Make Your Point > Archived Issues > TRAMMEL

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connect today's word to others: Today's word, trammel, serves as a last name for an estimated 13,289 people in the United States, making it reasonably likely that you know a Ms. or Mr. Trammel. But we've got only an estimated 1,365 people here with the last name Savant. Do you know one of them? What complimentary quality is suggested by the name Savant? make your point with... "TRAMMEL" A literal trammel is a fishing net, OR a device that you put on a horse's legs to keep him from kicking, and a figurative trammel is anything that traps people or prevents them from being free.  And to trammel things or people is to trap them or to stop them from being free, as if they're caught in a fishing net, or as if their legs are tied. Pronunciation: TRAM ull Part of speech: Both a noun (the countable kind: "a trammel," "two trammels," "lots of trammels") and a verb (the transitive kind: "to trammel someone," "to trammel something"). Other forms: Trammeled, trammeling, untrammeled. There's also "entrammel," which is rare and means the same thing as "trammel:" "he entrammeled her spirit." Don't mix it up with "trample:" To trample something, or to trample on something, is to stomp it. But to trammel something is to keep it from moving freely. The difference does matter. Here's Merrill Perlman with the Columbia Journalism Review: "It’s the difference between tying someone up (trammel) and crushing someone to death (trample)." So, try to avoid repeating errors you hear, like "trammeled getaways," "a trammeled route," or "an untrammeled paradise:" these should be "trampled getaways," "a trampled route," and "an untrampled paradise." How to use it: To use the noun, talk about legal trammels, bureaucratic trammels, the trammels of love, the trammels of tradition or convention, etc. Here's an eloquent example: Thomas Jefferson complained about the "monkish trammels of priests and kings" that weigh down our souls.  You might talk about people (or processes) bound by trammels, caught in trammels, liberated from trammels, etc. To use the verb, talk about something that trammels a person or other thing: roots that trammel your feet, a law that trammels the Bill of Rights, a debt or situation or set of expectations that trammel you, and so on. Lastly, let's look at the adjectives "trammeled" and "untrammeled." Talk about trammeled things, like a trammeled press in an oppressed nation. When you say "untrammeled," make sure you don't mean "untrampled," as in "an untrampled path." Talk about untrammeled thinking, untrammeled curiosity, untrammeled power, an untrammeled attitude, etc. Use the passive voice, if you like, and talk about people or things trammeled (or untrammeled) by other things: thoughts untrammeled by worries, ambition trammeled by self-doubt, an intelligence untrammeled by a dull education. examples: In his first year as a professor, he learned to keep his passion for teaching free from the trammels of bureaucracy and academia. Their love of books remains untrammeled by English class and its endless comprehension questions and five-paragraph essays. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "trammel" means when you can explain it without saying "confine" or "hinder." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Debt, worry, self-doubt, etc.) had trammeled (me or someone else), preventing (me/him/her) from (accomplishing something)." Example: "Perfectionism had trammeled him, preventing him from submitting a final draft of his novel." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing with some beautifully worded passages from the Bible as we recall words we've studied before. From our previous issue: "[He] had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down m____upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven." (King James Version, Psalms, chapter 78, verses 23-24.) What's the missing word? It means "food that magically appears," or more generally, "anything pleasant or helpful that you get in a lucky or unexpected way." Answer: manna. Try this last one today: "Conquerors will march in the victory parade, their names i_______ in the Book of Life." (The Message, Revelation, chapter 3, verse 5.) What's the missing word? It means "not erasable, not able to be deleted or gotten rid of." review today's word: 1. A close opposite of TRAMMEL is A. DENOTE. B. UNFURL. C. UNFETTER. 2. Her thoughts remain _____ the trammels of superstition. A. awash with B. ensnared in C. hinged on Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. 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. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B