How the Suffix "-itis" May be Ruining the World

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a delightful book by Wilson Follett entitled "Modern American Usage: A Guide" (1966) from a used bookstore north of the Twin Cities. Being a word-nerd, an ESL teacher, and with my hobby of continuing my linguistic education, it would have been a crime not to buy this book. So far it has been money well spent.

Currently, this book has become my coffee table book. Placed right beside the latest William-Sonoma catalog (Yes! They are finally arriving at my apartment!), Mr. Follett's writings have brought me many moments of happy entertainment.

The following is an excerpt from his entry on the suffix "itis":

"-itis. As an ending attached to the name of one of the organs of the body, -itis denotes the irritation or inflammation of  that organ. Appendicitis is the great exemplar...To attribute to -itis the meaning of addiction, obsession, monomania, or simply It's a disease with him is a culpable affectation rooted in ignorance. Wagneritis, projectitis, discotehequitis, and the like are needless and silly."

I think his examples of the improper use for "-itis" not only date him, but may explain his disgust with the suffix's misuse. Also, the word "monomania" is excellent, and I am going to start using it as often as possible. People are going to start thinking that I have monomaniaitis.

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A Very Meaningful Post

This past weekend was a good one, filled with lots of rest, food, and tea. Also, I went to a small used bookstore and bought a new book! I went in just to browse, which is dangerous since I enjoy books in print so much. With much will-power, I managed to re-shelve several books from the Minnesota, children's, historical fiction, and sci-fi. There was no escape from the reference section, however.

I admit here in front of all of you that I could not keep from buying Wilson Follett's "Modern American Usage: A Guide". This amazing text, assembled by who I gather is a crotchety old man and completed by Jaques Barzun, is truly a gem. As an enormous fan of books and a bit of a linguistics geek, it would have been a sin for me to leave this book unused on the shelf!

In a nutshell, Mr. Follett has an issue with "modern" day usage of English. As a "linguist" (please note that I put that in quotes. I try, folks. I really try.), I am of the belief that language is always changing and evolving....bada bada bada.....You English majors with your English Lit degrees can just take a hike. You're wrong, and I can end my sentence with a preposition if I want to. HA!

Anyway, I would love to share a gem from this delightful, delightful book.

"Meaningful. There is no reason in logic or linguistics why one may not freely use the suffix -ful to form adjectives from nouns on the pattern of joyful, painful, sinful, youthful and many other words so familiar as to give us no reminder that they are composed of stem plus suffix. There are, however, reasons apart from logic for why formations make us uncomfortable when they lack this unfamiliarity, especially when their stems consist of more than one syllable. Many of the comparatively recent -ful words call undue attention to themselves as improvisations; they bother the ear and produce effects of deterrent ungainliness. Perhaps the most common is meaningful, a product of the feeling that significant has been overused."

                                       Mr. Wilson
                                       Follett, 1966

So what have we learned tonight? The word "meaningful" sounds stupid - ungainly, even. Stop using it. And if you think the word "meaningful" is a ridiculous use of the suffix -ful, don't even get Mr. Follett started on that disasterous word (actually, he describes it as "hack") "suspenseful".

As in, the wait to see which Canadian province you think is the best is very suspenseful. Take the poll!