Readers’ pet peeves revealed

Before fall ends this year, I must note that this is the only season with more than one name. Poor summer, winter and spring each have only one.

For a time, fall was called “harvest.” This is because it’s traditionally the time of year that crops are gathered. It has Germanic roots that mean “picking, plucking.”

In the 1500s, things got a little crazy. The season became “fall.” Many word people theorize that the word was used because of the leaves that fall from the trees in this season. Hmm. That’s like calling a car collision “smoosh,” or calling dinnertime “chew.”

Fall’s other name is “autumn.” Etymologists aren’t certain of the word’s origin. One says it’s from a word meaning “a drying up.” Another says it’s from a word meaning “an increase.” In recent centuries, “fall” is more often used in the United States. People in Britain are more likely to use “autumn.”

BACK TO READER EMAILS

I’ll proceed with Week 3 of answering reader emails. Now that I’m mentioning pet peeves, people are sending me more and more. Maybe I will catch up before I retire.

Thanksgiving is approaching, so I will answer a reader’s question about the origin of “cold turkey.”

I admit immediately, though, that the phrase might have just the vaguest tie to the holiday bird. When you go cold turkey, you give up a bad habit abruptly. You go from smoking two packs of cigarettes a day to smoking no cigarettes, and you don’t even allow yourself to use those nicotine patches. You stop drinking alcohol. You abandon some kind of drug.

It’s also used in less serious ways. “I have been binge-watching Netflix for a month. Today, I go cold turkey.”

Quite a few people say that turkey skin has that clammy, goosebump-like feel that addicts might experience during withdrawal. But the term was being used centuries before it was tied to the sudden stopping of drug use.

Some claim the phrase is tied to the phrase “talking cold turkey.” This means you say something with no sugarcoating of

the facts, though I’ve always heard it as “talking turkey.” A while back, I was watching a couple of kids drawing with crayons. One boy said he was going to draw a picture of me. He said, “Pass me the gray crayon for your hair.” Ouch. The coldest of turkey talk.

Anyway, the one consistent but unsatisfying theory was that the phrase came from the practice of serving presumably leftover turkey cold. You do no prep work. You just serve it cold. Yawn.

REGRETFULLY VS. REGRETTABLY

I hadn’t earlier learned the distinction between regretfully and regrettably. The less stringent grammar people say that the two are interchangeable. But many people have rules about them.

You use “regrettably” when you are dismayed by an occurrence.

Regrettably, the grocery store doesn’t carry pumpkin cream cheese roll year-round.

You use “regretfully” to describe the regret that the sentence’s subject is feeling.

John regretfully admitted eating the last slice of pumpkin roll.

FEWER VS. LESS

I share this pet peeve with a number of readers. When someone says, “Filling a Pez dispenser takes less than three steps,” I cringe.

The correct way to say it is, “Filling a Pez dispenser takes fewer than three steps.”

You use “fewer than” when the thing you’re referring to is countable. One, two, three steps.

You use “less than” when you have a quantity you don’t count. “Use less water next time you make oatmeal for me, please.”

AMOUNT VS. NUMBER

I correct the misuse of “amount” almost daily. The reason for the distinction is similar to that with the fewer/ less idea. Number, of course, goes with countable items. Amount goes with abstract measurements.

Wrong: Look at the amount of people who are waiting for a table at Cheesecake Factory.

Right: Look at the number of people who are waiting for a table at Cheesecake Factory.

COME WITH?

A casual, informal way of asking someone to accompany you is “come with.”

“I’m going to dinner. Want to come with?”

It simply leaves off “me” at the end of the sentence.

It’s often used in the Midwest, but I’ve also heard it in England. It’s not a formal usage, but I don’t think it’s incorrect grammar.

WHAT IS A LB.?

A standard abbreviation for the measure of “pound” is “lb.” That’s curious, because the letters l and b are not to be found in the word pound. The reason is that lb. is the abbreviation for the Latin word “libra,” which means pound. Well, that’s an explanation but not a logical one.

AND OZ.?

Similarly, “oz.” is the abbreviation for ounces. This abbreviation at least shares an “o” with the word “ounces.”

The dictionary says “oz.” is from an obsolete Italian word “onza.” Well, that’s outdated. This is a bit like the 1904 Little Rock law that says cow owners may not walk their bovines through the streets between noon and 1 p.m. (See arkansasonline.com/1118oddlaw/)

Sources include Dictionary.com, Etymology Online, Common Errors in English Usage, Trip Savvy, Merriam-Webster, AP Stylebook, American Heritage Dictionary, Mental Floss, Chicago Tribune Reach Bernadette at bkwordmonger@gmail.com