Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DEVIATE

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explore the archives: Our word deviate breaks down into de, meaning "off," and via, meaning "way, channel, or course." Something that deviates goes off-course: it veers off in a different way. We're familiar with via as a standalone word--as in, "let's get in touch via e-mail"--and you might member seeing via, also, inside o_via__, meaning "to get something out of the way, to make something unnecessary," and inside the two-word phrase via m____, meaning "the middle way, a compromise between two extremes." Can you recall these? make your point with... "DEVIATE" To deviate from something is to go a different way: to turn aside and take a different (often unexpected) path. Pronunciation: DEE vee ate Part of speech: Almost always an intransitive verb. (Like "sleep," "skydive," and "succeed," all intransitive verbs show complete action on their own and do not do action to an object. You sleep, you skydive, you succeed, and that’s it. You don’t "sleep a bed," "skydive a plane," or "succeed a plan." Likewise, something or someone deviates.) Other forms: Deviated, deviating, deviation(s), deviant. Although "devious" also belongs to this word family, we won't focus on it in this issue: it most often means "sneaky, tricky, insincere." How to use it: We don't often use "deviate" to talk about literal movement off a path, as in "the train deviated from the rails." Today, "deviate" most often describes abstract movement away from an expected course. Often, it's people who deviate. We deviate from our diets and recipes, deviate from our plans and intentions, deviate from our usual strategies and methods, deviate from our usual habits, deviate from our promises, deviate from our values, deviate from traditions, deviate from expectations and social norms, and deviate from guidelines and rules and procedures and policies. If you deviate from other people, that means you're acting different from them: "This president certainly has deviated from his predecessors." You don't have to say "deviate from;" you can just plain deviate: "He made his plan and stuck firmly to it, never deviating." Finally, you can also say that things deviate: a hurricane deviates from its expected course, a price deviates from its average, a project deviates from its plans, a trend deviates from its projection. examples: By February, most of us have deviated at least a little from our New Year's resolutions. In our graduation speeches, although we were forbidden to thank people or make religious comments, Brian deviated from his prepared notes and drew enthusiastic applause for thanking God. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "deviate" means when you can explain it without saying "veer away from" or "behave or think in a different way." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "_____ deviate(s) (slightly/significantly/sharply) from _____." Example: "Prices at brick-and-mortar stores often deviate significantly from prices for the same items online." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing with lines of poetry that include words we've checked out together in previous issues. I’ll give you a few lines from the poem, with a blank where our word appears, along with its definition. See if you can come up with it. Each answer will appear in the following issue. Enjoy! From the previous issue: From William Butler Yeats's poem "Adam's Curse:"    "We saw the last _____s of daylight die,       And in the trembling blue-green of the sky       A moon, worn as if it had been a shell..." Definition: the fading, dying, still-glowing leftover pieces of something. (Hints: two syllables, starts with E.) Answer: embers. Try this today: From Evan Kennedy's poem "(The) Abashed:"    "My only security has been to garden civility                          in city boots scuffled along the way                          by im_____enta to my solace." Definition: things that slow you down or make it hard for you to move forward. (Hint: five syllables.) review today's word: 1. A close opposite of DEVIATE is A. CONTAIN B. CONGEAL C. CONFORM 2. He made a _____ to his family, a _____ from which he has never deviated. A. commitment .. commitment B. denunciation .. denunciation C. joke .. joke Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. A