Glossary

G.1: Write the phrase you misused and the rule.

Do not write just “G” or “Glossary.”

sarcasm, sarcastic

Not specifically literary terms.  When you are writing about literature, use terms like “irony.”  Use the word “sarcasm” in non-literary contexts:

WRONG: The poem is sarcastic.

RIGHT: The poem is ironic.

RIGHT (non-literary context): My mother made a sarcastic remark about my eating habits.

satire, satirize

“Satirization” is never correct; it is an error for “satire.”  The verb is “satirize.”  “Satire” can refer to a writing technique (the use of ridicule to criticize something) or to a particular work:

Technique: Jonathan Swift uses satire in Gulliver’s Travels.

Genre: Gulliver’s Travels is a satire.

Verb: Jonathan Swift satirizes human folly and vice in Gulliver’s Travels.

self-confidence

A redundancy for “confidence”; the “self-” is almost never necessary unless you are making a distinction:

REDUNDANT: He lacks self-confidence.

BETTER: He lacks confidence.

DISTINCTION: He has confidence in his team but lacks self-confidence.

sensual, sensuous

Both mean “appealing to the senses,” but “sensual” is used to mean “sexy”; “sensuous” usually applies to the arts (“the poet uses sensuous imagery to describe the feast”).

serve, service 

People are served; things (especially machines) are serviced.  As a verb, “service” is useful only for maintenance and repair work.  Even a mechanic who “services” a car is “serving” its owner.  The needless use of “service” as a verb may result from misplaced fears that “serve” must always take an indirect object (as in “he served us tea”) or that it must imply social inferiority.  There is dignity in service; we call our highest elected officials “public servants.”  Saying that a waiter “services” you makes you sound like a broken-down bus.

The airport mechanic services planes between flights.

The attorney serves her clients.

“Service” has an additional meaning in financial contexts; to “service” a debt means to pay interest on it. 

shall, will

“Shall,” which seems to be passing from common usage, is most often used today in questions to add an idea of obligation to the simple future tense: “Will it rain?” but “Shall I go with you?”  “Shall” is not an elegant substitute for “will.”

simple, simplistic

Not the same.  “Simplistic” usually has unfavorable connotations; it means “simple-minded,” and it is used to describe things (ideas, beliefs, movies), not people:

WRONG: In his private life, the actor is a simplistic man who enjoys gardening.

It is clear that the writer intends “a simple man.”

RIGHT: The governor’s simplistic plan does not address the real causes of the problem.

since 

Two errors are common.

1. Distinguish the two meanings of “since.”  “Since” can mean “because,” but its primary meaning is “from the time when.”  Sometimes readers cannot tell which meaning the writer intends.  If there is a danger of misreading, use “because.”  The sentence below can mean two different things that may or may not be related.

AMBIGUOUS: I told my brother, “I have been feeling better since you left for college.”

Intending to reassure the brother, the writer may have offended him.

2. Specify exactly what causes what.  Even if it is clear that you intend “since” to mean “because,” you must be careful that your sentence is logical.  The error occurs in essays about literature when writers are drawing conclusions from evidence:

ILLOGICAL: Jim is superstitious since he believes in signs.

The sentence seems to say that believing in signs causes people to be superstitious.  The opposite is closer to the truth.  The writer was thinking, “Jim believes in signs. Because he does, I know he is superstitious.”  The sentence mistakes the effect (belief in signs) for the cause.  

Substituting “because” for “since” does nothing to improve the logic.

STILL ILLOGICAL: Jim is superstitious because he believes in signs.

Do not rely on “This shows that” or “meaning that” to correct the error: 

RIGHT BUT MECHANICAL: Jim believes in signs.  This shows that he believes in signs.

BETTER: Jim is a superstitious man who believes in signs.

single, singular

Do not confuse “single” and “singular.” “Single” means “consisting of one, as opposed to many.”  “Singular,” a rarer word, when it is not used in its grammatical sense, means “unique,” “exceptional” or “one of a kind” (usually in a favorable sense); it also has a grammatical meaning.  The most common error is using “singular” where “single” is correct:

WRONG: God created Adam as the singular member of his species.

RIGHT: God created Adam as the single member of his species.

 site, cite, sight

“Site” is a noun meaning “location”; “cite” is a verb meaning “to quote” or “to annotate”; “sight” is usually a noun meaning “something observed” (“a strange sight to see”) or “the ability to see.”

situation 

Often vague.  Express your meaning more precisely.

