-wise suffix

English translation: better to avoid it altogether and use "in terms of" or adverbs instead

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	-wise suffix
Selected answer:	better to avoid it altogether and use "in terms of" or adverbs instead
Entered by:	María Teresa Taylor Oliver

20:01 Nov 30, 2004

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Social Sciences - Linguistics

English term or phrase: -wise suffix

Is there a proper rule to use the -wise suffix?

Must it be hyphenated, or not...?

Is it, for instance, "financialwise", "financial-wise", or "financial wise"?

I don't trust Microsoft Word's spell & grammar checker. It keeps telling me it's "financial wise", but I want to be sure.

Thanks!!

I don't know how to give you more context, as I'm translating a text from Spanish into English...

María Teresa Taylor Oliver KudoZ activity Questions: 1071 (1 open) (3 without valid answers) (21 closed without grading) Answers: 2101 Panama
Local time: 22:46

abomination

Explanation:
Financialwise, etc. is terrible English perpetrated by native speakers, especially in the US. Much better: in terms of finances, etc.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 mins (2004-11-30 20:04:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The suffix -wise forms adverbs when it attaches to adjectives or nouns. It comes from an Old English suffix -wise, which meant “in a particular direction or manner.” Thus clockwise means “in the direction that a clock goes,” and likewise means “in like manner, similarly.” For the last fifty years or so, -wise has also meant “with respect to,” as in saleswise, meaning “with respect to sales,” and taxwise, meaning “with respect to taxes.” Many people consider this usage awkward, however, and you may want to avoid it, especially in formal settings.
http://www.bartleby.com/64/C008/057.html

Selected response from:

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 21:46

Grading comment

Thanks, everyone, for your very WISE answers ;) What an interesting debate. I love it that I get to learn more each day, thanks to all of you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +11

abomination

Kim Metzger

4 +8

unwise suffix

Richard Benham

3 +8

cannot be applied anytime one desires

RHELLER

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

1 min confidence:

peer agreement (net): +11

abomination

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 21:46
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 187

Grading comment

Thanks, everyone, for your very WISE answers ;) What an interesting debate. I love it that I get to learn more each day, thanks to all of you.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Will Matter: the proper form is "financial-wise" but agree with Kim that it's an abomination. I would NEVER use this phrase in a professional context whether in a document or when speaking. Use "financially" or Kims suggestion.

3 mins

-> I thought the disease had died long ago. I don't come across it much anymore.

agree

Richard Benham: Conceptwise, I agree with you. Specific case wise, I can't see why not to use "financially".

5 mins

agree

Alaa Zeineldine

5 mins

agree

John Bowden: Was particularly fashionable in the 60s & 70s, when people thought it made them sound "cutting edge" - I remeber my optician telling me that "contact lens prescription-wise your eyes will change from the age of 40 onwards..." - ugh!

11 mins

agree

jccantrell

25 mins

agree

NGK: Cf. "The Apartment" ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053604/ ): "Movie-wise, there has never been anything like it - laugh-wise, love-wise, or otherwise-wise!"

27 mins

agree

Klaus Herrmann: Very similar to the (ab)use of -mäßig in German

37 mins

agree

Derek Gill Franßen

1 hr

disagree

Peter Linton (X): At the risk of getting shouted down by all you stuffy old grammarians, I think it is a useful and sensible enhancement to the language - crisp, meaningful, of ancient origin, and sounds OK, once we get used to it. I like -wise. Who else agrees with me?

3 hrs

agree

Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.

4 hrs

agree

Lisa Frideborg Eddy (X)

13 hrs

agree

Java Cafe

17 hrs

agree

Jörgen Slet: "Financialwise" is ugly, but in some cases I do agree with Peter :)

2 days 17 hrs

agree

Deborah Workman: I've never heard of "financialwise" though I have heard of "finances-wise". Abominations all, though I agree with Peter that some such abominations are handy.

2 days 17 hrs

disagree

nordicskiwidow: I agree with you Peter. I also agree that 'financialwise' is horrible, but because 'financial' is an adjective, not a noun. Grammar-wise it's fine, but make sure you use it with a noun. Usage-wise, stick to less formal situations.

1884 days

3 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +8

cannot be applied anytime one desires

Explanation:
I do not believe this is a word.
Of course, one can make up new words.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 mins (2004-11-30 20:05:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

how about \"financially speaking\"
related to finance
with respect to finance
finance-related

RHELLER
United States
Local time: 21:46
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 59

16 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +8

unwise suffix

Explanation:
I agree with the previous two answerers, Kim and Rita. Microsoft Word is not very bright; when it sees "financialwise", it recognizes that this "word" is not in its dictionary, but that "financial" and "wise" are. This does not mean that the authors of the spelling and grammar checker think that "I'm doing pretty well financial wise" is any better than "I'm doing pretty well financialwise"; it's just that the program is not smart enough to pick the latter abomination.

"Financially" works fine in this case. "Wise" used to be a noun meaning "manner"; so that you could say "I am in no wise able to help you". This is now archaic, of course.

I think the wisest thing to do is to avoid neologisms in "-wise"; that is, only use well-established words with the suffix, such as "clockwise", "otherwise", etc. Made-up words in "-wise" have no place in even semi-formal English. There are some rare exceptions, but it's safer to avoid them altogether.

Richard Benham
France
Local time: 05:46
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 64

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

RHELLER: agree with those "down under" :-))

13 mins

-> Thanks.

agree

Kim Metzger: In a way, the spelling issue should be irrelevant. You might find them spelled with or without a hyphen, but the best advice is not to use them unless they are standard compounds - lengthwise, penny-wise.

15 mins

-> Of course, in penny-wise (as in "penny-wise and pound-foolish"), it's not the suffix but the adjective. But I take your point. Suggestion: if in doubt, type the word, unhyphenated, into Word; if it accepts it, it's probably an established word.

agree

Derek Gill Franßen: Yes, the term "financially" works most often and sounds better (IMHO).

1 hr

-> Thanks.

agree

Will Matter: grammar-wise, your use of "unwise" to explain that other choices are possible and desirable (English-wise) is, IMHO, very wise, indeed. :)

1 hr

-> Who'd have thought otherwise...?

agree

Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.

4 hrs

-> Thanks.

agree

Refugio: Likewise, I'm sure.

13 hrs

agree

Lisa Frideborg Eddy (X)

13 hrs

agree

Jörgen Slet

2 days 17 hrs

neutral

bj cunningham: Agree with style preference; however, my work is legal &/or medical and must be verbatim. So when someone says something like "How far was it distancewise?" That's what must be used. :(

1420 days

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