That or Which, and Why

A Usage Guide for Thoughtful Writers and Editors

Evan Jenkins

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780415977258
• eBook ISBN: 9781135868642
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Journalism
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

That or Which, and Why is an insightful and witty guide to writing. Based on Evan Jenkins's long-running column 'Language Corner' in Columbia Journalism Review, the book is compiled of brief, alphabetically arranged entries on approximately 200 major writing stumbling blocks, from the wonderful world of 'that' and 'which' to trickier terrain like the correct usage of common idiomatic expressions.

Working from his experiences as a newsroom editor and teacher, Jenkins' humorous tone puts the reader at ease, unlike many of the writing and usage guides out there that are off-putting in their rigidity and dogmatism. He takes the 'we're-all-in-this-together' approach to teaching better writing - maintaining a light tone throughout the book and emphasizing flexibility and easy-to-use guidelines rather than delivering orders from Grammar-on-high.

A/An with Abbreviations; A Historic, etc.

Sound Beginnings

Brendan Coyne, director of public information for Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, N.Y., wanted to double-check his understanding that “an” should be used in front of abbreviations that start with consonants but sound as if they start with vowels — for example, MSMC.

Mr. Coyne’s understanding is correct. If the abbreviation is pronounced as a series of individual letters, the first letter determines the choice of article — “a U.S. overture” (a yew) but “an NSC study” (an en) and “an MSMC student” (an em).

With acronyms, multiword abbreviations that are pronounced as single words, the initial sound of the invented word dictates the choice of article. A force marshaled by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is “a NATO force” (a nate). And from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development we could have “an Unctad report” (an unk, no less).

There’s confusion (or something) about the choice between “a” and “an” before “history,” too. We don’t run around talking about “isstory,” so why should we drop the “h,” in effect, and write “an history”? We shouldn’t.

There’s room for argument with “herb.” But in American English the unaspirated “h” has prevailed for now, leading to “an herb.”

And it is always, of course, an honor to serve.

Adverb Placement

Try to Be Early

Two schools of thought seem to exist on the placement of adverbs and adverbial phrases with compound verbs. One is easy: just stick it in front of all parts of the verb and be done with it. “He always has been a little slow,” say, or “She frequently will disagree” or “That train habitually has run late.”

The other approach, subscribed to here, is that the adverb (or adverbial phrase) tends to work more mellifluously after the first part of the compound verb. Usually. So it would be “He has always…” and “She will frequently…” and “That train has habitually…”

But it’s a rough rule, and it was followed out the window here:

As he has labored to fill his outsized war chest, the governor has, like everyone else, had to endure his share of negative publicity.

And again here:

…Jennings had, in the early 1980’s, ushered in the era of the television news anchor…

Splitting “has” from “had,” and “had” from “ushered,” is downright ugly. Make it natural: “…the governor, like everyone else, has had to…” and “Jennings, in the early 1980’s, had ushered in…”

Adverb, Start of Sentence

Comfortable “ly”

Notwithstanding prejudice against “hopefully,” and some other frowning, adverbs work perfectly well at the beginnings of sentences (and clauses) and are usually preferable to adjectives in those environs.

See Important/Importantly.

Adverse/Averse

Adverse Effect

Big companies are adverse to publicity — and the bigger the company, the more adverse.

Nope. “Adverse” means “negative” or “bad”; we wouldn’t say the companies were “bad to publicity.” The writer meant they were opposed to it, uneasy about it, and the word he wanted was “averse.” A few paragraphs later, the text spoke of “heavy adverse publicity,” and that was just right. ADverse, as in bAD.

Adviser/Advisor; Historic/Historical

Distinctions and Differences

Some distinctions between similar words need to be maintained because they’re useful; examples abound in this fount of wisdom. Here’s another: the distinction between “historic” and “historical.”

In the phrase “Chile, Bolivia’s historic enemy,” the choice was unfortunate. By hoary consensus, “historic” has been reserved for events of great moment, like the Battle of Yorktown or the Emancipation Proclamation. To describe a longtime pattern, like Chilean–Bolivian enmity, or for any variation on the broad notion “relating to history,” the job is best done by “historical.” Different words for different meanings. Useful.

