This week, we talk about the difference between "cannot," "can not," "can't," and (horrors!) "cant." Plus, in honor of Halloween, we reveal the origin of three idioms about death. FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl SPONSORS http://topcashback.com/grammar http://blinkist.com/grammar GRAMMAR POP Optimized for iPad: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grammar-pop-hd/id666851934?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 For all iOS Devices: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grammar-pop-hd/id666851934?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 GRAMMAR GIRL BOOKS http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl-book-page THE GRAMMAR DAILY 2018 CALENDAR http://amzn.to/2f8jPDG Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Check out all the Quick and Dirty Tips shows: www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcasts
This week, we talk about the difference between "cannot," "can not," "can't," and (horrors!) "cant." Plus, in honor of Halloween, we reveal the origin of three idioms about death. FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl SPONSORS http://topcashback.com/grammar http://blinkist.com/grammar GRAMMAR POP Optimized for iPad: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grammar-pop-hd/id666851934?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 For all iOS Devices: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grammar-pop-hd/id666851934?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 GRAMMAR GIRL BOOKS http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl-book-page THE GRAMMAR DAILY 2018 CALENDAR http://amzn.to/2f8jPDG Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Check out all the Quick and Dirty Tips shows: www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcasts
Grammar Girl here. I’m Mignon Fogarty, and this week, I have a Quick and Dirty Tip about the difference between all the different forms of “cannot,” and a meaty middle to get you in the mood for Halloween.
But before we get to the Quick and Dirty Tip, I want to catch up on some of the great stories you shared after last month’s segment about differences between British and American English.
Aggie wrote, “My favorite little-known difference between British and American English is that the British take a decision while we, Americans, make a decision. After living abroad for several years and hanging out with English pals, I found myself both making and taking decisions. Occasionally, after returning to the U.S., I had to stop and think about word choice.” Thanks, Aggie.
Peter is British and said he is always fascinated by words that have subtle differences in meaning that can cause confusion if you aren’t aware. He wrote, “‘Pavement’ is the British word for sidewalk, but the American word for the black tar and stone mixture that is used to pave the road surface (which we call ‘tarmac’). Telling my children when they were younger to be sure to ‘walk on the pavement and stay away from the kerb’ would cause a brief look of consternation to cross my (American) in-law's faces.” And he wrote that “ ‘Quite’ has a similar meaning in American to ‘very.’ It sometimes has that meaning in British [English] too, but it more usually means ‘a little, but not a lot’ – the exact opposite. I have to be really careful to remember that one when talking with my wife's family!” Thanks, Peter.
And Kathryn wrote in about the difference between “straightaway” and “right away.” She said, “I'm American and noticed my son always says ‘straightaway’ instead of ‘right away.’ His stepmother is Canadian with an English father.” Thanks, Kathryn.
And finally, a bunch of people recommended that I watch “The Great British Baking Show,” which is a great suggestion, and something I still need to do. I know a lot of people really like it.
Thanks again for all the fun observations. And now, on to the Quick and Dirty Tip.
‘Cannot,’ ‘Can Not,’ or ‘Can’t’: What’s the Difference?
By Mignon Fogarty
“Cannot” (one word) and “can not” (two words) might seem like they mean the same thing, but you use them in different ways.
‘Cannot’
“Cannot” (as one word) is usually the one you want. It means “unable to” or “unwilling to” do something.
‘Can Not’
“Can not” (two words) is occasionally used as an alternative to the one word “cannot,” but it shows up most often when the word “not” is just part of something that comes right after “can.” For example, use “can not,” (two words) when “not” is part of a “not only … but also” construction like these:
“Can’t,” the contraction for “cannot,” is just a more informal replacement for the one-word form, “cannot.”
Don’t use “can’t” where you would use the two-word version, “can not.”
‘Cant’
Also, when I was a professor, I saw my students write “cant”—C-A-N-T, without the apostrophe—with surprising frequency when they meant to write “can’t,” the contraction for “cannot.” I don’t know if they were using voice recognition software and it was getting it wrong or what. It was weird. I probably should have asked, but we always had bigger fish to fry.
“Cant,” without the apostrophe, is a real word, but it’s uncommon. It can refer to jargon or a private language such as one spoken by gangsters or other underworld characters, as in “The cant of mobsters obscures the violence of their exploits.” “Cant” can also refer to talking like you are begging or whining. It has a lot of meanings, but for the most part, you’re not going to use most of them.
Summary
So to sum up, “cannot” (one word) is the word you want most of the time. Only use the two-word version when “can” and “not” just happen to fall next to each other in a sentence. The contraction “can’t” is fine anywhere you’re comfortable using contractions, which are a little more informal than writing out all the words, and always remember to put the apostrophe in “can’t” when you are writing the contraction.
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24+ “Dead” Idioms: Dead Ringer, Dead in the Water, and More
By Samantha Enslen
Halloween is just around the corner, so with that in mind, this week we’re investigating some spooky idioms. Specifically, ones that include the word “dead.”