AWKWARD: I told my teacher about the situation with my report due on the same day as my dental appointment.

BETTER: I told my teacher that my report was due on the same day as my dental appointment.

BETTER: I explained my schedule conflict to my teacher.

snob, snub

“Snob” is a noun, never a verb; “snub” is a verb meaning “to treat with contempt or neglect.”

After he became a snob, he snubbed his former friends.

snobbish, snobby

“Snobby” is informal.  Use “snobbish” or a similar word, such as “haughty.”

so

A simple word that causes much vagueness in writing.  Beware of three common errors:

1. Do not use “so” (or worse, “so as to”) as a vague conjunction meaning “therefore” or “in order that.”  We use “so” in this way in conversation, but in formal writing it often produces flabby sentence structure.  Find more precise ways to express the relation of your ideas:

FLABBY: He behaves badly so he can attract attention.

BETTER: He behaves badly, hoping to attract attention.

BETTER: He behaves badly in order to attract attention.

Good writers do not just stretch their vocabulary; they stretch their sentence structure:

FLABBY: His parents ignored him, so he began seeking attention in harmful ways.

BETTER: Ignored by his parents, be began seeking attention in harmful ways.

BETTER: Because his parents ignored him, he began seeking attention in harmful ways.

BETTER: Due to parental neglect, he began seeking attention in harmful ways.

BETTER: Parental neglect drove him to seek attention in harmful ways.

2. Do not use “so” at the start of sentences as a vague substitute for “therefore.”

WRONG: The fruit smelled overripe.  So I didn't eat any.

If it is used correctly, “so” can start sentences: “So powerful is Wonderhair that it can restore hair in a month.”  “So the advertisements claim, but I don’t believe them.”

3. Do not use “so” as a vague intensifier; it must be followed by a specific “that” clause:

WRONG: The movie was so sad.

RIGHT: The movie was so sad that I cried.

social, sociable, societal 

Two flaws are common.

1. The Keables Guide recommends using “social” instead of “societal.”  Both words mean “of or pertaining to society.”  If there is any important distinction, it is always clear from the context.  “Societal” only adds a ring of academic stuffiness.  Trust your reader.  Nothing is gained by substituting “societal” in any of these examples:

RIGHT: In ninth grade she began to feel social pressure to dress like her peers.

RIGHT: Peasants and aristocrats belong to different social classes.

RIGHT: I am sacrificing my social life to finish my research paper on social class in India.

2. Do not use “social” when you mean “sociable.”  Unlike “societal,” “sociable” is significantly different from “social.”  “Sociable” means “enjoying company”; it describes individual persons.  “Social” is a classifying adjective (“social group,” “social evening,” “social animal”); it does not describe individuals.

WRONG: Social by nature, the new student quickly made friends.

RIGHT: Sociable by nature, the new student quickly made friends.

society (in today’s society)

Self-evident and trite, especially as an essay starter.  Making it even more redundant (“in our modern-day society of today”) does not improve it.  The word is nearly meaningless in a phrase like “attitudes in society.”  As opposed to what?  Attitudes out of society?  Attitudes in the jungle?

somebody, someone

For academic writing the Keables Guide recommends the more formal “someone.”  The same is true for similar indefinite pronouns:

SLIGHTLY INFORMAL: anybody, everybody, nobody

MORE FORMAL: anyone, everyone, no one (two words)

sort of, kind of

Avoid the informal use to mean “somewhat” or “slightly.”

speak to

Two trendy misuses have spread.  One, common in panel discussions and press conferences, is a mistake for “respond to,” “address,” or “speak about”:

VAGUE: Let me speak to that question.

Advertisers promoting the arts misuse the expression to mean “examine” or “affect”:

VAGUE: The movie speaks to the problem of racial discrimination.

VAGUE: Not available in stores, these timeless recordings speak to the heart.

Bureaucrats and salespersons who speak to questions and problems should remember a simple rule: if it doesn’t have ears, don’t speak to it.

special

In academic writing, “special” is too vague to be appropriate as a word expressing praise.  If he is “a special person,” what are the rest of us?  Generic?  When the situation calls for some formality, call kittens “cute,” not “special.”

stanza, verse, chorus

Be aware of the difference between the popular meanings of these terms (usually for songs) and the technical meanings used in writing about literature.

