Common_Errors_in_English_usage

The old word "strait" ("narrow, tight") has survived only as a noun in
geography referring to a narrow body of water ("the Bering Strait") and
in a few adjectival uses such as "straitjacket" (a narrowly confining
garment) and "strait­laced" (literally laced up tightly, but usually
meaning narrow­minded). Its unfamiliarity causes many people to
mistakenly substitute the more common "straight."
STATUE OF LIMITATIONS/STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
What would a statue of limitations look like? A cop stopping traffic?
The Venus de Milo? Her missing arms would definitely limit her ability
to scratch what itches. The legal phrase limiting the period after which
an offense can no longer be prosecuted is the statute (law) of
limitations.
STEEP LEARNING CURVE
The phrase "steep learning curve" to describe a difficult­to­master
skill is mathematical nonsense. If the horizontal axis of the graph
represents time, then the vertical axis is probably supposed to
represent effort expended. If a task begins by being very difficult and
continues being so for a long time, then the curve would begin high
above the zero point on the vertical axis and descend very gradually,
producing a shallow learning curve, not a steep one.
Most people imagine a steep learning curve as describing a sharply
inclined slope beginning at zero; but logically that sort of curve would
describe a task that begins by being very easy and which rapidly becomes
harder and harder­­not what people mean. The confusion is caused by
people's tendency to think of the curve as if it were a hill to be
climbed.
An alternative way of understanding this phrase would be to imagine that
the vertical axis represents degree of mastery; but in that case a
difficult task would begin at zero and rise very slowly over time­­again
a shallow curve, not a steep one.
The problem is that most people's interpretation begins with the
vertical axis measuring mastery achieved (zero to begin with), but as
they move along the horizontal axis in time they unconsciously switch to
its opposite: remaining mastery needed (a lot, right away). This makes
no sense. The line needs to stand for the same variable along its whole
length to make a sensible chart.
There's little hope of abolishing this ubiquitous bit of pretentious
jargon, but you should avoid using it around mathematically
sophisticated people.
STOCK AND TRADE/STOCK IN TRADE
In this context, "trade" means "business." The items a business trades
in are its stock in trade. Metaphorically, the stuff needed by people to
carry on their activities can also be called their stock in trade:
"Bushy eyebrows, cigars, and quips were Groucho's stock in trade." This