Author: Kirk

“Summarization” vs. “Summary”

Nouns, Versus

I recently heard someone on a conference call use “summarization” when he should have used “summary” instead.

Problem:
These two nouns are not synonyms.

Explanation:
The noun “summarization” means the act or process of creating or preparing a summary.

The noun “summary” means a brief recapitulation of facts or previously made statements.

During the aforementioned conference call, one of the attendees asked another attendee, “Could you please give us a summarization of what happened the other day?”

What he should have asked is, “Could you please give us a summary of what happened the other day?”

I believe that the use of “-ation” words such as “summarization” as substitutes for the words from which they are derived (such as “summary”) originates from a lack of confidence by the speaker or writer (who wants to sound smarter than he is).

Solution:
Use “summarization” when talking about the process of creating a summary; otherwise, use “summary”.

“Continually” vs. “Continuously”

Adverbs, Versus

I was wondering the other day about the difference between these two words.

Problem:
These two adverbs are not synonyms (except in sloppy speech or writing).

Explanation:
The adverb “continually” means at frequent or regular intervals.

The adverb “continuously” means without cessation, or uninterrupted in time.

In other words, “continually” applies to events, whereas “continuously” applies to processes.

Solution:
Use “continually” when talking about an event that occurs frequently or regularly. Use “continuously” when talking about a process that does not stop.

“It doesn’t cut mustard.”

Idioms, Mispronunciations

I heard someone say this recently.

Problem:
This sometimes is a mispronunciation of another idiom.

Explanation:
The other idiom is “It doesn’t cut muster.”

The noun “muster” means an assembly of military troops for inspection.

The verb “cut” in the idiom refers to “making the cut” — that is, “meeting a certain standard, below which whatever is being inspected is cut”.

So “It doesn’t cut muster.” means that something does not meet a certain standard following inspection.

Given that the noun “muster” is not as commonly used as the noun “mustard”, I suppose that it is not surprising that some say or write the idiom as “It doesn’t cut mustard.”

For fun, I searched Google — with the quotation marks included in the search box — for “doesn’t cut mustard” and “doesn’t cut muster” and got about 61,700 and 1,070 matches, respectively.

According to a post at Washington State University’s website, “cut the mustard” first appeared in a 1902 O. Henry story and was used there to mean to achieve the required standard.

Solution:
“It doesn’t cut muster.” or “It doesn’t cut mustard.” — your choice! Simply be conscious about which one you’re using — and why!