Common_Errors_in_English_usage

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More on COULD CARE LESS" People who use the shortened form are often convinced they are right because they are being "ironic" and some even claim it's the original form. But here's the entry in "The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms": "This expression originated about 1940 in Britain and for a time invariably used couldn't. About 1960 could was occasionally substituted, and today both versions are used with approximately equal frequency, despite their being antonyms." "I could care less" just isn't logically ironic. The people speaking feel irony, but their words don't convey it. "I'd buy those jeans" could be ironic if you really meant the opposite: you wouldn't buy those jeans if they were the last pair in the world. But "I could care less" isn't used to imply its opposite: that you care more. Thus it is not ironic. "Couldn't care less" is a strong statement because it says you don't care at all, zero! "Could care less," whatever meaning you take it to have, does not have that crucial message of zero interest which gives the original saying its sting. See http://incompetech.com/gallimaufry/care_less.html See also Michael Quinion on this point: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qaico1.htm. COULD OF, SHOULD OF, WOULD OF/COULD HAVE, SHOULD HAVE, WOULD HAVE This is one of those errors typically made by a person more familiar with the spoken than the written form of English. A sentence like "I would have gone if anyone had given me free tickets" is normally spoken in a slurred way so that the two words "would have" are not distinctly separated, but blended together into what is properly rendered "would've." Seeing that "V" tips you off right away that "would've" is a contraction of "would have." But many people hear "would of" and that's how they write it. Wrong. Note that "must of" is similarly an error for "must have." COUNCIL/COUNSEL/CONSUL The first two words are pronounced the same but have distinct meanings. An official group that deliberates, like the Council on Foreign Relations, is a "council"; all the rest are "counsels": your lawyer, advice, etc. A consul is a local representative of a foreign government. COUPLE/COUPLE OF Instead of "she went with a couple sleazy guys before she met me," write "a couple of guys" if you are trying to sound a bit more formal. Leaving the "of" out is a casual, slangy pattern.
COWTOW/KOWTOW You can tow a cow to water, but you can't make it drink. But the word that means bowing worshipfully before someone comes from the Chinese words for knocking one's head on the ground, and is spelled "kowtow." CRACKER JACKS/CRACKER JACK "Crackerjack" is an old slang expression meaning "excellent," and the official name of the popcorn confection is also singular: "Cracker Jack." People don't pluralize its rival Poppycock as "Poppycocks," but they seem to think of the individual popped kernels as the "jacks." A similarly named candy is "Good and Plenty." All three have descriptive names describing qualities and shouldn't be pluralized. A way to remember this: in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" "Cracker Jack" rhymes with "back." CRAFTS When referring to vehicles, "craft" is both singular and plural. Two aircraft, many watercraft, etc. Do not add an "S." But when referring to hobbies and skills such as "woodcrafts" or "arts and crafts" adding an "S" in the plural form is standard. CREDIBLE/CREDULOUS "Credible" means "believable" or "trustworthy." It is also used in a more abstract sense, meaning something like "worthy": "She made a credible lyric soprano." Don't confuse "credible" with "credulous," a much rarer word which means "gullible." "He was incredulous" means "he didn't believe it" whereas "he was incredible" means "he was wonderful" (but use the latter expression only in casual speech). See also "incredible." CRESCENDO/CLIMAX When something is growing louder or more intense, it is going through a crescendo (from an Italian word meaning "growing"). Traditionalists object to its use when you mean "climax." A crescendo of cheers by an enthusiastic audience grows until it reaches a climax, or peak. "Crescendo" as a verb is common, but also disapproved of by many authorities. Instead of "the orchestra crescendos," write "the orchestra plays a crescendo." CREVICE/CREVASSE Crevices are by definition tiny, like that little crevice between your teeth where the popcorn hulls always get caught. A huge crack in a glacier is given the French spelling: crevasse. CRITERIA/CRITERION
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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 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
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A simple test is to substitute "us"
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HONE IN/HOME IN You home in on a ta
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(theoretically the width of a lette
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are expressing their own ignorance.
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of vague ways, often clumsily. Here
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"infamy." Humorists have for a coup
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INTERCESSION/INTERSESSION In theolo
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down to earth. Similarly in standar
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In electronics, a jack is a female
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JUDGEMENT/JUDGMENT In Great Britain
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might lead people to think of relax
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the standard spelling for those lit
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or "It feels like spring." In expre
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are less common now. LOGON/VISIT Yo
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spell his title with a double "L."
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MEDIOCRE Although some dictionaries
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AB "minus" 231. In the model name "
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"motherload" is a mistake which is
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people want to vomit, and it temper
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hilariously mistaken "nip it in the
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is singular, is the subject. If you
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OLDTIMER'S DISEASE/ALZHEIMER'S DI
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lose a shirt. Strictly speaking, "I
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ORIENTATE/ORIENT Although it is sta
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Some people derive the noun "paraly
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in the apartment." PAST TIME/PASTIM
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to "you peoples" indicated illitera
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PHANTOM/FATHOM Brianna exclaims con
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PLAYS A FACTOR/PLAYS A ROLE Some pe
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US from Hawaii. POPULACE/POPULOUS T
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part of a team. Don't write "preM
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law or doctrine: "The workers fough
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PUNDINT/PUNDIT "Pundit" is one of t
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quoted words and phrases within quo
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wrecked. If things are wrecked, the
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come, she's ravenous. REACTIONARY/R
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REDICULOUS/RIDICULOUS You may ridic
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the quality of being truly religiou
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RESPOND BACK/RESPOND, REPLY It's po
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People unfamiliar with the French
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"Salsa" is Spanish for "sauce," so
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Those are pearls that were his eyes
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these two up it will not sit well w
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SILICON/SILICONE Silicon is a chemi
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centuries, but has become widely us
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SPECIALLY/ESPECIALLY In most contex
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militant. A golfer wanting to impro
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expression has nothing to do with t
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called "suspicious." But "suspect"
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THAN/THEN When comparing one thing
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them," the traditionally correct ph
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Although most other translations us
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as "in today's modern society" or "
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Although in baseball a homerun hi
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The adjective "undue" is the opposi
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When you have vanity you are concei
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A truthful person has "veracity." "
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sound "wah," as it usually does in
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etter" or "very much better." In fo
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date or time known, use "when." WHE
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There is another sort of question i
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The standard way to talk about some
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point is that if you eat your cake
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http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/050
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they mean to say they're healthy. F
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For most Americans, the natural thi
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different. "You've got mail" should
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This saying belongs to the same gen
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secretary, seize, sentence, separat
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y in large or enlarge by and large
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end justifies the meaning enervate
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if I don't say so imbedded impaling
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new leash on life neck in neck nitc
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ebel rouser recreate the wheel repe
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two sense worth turpentime tyrannic
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language. Try one of them instead.
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as to which one prefers. My goal is
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