A Dictionary of Cont..

cnge around North Woods camps), to bermme
scavenged of burnt gases, or to search for food.
schedule. Americans work the word a good deal
harder than the Britons do. Something in America
goes according to schedule: in Englaad it
would go as arranged. A train, plane, or bus
arrives in America on schedule. In England they
arrive punctually. An American is scheduled to
speak. An Englishman is on the program to
speak.
schema. The plural is schemata, not schemaa.
scholar. See pupil.
scholium. The ulural is scholiums or scholiu.
science; art. Siience is knowledge and art i.s action.
Science suggests a systematized knowledge
(Boy, he’s got that down lo a science!). Art
suggests a performance with a skill that defies
analysis. The science of cooking, in modern
usage, would imply the basic, systematized
knowledge necessary to cooking. The art of
cooking would imply a skill, acquired us~dly
by one with a strong natural ability after long
practice, that transcends all that can be communicated
by the science.
scientitk English. When a scientist is writing for
specialists in his own field, he naturally uses a
special vocabulary. Sometimes he uses words
that are not found in general English. More
often he uses familiar words in unfamiliar
senses. This is inevitable, since he is writing
about concepts that are unknown to the general
public. If the reader knows nothing about this
particular science he will find what is written
unintelligible. But it does not follow that a
paper is scientific merely because it uses words
in peculiar senses and is difficult to read.
For example, Max Born writes: “The state of
a mechanical system can be represented :by a
point in the 6N-dimensional phase space, p.q,
and its motion by a single orbit on a ‘surface’ of
constant energy in this space.” If the reader has
had no training in physics he will see at once
that he cannot understand this sentence. He has
no idea what a 6N-dimensional space is and
will not attempt to guess what aspect of it might
imaginatively be called a “surface.” But he can
see that this is a straightforward English
sentence and has no reason to doubt that something
has been said in the simplest way possible.
The situation is quite different in sentences
such as the following: “Because of the complexity
of the constellation of eye conditions which
contribute to blindness or severe visual incapacity,
it became essential for us in formulating
our program to examine the various sightthreatening
conditions in terms of their amenability
to control.” Here the reader finds no unfamiliar
concepts. He understands thoroughly
what is being said and sees that it is pathetically
simple. He sees that the only unfamiliar
or difficult thing about the statement is its. vocabulary
and sentence structure, and he quite
rightly resents having been put to so much
trouble for so little gain.
A great deal of bad scientific writing, es-
435 scotchman
pecially in the social sciences, is due to the
notion that ostentation and obscurantism give
a scientific tone to one’s writing, that they are
expected of a learned man. But this is not so.
Mystification belongs to magic, not to science.
It is the illiterate, not the learned, who love
long words for their own sake. The man who
has something important to say should do everything
in his power to say it clearly.
scientist. This word was coined by an Englishman
in 1840, and was not well received. For many
years it was condemned as “an American vulgarism,”
and as late as 1885 some people believed
that scientician was a finer word.
scissors. The plural form refers to one instrument
but is usually treated as a plural, as in these
scissors are sharp. It may also be treated as a
singular, as in this scissors is sharp. This is acceptable
English but an unusual construction
today. In using a singular verb we more often
say this pair of scissors is sharp. The construction
with pair must always be used after a
numeral, as in three pairs of scissors.
The singular scissor is the preferred form for
the first element of a compound, such as scissor
blade, scissor sharpener. But the form scissors
is also acceptable in compounds, as in scissors
blade, and is preferred when the word means
“scissor-like” and does not actually refer to a
pair of scissors, as in the scissors kick.
scleroma. The plural is scleromata, not scleromae.
score. When used without a numeral, the word
score, meaning twenty, is a noun and has the
plural scores. These words are followed by of,
as in a score of yews, scores of men, except
before such degree words as more, less, too
many, where the of is dropped, as in a score
more men, scores more horses.
When preceded by a numeral, score is treated
as a cardinal number. That is, it is treated as an
adjective and used without of, as in threescore
years and ten and sixscore thousand persons,
except when referring to part of a specified
group, as in two score of them. The plural form
scores is never used with a numeral.
scorn. This verb may be followed by an infinitive,
as in he scorned to beg, or by the -ing form of
a verb, as in he scorned begging. The infinitive
is more forceful but both forms are acceptable.
Scotch; Scottish; Scats. Of these adjectives to
refer to Scotland and its natives, Scotch is the
form used in America, in Southern England
and the English Midlands. In Northern England
and in Scotland itself the word is Scottish,
though Scats is enjoying an increase in popularity
today. When these words are used as
-nouns to describe the dialect, Scotch is the
British noun, Scottish the American, and Scats
the one used in Scotland.
Scotchman; Scotsman; Scot. The basic name for
a native of Scotland is Scot. The ancient Gaelic
people who came from Northern Ireland about
the 6th century and settled in the northwestern
part of Great Britain called themselves Scats.
The country was called Scotland. The proper