Writing Tip

Using Difficult and Ambiguous Words: Part 3 of 3 (N to W)

Difficulty Level: Basic

Recommendation: Pay special attention to difficult and ambiguous terms.

National Electric(al) Code

This is a common misspelling. The E in the NEC is electrical, not electric.

Ongoing, On-going

When a combination of words has evolved from open (on going) to hyphenated (on-going) to (ongoing) closed, always used the closed form.

Healthcare is another example of two words that are so closely related that they have fused into one word.

Optimal/Optimum, Maximal/Maximum, Minimal/Minimum

In these three cases, the words that end in “al” are used as adjectives, whereas the words that end in “um” are used as nouns: optimal velocity, maximal voltage, minimal effort. However, it sounds strange to use maximal as an adjective for some reason. Therefore, use your notional accord to determine what sounds right.

Strike, Stroke, Flash

When it comes to lightning bearing down upon objects of the earth, we tend to use “strike” and “stroke” interchangeably. This presents a false distinction to the reader, who may wonder what the difference between “strike” and “stroke” is. Consistency within a document is always more important than consistency between documents (compare intra-consistency to inter-consistency). Therefore, it is important to pick a term and stick with it. Here are two alternative suggested rules to eliminate reader confusion. 1) Use “strike” only as a verb, such as, “When lightning strikes, popcorn flies.” Then use “stroke” and only “stroke” as the noun form. 2) Never use the word “stroke.” Use “strike” exclusively as a verb and noun. I prefer the second one. According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), these three terms have distinct meanings. First, when lightning is formed between a cloud and on object on the earth, it is said to “strike” the earth, and this initiating event is called a lightning strike or lightning bolt. A stroke is a return bolt from the ground back to the cloud, and multiple return strokes constitute a flash. However, this nomenclature is thick with nuance and distinctions worthy of a lawyer. So, it is best to pick one and stick with it.

That which . . .

This phrase sounds stuffy and pretentious, as in:

They held a hatred for that which afflicted them.

Just use the more humble word what or whatever instead, as in:

They held a hatred for what was afflicting them.

Also consider this old saying:

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

Perhaps there is a slight possibility that the word what will be construed as an interrogative (the what is part of a question), but I don’t think so. It’s best to be simple:

What does not kill us makes us stronger.

That, Which

Really, these mean the same thing; they just have different forms. They are called relative pronouns, and they introduce relative clauses, which modify a noun (and, in some cases, they can modify an entire clause). It is the way in which they modify a noun that determines their form. If the relative clause is essential (that is, it is required to complete the meaning of the noun or clause that it modifies), then use that to join the relative clause to the noun, as in, “The investigator selected the relay that provided the best ride-through performance.” The investigator did not select any old rely. The relative clause is essential to the meaning of the main clause. However, if the relative clause is non-essential (it merely supplements the noun), then use which plus a comma to join the relative clause, as in, “The investigator selected the model 34-A relay, which provides excellent ride-through protection.” The investigator selected a particular relay, and the relative clause does not provide essential information to the main clause (that the relay provides excellent ride-through is simply supplemental information). Although you might find the relative information useful, it is not necessary to complete the meaning of the main clause.

Then, Than

The word then is temporal; that is, it deals with time. For example, it can mean a point in time very distant from today, as in, “Life was easier back then.” It can also mean “immediately or soon afterward,” as in, “The light turned green, and then the car stalled.” It can also mean “next in order of time or logically consequential, as in, “If you multiply two numbers together, then you will have a product.” Than is used to compare things, as in, “My whachamacallit is higher than your thingamajig.”

Through, Thru

This is a simple matter of formality. In an interoffice email, thru is an acceptable abbreviation of through. However, it is a symptom of slapdash when used in a formal document (that goes for PowerPoint slides as well). Variant spellings should be abandoned at the door of formal discourse.

Titled, Entitled

Tyically, in the environment of producing technical documents, people use these two terms interchangeably to refer to a section or chapter head in a document or an external publication (book, article, and so on). For example: Please see the discussion in the section titled/entitled Risks of Deployment. Although the terms appear to have similar meanings as you drill into the dictionary, their primary definitions are starkly different. Titled is what you want. It means “to furnish with a title.” Entitled, on the other hand, means laying a claim on something, such as, “Funders of Program 1 are entitled to indefinite access to online resources.”

Varying, Various

These have the same root, but their meanings are quite different. Varying means that something is progressively changing (or being changed). Various refers to two are more different things or states. Typically, various is the word that you want, as in, “The black box was tested to various degrees of phase angle.” Varying here would indicate that the phase angle was in flux during each test, which is not the intended meaning.

Who/Whoever, Whom/Whomever

These words are called relative pronouns (like that and which). They are implemented to stand in the place of a noun (for example, “George, who plans to attend graduate school in the fall, is studying for the GRE.”) Eventually, who will be used in all cases in the English language. But today, who and whom are the consternation of English teachers everywhere. Why? Because the organic grammar (natural) grinds against the synthetic grammar (taught). That is, what we feel to be right sometimes does not comply with the official rules. Also, we sometimes overcompensate, using whom/whomever indiscriminately to cover the bases.

Strictly speaking, who is the subjective case (it operates in its clause as the subject), and whom is the objective case (it operates in its clause or phrase as the object). The test to determine which form of the pronoun that you should use requires identifying its case in the clause or phrase in which the pronoun resides. This can be tricky. For example:

Mary does not understand who/whom set the policy.

Here, the pronoun could be the object of understand or the subject of set. In this case, it belongs to the clause “X set the policy” and operates as its subject, therefore taking on the who form.

Also:

The torch will pass to whoever/whomever demonstrates superior talent.

Here, there is a subject (torch), a verb (will pass), and a prepositional phrase (to plus its object). Its the “plus its object” part that gets people into trouble. It is expedient to conclude that the pronoun is part of the prepositional phrase and therefore takes the objective case. But the test requires locating the closest context of the pronoun. In this case, the clause “X demonstrates superior talent” is the closest context. Indeed, the pronoun is the subject of that clause and therefore takes the whoever form.

Here is a difficult example:

I don’t care who/whom you invite.

Very tricky. The pronoun belongs to the clause “X you invite.” So, it’s the subject, right? Actually, it is the object of that clause, which can be made clear in this way: You invite X. So, the correct form of the pronoun is whom.

A final example:

To who/whom did you give the multimeter?

Some may feel the pull to assign who to the clause in this sentence. But remember, the context closest to the pronoun is used to determine how the pronoun works in that context (either as a subject or as an object). We can rewrite the sentence to clarify that tricky clause: You did give the multimeter to whom. Now, we can see that the clause already has a verb (you). The word to is a preposition, and whom is its object (actually, to whom in this case is the indirect object of give, but that is another story).

Sorry. Relative pronouns are a difficulty.

Who/Whom, That/Which

Because humans invented language (or language emerged from them), language is anthropocentric, meaning “centered around humans.” One rule championed by English majors governs the use of who or whom versus that or which. The rule goes like this: Humans are entitled to special treatment when it comes to personal pronouns (he/she versus it) and relative pronouns (who/whom versus that/which). When it comes to relative pronouns, only humans merit who/whom, whereas other animals, objects, and abstractions warrant that/which. Latin professors emphasize that when their students translate from Latin into English, they must use who or whom only for humans. This is one of those obscure rules that you may not particularly care about, but some of your readers may. So, to be safe, stick to this rule.