It’s not surprising that “dead” is an especially old word—going all the way back to Old English—since it describes such a universally relevant state. The earliest example of the word “dead” in the Oxford English Dictionary is from Beowulf, which is about 1,000 years old: “Then was Heregar dead, my elder brother not living.”
But “dead” is also a pretty popular word in the dictionary. In fact, the OED lists 31 distinct meanings for “dead”!
In addition to these distinct meanings, the OED lists 160 expressions that include the word “dead.” Wow. We’re going to look at just a few.
Dead Ringer
A “dead ringer” is a person or thing that looks exactly like another. You might dress as Wonder Woman for Halloween if you’re a dead ringer for Gal Godot or wave to someone who is trick-or-treating because he’s a dead ringer for one of your friends. Whoops.
To understand this expression, pair one of the meanings of “dead”—absolute—with the meaning of “ringer”—a person who closely resembles another. You get someone who looks exactly like another person; a doppelganger, if you will.
“Ringer” is often used to describe a star athlete pulled into a competition at the last minute to give a team an unfair advantage. The word “ring” has shady connotations of its own, many of which suggest deviousness or thievery.
For example, an 1897 dictionary includes the phrases “ring in,” meaning to sneakily add or substitute cards in a pack; “ring the changes,” meaning to swap bad money for good; and “ring in,” meaning to insinuate yourself into company where you’re not wanted.
These uses are mostly obsolete, but the dictionary lists one definition of “ring” that’s all too current: a gang of thieves, politicians, or mobsters who band together to rob the public.
Dead as a Doornail
Next, something “dead as a doornail” is completely dead. There’s no hope. A squirrel squished flat is “dead as a doornail,” as is a bill voted down by both houses of Congress.
We can date this expression to 1350, but its origin is unclear. We know that door-nails were large metal nails hammered into the outer doors of fancy houses. This was done to join the planks of a door together, to strengthen them, and to decorate them.
We also know that door-knockers struck a plate called a “doornail.”
But why would either of these things be considered “dead”?
One explanation is that after a doornail was hammered through a door, its protruding tip would be “clinched.” That is, it would be bent over and buried in the inner face of the door, tying the timbers of the door together. This would render the nail “dead”—incapable of being pulled out and used again.
Another explanation is that the kind of doornail used under a knocker would be struck over and over, all day long, in a busy household. Perhaps this daily beating left little life in the poor doornail?
A final explanation is that similar phrases, such as “deaf as a doornail” and “dumb as a doornail” appeared about the same time in history. Perhaps all of them were used simply because they sounded cool; people couldn’t resist all that alliteration.
Whatever the explanation, know that if something’s dead as a doornail, it’s really, truly dead.
Dead in the Water
Next, “dead in the water” refers to an idea or an object that’s completely stalled. If none of your friends want to dress up for Halloween, your idea for a costume party might be dead in the water. Same thing if your new business can’t find any backers.
This expression was first used literally, to describe a ship unable to move. An 1871 article in the “Times of India” describes a ship “lying dead in the water” after “the sea broke on board the vessel, and she refused to answer her helm.” And a 1956 “New York Times” article describes two ships “dead in the water” after they collided in the nighttime off the coast of Nova Scotia.
We still use the term in a literal sense, but more often, we use it in a figurative sense, to describe an idea or a plan that’s unable to move forward.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about these deadly phrases. Next week, we’ll continue celebrating Halloween with a talk about skeleton keys and skeletons in the closet.
An Incomplete List of ‘Dead’ Idioms
That segment was written by Samantha Enslen who runs Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com or on Twitter as @DragonflyEdit.
Thanks to all the people who left podcast reviews and told me where they listen over the the last couple of weeks.
Jittery Rabbit listens while tackling mundane jobs at work in Vancouver, Canada. Vienna listens from Austria, and squeekyfd5 says the show is best listened to while working on a solo project or while winding down after a long day and playing solitaire. AliLaraG listens from Caracas, Venezuela, while driving to work. And thanks to Matt D.C. who didn’t say where he listens—but maybe Washington, DC?
Also, I was really surprised to see that someone had already left a review on “The Grammar Daily at Amazon”—my 2018 tip-a-day calendar. Reviews on Amazon really help a lot, so thanks La Sasha for the two thumbs up.
I’m Mignon Fogarty. Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. If you’re looking for something new and interesting to listen to this week, try the Nutrition Diva podcast. This week’s episode is about seitan, a meat substitute (and ingredient in Tofurkey) that gets its protein from a surprising source. You can find Grammar Girl, the Nutrition Diva, and all the Quick and Dirty Tips podcasts at QuickAndDirtyTips.com and on your favorite podcast platform.
That’s all. Thanks for listening.
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What follows is for reference and was not included in the audio.
Sources for the Skeleton Idioms Segment
Ammer, Christine. Dead as a doornail, dead in the water, dead ringer. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
Barrere, Albert, and Charles Leland. Dead. A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant. London, George Bell & Sons, 1897.
Dent, Susie. As (dead as a doornail), dead in the water, ringer. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 19th ed. Chambers Harrap, 2012.
Oxford English Dictionary, online edition. Oxford University Press. Dead as a doornail, dead in the water, dead ringer (subscription required, accessed October 17, 2017).