The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation (13 page)

Gait
: stride; the way a person or animal walks or runs.

Gate
: a barrier.

Gamut
originally referred to the entire range of musical notes that the ear can recognize. It has come to mean the range or extent of anything:
His speech ran a gamut of emotions
. Do not confuse
run the gamut
with
run the gantlet
(see
gantlet, gauntlet
).

These two words, despite their similarity, come from different roots. The distinction should be preserved.

The expression
run the gantlet
means “to undergo criticism or harassment from several sources in a concentrated period of time.” It is often written
run the gauntlet
, which makes language nitpickers cry foul.

To
throw down the gauntlet
is to aggressively challenge someone. To
take up the gauntlet
is to accept such a challenge.

In popular usage,
jell
means “to come together”:
Our team is starting to jell. Gel
refers to a jellylike substance:
hair gel
.

Gilt
: gold coating.

Guilt
: fault; blame; shame.

A word with a split personality suitable for backhanded compliments and faint praise.
Glib
can mean “smooth,” “urbane.” But it can also mean “superficial,” “too slick.”

He graduated high school last weekend
. Make it
graduated from
. There are even some fussbudgets who'd insist he
was graduated from
high school. But
graduated from
is as correct as
was graduated from
.

Note the double
f
and single
t. Graffiti
is the plural of
graffito
, Italian for “little scratching.” Therefore,
There was graffiti all over the wall
is incorrect. Make it
There
were
graffiti all over the wall
.

Grill
: a grated metal cooking utensil (noun); to cook over direct heat (verb).

Grille
: a network of metal, wooden, or plastic bars that acts as a barrier or screen.

Grisly
means “horrific,” “gruesome.” However, grisly bears are not necessarily
grizzly bears
, North American brown bears known for their fierceness.

Don't confuse
grisly
with
gristly
, which means “tough,” “chewy.”

Note the spelling: double
r
, double
l
. Some think “guerilla” with one
r
is a valid alternative, but the word derives from
guerra
, which means “war” in Spanish.

Hair
: what grows on the head and body.

Hare
: a rabbit.

Hall
: a passageway; a large room.

Haul
: to pull or drag.

Halve
: to divide in two.

Have
: to possess; to hold.

Many think that a shed or shelter for housing airplanes is a “hanger,” rather than a
hangar
(the correct spelling).

A
hanger
is something to hang a garment on, or someone who hangs things.

Speakers and writers who value precision know that the past tense of
hang
, when it means “to put to death using a rope,” is
hanged
, not
hung
. This applies to both the active and passive voice:
They hanged the prisoner
and
The prisoner was hanged
.

For inanimate objects, use
hung
. Under unusual conditions, people also
hung
or
are hung, e.g., He hung from the tree with one hand
or
He found himself hung upside down
.

Heal
: to repair; to restore to health.

Heel
: the back part of the foot; a scoundrel.

The difference between these two words is unquestionable,
healthful
meaning “something that promotes health” and
healthy
meaning “in good health.” But in everyday speech,
healthful
has been nudged aside by
healthy
in phrases like
healthy food
or
a healthy diet
.

There is an
ear
in
hear
, and
here
is 80 percent of
where
.

Heroin
: a drug derived from morphine.

Heroine
: a woman admired for courage or ability.

See
an historic
.

Hoard
: to stockpile; to amass.

Horde
: a large group; a crowd.

Hoarse
: raspy; sore-throated.

Horse
: a type of animal.

Hole
: an opening.

Whole
: entirety (noun); entire (adjective).

Holy
: sacred.

Wholly
: entirely.

A critic called a film “a homage to motherhood.” The critic wisely did not write “an homage,” knowing full well that the
h
is sounded (see
an historic
). This word has spun out of control in the twenty-first century. Its traditional pronunciation is “HOMM-ij.” Then “AHM-ij” gained a foothold, and it went downhill from there. Now, just about all one hears is the pseudo-sophisticated “oh-MAHZH,” a pronunciation that was virtually nonexistent in English until the late twentieth century.

Make it
home in. Hone in
has achieved undeserved legitimacy for the worst of reasons: the similarity in sound and appearance of
n
and
m. Honing
is a technique used for sharpening cutting tools and the like.

To
home in
, like
zero in
, is to get something firmly in your sights, to get to the crux of a problem.

A curious term for
water heater
.

See
hanged, hung
.

Idle
: not active; unemployed.

Idol
: an effigy; a beloved celebrity.

Idyll
: a happy interlude; prose or poetry describing rural serenity.

i.e
.

See
e.g., i.e
.

