B
ig up
Big up – big up, two words. As a phrasal verb - to big somebody or something up - ‘big up the London crew’. It can also be used as a noun ‘a big-up’ as in ‘a big-up to all my people’. It’s an expression of respect or recognition, an acknowledgement of the value of another person or group.
It’s one of many expressions that have come into English from the Caribbean, often from Jamaica, and it was the influence of Jamaican music and culture which made the word popular in the UK. It was, and still is, used by reggae music artists to name-check other singers, sound systems and fans and has also crossed over into rap and hip-hop.
In the Caribbean itself, the term seems to have a variety of different meanings. For example, when used as a noun, a ‘big-up’ is an important person, or someone with a certain status in the community, a politician or a policeman maybe. Or, in Bahamian slang (from the islands of the Bahamas) ‘big up’ can mean to get bigger, referring to a pregnant woman.
From its origins within the context of reggae and dancehall music, the use of ‘big up’ has evolved and expanded. It has entered the mainstream and can be found in newspapers, not just tabloids, and on television.
But you know a word has really entered the language when a politician uses it. In a speech in June 2006, Conservative party leader David Cameron attempted to show his street cred (see Series 2) by using the word when he was talking about supposedly family-friendly supermarkets. ‘We’ve got to big up Asda... We need to big it up, talk about it, promote it...’ said Cameron, attracting a certain amount of ridicule as a result.
There seems to be an interesting difference in the way the verb is used in the UK and in the US. In the UK, it is generally the verb ‘big’ which changes to form the past or gerund, for example, ‘he bigged up his fellow artists’. In the US however, the ‘inflection’ (a variation in the form of a word to change its word class) is sometimes on the ‘up’ part of the term, giving us big-upped and big-upping.
BBC Learning English
Keep Your English Up To Date
14th
April 2009
Big up
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Big up – Big up, two words. As a phrasal verb - to big somebody or something up - ‘big up
the London crew’. It can also be used as a noun ‘a big-up’ as in ‘a big-up to all my people’
It’s an expression of respect or recognition, an acknowledgement of the value of another
person or group.
It’s one of many expressions that have come into English from the Caribbean, often from
Jamaica, and it was the influence of Jamaican music and culture which made the word
popular in the UK. It was, and still is, used by reggae music artists to name-check other
singers, sound systems and fans and has also crossed over into rap and hip-hop.
In the Caribbean itself, the term seems to have a variety of different meanings. For example,
when used as a noun, a ‘big-up’ is an important person, or someone with a certain status in the
community, a politician or a policeman maybe. Or, in Bahamian slang (from the islands of the
Bahamas) ‘big up’ can mean to get bigger, referring to a pregnant woman.
From its origins within the context of reggae and dancehall music, the use of ‘big up’ has
evolved and expanded. It has entered the mainstream and can be found in newspapers, not just
tabloids, and on television.
But you know a word has really entered the language when a politician uses it. In a speech in
June 2006, Conservative party leader David Cameron attempted to show his street cred (see
Series 2) by using the word when he was talking about supposedly family-friendly
supermarkets. ‘We’ve got to big up Asda … We need to big it up, talk about it, promote it…’
said Cameron, attracting a certain amount of ridicule as a result.
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
There seems to be an interesting difference in the way the verb is used in the UK and in the
US. In the UK, it is generally the verb ‘big’ which changes to form the past or gerund, for
example, ‘he bigged up his fellow artists’. In the US however, the ‘inflection’ (a variation in
the form of a word to change its word class) is sometimes on the ‘up’ part of the term, giving
us big-upped and big-upping.
Jim Pettiward has a BA (hons) in French and Spanish, CTEFLA and Trinity TESOL Diploma.
He has taught EFL, EAP, ESP and Business English in Ecuador, Venezuela, Hungary and the
UK. He has also worked as an ICT trainer for the British Council and the University of the
Arts, London. He is currently teaching English for Academic Purposes in the Department of
Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education at London Metropolitan University.
Thứ Năm, 28 tháng 5, 2009
Big up
Bruv
B
ruv
Bruv. B-R-U-V. 'What's up bruv?' 'What's happenin' bruv?' You may have heard the word and wondered what it means or where it comes from. 'Bruv' – it's a shortened version of brother. Note the spelling B-R-U-V. Often, in informal writing such as song lyrics and text messages, the spelling of words is shortened. In this case, U-V replaces O-T-H. This reflects a certain kind of pronunciation, especially common in London, where people say V or F instead of TH. In 2008 for example, Dizzee Rascal, a London rapper, released a single called 'Dance wiv me' (W-I-V).
