Definition:
A nonstandard usage or grammatical construction.
Etymology:
From the Greek, "speaking incorrectly," after Soloi, an Athenian colony in Cilicia where a dialect regarded as substandard was spoken.Examples and Observations:
- "I quit school when I were sixteen."
(public service ad, 1960s) - "A judiciary independent of a king or executive alone is a good thing; but independence of the will of the nation is a solecism, at least in a republican government."
(Thomas Jefferson) - "Songs you sang to me, sounds you brang to me."
(Neil Diamond, "Play Me") - "When we get the facts, we'll share it with the American people."
(President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001) - "One look at you and I can't disguise I've got
Hungry eyes
I feel the magic between you and I."
(Eric Carmen, "Hungry Eyes") - "Between you and I
And the stars that light up the sky
Nothing and no one would ever know."
(Jessica Simpson, "Between You and I")
Pronunciation: sol-i-SIZ-im
