Common_Errors_in_English_usage

militant. A golfer wanting to improve her drives may adopt a different
stance, or your stance on cojack may be that it doesn't belong on a
gourmet cheese platter; but if you organize a group to force the
neighbors to get rid of the hippo they've tethered in their front yard,
you're taking a stand.
STATES/COUNTRIES
Citizens of the United States, where states are smaller subdivisions of
the country, are sometimes surprised to see "states" referring instead
to foreign countries. Note that the US Department of State deals with
foreign affairs, not those of US states. Clearly distinguish these two
uses of "state" in your writing.
STATIONARY/STATIONERY
When something is standing still, it's stationary. That piece of paper
you write a letter on is stationery. Let the "E" in "stationery" remind
you of "envelope."
STINT/STENT
When the time to work comes, you've got to do your stint; but the
medical device installed to keep an artery open is a "stent." Even
people in the medical profession who should know better often use
"stint" when they mean "stent."
STEREO
"Stereo" refers properly to a means of reproducing sound in two or more
discrete channels to create a solid, apparently three­dimensional sound.
Because in the early days only fanciers of high fidelity (or hi­fi)
equipment could afford stereophonic sound, "stereo" came to be used as a
substitute for "high fidelity," and even "record player." Stereo
equipment (for instance a cheap portable cassette player) is not
necessarily high fidelity equipment. Visual technology creating a sense
of depth by using two different lenses can also use the root "stereo" as
in "stereoscope."
STOMP/STAMP
"Stomp" is colloquial, casual. A professional wrestler stomps his
opponent. In more formal contexts "stamp" is preferred. But you will
probably not be able to stamp out the spread of "stomp."
STRAIGHT/STRAIT
If something is not crooked or curved it's straight.
If it is a narrow passageway beween two bodies of water, it's a strait.
Place names like "Bering Strait" are almost always spelled "strait."
STRAIGHTJACKET/STRAITJACKET