REVIEWS

Separating Similar Words -William R. Wineke

Each of us has a store of words that, when heard, affect us like chalk screeching on a blackboard.

One of mine is "incredulous," when it is used to be "incredible."

You, no doubt, have others and I, no doubt, use many words equally inaccurately. The English language is filled with words that sound alike but don’t mean the same thing.

Madison writing coach William R. Luellen has come to the rescue. His booklet, "A Dictionary of Similar-but-Separate Words," has just been published by Wise Owl Publishing Company for $14.95.

"Incredible," Luellen notes, "describes a thing or an action," while "incredulous describes reactions to it. Perhaps two sentences are all that are needed to give the distinction between these words. ‘What he did was simply incredible. I was incredulous when I saw what he did.’"

Luellen does have sympathy for those of us who get confused by similar words.

"Why does English have so many similar-but-separate words? Primarily because it is an accumulative language. Anytime writers or speakers cannot find the precise word they need to properly describe something. they need to properly describe something they will either make a up new word or, more often, steal one from another language."

So, read this book to make sure you don’t say "founder" when you mean "flounder. A boat founders when it takes on water and sinks. A flounder is a fish that swims on the bottom of the sea—or an action of one who moves erratically or awkwardly, like the fish."

And if you wonder whether you should say "different from" rather than "different than (this is a problem I have frequently), go with "different from." Although Luellen agrees, "the only time when "different than can work is to ease a convoluted construction."

So give a "compliment," but "complement" something by adding to it. "Cite" an expert and, then, hire another expert to "site" the new home you want to build.

Assume a woman is a natural "blonde" but assume a man has "blond" hair and, if the "blonde" has 30 pairs of shoes, don’t worry about whether she really only needs one pair.

                        —William R. Wineke