Common_Errors_in_English_usage

More documents

Recommendations

Info

SPECIALLY/ESPECIALLY In most contexts "specially" is more common than "especially," but when you mean "particularly" "especially" works better: "I am not especially excited about inheriting my grandmother's neurotic Siamese cat." "Especial" in the place of "special" is very formal and rather oldfashioned. SPECIE/SPECIES In both the original Latin and in English "species" is the spelling of both the singular and plural forms. Amphiprion ocellaris is one species of clownfish. Many species of fish are endangered by overfishing. Specie is a technical term referring to the physical form of money, particularly coins. SPICKET/SPIGOT A faucet is a "spigot," not a "spicket." SPICY "Spicy" has two different meanings: intensely flavored and peppery. Someone who asks for food that is not spicy intending to avoid only pepper may get bland, flavorless food instead. It's good to be specific about what you dislike. South Asian cooks asked to avoid pepper have been known to omit only seed pepper and use a free hand with chopped green or red chilies. If you are such a cook, be aware that timid American diners mean by "pepper" all biting, hot spices and they will probably not enjoy chili peppers or large amounts of ginger, though they may love cardamom, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, etc. When you see the word "chilli" on an Indian menu, the spelling being used is that of the British. SPAN/SPUN Don't say "the demon span her head around." The past tense of "spin" in this sense is "spun." SPARE OF THE MOMENT/SPUR OF THE MOMENT You don't see people wearing spurs much any more, which may explain why some are vague about the significance of metaphorical spurs. Anything that prompts you to do something can be a spur to action. We say of people that are prompted in this way that they are "spurred on" by fear, ambition, greed, or some other cause. So a momentary impulse which causes you to act without advance planning can result in a decision made "on the spur of the moment." Then there is the expression "spare moment": "Sorry, Honey, when I was getting the kids ready for school I couldn't spare a moment to clean up
the mess the dog made in the kitchen." This latter pattern seems to lead some people to mistakenly imagine that the expression is "on the spare of the moment." SPIRITUALISM/SPIRITUALITY The most common meaning of "spiritualism" is belief in the possibility of communication with the spirits of the dead. A better term for other religious beliefs and activities is "spirituality," as in "I'm going to the ashram to explore my spirituality." SPOKE/SAID Novice writers of fictional dialogue sometimes become wary of repeating "said" too often, resulting in odd constructions like this: "'You've got gravy on your shirt,' she spoke." You can speak a language or speak with someone, but you can't speak a speech. If you get tired of "said" you could have your characters whisper, shout, hiss, or grumble; but you shouldn't be afraid of having them simply say things. It won't bore your readers; they won't even notice. SPREE It used to be that a spree was mainly understood as a wild drinking carouse, with the emphasis on spontaneity and abandon. Then it was used metaphorically, as in a "shopping spree." American journalists began to write of "killing sprees" by murderers recklessly killing people at random ("spree" fits so nicely in headlines). But they go too far when they refer to terrorist bombing sprees. Targeted, purposeful acts like these lack the element of spontaneity and disorder that characterize a spree. Do they mean perhaps a "spate"? STAID/STAYED "Staid" is an adjective often used to label somebody who is rather stodgy and dull, a stickinthe mud." But in modern English the past tense of the verb "stay" is "stayed": "I stayed at the office late hoping to impress my boss." STAND/STANCE When you courageously resist opposing forces, you takeor makea stand. The metaphor is a military one, with the defending forces refusing to flee from the attacker. Your stance, on the other hand, is just your positionliteral or figurativewhich may not be particularly
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 12 and 13:
as believers do not need to be able
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
Page 62 and 63:
degree" and "doctor of philosophy d
Page 64 and 65:
substituting "do" for "due" (owing)
Page 66 and 67:
established, if unusual. However, t
Page 68 and 69:
applied to plans and activities, no
Page 70 and 71:
Latin phrase exempli gratia. When y
Page 72 and 73:
"burned/burnt" and "kneeled/knelt."
Page 74 and 75:
You can pronounce the last two syll
Page 76 and 77:
Originally these two words were syn
Page 78 and 79:
An epigraph is a brief quotation us
