stanch
"to stop or check the flow of (blood or tears, for example); to stop the flow of blood from (a wound)" — American Heritage Dictionary
"see staunch" — Webster's New World College Dictionary
Funny how being reared on style guides can mess you up for life. I long took the Associated Press Stylebook's words as gospel:
But both Webster's New World and American Heritage allow "staunch" as a verb and a synonym of "stanch." In fairness, I should note that WNW also adds:"stanch, staunch: Stanch is a verb: He stanched the flow of blood. Staunch is an adjective: She is a staunch supporter of equality." (AP)
"USAGE—For the adj., staunch is now the prevailing form in the U.S.; for the v., usage is about evenly divided between staunch and stanch"
Still, AP should have used imperatives (Use "stanch" as a verb) instead of absolutes (Stanch IS a verb).
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2 comments:
Crazy. And funny that you'd state it that you can't speak for Latin. I say this because, despite a lot of Latin classes, I can't speak the language. It's one of the neat things for people like me who have problems speaking foreign languages with passable accents: You don't have to speak it. At least I didn't.
But I can speak for the language. It's cool.
That's one of the things that's always irked me about Latin -- about the very idea of studying Latin.
I can't "hear" it.
Unlike Russian and French and Italian and Hungarian and Yoruba and Swedish and Tunisian Arabic and on and on -- there's no way to take a dip in it, to feel it, to sway to its music. I can buy a plane ticket to Quebec and swim around in their distinct-sounding French. But my only aural sense of Latin comes from HBO specials in which actors drive chariots and speak in BRITISH accents.
I find that idea profoundly frustrating. Then again, I just almost screamed out loud because we're planning a bathroom addition to our house and I couldn't remember the word "dormer." My worst 15 minutes in recent memory.
Issues? Perhaps.
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