Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

Hi. Recently I posted something on this site and was roundly criticized
for my writing. One of the members even said that my grammar,syntax and
diction showed that I was a rank beginner. Being as this is not the
case, and I have been learning and using English for at least 20 years,
I was quite alarmed and even a little indignant. But it seems, on
calmer consideration, that the gentleman who made those comments was
led by nothing but the best intentions and he is withal deeply
educated. So I submit the same piece of writing for criticism. But this
time,I would like that gentleman as well as others to point out
specifically where I have gone wrong rather than give general advice.

Here it is.

 Hi. Recently, I said on one of my posts here that a certain phrase
had
'inured' in the language, and was admonished for this offbeat use of
'inure' - quite justly,it seemed at the time. But later, I found that I

was able to organise a rather fair defense of this use of the word. The

meaning of 'inure' as a transitive verb need not detain us here; nor
yet its meaning as 'accrue' in its intransitive avatar. But a third
meaning for 'inure' as an intranitive verb is,as dictionaries would
have it, 'to take effect' or 'come into practice', with the
qualification that this is chiefly said of laws. But from such uses of
'inure' as saying that a custom has 'inured through usage', meaning, no

doubt, that the custom had come in time to assume legal force, it seems

that 'to assume legal force' is a more apposite description of 'inure'
in this sense. Might we not then justly say of a word, instead of a law

or custom, that it had 'assumed legal force' to mean of course, in this

context, that it had gained credence with the authorities?
Figuratively,
we could still more extend the meaning of the word to embrace such
meanings as 'become the done thing','become an integral part of goings
on','become officially recognised and accepted'(whatever this last may
mean in the context to which it is applied) and so on.At least the last

one, namely 'become officially recognised and accepted' (which is what
we used in the original example),seems a quite fair figurative
extension of the word's meaning. Of course, such rampant figurative
extensions could render the original ambiguous since then to say that a

custom had inured may mean either that it had become a law or merely
that it had become the done thing. But, of course, we could start
saying 'legally inured' to mean what the original meant.
Thus I would like to say that
1)An engineering technique has inured
2)A bad habit has inured
3)A word has inured in a language
If this won't do at all,I would like to be availed of alternatives for
expressing each of the above, preferably one word that will fit each
occasion, or if different words are necessary, I should still prefer
the
job to be done by a single intransitive verb in each several case,
rather than resort to passive forms such as 'become established' or
'become entrenched', but as a last resort, do mention the more
appropriate passive or other forms you can think of in each case.
Thanks.

Criticize everything - the choice of words,the syntax,the general
diction,the grammar - but everything. But keep your criticism specific
and avoid trailing off to generalities.Also, every time you criticize
an expression, include the alternative expression you would use in your
answers.
To start the ball rolling,I have included some comments on some
specific points raised by the gentleman who criticised my original
post.
He criticized
1)The use of 'offbeat' as in 'I was admonished for my offbeat use of
'inure'. '.
2)The use of 'avatar' as in 'the word in its intransitive 'avatar'.'
(Here I admit that I may have used an expression which in English at
least has a rather inflated. ring to it.The word comes from Sanskrit
and my familiarity with it predated my English studies.In English,I
doubt that the word has really caught on except among Indophiles.But it
can be very useful)
3)The use of 'embrace' as in 'we could still more extend the scope of
the word to embrace such meanings as 'become the done thing' etc.
4)The use of 'detain' as in 'The meaning of 'inure' as a transitive
verb need not detain us here'.
(This criticism in particular puzzles me greatly,as I see this use of
'detain' quite commonly in textbooks et al. What is meant of couse is
that we need not be long held up by considerations of the transitive
meaning of 'inure' since we will not be discussing that)
5)The use of 'apposite' as in ' it seems that 'to assume legal force'
is a more apposite description of 'inure' in this sense.'
(Again, this puzzles me since I have always taken 'apposite' to mean
'appropriate' or 'well-put' which is just what I am trying to say
here.)
6)The use of 'credence' as in 'the word has gained credence with the
authorities'.
(Here,I admit that I am at my weakest ground. 'Credence' does mean
acceptance but usually 'acceptance as true' It can also mean
trustworthiness,respectability,creditability as in 'a man of credence'
.But to use it to mean 'respectability and creditability'  as in 'gain
credence' seems to be pushing it.)
7)The use of 'rampant' as in 'Of course, such rampant figurative
extensions could render the original ambiguous'.
(Surely, this is a bit much.'Rampant'  to mean uncontrolled or
unbridled is a very familiar figure.)

Also, he mentions that I had used some pairs of words together that did
not belong together. The only example I could find was 'rather fair' as
in 'I found that I was able to organise a rather fair defense of this
use of the word'. 'Fair' itself is a toned-down  version of 'good' and
to tone it down further with 'rather' makes the construction look
absurd.It seems that I would do better in this case to say 'quite
fair'.I would like of be availed of all the other examples you can
find.

Furthermore,there were some comments on my taste in intransitive verbs.
On my post,I had said  'I would like to be availed of alternatives for
expressing each of the above, preferably one word that will fit each
occasion or if different words are necessary I should still prefer the
job to be done by a single intransitive verb in each several case'. My
notion is that passive constructions are in general a little stilted
except in such cases as 'I was beaten up by ruffians'.To say that a
word has 'inured' seems pleasanter than to say that the word has become
established. Most people would prefer to say that the word has gained
acceptance keeping it in the active voice. Is a taste for keeping a
construction in the active voice except in some limited contexts where
it does not seem stilted really so bizarre as all that?