Common_Errors_in_English_usage

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as believers do not need to be able to prove that gods do exist in order to be regarded as religious. Both attitudes have to do with beliefs, not knowledge. "Agnostic" is often used metaphorically of any refusal to make a judgment, usually on the basis of a lack of evidence; people can be agnostic about acupuncture, for instance, if they believe there is not enough evidence one way or another to decide its effectiveness. AGREEANCE/AGREEMENT When you agree with someone you are in agreement. AHOLD/HOLD In standard English you just "get hold" of something or somebody. AIN'T "Ain't" has a long and vital history as a substitute for "isn't," "aren't" and so on. It was originally formed from a contraction of "am not" and is still commonly used in that sense. Even though it has been universally condemned as the classic "mistake" in English, everyone uses it occasionally as part of a joking phrase or to convey a downtoearth quality. But if you always use it instead of the more "proper" contractions you're sure to be branded as uneducated. AISLE/ISLE An aisle is a narrow passageway, especially in a church or store; an isle is an island. Propose to the person you're stranded on a desert isle with and maybe you'll march down the aisle together after you're rescued. ALL BE IT/ALBEIT "Albeit" is a single word meaning "although": "Rani's recipe called for a tablespoon of saffron, which made it very tasty, albeit rather expensive." It should not be broken up into three separate words as "all be it," just as "although" is not broken up into "all though." ALL Put this word where it belongs in the sentence. In negative statements, don't write "All the pictures didn't show her dimples" when you mean "The pictures didn't all show her dimples." ALL AND ALL/ALL IN ALL "The dog got into the fried chicken, we forgot the sunscreen, and the kids started whining at the end, but all in all the picnic was a success." "All in all" is a traditional phrase which can mean "all things considered," "after all," or "nevertheless." People unfamiliar with the traditional wording often change it to "all and all," but this
is nonstandard. ALL FOR NOT/ALL FOR NAUGHT "Naught" means "nothing," and the phrase "all for naught" means "all for nothing." This is often misspelled "all for not" and occasionally "all for knot." ALL GOES WELL/AUGURS WELL Some folks who don't understand the word "augur" (to foretell based on omens) try to make sense of the common phrase "augurs well" by mangling it into "all goes well." "Augurs well" is synonymous with "bodes well." ALL OF THE SUDDEN/ALL OF A SUDDEN An unexpected event happens not "all of the sudden" but "all of a sudden." ALL READY/ALREADY "All ready" is a phrase meaning "completely prepared," as in "As soon as I put my coat on, I'll be all ready." "Already," however, is an adverb used to describe something that has happened before a certain time, as in "What do you mean you'd rather stay home? I've already got my coat on." ALLEGED, ALLEGEDLY Seeking to avoid prejudging the facts in a crime and protect the rights of the accused, reporters sometimes overuse "alleged" and "allegedly." If it is clear that someone has been robbed at gunpoint, it's not necessary to describe it as an alleged robbery nor the victim as an alleged victim. This practice insultingly casts doubt on the honesty of the victim and protects no one. An accused perpetrator is one whose guilt is not yet established, so it is redundant to speak of an "alleged accused." If the perpetrator has not yet been identified, it's pointless to speak of the search for an "alleged perpetrator." ALLITERATE/ILLITERATE Pairs of words which begin with the same sound are said to alliterate, like "wild and wooly." Those who can't read are illiterate. ALLS/ALL "Alls I know is . . ." may result from anticipating the "S" in "is," but the standard expression is "All I know is. . . ." ALLUDE/ELUDE You can allude (refer) to your daughter's membership in the honor society when boasting about her, but a criminal tries to elude (escape)
Page 2 and 3: Common Errors in English by Paul Br
Page 4 and 5: But you made a mistake yourself! We
Page 6 and 7: ABSORBTION/ABSORPTION Although it's
Page 8 and 9: ACCURATE/PRECISE In ordinary usage,
Page 10 and 11: ADVOCATE FOR/ADVOCATE When they are
Page 14 and 15: captivity. There is no such word as
Page 16 and 17: (notice, no "N") and "auteur" (in f
Page 18 and 19: with each other. Your greatgrandm
Page 20 and 21: "This pizza is really expensive
Page 22 and 23: ARTIC/ARCTIC Although some brand na
Page 24 and 25: To "assure" a person of something i
Page 26 and 27: AVENGE/REVENGE When you try to get
Page 28 and 29: concealing. It seems more likely th
Page 30 and 31: long this had been the custom and w
Page 32 and 33: the last word to "pail." The area o
Page 34 and 35: past tense of "bear": "My brother's
Page 36 and 37: "Breech" however, refers to rear en
Page 38 and 39: Side note: Britons laughed themselv
Page 40 and 41: weather, so we shouldn't be surpris
Page 42 and 43: not cast in stone." They may be inf
Page 44 and 45: lounge), resulting in the mispronun
Page 46 and 47: You cite the author in an endnote;
Page 48 and 49: trouble with commas if they deal wi
Page 50 and 51: CONCENSUS/CONSENSUS You might suppo
Page 52 and 53: COME WITH In some American dialects
Page 54 and 55: More on COULD CARE LESS" People who
Page 56 and 57: There are several words with Latin
Page 58 and 59: it just a goofy typo? DAMP SQUID/DA
Page 60 and 61: with short deadlines but not da
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degree" and "doctor of philosophy d
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substituting "do" for "due" (owing)
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established, if unusual. However, t
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applied to plans and activities, no
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Latin phrase exempli gratia. When y
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"burned/burnt" and "kneeled/knelt."
