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	<title>Writing for Business - A Whatis.com Blog &#187; seldomly</title>
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	<description>Is your grammar as good as your code?</description>
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		<title>Seldom or seldomly?</title>
		<link>http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/seldom-or-seldomly/</link>
		<comments>http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/seldom-or-seldomly/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:42:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ivy Wigmore</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bryan A. Garner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Language Change Index]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[non-words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seldomly]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Which is correct? I&#8217;ve ________ managed to move a hard disk from one computer to another with good results. a. seldom b. seldomly Answer: a Explanation: As Bryan Garner, the leading authority on good legal writing (that&#8217;s not necessarily an oxymoron) explains, &#8220;seldomly&#8221; is not a word. Because it is not a word, &#8220;seldomly&#8221; has [...]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Which is correct?</strong><br />
I&#8217;ve ________ managed to move a <a href="http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/hard-disk">hard disk</a> from one computer to another with good results.<br />
a. seldom<br />
b. seldomly</p>
<p><span id="more-1802"></span></p>
<p><strong>Answer: a</strong></p>
<p><strong>Explanation:</strong><br />
As <a href="http://www.lawprose.org/bryan_garner/about.php">Bryan Garner</a>, the leading authority on good legal writing (that&#8217;s not necessarily an oxymoron) explains, &#8220;seldomly&#8221; is not a word. Because it is not a word, &#8220;seldomly&#8221; has no place in writing (which is made up almost entirely of words, after all).</p>
<p>Garner featured &#8220;seldom&#8221; in a <a href="http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=447">Usage Tip of the Day</a>. &#8220;Because this word is an adverb as well as an adjective, the nonword *&#8221;seldomly&#8221; is never (not merely seldom) needed.&#8221;</p>
<p>Garner goes on to quote a couple of examples of &#8220;seldomly&#8221; from the mainstream press:</p>
<p>o “Hogan was a man so focused that he seldomly [read 'seldom'] noticed what was going on around him.” Jeff Babineau, “Hogan’s Legacy,” Orlando Sentinel, 3 Aug. 1997, at C4.</p>
<p>o “There, one obviously bored soldier checks identifications, and seldomly [read 'seldom'] exercises his prerogative of looking inside bags and purses.” “Deadly Biowarfare Collection Amid Disrepair in Russian Lab,” San Antonio Express-News, 10 Aug. 1997, at A4.</p>
<p>Garner categorizes &#8220;seldomly&#8221; as Stage 1 on his <a href="http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=52">Language-Change Index</a>:</p>
<p>&#8220;Stage 1 (“rejected”): A new form emerges as an innovation (or a dialectal form persists) among a small minority of the language community, perhaps displacing a traditional usage (e.g.: “your” misused for “you’re”).&#8221;</p>
<p>Nevertheless, a Google search for &#8220;seldomly&#8221; turns up 131,000 results, including this Yahoo Answers response:</p>
<p>Top answer: Yes, <em>seldomly </em> [sic] is an english [sic] word. It is used as an adverve [sic].</p>
<p>Adverves! Use more of them to keep your writing lively.</p>
<p>Hahaha. The Prosecution rests, Your Honour.</p>
<p><img src="http://http.cdnlayer.com/itke/blogs.dir/8/files/2009/07/logo_twitter.gif" alt="" /> <strong>Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/tao_of_grammar">Twitter @tao_of_grammar</a></strong></p>
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