Adjectives

“ingenius products”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders, Misspellings, Nouns

I saw this in a blogger’s post.

Problem:
The word “ingenius” is a misspelling of an adjective.

Explanation:
Try to look up “ingenius” at Dictionary.com. What you’ll find is “No results found for ingenius.” and a “Did you mean … ?” question.

The correct spelling of the adjective is “ingenious”. The fragment gen in the adjective “ingenious” is the base of the verb gignere, which means to bring into being.

In contrast, the English noun “genius” is from the Latin word genius, which means talent, spirit, or guardian deity.

So a “genius” is someone who is talented, whereas something that is “ingenious” is characterized by originality of invention. There is no such word (except as a brand name) with the spelling “ingenius”.

Solution:
“ingenious products”

“Miniscule”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders

I occasionally see this in writing.

Problem:
“Miniscule” is meaningless.

Explanation:
People use “miniscule” as if it were an adjective that means small or tiny. Unfortunately, this is a misspelling of “minuscule” (notice the “u”), which means lowercase or (of letters) small.

In other words, “minuscule” is a typesetting word. Its complementary typesetting word is “majuscule”, which means uppercase or (of letters) capital.

I believe that those who use “miniscule” are not hearing “minuscule” pronounced correctly (or they’re mis-hearing the pronunciation) and they believe that it sounds more intelligent than “small” or “tiny”. Well, it doesn’t sound more intelligent to those who know what the proper word is and what that word means. They should stick with “small” or “tiny” and leave “minuscule” to typesetters.

Solution:
Never use “miniscule”. Use “minuscule” when referring to lowercase letters; use an adjective such as “small” or “tiny” when referring to size.

“which is very fun”

Adjectives, Adverbs, Common English Blunders, Nouns

I heard this last night in a television advertisement during which someone associated with the TV show “nip/tuck” was discussing the joy of the show satirizing itself.

Problem:
Although the American Herritage Dictionary says that “fun” is sometimes used informally as an attributive adjective, “fun” traditionally is a noun.

Explanation:
The speaker used the word “very” as an adverb to intensify an adjective, but the word “fun” traditionally is a noun. Use of “fun” as an adjective is still noted in dictionaries as an informal use. Although such expressions as “a fun time” [sic] started to appear in the 1950s and 1960s, this use of “fun” as an adjective should be avoided, especially in writing. If “fun” is properly used as a noun, then it requires an adjective, not an adverb, to modify it.

Solution:
“which is much fun”