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You can pronounce the last two syll
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Originally these two words were syn
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An epigraph is a brief quotation us
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But when something happens only occ
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Something grows exponentially when
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Unfortunately, Star Trek has confus
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FIRSTABLE/FIRST OF ALL The odd word
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fortunate chance event. It is nonst
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FORBIDDING/FOREBODING/FORMIDABLE "F
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popularly as "Frankenstein's monste
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FUSHIA/FUCHSIA The flowers known as
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When "God" is the name of a god, as
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There are just two syllables in "gr
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safer using "disability" than "hand
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Heal is what you do when you get be
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A simple test is to substitute "us"
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HONE IN/HOME IN You home in on a ta
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(theoretically the width of a lette
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are expressing their own ignorance.
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of vague ways, often clumsily. Here
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"infamy." Humorists have for a coup
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INTERCESSION/INTERSESSION In theolo
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down to earth. Similarly in standar
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In electronics, a jack is a female
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JUDGEMENT/JUDGMENT In Great Britain
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might lead people to think of relax
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the standard spelling for those lit
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or "It feels like spring." In expre
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are less common now. LOGON/VISIT Yo
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spell his title with a double "L."
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MEDIOCRE Although some dictionaries
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AB "minus" 231. In the model name "
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"motherload" is a mistake which is
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people want to vomit, and it temper
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hilariously mistaken "nip it in the
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is singular, is the subject. If you
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OLDTIMER'S DISEASE/ALZHEIMER'S DI
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lose a shirt. Strictly speaking, "I
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ORIENTATE/ORIENT Although it is sta
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Some people derive the noun "paraly
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in the apartment." PAST TIME/PASTIM
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to "you peoples" indicated illitera
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PHANTOM/FATHOM Brianna exclaims con
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PLAYS A FACTOR/PLAYS A ROLE Some pe
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US from Hawaii. POPULACE/POPULOUS T
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part of a team. Don't write "preM
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law or doctrine: "The workers fough
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PUNDINT/PUNDIT "Pundit" is one of t
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quoted words and phrases within quo
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wrecked. If things are wrecked, the
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come, she's ravenous. REACTIONARY/R
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REDICULOUS/RIDICULOUS You may ridic
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the quality of being truly religiou
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RESPOND BACK/RESPOND, REPLY It's po
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People unfamiliar with the French
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"Salsa" is Spanish for "sauce," so
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Those are pearls that were his eyes
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these two up it will not sit well w
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SILICON/SILICONE Silicon is a chemi
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centuries, but has become widely us
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SPECIALLY/ESPECIALLY In most contex
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militant. A golfer wanting to impro
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expression has nothing to do with t
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called "suspicious." But "suspect"
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THAN/THEN When comparing one thing
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them," the traditionally correct ph
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Although most other translations us
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as "in today's modern society" or "
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Although in baseball a homerun hi
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The adjective "undue" is the opposi
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When you have vanity you are concei
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A truthful person has "veracity." "
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sound "wah," as it usually does in
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etter" or "very much better." In fo
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date or time known, use "when." WHE
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There is another sort of question i
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The standard way to talk about some
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point is that if you eat your cake
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http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/050
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they mean to say they're healthy. F
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For most Americans, the natural thi
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different. "You've got mail" should
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This saying belongs to the same gen
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secretary, seize, sentence, separat
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y in large or enlarge by and large
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end justifies the meaning enervate
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if I don't say so imbedded impaling
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new leash on life neck in neck nitc
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ebel rouser recreate the wheel repe
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two sense worth turpentime tyrannic
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language. Try one of them instead.
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as to which one prefers. My goal is
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Common_Errors_in_English_usage

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