A.W.A.D. - Less Familiar Adverbs

This is from the A.Word.A.Day (Anu Garg) e-mails that I receive Monday - Friday every week.

"Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place." William Strunk and E.B. White wrote in their venerated Elements of Style.

Adjectives and adverbs are the black sheep of the Parts of Speech family, but there's a kernel of truth in the above quotation. Use of too many adverbs may be a sign of lazy writing. If you show, not tell, you don't need adverbs. Consider:

She ran out angrily
v.
She slammed the door and stomped out

Typically adverbs are recognized as words ending in -ly: partly, happily, hopefully, really, virtually, and so on. But there are dozens of adverbs that don't end in -ly. This week we'll look at five less familiar adverbs.

seriatim
PRONUNCIATION: (seer-i-AY-tim)
MEANING: adverb: One after another; in a series

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin seriatim, from Latin series, from serere (to join). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ser- (to line up) that is also the source of words such as insert, assert, desert (to abandon), desert (a dry sandy region), sort, consort, and sorcerer.

pell-mell
PRONUNCIATION: (pel-mel)
MEANING: adverb: In a confused, jumbled, or reckless manner.adjective: Confused, disorderly, or indiscriminate.

ETYMOLOGY: From French pêle-mêle, from mesler (to mix), from Latin miscere (to mix).

withal
PRONUNCIATION: (with-OL)
MEANING: adverb:
1. In addition
2. Nevertheless
preposition:
With (used postpositively)

ETYMOLOGY: From the joining of the phrase "with al" (with all).

imprimis
PRONUNCIATION: (im-PRY-mis, -PREE-)
MEANING: adverb: In the first place

ETYMOLOGY: From contraction of Latin phrase in primis (among the first), from in (among) and primus (first). The word was originally used to introduce the first of a number of articles in a list, such as a will, inventory, etc.

shilly-shally
PRONUNCIATION: (SHIL-ee-shal-ee)
MEANING:
adverb: Hesitantly; irresolutely
adjective: Hesitant; vacillating
noun: Hesitation; vacillation
verb intr.: To vacillate; to dawdle

ETYMOLOGY: From reduplication of the question Shall I?

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