In this installment of Word Knots we’ll look at a word related to the one covered in Word Knots #1.

Our source for this installment is The Dictionary of Disagreeable English by Robert Hartwell Fiske (Chicago: Writer’s Digest Books). This is a great book to browse: I highly recommend it.

From Fiske:

backwards

Misused for backward. 

As Fiske writes (excerpted):

As an adverb, either backwards or backward is correct. As an adjective, only backward is correct.

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Let’s look at what Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary says about backward(excerpted):

backward

adjective

1  a: directed or turned backward

    b: done or executed backward

backward

adverb

1  a: toward the back or rear

    b: with the back in advance or foremost

Or backwards

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As both Fiske and M-W indicate, either form is acceptable for the adverb. I tend to use backward for both the adjective and the adverb.

Let’s look at each of these used correctly:

In order to get the device to work, I had to turn the handle backward. (adverb)

The backward residents didn’t even have plumbing in their house. (adjective)

Remember: word choice matters.

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