we three "e"s

I subscribe to a daily usage e-mail from writing guru Bryan Garner (whose amazing book The Winning Brief my lucky Legal Writing III students will have the marvelous opportunity to study at length this year [note to my lucky students of marvelous and amazing opportunities: do NOT use adjectives this way]).

Anyhow, this morning's entries made me laugh -- especially the first and third.

Well, and the second too. I didn't even know exhilarate and hilarious were etymologically connected! Way to make me feel ignorant first thing in the morning.

So here they all are . . .

ex-felon. This is an illogical expression -- except, perhaps, in reference to a pardoned offender -- because a convicted offender does not lose the status of felon merely by serving out a criminal sentence. Once a felon, always a felon. But "ex-convict" is quite all right, "convict" now being viewed as a close synonym of "prisoner."

exhilarate. So spelled -- not "exhilirate." Remember its etymological connection with "hilarious."

exodus. "Exodus" means "a mass departure or emigration," so "mass exodus" is a redundancy (perhaps a venial one influenced by "mass migration). As a corollary to that point, one person's leaving does not make an "exodus."