The word is widely used to address another male –usually someone that the speaker shares a common bond with, friends or people they know, often people of a similar age to themselves. Using the word 'brother' in this way is certainly not a new phenomenon, so its current popularity is no real surprise. It was widely used in the 1970s and 80s in Black American speech to refer to another black man and to create a common bond among the black community, which still faced discrimination. When Marvin Gaye sang 'What's Happenin' Brother?' he wasn't referring to his brother but to his fellow man.
'Bruv' is probably the most common term, but there are others which have a similar function and express a similar bond – Bro (B-R-O), blud (B-L-U-D) and cuz (C-U-Z) are just some. Again, notice the spelling changes in 'blud' and 'cuz'.
It's now common to find the word 'bruv' in lots of different contexts – not long ago I saw the headline 'Killers of my hero bruv are cowards' in a popular tabloid newspaper. The reality show Big Brother is also routinely referred to as 'Big Bruv' in many newspapers and magazines.
Bruv is an informal usage. You won't find it in more formal spoken or written English, and many people would see it as 'bad English'. But, language is constantly evolving, and in schools and colleges, you'll find young people from all sorts of backgrounds using some of the slang words we've seen in this series.
BBC Learning English
Keep Your English Up To Date
28th
April 2009
Bruv
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Bruv. B-R-U-V. ‘What’s up bruv?’ ‘What’s happenin’ bruv? You may have heard the word
and wondered what it means or where it comes from. ‘Bruv’ – it’s a shortened version of
brother. Note the spelling B-R-U-V. Often, in informal writing such as song lyrics and text
messages, the spelling of words is shortened. In this case, U-V replaces O-T-H. This reflects a
certain kind of pronunciation, especially common in London, where people say V or F instead
of TH. In 2008 for example, Dizzee Rascal, a London rapper, released a single called ‘Dance
wiv me’ (W-I-V).
The word is widely used to address another male –usually someone that the speaker shares a
common bond with, friends or people they know, often people of a similar age to themselves.
Using the word 'brother' in this way is certainly not a new phenomenon, so its current
popularity is no real surprise. It was widely used in the 1970s and 80s in Black American
speech to refer to another black man and to create a common bond among the black
community, which still faced discrimination. When Marvin Gaye sang ‘What’s Happenin’
Brother?’ he wasn’t referring to his brother but to his fellow man.
‘Bruv’ is probably the most common term, but there are others which have a similar function
and express a similar bond – Bro (B-R-O), blud (B-L-U-D) and cuz (C-U-Z) are just some.
Again, notice the spelling changes in ‘blud’ and ‘cuz’.
It’s now common to find the word ‘bruv’ in lots of different contexts – not long ago I saw the
headline ‘Killers of my hero bruv are cowards’ in a popular tabloid newspaper. The reality
show Big Brother is also routinely referred to as ‘Big Bruv’ in many newspapers and
magazines.
Bruv is an informal usage. You won’t find it in more formal spoken or written English, and
many people would see it as ‘bad English’. But, language is constantly evolving, and in
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
schools and colleges, you’ll find young people from all sorts of backgrounds using some of
the slang words we’ve seen in this series.
Jim Pettiward has a BA (hons) in French and Spanish, CTEFLA and Trinity TESOL Diploma.
He has taught EFL, EAP, ESP and Business English in Ecuador, Venezuela, Hungary and the
UK. He has also worked as an ICT trainer for the British Council and the University of the
Arts, London. He is currently teaching English for Academic Purposes in the Department of
Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education at London Metropolitan University.
Buff
B
uff
Buff – B-U-F-F. ‘That new girl in our class is well buff’. This is an adjective which, in youth slang, means attractive or well-toned. Somebody who is buff has an attractive body, they look ‘fit’.
I guess one of the difficult things for anyone trying to learn English, and trying to keep up with the latest vocabulary, is the fact that some words seem to have so many different, and totally unrelated meanings. How on earth are they supposed to know which is the correct meaning?
Well, of course, context is important. By looking at the context in which you see or hear the word, you should be able to work out which meaning is most likely when you look it up. ‘Buff’ is one of those words which has several meanings and whose latest meaning may not be in your dictionary at all.
As a noun it is often used to describe a person who is really into a particular hobby or pastime. It’s usually combined with the word describing the hobby, so a film buff is someone who really loves film and probably knows quite a lot about it. The word buff here implies an enthusiastic or almost obsessional interest in something.