See
allusion, illusion
.

See
emulate, imitate
.

See
emigrate, immigrate
.

See
eminent, imminent
.

As a verb,
impact
is constantly misused, and
affect
is almost always the better choice. Avoid such usages as
The proposition will impact property taxes
or
Greenhouse gas emissions negatively impact the environment
. Make it
affect
instead of
impact
in both sentences.

Impact
means “to pack tightly together,” as in
an impacted tooth
.

Infer
is not a synonym for
imply. Imply
is done by a speaker or writer—specifically, one who is being indirect:
She implied that I'm a fool
means that she didn't come right out and say it, but she got her point across.

Infer
is done by a perceptive listener or reader who “catches” your meaning:
I infer that you think I'm a fool
.

Imply
is akin to
suggest
and
insinuate; infer
is akin to
deduce
and
conclude
.

Incite
: to provoke; stir up.

Insight
: understanding; comprehension.

From a story about a rescue at sea: “The rescued pair included an American woman and a Danish man.” This is a misuse of
include
, which means “to make someone or something part of a group.” You can't be
included
unless others are involved. The sentence requires a rewrite, something like
The two people rescued were an American woman and a Danish man
.

A major-league baseball team doesn't
include
men; it
consists of
men, and only men. Compare:
Our office softball team includes women
. We realize immediately that it's a coed league and there are also men on the squad.

Something
incredible
is beyond belief, so when we experience it, we are
incredulous
.

Incredulous
refers to a state of astonishment or disbelief. It is not a deft synonym for
incredible
.

See
imply, infer
.

See
flammable, inflammable
.

What a difference one letter makes.
Ingenious
refers to worldly brilliance;
ingenuous
refers to otherworldly innocence.

Sometimes
in order to
is necessary, but it's often just a fussy way of saying
to: We should exercise in order to stay healthy
. Drop
in order
whenever possible.

In regard to
and
with regard to
are phrases that mean “regarding,” “concerning,” “on the subject of.”

As regards
—note the
s
on the end—means the same thing. Perhaps this is why people mindlessly pluralize
regard
and say
in regards to
and its partner in crime,
with regards to
.

Both of the following examples are correct:
With regard to your friend, let's hope she is well
. Compare that to
With regards to your friend. Let's hope she is well
.

In the first sentence,
With regard to
means “concerning.” But in the second sentence,
regards
with an
s
is a plural noun meaning “best wishes.”

See
assure, ensure, insure
.

When something is
ironic
, it has a grimly humorous or paradoxical twist, as if the universe were playing a wicked practical joke. Thus, it is
ironic
if a speeding car crashes into a “drive carefully” sign, or if someone named Joe Friendly turns out to be a serial killer.

Do not use
irony
or
ironic
to describe a simple coincidence:
It's so ironic that our birthdays fall on the same day
. No irony there; it's merely
coincidental
.

This nonsense word results from confusing and combining
regardless
and
irrespective
. If people would just think about it, what's that silly
ir
- doing there?

In technical terms,
ir
- is an
initial negative particle
. So if
irregardless
means anything, it means “not regardless” when the person using it is trying to say the exact opposite.

The thing is is that…The truth is is that…The problem is is that
…The airwaves are teeming with commentators afflicted with the
is is
hiccup, one of life's mysteries, even to those who say it. The most alarming case in point:
The fact of the matter is is that
, a bloated locution intoned by certain pundits, often right before they express an opinion.

See
aisle, isle
.

It's
: a contraction for
it is
or
it has
.

Its
: a possessive pronoun meaning “belonging to it.”

See
gel, jell
.

The verb
jibe
means “to fit,” “to be in harmony with”:
His version did not jibe with hers
.

Many people say
jive
when they mean
jibe
, but
jive
, noun and verb, is African-American slang that originally referred to up-tempo, jazzy music. Then it became a term for hipster jargon. It has come to mean dishonesty, silliness, or inanity:
talking jive
is lying or talking nonsense.
Stop jiving
means “Stop fooling around.”

Be careful where you put it. The meaning of
just
depends on its placement in a sentence, especially when it is accompanied by
not
, or by negative verbs such as
don't
or
wouldn't
.

Many people say
just not
when they mean
not just
, and this could lead to misunderstanding, embarrassment, even hurt feelings.

Not just
means “not only,” whereas
just not
means “simply not” or “definitely not.”

He's a trusted adviser, not just a friend
means “He's more than an adviser; he's a friend, too.” But
He's a trusted adviser, just not a friend
means something quite different: “I trust his advice, but he's no friend of mine.”

See
desert, dessert
.