Common_Errors_in_English_usage

Once upon a time most folks knew that "three­dimensional" characters or
ideas were rounded, fleshed out, and complex and "two­dimensional" ones
were flat and uninteresting. It seems that the knowledge of basic
geometry has declined in recent years, because today we hear
uninteresting characters and ideas described as "one­dimensional."
According to Euclid, no physical object can be one­dimensional (of
course, according to modern physics, even two­dimensionality is only an
abstract concept). If you are still bothered by the notion that two
dimensions are one too many, just use "flat."
ONE IN THE SAME/ONE AND THE SAME
The old expression "they are one and the same" is now often mangled into
the roughly phonetic equivalent "one in the same." The use of "one" here
to mean "identical with each other" is familiar from phrases like "Jane
and John act as one." They are one; they are the same.
ONE OF THE ONLY/ONE OF THE FEW
Although it has recently become much more popular, the phrase "one of
the only" bothers some of us in contexts in which "one of the few" would
traditionally be used. Be aware that it strikes some readers as odd.
"One of only three groups that played in tune" is fine, but "one of the
only groups that played in tune" is more likely to cause raised
eyebrows.
ONGOINGLY/CURRENTLY, CONTINUOUSLY
"Ongoingly" is not standard English. When something is occurring in an
ongoing manner, you can speak of it as happening "currently" or
"continuously."
ONLINE/ON LINE
The common adjective used to label Internet activities is usually
written as one word: "online": "The online site selling banana cream
pies was a failure." But it makes more sense when using it as an
adverbial phrase to write two separate words: "When the teacher took her
class to the library, most of them used it to go on line." The
hyphenated form "on­line" is not widely used; but would be proper only
for the adjectival function. However, you are unlikely to get into
trouble for using "online" for all computer­related purposes.
As for real physical lines, the British and New Yorkers wait "on line"
(in queues), but most Americans wait "in line."
ONLY
Writers often inadvertently create confusion by placing "only"
incorrectly in a sentence. It should go immediately before the word or
phrase it modifies. "I lost my only shirt" means that I had but one to
begin with. "I lost only my shirt" means I didn't lose anything else.
"Only I lost my shirt" means that I was the only person in my group to