Q. On the evening news the other day, a reporter said: "The home invaders busted through the front door." I felt the hair on the back of my neck begin to rise. Could you possibly clarify the proper use of "bust"? — Ann Roper, Pittsburgh, Pa.

A. Hearing "bust" used to mean "break" or "burst" can indeed raise our hairs. But I'm afraid we "bust" busters should be raising the white flag instead.

The verb "bust" has always been a rogue with a tainted past. It first vaulted into English around 1800 when people started dropping the "r" sound from "burst."

Since then, this plucky little rascal has sowed his wild "oaths," especially in spoken English, and acquired several new meanings along the way.

Without squirming too much, we use "bust" to mean "tame" (bust a bronco), "destroy" (bust a trust), "arrest" (bust a drug dealer) and "demote" (bust a lieutenant).

Other meanings of "bust" proliferate in vivid idioms such as "go bust" (fail economically), "bust your butt" (work to exhaustion), "bust your chops" (verbally torment) and "bust a move" (dance energetically).

Nevertheless, many of us cringe when "bust" is used to mean "break" or "burst." Partly it's because English already has perfectly good words (the aforementioned duo) that mean the same thing.

So we want a toy to "break," not "bust," police to "break down," not "bust down," a door, and a balloon to "burst," not "bust."

Another, more subtle concern is ambiguity. "Bust" has taken on so many meanings that it's sometimes hard to tell which one is intended. For instance, does the TV reporter's sentence you cite ("The home invaders busted through the front door.") mean that they broke down the door or that they burst (rushed) through the doorway?

Truth be told, many respected and bespectacled publications occasionally bust the prohibition on "bust": "Hungry elk and deer are busting their fences" (Time); "Police officers ... busted their way with sledgehammers into 11 houses" (The New York Times); "James boxes — or did, until his jaw was busted" (The New Yorker).

What to do? For now, I'd avoid the use of "bust" to mean "break" or "burst" because it makes you sound jocular, even uncouth. But the muscular bouncer standing outside Club Standard English, who, in decades past, would have busted the nose of "bust" every time it tried to sneak in, is occasionally lifting the velvet rope and letting the little scamp in.

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 [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.