Misuse of 'Frequent' is Frequent by Rob Kyff on Creators.com

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Misuse of 'Frequent' is Frequent

Q: Does "frequented" imply often? I have heard "they occasionally frequented" and even "they rarely frequented." Is that possible? — David Markowitz, West Hartford, Conn.

A: What's next? "They rarely frequented it occasionally"? I'm reminded of the Yogi Berra-ism, "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."

You might assume the verb "frequent," meaning "to attend or visit often," was created by converting the adjective "frequent" into a verb.

In fact, it's just the opposite. The adjective "frequent," which first appeared in English during the early 1500s, was derived from the verb, which had appeared a century earlier.

These days, people are extending the meaning of the verb "frequent" to "attend or visit," with no connotation of "occurring often." Such an expansion of meaning, technically called "semantic generalization," is quite common in English.

Consider a verb similar in meaning to "frequent" — "visit." An old meaning of "visit" is "to inflict," as in "he visited his wrath upon them." Yet today we use "visit" to mean "to pay a friendly call." (Though some relatives do seem to inflict their visits upon us.)

But the extension of "frequent" to mean "visit," with no connotation of visiting often, is still an error.

It's illogical to say "they occasionally frequented" or "they rarely frequented."

Q: When talking about what someone once did, do you say that they "used to do it" or that they "use to do it"? — Nate, Carlisle, Pa.

A: In most cases, choose "used."

Until the 1800s, a common meaning of "use" was "to be in the habit or custom of," as in "he uses to write with a banana." "He uses" sounds odd, I know, to say nothing of the banana.

Today this old meaning of "use" still survives in the past tense. So we say, "I used to frequent that bar," that is, "I was in the habit of frequenting that bar."

When spoken, "used to" sounds nearly the same as "use to" because the "d" and "t" sound fused. So, we're tempted to drop the "d" from "used to" in writing as well. Don't do that.

But if "did" is present, indicating the past tense, there's no need for the "d" on "used"; thus, it's "Did Yogi Berra use to frequent that restaurant?"

Nah — too crowded.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.