Common_Errors_in_English_usage

More documents

Recommendations

Info

concealing. It seems more likely that the term derived from the widespread custom at that time among the upper classes of wearing masks to social occasions where one would rather not be recognized. BALL, BAWL To "bawl" is to cry out loudly, so when you break down in tears you bawl like a baby and when you reprimand people severely you bawl them out. Don't use "ball" in these sorts of expressions. It has number of meanings, but none of them have to do with shouting and wailing unless you're shouting "play ball!" BARB WIRE, BOB WIRE/BARBED WIRE In some parts of the country this prickly stuff is commonly called "barb wire" or even "bob wire." When writing for a general audience, stick with the standard "barbed wire." BARE/BEAR There are actually three words here. The simple one is the big growly creature (unless you prefer the WinniethePooh type). Hardly anyone past the age of ten gets that one wrong. The problem is the other two. Stevedores bear burdens on their backs and mothers bear children. Both mean "carry" (in the case of mothers, the meaning has been extended from carrying the child during pregnancy to actually giving birth). But strippers bare their bodiessometimes barenaked. The confusion between this latter verb and "bear" creates many unintentionally amusing sentences; so if you want to entertain your readers while convincing them that you are a dolt, by all means mix them up. "Bear with me," the standard expression, is a request for forbearance or patience. "Bare with me" would be an invitation to undress. "Bare" has an adjectival form: "The pioneers stripped the forest bare." BASED AROUND, BASED OFF OF/BASED ON You can build a structure around a center; but bases go on the bottom of things, so you can't base something around something else. Similarly, you can build something off of a starting point, but you can't base anything off of anything. Something is always based on something else. BASICLY/BASICALLY There are "ly" words and "ally" words, and you basically just have to memorize which is which. But "basically" is very much overused and is often better avoided in favor of such expressions as "essentially," "fundamentally," or "at heart." BAITED BREATH/BATED BREATH Although the odor of the chocolate truffle you just ate may be
irresistible bait to your beloved, the proper expression is "bated breath." "Bated" here means "held, abated." You do something with bated breath when you're so tense you're holding your breath. BARTER/HAGGLE When you offer to trade your vintage jeans for a handwoven shirt in Guatemala, you are engaged in barterno money is involved. One thing (or service) is traded for another. But when you offer to buy that shirt for less money than the vendor is asking, you are engaged in haggling or bargaining, not bartering. BAZAAR/BIZARRE A "bazaar" is a market where miscellaneous goods are sold. "Bizarre," in contrast, is an adjective meaning "strange," "weird." BEAUROCRACY/BUREAUCRACY The French bureaucrats from whom we get this word worked at their bureaus (desks, spelled "bureaux" in French) in what came to be known as bureaucracies. BEAT/BEAD In American English when you focus narrowly on something or define it carefully you "get a bead" or "draw a bead" on it. In this expression the term "bead" comes from the former name for the little metal bump on the end of a gun barrel which helped the shooter aim precisely at a target. "Beat" is often mistakenly substituted for "bead" by people who imagine that the expression has something to do with matching the timing of the person or activity being observed, catching up with it. BECKON CALL/BECK AND CALL This is a fine example of what linguists call "popular etymology." People don't understand the origins of a word or expression and make one up based on what seems logical to them. "Beck" is just an old shortened version of "beckon." If you are at people's beck and call it means they can summon you whenever they want: either by gesture (beck) or speech (call). FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME Stephen Hawking writes about the beginning of time, but few other people do. People who write "from the beginning of time" or "since time began" are usually being lazy. Their grasp of history is vague, so they resort to these broad, sweeping phrases. Almost never is this usage literally accurate: people have not fallen in love since time began, for instance, because people arrived relatively late on the scene in the cosmic scheme of things. When I visited Ferrara several years ago I was interested to see that the whole population of the old city seemed to use bicycles for transportation, cars being banned from the central area. I asked how
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 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 194 and 195:
SPECIALLY/ESPECIALLY In most contex
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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?