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Election Season: Historic vs. Historical … or Hysterical?

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by Kathleen Watson (used with permission)

We’re about to the end (thank goodness!) of a historic election.

Or is it a historical election?

Or an historic / historical election?

Or maybe it’s simply hysterical?

If you’re now as confused as I am, here’s the rest of the story:

historic (adjective): famous or important in history, or potentially so; having great and lasting importance

The historic importance of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is widely recognized.
The president was pleased to see so many citizens attend the historic ceremony.
The Supreme Court has heard many historic cases.

historical (adjective): of or relating to history or past events; belonging to the past rather than the present; based on history

He has a collection of historical artifacts from the Revolutionary War.
There’s no historical data to support her claim.
Historical treasures abound at the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
We historically have always followed the board meeting with dinner.

Historical also can mean showing development based on chronological order:

They provided a historical account of the battles of the Revolutionary War.

Killer Tip to help remember the difference:

One source describes historic as implying judgment, because the term deems something as significant. Historical, on the other hand, simply describes anything from or that occurred in the distant past.

And remember: a historical, not an historical

Hysterical, by the way, is defined as marked by uncontrollable, extreme emotion. Enough said.

To complete this post, there is a valid word that I don’t recall every having heard — and I don’t expect to ever use it, unless possibly in jest:

historicalness (noun), the state of having existed in the past; the quality or fact of being historical

Now you have it: the meanings and implications of historic and historical. Expand the enlightenment by sharing this post with others who might find these highly similar terms as confusing as I — and maybe some of you — did.

Kathleen Watson is known as the ruthless editor. She has just published an excellent grammar book that clears up questions that have been festering. Lie vs. lay is just one of 60 tips you’ll find in Grammar for People Who Hate Rules: Killer Tips from The Ruthless Editor. At $8.95, that’s just 15 cents a tip!

To buy your copy, click here: Grammar for People Who Hate Rules: Killer Tips from The Ruthless Editor.

Subconscious vs. Unconscious: What’s the Difference?

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Subconscious vs. Unconsciousby Kathleen Watson (used with permission)

A reader asked me to discuss subconscious and unconscious, clarifying the implications of prefixes sub and un.

First of all, conscious means to be awake, aware, and responding to one’s surroundings.

A prefix is a letter or a group of letters that appears at the beginning of a word and changes its original meaning.

The prefixes sub and un have distinctly different meanings:

sub: under or below
substandard, subcommittee
Substandard living conditions contribute to poor health.
The subcommittee will investigate the cost of the proposal.

un: the opposite or reverse of
unlike, unwearable
She is so unlike her twin sister in temperament.
The soaked jacket was unwearable.

Your subconscious (noun) is the part of your mind just below awareness; a subconscious (adjective) thought is one of which you are not fully aware but that might influence your feelings or actions:

Trevor has a subconscious fear that his girlfriend, Jenna, will break up with him if he goes fishing this weekend.
At a subconscious level, Jenna hopes her boyfriend, Trevor, will go fishing this weekend so she can use it as an excuse to break up with him.

To be unconscious means to lose consciousness.

When Trevor fell in the fishing boat and hit his head, the jolt left him unconscious for a few seconds.
When Jenna learned that Trevor’s fall had left him temporarily unconscious, she couldn’t be mad at him for going fishing — or use it as an excuse to break up with him.

grammar bookOur language is full of prefixes: anti (antidepressant), bi (bilateral), dis (disassemble), extra (extracurricular), infra (infrared), inter (interoffice), multi (multicolored), non (nonfiction), out (outperform), over (overpay), para (parasailing), post (postgraduate), pre (precondition), re (reintroduce), under (underestimate).

Note that none of these words created with a prefix requires a hyphen.

My new book Grammar for People Who Hate Rules has a list of words with these and other common prefixes, most of which don’t require a hyphen.

Kathy has a love/hate relationship with grammar; she loves words and the punctuation that helps them make sense, yet she hates those pesky rules. Be sure to check out her new book Grammar for People Who Hate Rules (great title) at Amazon.com now!

Any time or Anytime: One Word or Two?

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by Kathleen Watson (used with permission)

I’ve found myself pausing lately when I’m about to write anytime … or should it be any time? Which is it: one word or two?

