Grammar usage questions

[BuckleberryFerry]

What is the difference between the following?

aught/anything
naught/nothing
towards/toward
backwards/backward

With aught/naught, which of the two should be used at which times, and for toward/s and backward/s, which is correct?

[Q.E.D]

Aught and naught are rarely used anymore. Towards and backwards are both wrong. It is toward and backward.

[Q.E.D]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, aught is the same as anything, and naught is the same as nothing. The pairs are interchangeable. For example, “That had nothing to do with me” could be written as “That ha naught to do with me”.

[Q.E.D]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, aught is the same as anything, and naught is the same as nothing. The pairs are interchangeable. For example, “That had nothing to do with me” could be written as “That ha naught to do with me”.

[brianmelendez]

*Originally posted by Q.E.D. *
**Towards and backwards are both wrong. It is toward and backward. **

Not necessarily. Both forms of each word are correct as adverbs but, in American English, toward is preferred over towards and backwards is more commonly used than backward:

The Suffix -ward(s). In AmE, the preferred practice is to use the -ward form of directional words, as in toward, forward, and westward. Words ending in -ward may be either adjectives or adverbs, whereas words ending in -wards, common in BrE, may be adverbs only. . . . Two exceptions in AmE are the adverbs afterwards and backwards, which are almost universally used in preference to afterward and backward. It’s anomalous that most people say forward but backwards.

Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage 208 (1998), s.v. directional words.

[BuckleberryFerry]

Well, thank you very much. :bows: I am unworthy.

[mhendo]

*Originally posted by brianmelendez *
**Not necessarily. Both forms of each word are correct as adverbs but, in American English, toward is preferred over towards and backwards is more commonly used than backward

<snip>

Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage 208 (1998), s.v. directional words. **

You’re too quick for me, brian. I had my copy of Garner’s book out and was looking at the directional words entry when i saw your post.

Isn’t it a fantastic resource? Did you see the 15-page review of it that David Foster Wallace did in Harper’s about 18 months back? That’s what made me buy the book, which i think should be on everyone’s bookshelf.

[brianmelendez]

*Originally posted by mhendo *
**Isn’t it a fantastic resource? Did you see the 15-page review of it that David Foster Wallace did in Harper’s about 18 months back? That’s what made me buy the book, which i think should be on everyone’s bookshelf. **

I absolutely agree, mhendo. I also enjoyed David Foster Wallace’s article–I even saved it. I think that Bryan Garner is a genius, a worthy heir to H.W. Fowler. (BTW, the much-expanded second edition of A Dictionary of Modern American Usage is due out later this year.)