The Language Perfectionist: Will Today’s Subject Soon Transpire?

by Don Hauptman (05/17/2008)

I found the following on the Internet:

  • "If, as a result of the bill’s enactment, fewer affidavits are filed or fewer arrests and prosecutions transpire in some local jurisdictions… ."
  • "[We recognize] that you expect the personal information you provide and any financial transactions that may transpire to be kept confidential and private."

The use of transpire as a synonym for occur or happen has become common. But the word properly refers to something that gradually becomes known, or to a secret that is revealed. That’s not the case in the above examples.

The root of the word means "to leak out." Thus, it would be correct to say, "Mr. Smith attempted to conceal the facts, but it subsequently transpired that he committed the murder."

Strunk and White’s indispensable Elements of Style wryly suggests that those who misuse the word are "groping toward imagined elegance." But simple is better than pretentious. To describe ordinary events, say it plainly: They happen, occur, or take place.

As so often occurs - not transpires - when we blur the meaning of a word or use it carelessly, we lose a valuable distinction. This one is worth respecting.

[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was a direct-response copywriter. He is author of the wordplay books Cruel and Unusual Puns and Acronymania, and is now writing a new book that also blends language and humor.]

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