VERSE:

Popular usage: Repeating pattern equal in meter, rhyme scheme, and number of lines.

Literary term: 1. Line of poetry.  2. Metrical poetry (as opposed to free verse).

STANZA:

Popular usage: Any group of lines.

Literary term: Repeating pattern equal in meter, rhyme scheme, and number of lines. 

VERSE PARAGRAPH:

Popular usage: none

Literary term: A separate group of lines equal in meter but not in number of lines (usually in blank verse or couplets).

CHORUS or REFRAIN:

Popular usage: Recurring line(s) after each verse.

Literary term: Recurring lines(s) after each stanza.

The most common error in student writing is calling a stanza a verse.  Stanzas recur; a poem can have two stanzas or a hundred.  Some poetic forms like sonnets do not have stanzas even though they have a pattern.  An English sonnet (rhyme ababcdcdefefgg) has three quatrains (abab, cdcd and efef), but they are not stanzas (even if the poem is printed with breaks between parts) because they are part of a closed fourteen-line structure.  “Quatrain” can mean both (a) a four-line stanza (whatever the pattern of meter and rhyme), and (b) one of the four-line groups of lines in a sonnet.

The poem below, “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell, is written in couplets; in other words, every two consecutive lines rhyme.  The lines have the same meter (iambic tetrameter).  It has three sections, but they are not stanzas, because they are unequal in length.  The first section has twenty lines, the second has twelve, and the fourth has fourteen.  It is more accurate to call the three sections paragraphs (or verse paragraphs).  Technically speaking, the couplet is a kind of stanza.

Since most poetry nowadays is in free verse (without meter or rhyme), literary critics are loosening the definition of “stanza” and sometimes using it for any group of lines separated by a break from the rest of the poem, whether or not there is any formal pattern.

stationary, stationery

“Stationary” is an adjective meaning “not moving”; “stationery” is a noun meaning “paper for writing.”  Remember: a stationer’s store sells paper products and office supplies.

stress

Some readers object to the use of “stress” as a verb to mean “worried,” especially in academic writing.  Doctors and psychiatrists use “stress” as a noun (“Job-related stress”), but expressions like “stressed out” sound informal.  The Keables Guide recommends synonyms like “anxious,” “tense” or “apprehensive.”

INFORMAL: I was stressed out over the test.  (transitive, passive voice)

INFORMAL: I was stressing over the test.  (intransitive)

FORMAL: I worried about the test.

Doctors use the word for serious, prolonged problems that can cause life-threatening health problems.  Using it to describe an ordinary situation like an audition, interview or homework deadline trivializes the word.

The use of “stress” as a verb to mean “place accent on” or “emphasize” is widely accepted.

People from England stress the second syllable of “advertisement.”

The doctor stressed the importance of a healthy diet.

supportive

The Keables Guide recommends using the concise action verb “supports,” not “is supportive of.”  If “She supports me” would wrongly imply “She pays my way,” find another phrase: “encourages me” or “supports my wishes.”

suppose, supposed

“Suppose” is a verb (“I suppose so”); do not mistake it for a participle.  If a linking verb comes before it, the word should be “supposed”:

WRONG: We were suppose to work.

WRONG: We were supposed to work.

symbol, symbolism, symbolize

Important terms for literature students to master.  “Symbol” can be plural but “symbolism” cannot.  “Symbolism” refers to the use of symbols (“Shakespeare’s symbolism”) or to the collective function of symbols (“the symbolism of the novel”).  The subject of “symbolize” must be a symbol (not an author or a work), and its object must be the meaning of the symbol.  “Symbolize” should not be followed by a “that” clause.  The correct preposition to follow “symbol” is “of.”  There is no such word as “symbolization.”

WRONG: The faded grave marker symbolizes that fame is fleeting.

RIGHT: The faded grave marker symbolizes the fleeting existence of time. 

WRONG: The faded grave marker is a symbol to the fleeting existence of time.  

RIGHT: The faded grave marker is a symbol of the fleeting existence of time.  

WRONG: Browning symbolizes fleeting fame as a faded grave marker. 

RIGHT: Browning uses a faded grave marker to symbolize the fleeting existence of fame. 

WRONG FORMS: symbolisms (plural), symbolization, symbolistic 

Characters are not symbols.

WRONG: Othello is a symbol of jealousy.

RIGHT: Othello is a jealous man.