Page 80 and 81:
But when something happens only occ
Page 82 and 83:
Something grows exponentially when
Page 84 and 85:
Unfortunately, Star Trek has confus
Page 86 and 87:
FIRSTABLE/FIRST OF ALL The odd word
Page 88 and 89:
fortunate chance event. It is nonst
Page 90 and 91:
FORBIDDING/FOREBODING/FORMIDABLE "F
Page 92 and 93:
popularly as "Frankenstein's monste
Page 94 and 95:
FUSHIA/FUCHSIA The flowers known as
Page 96 and 97:
When "God" is the name of a god, as
Page 98 and 99:
There are just two syllables in "gr
Page 100 and 101:
safer using "disability" than "hand
Page 102 and 103:
Heal is what you do when you get be
Page 104 and 105:
A simple test is to substitute "us"
Page 106 and 107:
HONE IN/HOME IN You home in on a ta
Page 108 and 109:
(theoretically the width of a lette
Page 110 and 111:
are expressing their own ignorance.
Page 112 and 113:
of vague ways, often clumsily. Here
Page 114 and 115:
"infamy." Humorists have for a coup
Page 116 and 117:
INTERCESSION/INTERSESSION In theolo
Page 118 and 119:
down to earth. Similarly in standar
Page 120 and 121:
In electronics, a jack is a female
Page 122 and 123:
JUDGEMENT/JUDGMENT In Great Britain
Page 124 and 125:
might lead people to think of relax
Page 126 and 127:
the standard spelling for those lit
Page 128 and 129:
or "It feels like spring." In expre
Page 130 and 131:
are less common now. LOGON/VISIT Yo
Page 132 and 133:
spell his title with a double "L."
Page 134 and 135:
MEDIOCRE Although some dictionaries
Page 136 and 137:
AB "minus" 231. In the model name "
Page 138 and 139:
"motherload" is a mistake which is
Page 140 and 141:
people want to vomit, and it temper
Page 142 and 143:
hilariously mistaken "nip it in the
Page 144 and 145: is singular, is the subject. If you
Page 146 and 147: OLDTIMER'S DISEASE/ALZHEIMER'S DI
Page 148 and 149: lose a shirt. Strictly speaking, "I
Page 150 and 151: ORIENTATE/ORIENT Although it is sta
Page 152 and 153: Some people derive the noun "paraly
Page 154 and 155: in the apartment." PAST TIME/PASTIM
Page 156 and 157: to "you peoples" indicated illitera
Page 158 and 159: PHANTOM/FATHOM Brianna exclaims con
Page 160 and 161: PLAYS A FACTOR/PLAYS A ROLE Some pe
Page 162 and 163: US from Hawaii. POPULACE/POPULOUS T
Page 164 and 165: part of a team. Don't write "preM
Page 166 and 167: law or doctrine: "The workers fough
Page 168 and 169: PUNDINT/PUNDIT "Pundit" is one of t
Page 170 and 171: quoted words and phrases within quo
Page 172 and 173: wrecked. If things are wrecked, the
Page 174 and 175: come, she's ravenous. REACTIONARY/R
Page 176 and 177: REDICULOUS/RIDICULOUS You may ridic
Page 178 and 179: the quality of being truly religiou
Page 180 and 181: RESPOND BACK/RESPOND, REPLY It's po
Page 182 and 183: People unfamiliar with the French
Page 184 and 185: "Salsa" is Spanish for "sauce," so
Page 186 and 187: Those are pearls that were his eyes
Page 188 and 189: these two up it will not sit well w
Page 190 and 191: SILICON/SILICONE Silicon is a chemi
Page 192 and 193: centuries, but has become widely us
Page 196 and 197: militant. A golfer wanting to impro
Page 198 and 199: expression has nothing to do with t
Page 200 and 201: called "suspicious." But "suspect"
Page 202 and 203: THAN/THEN When comparing one thing
Page 204 and 205: them," the traditionally correct ph
Page 206 and 207: Although most other translations us
Page 208 and 209: as "in today's modern society" or "
Page 210 and 211: Although in baseball a homerun hi
Page 212 and 213: The adjective "undue" is the opposi
Page 214 and 215: When you have vanity you are concei
Page 216 and 217: A truthful person has "veracity." "
Page 218 and 219: sound "wah," as it usually does in
Page 220 and 221: etter" or "very much better." In fo
Page 222 and 223: date or time known, use "when." WHE
Page 224 and 225: There is another sort of question i
Page 226 and 227: The standard way to talk about some
Page 228 and 229: point is that if you eat your cake
Page 230 and 231: http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/050
Page 232 and 233: they mean to say they're healthy. F
Page 234 and 235: For most Americans, the natural thi
Page 236 and 237: different. "You've got mail" should
Page 238 and 239: This saying belongs to the same gen
Page 240 and 241: secretary, seize, sentence, separat
Page 242 and 243: y in large or enlarge by and large
Page 244 and 245:
end justifies the meaning enervate
Page 246 and 247:
if I don't say so imbedded impaling
Page 248 and 249:
new leash on life neck in neck nitc
Page 250 and 251:
ebel rouser recreate the wheel repe
Page 252 and 253:
two sense worth turpentime tyrannic
Page 254 and 255:
language. Try one of them instead.
Page 256 and 257:
as to which one prefers. My goal is
show all

Common_Errors_in_English_usage

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?