| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| relevant (adj.) |
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| has long been Standard as an attributive adjective, as in He had some relevant information, as well as in combined use, usually with to or for plus an object of the preposition: Figures on costs are surely relevant to [for] our study. The recent usage issue has been the growing use of relevant as a predicate adjective meaning “useful, worthwhile,” and the like: We don’t think the study of marketing is relevant today; it doesn’t address anything we’re interested in. Most of the questions sociology studies today are not relevant. Objection to this use has died down lately, and what began as a jargon term of the campus unrest of the 1960s seems now to have become Standard and is no longer a cliché: I hope today’s voters will see this issue as relevant. | 1 |
| Metathesis can sometimes be a problem with relevant in both spelling and pronunciation: look out for revelant; its inadvertent use is a shibboleth. See also IRRELEVANT. | 2 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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