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Show if TakoMq Word jl jj For 111 j! ! j By FRANK COLBY I Question Box Atlanta: I have finally convinced my stenographer that "reoccurrence" "reoccur-rence" Is Incorrect. Can't you spread the news around? B. E. T. Answer: "Reoccurrence" is not Incorrect, but it Is somewhat redundant. re-dundant. The better form is: recurrence. re-currence. Lynn; Please discuss pronunciation pronuncia-tion and origin of "debacle." It is often pronounced "DEE-uh-k'L" M. Q. Answer: First choice: dec-BAH-k'l. Second choice: dee-BAK-'I. The word Is from the French. In both French and English, debacle has the curious literal meaning, "the break up of ice," as in a river. Savannah: What authority Is there for the pronunciation "crick" for the word "creek"? M. A. R. Answer: It's dialectal. Creek should rhyme with "Greek." Oklahoma City: Please, what is the plural of the word "corps"? Is It "corpses"? J. L. Answer: Sorry, no. "Corpses" is the plural of "corpse." The word corps Is both singular and plural. Correct: He joined the Marine Corps. There were several tank corps in the battle. Detroit: Please distinguish between be-tween "sewerage" and "sewage." O. G. T. Answer: Sewerage is the act of or system for disposing of waste matter. Sewage is the waste matter mat-ter carried off by the sewerage system. sys-tem. Beaumont: Your recent article, "Oh, Those Adverbs!" reminds me that it can happen in the best of families. Even Browning wrote: "And yooder soft phial, the exquisite ex-quisite blue, Sure to taste sweetly Ig that poison too?" Answer: It's poisonous English. The rule is: After look, sound, taste, smell, feel, use an adjective. Correct: Sure to taste sweet Don't feel bad about it. It sounds loud. It smells good. She looks ill. Bell Syndicate. WNU Features. |