The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, Revised Edition

insanitary, unsanitary | insist 400
insanitary, unsanitary. Sanitation is a
19c. concept: the word itself was first
recorded in 1848, and other words in
the family also made their first appearance
in that century (insanitary 1874,
unsanitary 1871, sanitary 1842, sanitate
1882, sanitize 1836). Of the negative adjectival
forms, insanitary is the more
usual of the two. But there is something
to be said for Fowler's view (1926) that
unsanitary might be used 'of a place, etc.,
that neither had nor needed provisions
for sanitation (e.g. a primitive and unsanitary
but entirely healthy life or village; insanitary
implies danger [to health]'. See IN-
AND UN-.
inside of. Used of a period of time
(inside of a week = less than a week), this
colloquial expression is first recorded in
an American work of 1839. From AmE it
has gradually made its way into other
forms of English, but not into standard
BrE. The OED also records the closely
related phr. the inside of 'the middle or
main portion of a period of time'; the
phr. is labelled 'colloq.' and is first recorded
in 1890. Examples: (inside of)
Renny won a fiver off me because he made
friends inside of the month—M. de la Roche,
1940 (Canad.); Ill be between the sheets
inside of half an hour, old man—A. Fullerton,
insist has three main uses: (a) insist on,
1954; There too, faces were sometimes painted demand, maintain (he insisted on making
with 'any kind of paint that you could rub an appointment; she insists on her suitability);
(b) followed by a that-clause, often
off inside of a few days'-Christmas Mumming
in Newfoundland, 1969; (the inside of) Why, one containing a verb visibly or notionally
in the subjunctive (see below);
I can't even keep a man faithful to me for the
inside of a month—C. Isherwood, 1939; At
first Isabel had only meant to stay away for
the inside of a week—L. P. Hartley, 1955-
insightful. First recorded in a work by
John Galsworthy in 1907, meaning, of
course, 'characterized by insight', it has
become an omnipresent word of praise
in psychological, linguistic, literary, and
other kinds of writing. Examples: She
created a film which was memorable, intrigu­
insignia. In origin it is the L pi. form
of insigne 'mark, sign, badge of office',
which is itself a substantival use of the
neuter singular of the adj. insignis 'distinguished'.
In two of its uses it has had an
uncomfortable history since it entered
the language in the mid-i7C. (a) Insignia
as pi. ( = badges or distinguishing marks
of office) (oil the insignia of the Vice-Chancellor
and proctors), (b) Used erroneously (according
to the OED) as sing, with insignias
as its pi.: Bells, ladle, and the fool's cap
... Insignias of their liking-W. H. Ireland,
1807; I saw not a single racer at Sestrière
bearing an insignia that seemed out of place-
Times, 1971- (c) insigne (singular) 'badge,
ensign, emblem', pronounced /m'signi/:
The men of Lord Louis Mountbatten's Southeastern
Asia command wore it [sc. the figure
of a phoenix] as an insigne in World War
II—W. R. Benêt, 1948; pieces here and there
of old Wehrmacht and SS uniform, tattered
civilian clothes, only one insigne in common,
... 0 painted steel device in red, white and
blue—T. Pynchon, 1973. Type (a) is the
only one of the three in standard use in
BrE. Type (b) is marked as 'fully standard'
in American dictionaries. Insigne is rare
and its use likely to cause bewilderment.
(c) used absolutely (since you insist, I will
come to the party). Examples of type (b) ( =
to maintain persistently; always, when
introducing an indirect statement, with
indicative in the that-clause) Protarchus
... insists that... all pleasures are good—B.
Jowett, 1875; She insists that he is older
than he says he is—mod.; ( = to make a
demand with persistent urgency; with
actual or notional subjunctive in the
that-clause, and sometimes with omis­
of that): (with that) Tony insisted that
ing and moving, a warm and insightful recon­siostruction
of a vanished age—Listener, 1982; she accompany him to a meeting of the Literary
Society—A. S. Byatt, 1985; Her father
The text typology is followed by an insightful
outline of how the general knowledge... was insisted that she stay at the comprehensive
passed on—Internat. Jrnl Lexicography, 1988; school until she had done A-levels—P. Gilliatt,
It was a wonderful insightful exhibition- 1988; He wants Western tourism to be Cuba's
Modern Painters, 1988. The frequency with principal source of foreign exchange yet insists
which it has been used throughout the that Cubans not be attracted to the values of
century has taken away much of its impactted)
And I, maliciously, insisted he take
their guests—NY Rev. Bks, 1989; (that omit­
the