Re: Similar vs. Similarly

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 17:09:50 GMT, Adam Schwartz wrote:

[...]

>Here is my second try, but to me this sounds less clear than 
>the first version:
>
>"This glass cameo features an image of the head of Augustus in 
>profile, in a similar manner as the stone cameo portrays his 
>wife, Livia (fig. 2)."
>
>To clear up my meaning a bit more, there are two cameos, a 
>glass one of Augustus, and a stone one of Livia.  They each 
>portray one person, Augustus on the one hand and Livia on the 
>other.  What the cameos have in common is the manner in which 
>they portray their subject; as a head in profile.

Try:

  This glass cameo of the head of Augustus, like the stone 
  cameo of the head of his wife Livia (fig. 2), portrays its 
  subject in profile.

That establishes the similarity of views as crucial while 
keeping the focus on the glass cameo.

Some notes: 

 . As has been pointed out, if Livia was the only wife he ever 
   had, her name should be made appositive to "wife" with a 
   comma pair ("his wife, Livia, &c."), one member of which is 
   necessarily present anyway in the casting above.

 . "Full profile" is redundant, unlike "full face"; a three- 
    quarter face view is logically possible, but not a partial 
    profile view.  

 . "Similar" the adjective can rightly make the adverb 
   "similarly", but I at least reckon it a brutish, ungainly 
   thing, best avoided.

 . Likewise (not similarly!), "feature" as a verb[1] is poor 
   company for formal prose, and dubious company anywhere,
   still bearing a faint but, I think, detectible aroma of
   slang.


[1] "Feature" as a verb is usually transitive and active, less 
commonly intransitive.  But what is the sense of the house on a 
usage like this: "The meal was featured by one of the cook's 
most famous dishes."  That gravels me, but what do others 
think?


-- 
Cordially,
Eric Walker
My opinions on English are available at
http://owlcroft.com/english/