It's commendable to add nuance or texture to our prose with a word that's slightly out of the ordinary. Just be sure the word you pick is the right one, used the right way. It's not enough to be in the general vicinity. And a misstep is all the more glaring if the word is unusual.
For example:
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Mr. Long [a reformed turnstile-jumper] was never caught, he said, but it had been a decade since he pilfered the system.
“Pilfer†is more striking than a number of other words that refer generally to stealing. And it has a connotation of petty crime, appropriate for this context. But there's a problem. “Pilfer†functions like “steal,†not like “cheat†or “defraud†- the direct object should be the thing stolen, not the victim. You pilfer towels from the hotel; you don't pilfer the hotel.
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The CNN interview, recorded on Tuesday and broadcast on Wednesday, was part of an energetic publicity campaign by Mr. Rouhani to distinguish himself from his bombastic predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was known in the West for denigrating Israel's right to exist, denying the Holocaust and criticizing what he routinely described as the West's doomed imperialist agenda.
Were we looking for a longer, fancier version of “deny� “Denigrate†means to defame or to attack the character of. He may have denigrated Israel, but not Israel's right to exist. It seems we simply meant “deny,†“reject,†or something similar.
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When Spell-Check Can't Help
Then there are the more ordinary, and annoying, homophone mix-ups. Make sure these are on your better-check-twice list:
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Archer Blood, the counsel general in Dacca, sent an angry cable that detailed the atrocities and used the word “genocide.â€
It's “consul general,†not counsel. (“General counsel,†of course, describes a company's top lawyer.)
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After Officer Celena Hollis, who patrolled Park Hill, was shot and killed at the concert while trying to break up a fight between gang members, Mr. Roberts and other activists gathered at her police precinct to thank officers for their work and to diffuse tensions.
A remarkably common error, given the relative rarity of the words involved. The word we want is “defuse†- the analogy is to removing the fuse from a bomb. “Diffuse†as a verb means to spread out.
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General Atomics, which has decades of experience in nuclear power, but is probably best known for producing the Predator drone, is pursuing what it calls an “energy multiplier†reactor module on the same general principal.
One of the most common homophone lapses. Make it “principle.â€
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In a Word
This week's grab bag of grammar, style and other missteps, compiled with help from colleagues and readers.
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Three new Fox series did relatively well, the comedies, “Dads†and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,†and the drama “Sleepy Hollow.â€
The latter was a full-court effort.
Several problems here. Use a colon or dash after “well†to introduce the list. The names of the two comedies shouldn't be set off with commas; this is a “restrictive†construction, in which the names are necessary to the sense, not merely additional information. Also, in precise usage, “latter†is used with two alternatives, not more.
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But at age 27, Mr. Murphy, who has his own financial planning business, does not feel like he should still be living in his childhood home in Massapequa, Long Island.
Avoid this colloquial use of “like†as a conjunction, introducing a full clause. “Like†is properly used as a preposition. Make it “as if†or, here, simply “that.â€
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As a resident of haute bourgeois Park Slope and the owner of a rapidly appreciating row house, the middle-aged Mr. de Blasio seems unlikely to embrace property expropriation.
Copy editors, please save our writers from themselves. Do not allow them to use a foreign phrase unless you are both prepared to swear that it is correct. And then, still don't do it. “Haute†is a feminine adjective, “bourgeois†masculine; they don't go together. (“Bourgeoisie,†the noun, is feminine, hence “haute bourgeoisie,†which unfortunately is not what we had here.)
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A record haul of cocaine, found in suitcases here on an Air France flight arriving from Venezuela, is raising a multitude of questions about the security of the baggage scanning system and the possibility of collusion by either airport or airline staff members both in Venezuela and France.
This sentence is cumbersome and could be streamlined. In any case, what comes after “and†should be parallel to what comes after “both.†Make it “in both Venezuela and France†or “both in Venezuela and in France.â€
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It is one of the few rituals of our political system that respects the experience and common sense of the ordinary citizen, and that puts a premium on an open mind.
Recorded announcement. Make it “the few rituals that respect … and that put …â€
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Western diplomats said the resolution would be legally binding and would stipulate that if Syria fails to abide the terms, the Security Council would take measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the strongest form of a council resolution. …
The diplomatic breakthrough on the Syria came as Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad- Zarif, said progress had been made toward a resolution of the nuclear dispute between his country and the West. …
The Syria resolution was a major milestones for the United Nations after years of largely unproductive discussions in the Security Council over the civil war in Syria, which has killed more than 100,000. …
There were several other stumbles in this story as well. We may have faced deadline pressure, but all these errors made it into at least the first print edition.
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If the shutdown drags on for weeks, as it did in 1995 and 1996, the 38-foot-long, seven-ton T-Rex may have to stay out West a little longer before making the trip.
“T. rex†would be the correct style for the short form (or T. Rex in a headline, as we had it). Just like E. coli, which is in the stylebook.
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“We're tall building engineers. We wanted to see what we can do to help on the sustainability side.â€
How tall are these folks? And what difference does that make? Oh, right. Tall-building engineers.
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This week's earthquake struck Tuesday afternoon with a magnitude of 7.7 on the Richter scale, and was felt across the country, causing a small island to rise from the Arabian Sea. But it hit hardest near its epicenter in western Baluchistan Province.
Delete this phrase. The Richter scale is no longer in use. For clearer guidance on magnitudes, see the stylebook entry on earthquakes.
