Grammar Moses: Why you can't swap 'until' for unless

A staff member asked me whether “most” and “almost” are interchangeable.

In some cases, yes. In some cases, no. And there is a variety of opinion on why.

Here is my take: Most means more than half, and almost means nearly.

I ate most of the ice cream, leaving you just a scoop.

(Alas, I've probably uttered that sentence more than once.)

I almost started the kitchen on fire.

Try the two words out in a variety of sentences and you'll see the nonsensical uses.

So, what about “most everything”?

In a traditional sense, that is incorrect. Why? Because most means more than half and everything means, well, everything.

So it is illogical.

Then again, many idioms are illogical.

The prescriptivist's point of is quite valid here, because everyone knows what you mean when you say, “Most everyone at the party wore a mask.”

So consider it a contraction and use it with abandon.

How about “though” and “although”?

You can always use “though” as an abbreviation for “although” when they're used as conjunctions.

I may be old, though I'm spry.

But though also can be an adverb that often lessens the severity of the statement that precedes it.

That was a horrible trip. It started out well, though.

Unless or until?

It's amazing how a minor change in word choice can insidiously change the tenor of a sentence.

Jack Donahue, a longtime criminal defense attorney from Naperville, wrote us some time ago to complain about our use of “innocent until proven guilty” in an editorial about former Speaker Dennis Hastert.

“This is not a correct recitation of the presumption of innocence,” Donahue wrote. “Jurors are instructed that the presumption remains with a defendant and is not overcome ‘unless' from all of the evidence they decide guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. ‘Until' denotes the inevitability of a guilty verdict. Whereas, ‘unless' denotes the possibility of such a verdict.”

Jack is absolutely correct that this is not an issue of semantics. Lesson learned. Thanks, Jack.

Call out the calvary!

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous wrote to say that Calvary was the site of the crucifixion of Jesus, while cavalry is a group of mounted militia.

People mispronounce it often. I remember having to make the distinction to an employee who spelled it incorrectly in the paper.

I lump the cavalry/Calvary mix-up in with other grating pronunciation errors, including NUKE-yuh-lerr and JEW-luh-ree.

Write (and speak) carefully!

• Jim Baumann is assistant vice president/managing editor of the Daily Herald. Write him at jbaumann@dailyherald.com. Put Grammar Moses in the subject line. You also can friend or follow Jim at facebook.com/baumannjim.