As a verb ‘to buff’ means to polish or shine something with a cloth, to give something a shiny finish. This meaning is said to come from the word buffalo, an animal whose skin was used for leather and this leather was in turn often used to polish metal objects. From there came the adjective ‘buff’ meaning a dull yellow colour, the colour of the buffalo leather.
And more recently, as an adjective it has come to mean ‘attractive’ or ‘fit’. It’s not exactly clear why. Perhaps because a well-toned, tanned, fit person may look buff, like they’ve just been ‘buffed’, so they have a kind of ‘polished’ look.
There is one last expression with ‘buff’ which you should probably know, and that is ‘in the buff’ – it means naked, with no clothes on. This might be because the original meaning of buff referred to leather or skin so ‘in the buff’ means just in our skin.
Anyway, at least now if you see a ‘buff buff buffing in the buff’ you’ll know what it means!
BBC Learning English
Keep Your English Up To Date
5th
May 2009
Buff
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Buff – B-U-F-F. ‘That new girl in our class is well buff’. This is an adjective which, in
youth slang, means attractive or well-toned. Somebody who is buff has an attractive body,
they look ‘fit’.
I guess one of the difficult things for anyone trying to learn English, and trying to keep up
with the latest vocabulary, is the fact that some words seem to have so many different and
totally unrelated meanings. How on earth are they supposed to know which is the correct
meaning?
Well, of course, context is important. By looking at the context in which you see or hear the
word, you should be able to work out which meaning is most likely when you look it up.
‘Buff’ is one of those words which has several meanings and whose latest meaning may not
be in your dictionary at all.
As a noun it is often used to describe a person who is really into a particular hobby or pastime.
It’s usually combined with the word describing the hobby, so a film buff is someone who
really loves film and probably knows quite a lot about it. The word 'buff' here implies an
enthusiastic or almost obsessional interest in something.
As a verb ‘to buff’ means to polish or shine something with a cloth, to give something a shiny
finish. This meaning is said to come from the word 'buffalo', an animal whose skin was used
for leather and this leather was in turn often used to polish metal objects. From there came the
adjective ‘buff’, meaning a dull yellow colour, the colour of the buffalo leather.
And more recently, as an adjective it has come to mean ‘attractive’ or ‘fit’. It’s not exactly
clear why. Perhaps because a well-toned, tanned, fit person may look buff, like they’ve just
been ‘buffed’, so they have a kind of ‘polished’ look.
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
There is one last expression with ‘buff’ which you should probably know, and that is ‘in the
buff’ – it means naked, with no clothes on. This might be because the original meaning of
'buff' referred to leather or skin so ‘in the buff’ means just in our skin.
Anyway, at least now if you see a ‘buff buff buffing in the buff’ you’ll know what it means!
Jim Pettiward has a BA (hons) in French and Spanish, CTEFLA and Trinity TESOL Diploma.
He has taught EFL, EAP, ESP and Business English in Ecuador, Venezuela, Hungary and the
UK. He has also worked as an ICT trainer for the British Council and the University of the
Arts, London. He is currently teaching English for Academic Purposes in the Department of
Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education at London Metropolitan University.
Citizen journalism
C
itizen journalism
‘Citizen journalism’. ‘Citizen journalism’. You probably know both of those words on their own. A citizen? A member of a city or state. You may even remember ‘netizen’ from Series 2, ‘a citizen of the internet’. I expect you know that a journalist is generally someone who writes for a newspaper or magazine. But what does it mean when you put the two words together?
The incredible rise of the internet has brought countless changes to the way we communicate and get our information. It’s hard to think of any aspect of our daily lives which hasn’t been affected by the spread of the internet and mobile technology, and news and journalism is certainly no exception.
The easy availability of mobile phones which can take high quality video and photographs and record sound means that almost anybody who is on the scene of a newsworthy event is able to record it. News organisations are only too happy to use the public as a vast - and cheap - source of content for its news items, as it’s impossible to have reporters and correspondents everywhere. In fact, in a sense, we have become their eyes and ears on the ground. We can all become ‘citizen journalists’, although many ‘real journalists’ are not happy with the idea that everybody can do what they do…
Think of some memorable recent news events… you can bet that some of the images which you associate with them are examples of ‘citizen journalism’. Coverage of the Asian tsunami, the London bombings in 2005, the floods in New Orleans, or the terrorist attacks in Mumbai all made extensive use of mobile phone photos and video sent in by members of the public. When a plane was forced to land in the Hudson River in January 2009, the most up-to-date news came from ordinary people using Twitter on their mobiles to describe what was happening and send pictures.
