Legal Writing

We respectfully disagree: stamp vs. stomp

By Pam_Nelson

A lead on a story from a few days ago with the construction "stamped to death" made me stop. I thought other readers might trip over "stamped" in a construction where we usually see "stomped."

I checked the dictionary and usage guides. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English says "stomp" began as a dialectal variation of "stamp," but that it is now standard and preferred for the meaning "to trample or destroy by trampling." The American Heritage Book of English Usage says we can use "stamp" or "stomp" interchangeably for the meaning "to trample" or "to tread on violently." 

In a column from February 2003 that was published in The N&O, James Kilpatrick wrote:

Take stamp and stomp. Semantically speaking, there is not a dime's worth of difference in the two verbs. They both mean "to bring down the foot on an object or a surface forcibly, to tread heavily or violently upon." The subtle difference, I submit, lies in the image we are trying to convey. Ladies stamp, horses stomp.

The Portland Oregonian reported the trial last August of a Prineville man convicted of "stamping a raccoon to death." Wrong verb. The defendant stomped that 'coon to death. I cannot tell you why we stamp out a fire, or stamp out an epidemic, but that is what we do. We stamp them, not stomp them. 

I discussed the stamp-stomp difference with Millicent Fauntleroy, a colleague and a leader on the news copy desk. (Neither of us was involved in the editing of the story in question.) We agreed that "stomp" seemed better there. We wondered whether "stomp" sounded better to us because we are North Carolina natives. Then Millicent checked the 2008 version of the Associated Press Stylebook and found an entry had been added on stamp, stomp. It says, "Both are acceptable, but stamp is preferred." OK, that's why the story appeared with "stamp."

In the case of this lead, though, I think it makes sense to choose "stomp." It connotes the violence in the act.

Full post as published by Triangle Grammar Guide on October 23, 2008 (boomark / email).