As is sometimes the case with grammar, our choices are not easy or clear. I’ve learned from my online search that most sources say anytime and any time are not necessarily interchangeable; anytime is acceptable in one context, but any time is more often preferred.

Always my first choice, The Associated Press Stylebook doesn’t specifically list anytime, but it does cite anyone vs. any one as a similar example:

Anyone may attend the class.
Anyone is indefinite; it implies any and all people may attend the class.

You may check out any one of the books on the table.
Any one is definite; it implies a limit, a specific thing: one book from the selection.

Anyone (indefinite) who attends the class may borrow any one (specific) of the books on the table.
If anyone (indefinite) wants to ride along, pick any one (specific) of the bikes in the rack.

Getting back to anytime, the same general guideline applies:

anytime is indefinite; it implies at any time whatsoever 

We’ll leave for lunch anytime you choose.
My new truck will tackle rough roads anytime, anywhere.
Call me anytime.

any time can imply something specific or an amount of time:

specific
Did you call me any time last week?
Attendance fell any time a holiday created a conflict.
Did you talk with her any time after the accident?

amount
I don’t have any time to mow the lawn this weekend.
Don’t waste any time trying to influence the outcome.
If you find any time to make brownies, please bring them to the picnic.

Some online sources claim that the two-word any time is always the safer choice if you’re writing for school, for work, or in any formal context.

I predict that we’ll see greater use of the one-word anytime. Life continues to get more casual, from attire, to the informal way we address people, to the way we use language. As our culture evolves, grammar tends to evolve with it.

For other confusing words that start with the letter a, check out my A-Word post from July 2015.

And please let me know when you have specific questions. Use the comment section below or send me an email anytime . . . at any time you choose!

Kathleen Watson has a love/hate relationship with grammar; she loves words and the punctuation that helps them make sense, yet she hates those pesky rules. She has for nearly three decades been helping individuals and organizations craft messages that inform, convince and inspire.

Clear communication is at the heart of success in nearly every field and endeavor. Kathy encourages and supports those who want to fine-tune their writing and speaking skills. Her Grammar for People who Hate Rules, a compilation of the killer tips she has been sharing for years, will be available soon. Her email is kathy@ruthlesseditor.com

For a three-page list of more examples, request One Word or Two at editor@barbaramcnichol.com.

Dangling Modifiers: From Confusing to Downright Silly

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Dangling Modifierby Kathleen Watson

I know, I know . . . I’ve heard all the jokes about dangling modifiers.

But when it comes to grammar, they are no laughing matter.

A dangling modifier is a phrase that either is in the wrong place or modifies the wrong thing. These misplaced or poorly worded phrases can create confusion, or they can totally change the meaning of what you intend to say.

Or they can sound darned silly.

Consider these examples:

Having finished eating dinner, the dishes were loaded into the dishwasher.
Problem: The dishes did not eat dinner; people ate dinner.
Better: Having finished eating dinner, we loaded the dishes into the dishwasher.

Without knowing her phone number, it was impossible to contact her.
Problem: Who didn’t know her number? It?
Better: Without knowing her phone number, I found it impossible to contact her.

At age 7, Josh’s father entered the Army.
Problem: No one’s father could enter the Army at age 7.
Better: When Josh was 7, his father entered the Army.

Buried in an old cedar chest, Kia found her cheerleading sweater.
Problem: Kia wasn’t buried in the cedar chest, her sweater was.
Better: Buried in an old cedar chest was the cheerleading sweater Kia had worn.
Better yet: Kia found her cheerleading sweater buried in an old cedar chest.

Walking home last night, the porch light was visible a block away.
Problem: The porch light was not walking home last night.
Better: As I walked home last night, I saw the porch light from a block away.

To avoid dangling modifiers, pay attention to the order of your words and to the doer of the action.

***

Kathleen Watson has a love/hate relationship with grammar; she loves words and the punctuation that helps them make sense, yet she hates those pesky rules. She has for nearly three decades been helping individuals and organizations craft messages that inform, convince and inspire.

Clear communication is at the heart of success in nearly every field and endeavor. Kathy encourages and supports those who want to fine-tune their writing and speaking skills. Her Grammar for People who Hate Rules, a compilation of the killer tips she has been sharing for years, will be available soon.

Do you have an example of a dangling modifier (aka dangling participle)? Share it here!

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