A Dictionary of Cont..

splutter 470
the infinitive, as in he decided never to investigate.
The writer who is determined never to split
an infinitive must remember that, with the exception
of negative or restrictive adverbs, the
qualifying word cannot be placed earlier than
the to or it will qualify the principal verb instead
of the infinitive; and, if it is placed later than
the infinitive, it acquires a special emphasis
which may not be intended. Frequently the only
way to avoid a split infinitive and still write
good English is to avoid the infinitive-and,
with the increasing use of the infinitive, avoiding
the infinitive may lead to wordy periphrases
that are not good English.
Those who have no objection to splitting
an infinitive should remember two things. (1)
In a composite infinitive involving the auxiliary
be or have and a participle, the normal position
for the adverb is after the auxiliary and not
before it. That is, to have always thought is the
normal word order and to always have thought
is a variation that adds special emphasis. (See
sentence adverbs.) (2) Any number of words
may stand between to and the verb form.
Browning wrote: a scheme to quietly next day
at crow of cock cut my own throat. This is
exactly comparable to placing a large number
of words between a preposition and its noun
object, as Macaulay does in principles independent
of, and indeed almost incompatible
with, the sentiment of devoted loyalty. Such
constructions may be used occasionally but
are decidedly tiresome when they become a
mannerism.
splutter; sputter. These words mean pretty much
the same thing, except that sputter suggests
more immediately the idea of spitting. The word
means to emit particles of anything in an explosive
manner; to eject particles of saliva or
food from the mouth in an explosive manner.
Splutter suggests most immediately to talk
hastily and confusedly or incoherently, as in
excitement or embarrassment (He had turned
purple in the face when McDonald’s thumping
on his buck finally produced a great sputtering
roar. The old colonel spluttered with rage us
the soldiers drugged him from the room). This
distinction, however, is not hard and fast.
spoil. The past tense is spoiled or spoilt. The participle
is also spoiled or spoilt. In the United
States the form spoiled is preferred for the past
tense and the participle. In Great Britain spoiled
is also the preferred form in written English.
spoilage; spoliation; spoilation. Spoilage is the
act of spoiling or that which is spoiled (Failure
to ice the refrigerator cars resulted in heavy
spoilage). In printing spoilage has the special
meaning of paper spoiled or wasted in presswork.
Spoilation is not listed in most dictionaries,
though it would seem to be a natural formation.
Spoliution is the act of spoiling, but properly
and strictly of despoiling-that is of plundering,
pillaging (This pillaging and spoliution of their
ships and goods was furiously resented). In law
it means the intentional destruction of or
tampering with a document in such a way as to
impair its value as evidence. William Allen
White’s use of spoilution (An era of gorgeous
spoilution, a time when bombast concealed
larceny) would seem, plainly, to be an erroneous
substitution for spoliution. But since the
acts to which he is referring took place under
the system known as The Spoils System and
since spoliution is not in the common reader’s
vocabulary and spoils, in this sense, is well
known, it would be pedantic to say that he was
not justified.
spoilt. See spoil.
spoke; spoken. See speak.
sport; sports. Both forms of this word are used in
speaking of sport in general, and both forms
are used as the first element in a compound, as
in u sport shirt and u sports shirt. The form
with a final s is required in a word referring to
human beings, such as sportsman, sports writer,
and is generally preferred in other compounds,
such as sportscar.
sports English. Many terms drawn from sports
have entered into our speech and become so
common that one is not always aware of their
origin. From cockfighting come well-heeled,
crestfallen, yellow-streak and show the white
feather. From archery, to hit the bull’s eye,
second string, and many other terms. From
billiards. behind the eipht bull. From boxinn.
to throw in the towel, -hitting below the beE;
and so on. From horseracing, to have the whip
hand, the inside truck, neck and neck, dark
horse, and so on. From baseball, to throw a
curve, to catch off base, windup, two strikes
against him, etc. Thousands of words have come
into the language from sports, and where they
have come naturally and filled a need, they have
enriched our speech.
The language of sports writers, however, is
another matter. Their daily effusions are peculiarly
circumscribed, much more so than the
language of almost any other specialized field.
In the arts, in the social sciences, in business,
in science and in everyday relationships, there
is a constant growth and change in language
because of the development of new concepts,
new methods and new associations. But in sports
there are basically only two things to talk about
-contests and records. Interest in sports is one
of the lower common denominators among
various groups throughout our society. Desirable
as this may be from a democratic viewpoint,
it compels sports writers to use simple
words and a limited vocabulary.
Because it deals with struggle, sports writing
is required to be vigorous, and because it scorns
formality it must be slangy and colloquial. But
slang is particularly unfitted for frequent repetition
and sports writing is, above any other type
of contemporary writing, repetitious, laden with
clichts. The wretched sports writer, with slight
material and often (one suspects) even slighter
interest, is compelled to assume concern he does
not feel and to conceal his yawns under forced
shouts of simulated excitement. A tyrannical