Not at all useful is the insistence among the finicky (including this traveler at one time) that “advisor” is a misspelling, an ignorant back-formation from “advisory,” and that only “adviser” is correct. “Advisor” is everywhere, and it was not surprising to find “became a valued advisor” in a historical (not historic) work of impeccable pedigree. So we should pick a spelling — flipping a coin will do — stay with it, and relax.

Affect/Effect

Think ‘A’…or ‘E’

Mark Stevens, director of public information for the Denver Public Schools, e-mailed to ask about a fairly widespread mental block: “I could use a neat way to remember the correct use for ‘affect’ and ‘effect.’” Here’s an attempt at a formula to help keep them separate.

“Affect,” except for the specialists mentioned below, is a verb, meaning to cause change in something: His headache affected his ability to concentrate. Verbs are words of action. So think “A” — Affect, Action — something is Acting on something else.

“Effect” is usually a noun, a word for a thing, in this case a result of something: Aspirin had the desired effect, and he passed the exam. Think “E” for End product or Eventuality.

So much for the most common situations.

A less common (but useful) form of “effect” is a verb meaning to bring about or cause to happen: She effected a revolution with her challenge to the grading system.

A nuanced (and useful) form of “affect” is a verb meaning to move, emotionally: The scene affected her greatly; it was a profoundly affecting moment.

And in the social sciences, alas, “affect” can be a noun, meaning a feeling or emotion as shown or described by a patient. But we can leave that one to the social scientists.

(Rosalind Warfield-Brown, a teacher at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia and a freelance editor, suggested a word to help people get around that mental block: VANE. That’s Verb = Affect / Noun = Effect. That certainly works for the two basic meanings.)

After/Following

See Before/Prior To

Allude/Refer

Indirect and Direct

Anewspaper article misused a word when it reported that a shadowy character was “known as Abu al-Janna, or ‘the Father of Heaven,’ a reference to the postmortem bliss promised by the Koran to Muslims who die in jihad.”

The word that missed was “reference.”

To refer means to speak of something directly; to mention something indirectly is to allude. “Shakespeare wrote a lot of good stuff” is a reference to Shakespeare. But “As somebody once said, ‘To be or not to be,’ ” is not a reference to Shakespeare, it’s an allusion.

And the phrase “Father of Heaven” was an allusion. It did not directly mention the Koran or its promises.

“Allude,” which some people seem to use to show off, is usually the problem, and it’s not always obvious which word is the right one.

A report about campaigning in Germany probably had it right when it said one candidate “alluded” to his opposition to the Iraq war. No specific mention of the war occurred in several quotations from the candidate, but he did speak of his willingness to criticize “big partners.”

But here, given the specifics, it sure seemed that the company “referred”:

In a recent earnings report, the company alluded to plans to “exit even more underperforming markets.”

And when a baseball color commentator says very clearly, “Pinch-hitting is tough,” and his play-by-play partner says “Pinch-hitting, which you alluded to,” that’s word abuse.

Along With

Getting Along

Mr. Lott, along with Speaker Newt Gingrich, were among those who signed the letter to the F.C.C.

The phrase between commas is one of those parenthetical distractions that life serves up. The subject of the sentence remains “Mr. Lott,” so we have to say “was among those.”

The same trap opens with “as well as” and a lot of other interruptions: “The Mayor will now have an opportunity to demonstrate…that it is his management techniques, not any one person, that is responsible for the drop in crime.”

“Not any one person” distracted the writer (and editor) into thinking that the subject of the last clause of the sentence had become singular. But the subject is still “techniques,” so the clause should read “that are responsible…” We can avoid the traps by watching out for whatever just goes along for the ride.

Alternate/Alternative

Alternating Current?

The article said a utility “plans to freeze its electric rates for five years, and by 2003 will allow all its customers to buy power from alternate sources.” The writer almost certainly wanted “alternative,” meaning providing a choice among options.

“Alternate” means by turns, or every other, as in “alternate Sundays.” (Custom has also allowed “alternate” referring to choice or substitution in such expressions as “alternate juror” or “Alternate Route 22.” Irritating, but there it is.)

Antecedents

Remembering Those Gone Before

Everybody knows that a pronoun needs to agree with its antecedent, the earlier noun that the pronoun stands in for. We can’t, for instance, say “Democrats” and follow up with “it.”

But the problem is trickier in sentence...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• More Praise for That or Which, and Why
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• That or Which, and Why