10. Verb
Last week’s ranking: 13
Meaning and usage
The verb is “characteristically… the grammatical centre of a predicate and expresses an act, occurrence, or mode of being.” This is usually straightforward, but then you come across cases like the one below that makes subject-verb agreements seemingly disagreeable.
Why it is in the news
One of the most curious problems in English
I came across an article from a Kenyan-based news publication whose author addressed one of the most curious and overlooked problems in English: the subject-verb agreement with sentences using the “one of the…” structure.
Philip Ochieng, the author, put the following part of a sentence on trial:
“…book publishing is one of the industries that attracts the least number of new investments…”
Ochieng contends that the verb “to attract” should be in the plural form (attract) and not the singular form (attracts). He asks you and me, the readers, “what exactly ‘attracts?’ Is it the pronoun ‘one’ or the noun ‘industries.'”
To quote Mr Ochieng: “In the above statement, therefore, the plural noun ‘industries’, not to the singular pronoun ‘one’ — which merely exemplifies it — is your grammatical take-off point.”
I had to break this down myself. Sentence diagramming comes to the rescue.
Book publishing is not the noun that takes the verb “attracts” as it already has committed an action in the sentence: “is.” Book publishing is an industry; book publishing is tedious. We have already established the action that “book publishing” is doing.
“Book publishing” is the antecedent (a word that will be replaced by another word later in the sentence) for the pronoun “one.” “Book publishing is one” can stand on its own as a sentence, albeit awkwardly. Continuing on with the sentence, we learn that book publishing is one of many industries. Again, awkward as its own sentence.
We have established that book publishing belongs to a group of industries. After discovering this revelatory bit of information, we learn something specific about the collection of industries. These industries attract very few investors.
The antecedent of “that” is “industries”, not “one” or “book publishing.” In the sentence diagram above, you can see that “that” is the subject of the relative clause. With “that” acting as the representative for a plural noun, a plural verb form is required.
Let us talk it out. Book publishing is an industry. Book publishing is an industry that attracts the least number of investments. Book publishing is one of the industries that attract the least number of investments.
Got it? Now, do not do it again, self.
11. Furlough
Last week’s ranking: 16
Meaning and usage
Depending on how you want to set the mood of one being without employment, furlough, as a noun, can be a “leave of absence granted at the employee’s request” or “a temporary lack of employment due to economic conditions: layoff.”
Why it is in the news
Good Morning (furloughed) America
The difference between “furlough” and “layoff” was broken down by Good Morning America.
In short, companies will furlough employees as a way to combat financial uncertainty or difficulty while keeping said employees on the books. They are not paying the employees, but most of the employees’ benefits are still in effect. Companies usually intend to reinstate furloughed employees once the difficult stretch has passed. Fully or partially furloughed employees are eligible for unemployment collection.
Companies will lay off employees in order to completely sever ties with them. They will not pay the employee, nor will they provide any employment benefits (health insurance, for example) to those employees.
USA Today in late April published the reported number of furloughed or temporarily laid off workers in major US companies. Disney has furloughed around 100,000 theme park employees, and other major retailers and hospitality players have “temporarily laid off” similar numbers.
12. False
Last week’s ranking: 5
Meaning and usage
That which is contrary to truth, is false – an adjective.
Why it is in the news
False news is all news
What was “false” in the news:
- “False sense of security” if “essential” workers are tested for Covid-19.
- Doctors condemn secrecy over false negative Covid-19 tests.
- Trump “falsely accuses” Morning Joe Scarborough involvement in a death of an employee working in one of Scarborough’s offices.
- Demi Lovato gave her dog false eyelashes.
13. Culture
Last week’s ranking: 14
Meaning and usage
The MW Unabridged definition of “culture” is the “art or practice of cultivating: tillage.”
The collegiate definition states that culture is “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group.
If you fail to grow crops in a field of good tillage, you should blame your approach to culture, not the soil.
If you fail to rear your children to be good, upstanding citizens, you should blame yourself, not the culture.
Why it is in the news
The thistly soil
Restaurants opening back up during the coronavirus: great.
Hair salons opening: needed.
Shopping centres and liquor stores: all good.
Churches, mosques, and synagogues: by no means!
A spat between press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and reporters on Friday, 22 May over the opening of churches, mosques, and synagogues across the country was seen by Vanity Fair as Trump’s escalation of “the culture wars”
Donald Trump wants to see all houses of worship open, and he threatened to override governors’ decisions against this. The Vanity Fair article said Trump deems houses of worship “essential places that provide essential services.” Trumps is also said to have criticized governors who say liquor stores and abortion clinics are essential.
Vanity Fair finds Trump’s desire for houses of worship to be opened as “a cynical ploy to ignite the culture wars.”
