Chicago Style Workout 9: Word Usage,
Part 1

/ September 27, 2016

tiny-swimmerDive in!

This month’s workout, “Word Usage,” centers on the glossary of problematic words and phrases under paragraph 5.250 in CMOS 17. Writing and editing are more efficient when you never have to look up affect or effect or dither over whether it’s OK to write inasmuch.

Because the list is so long, we will revisit it regularly in the workout series. Today’s quiz focuses specifically on words beginning with the letter a.

Advanced editors might tackle the questions cold; learners can study those sections of the Manual before answering the questions.

(Subscribers to The Chicago Manual of Style Online may click through to the linked sections of the Manual. We also offer a 30-day free trial of CMOS Online.)

[Editor’s update: This quiz has now been updated to refer and link to the 17th edition.]

Note: Dictionaries and style guides sometimes disagree. These questions are designed to test knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style, which prefers Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition. Other style guides may follow a different dictionary.

Chicago Style Workout 9: Word Usage, Part 1

1. accept; except. To accept something is to receive it {accept this gift} or regard it as proper {accept the idea}. To except something is to exclude it or leave it out {club members will be excepted from the admission charge}.
a.
b.
2. affect; effect. Although both words can be a verb or a noun, affect is most often a verb; effect is usually a noun.
a.
b.
3. all (of). Of should be deleted whenever possible {all the houses} {all my children}.
a.
b.
4. alongside. This term, meaning “at the side of,” should not be followed by of.
a.
b.
5. altogether; all together. Both are correct spellings. Altogether means “wholly” or “entirely” {that story is altogether false}. All together refers to a unity of time or place {the family will be all together at Thanksgiving}.
a.
b.
6. amount. Synonym for number. May be used with mass nouns {a decrease in the amount of pollution} or count nouns {a growing amount of dissidents}.
a.
b.
7. and. {Grammatical theories have been in great flux in recent years. And the more we learn the less we seem to know.}
a.
b.
8. as far as. {As far as technology, it’s constantly changing.}
a.
b.
9. as such. {An agency had made all the arrangements months ago, and as such, they were nearly impossible to change.}
a.
b.
10. avenge, vb.; revenge, vb. & n. {Family grudges were privately avenged; they didn’t want justice—they wanted revenge.}
a.
b.

 

Photo: Lloyd Eller, son of Bob Eller, Digital ID npcc 01858, Reproduction no. LC-DIG-npcc-01858, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

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One thought on “Chicago Style Workout 9: Word Usage,
Part 1”

  1. Regarding number 3, I used to usually delete “of” in “all of” constructions. But I began to question this practice. For example, in sentences beginning “All of the family wants …” “All of the students studied …” If you delete the “of,” the reader might initially read the sentence differently: “All [that] the family wants [is such-and-such].” “All [that] the students studied was [something]. Depending on how the example sentences continue, you might prefer to include the “of.”

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