Ask Mose: Trying to Get Over That 'About/Around' Thing

Some words carry baggage that can get in the way of clarity.

That is, the more precise the word, the less a reader has to stumble over alternative meanings.

For example, a colleague wrote to Mose recently with a question that would concern only us picky editors.

“I recall you aptly explaining why around should not be used when estimating time, as in, the bank robbery occurred around 2:30 p.m.,” she wrote. “I'm about to try to explain to a reporter why it should be about, not around.

“Can you help?”

Of course, around is conversational, and isn't good writing conversational? But word can carry subtle differences.

“Around carries a physical connotation that I don't think works well with time,” Mose responded. “To mean approximately, I prefer about because it's more concise without the connotative baggage of around.”

The Associated Press Stylebook has a similar beef with over.

“It generally refers to spatial relationships: The plane flew over the city,” the AP Stylebook explains. “More than is preferred with numerals: Their salaries went up more than $20 a week.”

If a reader sees around or over, will he immediately infer a “spatial relationship” that could interrupt his concentration if the meaning is actually approximately? Maybe. So why not avoid them in many cases?

Mose has a similar thing about writers’ using secure when they really mean obtain, usually in regard to getting money. Recently, though, a reporter wrote that a work crew “couldn't be secured.”

The primary meaning of secure (the verb) is to make fast, to tie down. Tying down a work crew could be difficult.

And, he supposes, it might be a good idea to secure money. It disappears so fast if you don't.