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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > GARNER

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pronounce GARNER:

GAR nur
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connect this word to others:

As we check out the lovely word garner, see if you can recall a very similar one:

To gather things or to pick them up bit by bit, like leftover crops in a field, is to g___n them.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) 

definition:

"Garner" traces back through French to the Latin granarium, "a storehouse for grain."

That's the meaning we first used in English, too: a garner was a granary, a building to store grain in.

By the 1400s, we were also using "garner" as a verb, meaning "to put (grain) into storage." And from there, it was a pretty natural jump from the literal ("We garnered the wheat;" "The harvest was garnered") to the figurative ("We garnered much knowledge;" "The clues were garnered"). 

So, if you garner something, you collect it and keep it, as if it's a valuable piece of grain to be eaten later.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, the transitive kind: "They garnered lots of support for their petition;" "Their petition has garnered lots of support."

Other forms: 

The other verb forms are "garnered" and "garnering."

how to use it:

Pick the formal, positive, common word "garner" when you want to talk about people collecting useful things, usually abstract things. The implied comparison here is to grains: if you garner knowledge, for example, that's just as useful as an armful of oats or wheat.

Talk about people garnering votes, awards, money, clues, knowledge, experience, respect, publicity, attention, recognition, sympathy, or support.

examples:

"He originally shared screenshots of his Facebook message [inviting nine other Josh Swains to a 'Josh Fight'] on Twitter a year ago, with the caption, 'there can only be one.' It went viral, garnering thousands of shares and likes across multiple social media platforms."
   — Sydney Page, Washington Post, 27 April 2021

"Although these questions* might seem to be simple, they reflect a depth of music knowledge garnered throughout a lifetime of cultural exposure to music."
  — Natalie Sarrazin, Music and the Child, 2016

* An example question is:
    "The ______ is the part of music that you sing.
        a. Rhythm
        b. Melody
        c. Form
        d. Tempo"

has this page helped you understand "garner"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study it:

Explain the meaning of "garner" without saying "gather" or "stockpile."

try it out:

In the Guardian, Jay Rayner describes the job of a kitchen porter:

"The kitchen porter – KP for short – is the foot soldier in the restaurant kitchen brigade that you never see... Without them the kitchen would collapse. A head chef could dispense with half the brigade or more and the food would still get to the table, slower than usual, but it would get there. But without the KP to make sure there are clean pans for it to be cooked in and clean plates for it to be served on, those diners would stay hungry.... Not that it's a job which has always garnered respect."

Talk about what that means. Why do you think kitchen porters haven't garnered respect? Could you think of another type of worker who typically hasn't garnered respect, even though they should?




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "It's That Thing..."

We'll play with some highly slangy, reasonably wholesome terms, courtesy of Urban Dictionary.

I'll give you three terms, and you attempt to define them. Scroll down to see the correct definitions, and give yourself a point for each term that you defined either correctly or believably.

Try these today:

1. Fog juice

2. Beige flag

3. Goldfishing

review this word:

1. A near opposite of GARNER could be

A. TRASH.
B. SHARE.
C. DISPUTE.

2. The word "garner" has a _____ tone, so you're most likely to read about someone garnering _____.

A. negative .. flaws
B. neutral .. facts
C. positive .. praise




Answers to the review questions:
1. A
2. C

From the game:

Remember, even if you're wrong, give yourself a point for coming up with a believable definition! Here are the definitions that Urban Dictionary lists.

1. Fog juice: "More than a mist but less than rain."

2. Beige flag: "Something that's neither good nor bad but makes you pause for a minute when you notice it."

3. Goldfishing: "[Heading] in one direction with a goal in mind but halfway there, [forgetting] that goal and [wandering] off in a random direction with or without another goal in mind."


a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


From my blog:
On vocabulary...
      36 ways to study words.
      Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
      How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
      How to improve any sentence.
      How to motivate our kids to write.
      How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
      How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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