Legal Writing

When did ?Beware? Become a Noun?

By Maeve Maddox

In modern usage, beware is an uninflected verb meaning “to be cautious or wary.” Its most common use is as a verb in the imperative:

Beware of the dog. or Beware the dog.
Beware of scams.
Workers beware!
Beware your girlfriend when he’s around!

No noun form for beware appears in either the OED or the Merriam-Webster Unabridged. Nevertheless, all over the web a plural noun form “bewares” occurs in titles and in headlines:

‘bewares’ For Bettors

Bewares and Background Check

Bewares of Copper Domination

Internet Freebie Bewares & How to Deal with them

Bible Bewares

Some writers are also giving the verb a long-obsolete third person inflection:

Indian army bewares its men of Facebook, Orkut

He meets enemies he bewares of.

Whether sorrowful or sassy, the poems in this new collection bear McHugh’s signature: a lively love for the very language she bewares.

She bewares her Suitors’ parents that she has even danced in bachelors’ parties.

But she bewares of telling all of it for the sake of the public

I found one headline example in which the imperative seems to have had an s added to it:

Bewares the pitfalls of property development

Writers looking for a high class synonym for the word warning, can always use caveat [k?v'?-ät', kä'v?-?t') ]. Originally a legal term, in general usage caveat has the meaning of “warning”:

Audit Finds $300 Million Surplus but Issues Caveat on School Finances

MacAddict issues CD-ROM caveat

DSi Wi-Fi Caveats and Issues

EPA Issues Caveat Emptor on H1N1 Disinfectants

NOTE: The Latin expression caveat emptor means “let the buyer beware.”

Depending upon context, here are some alternatives to consider before using “beware” as a noun:

admonition
advisory
alarm
alert
caution
censure
clause
condition
deterrent
forecast
notice
notification
omen
portent
provision
proviso
qualification
red flag
rider
signal
stipulation

Of course, there’s always good old warning.

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on May 04, 2010 (boomark / email).