Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ERRANCY

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connect today's word to others: Errancy and inerrancy have some close synonyms that we've explored: fallibility and infallibility. (To be errant, or fallible, is to be wrong, imperfect, or capable of making mistakes. And to be inerrant, or infallible, is to be pure, perfect, or incapable of making mistakes.) The idea behind the words errancy and inerrancy is a figurative straying from a path. The Latin errare means "to wander" or "to go astray," and so when we err--when we make errors--we're figuratively straying from the expected path, or, if you'll allow a religious expression, we're straying from the path of righteousness. We're d_v___ing. How about the idea behind fallibility and infallibility? It's not straying, exactly. What is it? Scroll down for the answer. ... ... ... ... ... It's tripping or falling. Those words are based on Latin fallere, "to trip" or "to cause to fall." (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "ERRANCY" To err is to make an error. Something errant is wrong, imperfect, or different from what most people expect. And errancy is the state or quality of being wrong, imperfect, or different from what most people expect. Let's consider the opposite idea, too. Something inerrant is perfect or free from mistakes. And inerrancy is the state or quality of being perfect or free from mistakes. Pronunciation: AIR un see Part of speech: Uncountable noun. (Like "milk," "rice," and "advice," uncountable nouns are words for stuff that can’t be broken into exact units. You talk about "some milk," "the rice," and "a lot of advice," but you don’t say "a milk," "three rices," or "many advices." Likewise, talk about "the errancy," "this errancy," "his errancy," "such errancy," "no errancy," and so on, but we don't often say "an errancy," "one errancy," or "errancies.") Other common forms: Err, error, errant, inerrant, inerrancy. (There are tons more, but let's focus on these.) How to use it: "Errancy" and "inerrancy" have a formal, heavy, serious tone. We use them to talk about religion and other heavy subjects, like morals and politics. For example, papal errancy is the idea that the pope is a human who makes mistakes. And biblical inerrancy--or "the inerrancy of Scripture," or "the inerrant word of God"--is the idea that everything in the Bible is literally true. To use these words in more general conversation and writing, you can talk about the errancy (or inerrancy) of a person, an idea, a philosophy, a speech, a text, an interpretation of a text, etc. And you can accuse or acquit someone of errancy, believe in something's errancy (or inerrancy), proclaim or maintain something's errancy (or inerrancy), deny something's errancy (or inerrancy), etc. examples: I think it was Geoffrey K. Pullum's article, "50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice," that first illuminated for me the errancy of Strunk and White's classic text. In history class, the kids have grasped the Supreme Court's errancy; they can cite examples of its morally murky rulings, like in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "errancy" means when you can explain it without saying "imperfection" or "unreliability." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Accomplishing something) requires inerrant mastery of (some skill that you have to learn 100% perfectly)." Example: "Reading requires inerrant mastery of the alphabet. We can't help children sound out words if they're still mumbling their way through LMNOP." 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. Our game this month is called "Quirky Keepers."  We’ll play with a bunch of bizarre, oddly specific words—words that deserve a place in our vocabulary, even though they're too wacky and rare to explore in full issues of Make Your Point. (I found most of these words in Charles Harrington Elster’s outrageously entertaining book, There’s A Word For It: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life.) Our goal as we play is to squirrel the words away in our memories. So, in each issue, we’ll check out a word; in the following issue, I’ll give you a new example of that word, and you see if you can recall it. We’ll start with short words and work our way up to the six-, seven-, and eight-syllable doozies. See if you can recall the word from the previous issue: Lyra Belaqua, the hero in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, is a known liar. She tells fluent, lively, entertaining lies. What adjective describes her? (It's five syllables.)  See the answer by scrolling all the way down. Today, let’s check out the word "resistentialism," which is the idea that inanimate objects are out to get you. Remember, in the next issue I’ll give you an example of apparent resistentialism, without mentioning the word—and you’ll try to recall it. That'll help you keep it in your memory. review today's word: 1. The exact opposite of ERRANT is INERRANT. But a close opposite of ERRANT is A. ORTHODOX. B. TRANQUIL. C. AMIABLE. 2. Although an "errand" can certainly involve _____, the word "errand," based on an Old English word for "news, message, or mission," appears to be unrelated to "errancy," based on a Latin word for "_____." A. a great deal of waiting around .. wait B. wandering around town .. wander C. making purchases .. purchase Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answer to the game question: She's mendaciloquent, which means "telling lies" or "lying in a vivid, articulate, eloquent way." Answers to review questions: 1. A 2. B