| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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3. Word Choice: New Uses, Common Confusion, and Constraints
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| § 54. burgeon |
| Burgeon has gained greater acceptance in recent years in its use to mean not just “to put forth buds” but more generally “to grow and flourish.” In 1969 only 51 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the phrase the burgeoning population of Queens; twenty years later 74 percent accepted the same phrase. However, it should be noted that in this use burgeon is more acceptable when it takes the form of the present participle. Only 29 percent of the panel accepts the sentence News programs are less expensive to produce than entertainment series, and the public’s appetite for them has burgeoned. | 1 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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