Which Word When, Part IV

I received a fair number of other people’s pet peeves after last week’s third installment of “Which Word When” appeared. Here are a few of them: From “bcollins”: “reluctant” / “reticent” Reticence is a form of reluctance, but reluctance is not a form of reticence. The Columbia Journalism Review notes that “reticence” refers to “reluctance to speak up or come forward; silence; reserve” and is “commonly followed by a word or phrase meaning ‘concerning.’” “Brian was reticent about speaking to the authorities.” “Reluctant” refers more to someone who is hesitant or to act or to someone who has unwillingly assumed a role, as in “Brian wasn’t reluctant to save the damsel in distress, but was uninterested in accepting the award she offered afterwards. He was, she said, ‘my reluctant hero.’” From “carol”: “snuck” / “sneaked” While purist may scoff at “snuck” when used in lieu of the more traditional “sneaked,” according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, “the past and past participle ‘snuck’ has risen to the status of standard and to approximate equality with ‘sneaked.’” That said, it becomes a matter of preference. From “carol”: “diffuse” / “defuse” “Defuse” is composed of a prefix, “de,” which means to take away or reduce, and the noun “fuse,” which is an electrical safety device. Taken generally, “defuse” means to halt the impact of a dangerous situation. “Carol defused the tension when she stopped the boys from fighting.” “Diffuse,” from the Latin diffundere, means to pour out or spread something around. “Carol diffused the information to the crowd.” From my brother “loren”: “quash” / “squash” The most obvious response is that squash is a vegetable and quash isn’t (if only life was that simple). When you quash something, you use force or intimidation to suppress (or defuse) a situation. Quash is from the Old French word quasser, meaning “annul,” and from the Latin cassus, “‘null, void.” When you squash something, think about squishing it – you’re stamping it out. “The heckler quashed any chance of hearing her speak, and the rebellion that followed was squashed by the riot police.” From “dena”: “regardless” / “irregardless” Wikipedia says that “irregardless” may be a  blend of “irrespective” and “regardless” and that it was first acknowledged in 1912 by the Wentworth American Dialect Dictionary as originating from western Indiana. Despite its alleged Hoosier provenance, as the AP Stylebook notes, irregardless is a double negative. Regardless is correct. From “nikki”: “appraise” / “apprise” "Nikki apprised everyone of the situation regarding the auction, then appraised the value of the objects being sold.” In other words, she told everyone about what was going on (she apprised them) and then put a value on the merchandise (she appraised it).

Comments

[Sandi Solow]

I'd like to add premiere/premier to the list of misused words. They're not interchangeable, yet I see this mistake made commonly. Reminds me of Dan Quayle and the potatoe incident.

[Rosie]

Please add to the list "insure" and "ensure."

[Nicole]

Would you believe people commonly misuse "lose" and "loose"? It's just sad.

[Rachel]

Re : Squashing a rebellion.

Hi Dan, I'm happy to find your blog. My pet beefs are"pacific" and "specific" and especially "phased" and "fazed" (as in "he was not fazed by the judge's ruling to quash the lower court's decision."

As regards quash/squash. I'm from a NZ/UK background, and to me your example of "squashing a rebellion" feels wrong.

I would expect a rebellion to be quashed (by the police, or whomever).

I would use "squashing" in this context as a metaphor. I get an image of a big cartoon foot descending on the protestors a la Monty Python. If police squashed a rebellion, I get images of brutality!

That said, the (US English) dictionary which comes with my laptop does have, as an alternate definition "to put an end to by force, quash". So squash can be a synonym for quash, at least in the US.

I wouldn't use that listing myself though in the UK or NZ. But that may be just a personal style point.

Thanks for your blog.

Cheers

Rachel

[AdamV]

Surely the fuse in defuse is as in the burning part leading to a bomb or firework, rather than an electical device to prevent overload? Otherwise, defuse would mean to take the safety mechanism out and let something run unchecked, rather than to take away the danger of it metaphorically exploding and damaging things.

Another pair for your list, from our Australian cousins: buffalo / bison. The difference being you can't wash your hands in a buffalo. (you have to do the accent)

[FM]

I would like to know what the word is when someone expects things of you. I am familiar with the word "pretentious", but I was looking for something a little less harsh.

Thanks - great idea for a blog.

FM

[John Taylor-Johnston]

You know Paul Heacock put this all in a book once?