zeugma (1). Today: Witty Uses. This figure of speech, literally a “yoking together,” involves a word’s being a part of two constructions. Sometimes it results in a grammatical error, but sometimes it’s simply a felicitous way of phrasing an idea. For example, sometimes a verb or preposition is applied to two other words in different …

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