If battle lines for the culture wars are drawn at churches and other houses of worship, that is telling you something about the cultural tillage of society.
14. Quarantine
Last week’s ranking: 10
Meaning and usage
To be quarantined is to “isolated as a precaution against contagious disease.” The word comes from the Old French quarantaine, or a period of forty days, which we have passed long ago.
Why it is in the news
A staycation abroad
Travellers arriving to France or the UK are required to self-isolate for 14 days starting on June 8.
The UK announced on May 22 that overseas arrivals will be forced to quarantine themselves for two weeks, per Sky News. Medical personal and, of course, lorry drivers are exempt from this requirement.
15. Waveson
Last week’s ranking: unranked
Meaning and usage
Waveson is (are?) goods that, after a shipwreck, appear floating on the sea. This is otherwise known as “flotsam.”
Why it is in the news
Most of what you read online is the flotsam and jetsam of blogs belonging to desperate bloggers. Thankfully, I guess, Google does a good job of removing waveson from search results. I found nothing of interesting on “waveson” in the news other than a description of a flag that “waves on.”
16. Coronavirus
Last week’s ranking: 12
Meaning and usage
The coronavirus belongs to the family of Coronaviridae, single-stranded RNA viruses. Under the microscope, they are shaped like crowns (Latin: corona).
Why it is in the news
The crown’s second age
There is much talk begetting much fear about the “second wave” of the coronavirus. The virus will appear to have subsided, it is said, only to infect the down-guarded public for a second time.
Between the ebb of this supposed second wave, other events of note are happening that The Guardian nicely summarizes on their web page.
17. Oeillade
Last week’s ranking: unranked
Meaning and usage
A Middle French word for the 1590s, oeillade is “a glance of the eye, especially: ogle.”
Why it is in the news
It’s not
Nothing of recent note would suggest for “oeillade” to be perched at the number seventeen spot in this week’s Words of the Week. Last year’s eight-way tie ending to the 2019 Scripps Spelling Bee included oeillade as one of its final twelve words.
On a personal front
I often get house-fever while walking around Malta. The charming townhouses or stone farmhouses on this ancient island beg for oeillades, and they percolate my mortgage receptors.
DISCLAIMER to my family: I know that my student loan comes first.
18. Magnify
Last week’s ranking: unranked
Meaning and usage
To magnify is to increase in significance, or “to praise highly; to make great.”
The first known use of this word was in the 14th century. It originates for the Middle English word magnifien.
Even the collegiate definition of “magnify” puts words such as “extol” and “laud” above definitions I expected to come first, such as “to enlarge in fact or in appearance.”
I am now reminded of this Arvo Pärt classic: Magnificat.
Why it is in the news
Force multiplier
The coronavirus will magnify pre-existing societal conditions, according to various articles online: racism (as already covered), inequalities, food shortages, and financial worries. We have also seen kind acts magnified throughout the web, too, thanks to John Krasinski’s Some Good News.
I am convinced that the coronavirus and the subsequent shutdowns, lockdowns, and downtime have magnified the previously minimized but truly valuable things in life.
19. Hinder
Last week’s ranking: unranked
Meaning and usage
An obsolete version of the verb “to hinder” is “to do harm: impair, damage.” Now we typically use hinder to mean “make slow or difficult the course or progress of.”
Why it is in the news
Sit on your hinder parts and wait it out
Fret not! Belarus-Georgia relations will not be hindered because of the coronavirus.
Now that we have that out of the way, let us move on. It was difficult to find particular reasons why “hindered” inspired many to crack open the dictionary. You can say I was unhindered to find a litany of search results – of course, all mostly coronavirus related.
Summer plans are hindered, events are hindered, sports leagues were certainly hindered, and there are fears that Trump will try to delay the 2020 elections.
My favorite sports leagues were delayed, and I got over it. No big deal. Maybe we will all get over the delay of the 2020 elections? More time to think it over, perhaps. (Facetious statement for the week.)
20. Mingy
Last week’s ranking: unranked
Meaning and usage
When a mean person is stingy, they are mingy. Merriam-Webster speculates that mingy is simply a blend of mean and stingy.
Why it is in the news
Mingy Airlines
My wife and I were very fortunate to have received a voucher from Delta Airlines and Air France that fully reimburses us for the flight we were unable to take because of the coronavirus. Merci, merci very much.
Others may not be so lucky. Airlines are refusing to refund passengers. Most EU states want the EU to suspend refunds for cancelled flights, but to instead provide vouchers, such as the ones my wife and I received, in order to later revive the traffic market beyond Covid-19.
Pingback: Hi, my noun is John – Oranjetaan.com
Pingback: How to identify this overlooked subject-verb disagreement in writing | Sword Word Creative