I sometimes imagine what it would be like if current mobile technology had been around at key moments in history. Can you imagine watching mobile phone footage of the last moments of the Titanic, or frantic twitterers relating the storming of the Bastille in Paris? Going further back, what if we had mobile phone footage of the Great Fire of London or the Battle of Hastings? If you could be a citizen journalist in any historical period, which one would you choose?
BBC Learning English
Keep Your English Up To Date
12th
May 2009
Citizen journalism
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
‘Citizen journalism’. ‘Citizen journalism’. You probably know both of those words on their
own. A citizen? A member of a city or state. You may even remember ‘netizen’ from Series 2,
‘a citizen of the internet’. I expect you know that a journalist is generally someone who writes
for a newspaper or magazine. But what does it mean when you put the two words together?
The incredible rise of the internet has brought countless changes to the way we communicate
and get our information. It’s hard to think of any aspect of our daily lives which hasn’t been
affected by the spread of the internet and mobile technology, and news and journalism is
certainly no exception.
The easy availability of mobile phones which can take high quality video and photographs
and record sound means that almost anybody who is on the scene of a newsworthy event is
able to record it. News organisations are only too happy to use the public as a vast - and cheap
- source of content for its news items, as it’s impossible to have reporters and correspondents
everywhere. In fact, in a sense, we have become their eyes and ears on the ground. We can all
become ‘citizen journalists’, although many ‘real journalists’ are not happy with the idea that
everybody can do what they do…
Think of some memorable recent news events… you can bet that some of the images which
you associate with them are examples of ‘citizen journalism’. Coverage of the Asian tsunami,
the London bombings in 2005, the floods in New Orleans, or the terrorist attacks in Mumbai
all made extensive use of mobile phone photos and video sent in by members of the public.
When a plane was forced to land in the Hudson River in January 2009, the most up-to-date
news came from ordinary people using Twitter on their mobiles to describe what was
happening and send pictures.
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
I sometimes imagine what it would be like if current mobile technology had been around at
key moments in history. Can you imagine watching mobile phone footage of the last moments
of the Titanic, or frantic twitterers relating the storming of the Bastille in Paris? Going further
back, what if we had mobile phone footage of the Great Fire of London or the Battle of
Hastings? If you could be a citizen journalist in any historical period, which one would you
choose?
Jim Pettiward has a BA (hons) in French and Spanish, CTEFLA and Trinity TESOL Diploma.
He has taught EFL, EAP, ESP and Business English in Ecuador, Venezuela, Hungary and the
UK. He has also worked as an ICT trainer for the British Council and the University of the
Arts, London. He is currently teaching English for Academic Purposes in the Department of
Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education at London Metropolitan University.
Credit crunch
C
redit crunch
'Credit crunch'. If you’ve had your head buried in the sand for a couple of years, you won’t have heard this term. If not, then you will certainly have seen, read and heard an awful lot about the 'credit crunch'. CR-edit CR-unch. It has a nice satisfying ring to it. When you have a phrase or expression in which the first consonant sound of some of the words is the same, it's called 'alliteration'.
You'll often find alliteration in poetry, nursery rhymes or 'tongue twisters' like 'She sells sea shells on the sea shore'. 'Crunch' is a very expressive word, it makes you think of a breakfast cereal, or the sound when you’re trying to park your car and you're a bit heavy on the accelerator. 'Crunch!' - oops! 'Le crunch' was even an advertising slogan in the 1980s designed to sell a variety of French apple, 'le crunch' being the sound you made when biting into it.
But credit crunch, despite its nice friendly sound, has a sinister meaning. Although the term itself is not new (it was coined in the 1960s), it's only since 2007 that it has really taken off to become a defining term for the global economic downturn which began in August of that year. A search in the Guardian newspaper reveals that 'credit crunch' was mentioned just once in January 2007. In December of the same year it was used 255 times, while in October 2008, the word was used an extraordinary 686 times!
You may be wondering what the difference is between this and the more usual word for an economic downturn - 'recession'. Well, apart from the fact that it sounds better, the 'crunch' really means that credit has dried up, there’s no more. For many years, credit was freely available – we were all given the chance to be big spenders, particularly in Britain and the US. ''You want to buy a house but you haven't got any money? No problem. How much do you need?'' It seemed too good to be true… and it was. As banks collapsed, businesses folded and governments frantically bailed out, nobody wanted to lend money anymore. If you needed a loan, whether you were an individual, a small business or even a bank, it was increasingly hard to get it. Result? Bankruptcy, unemployment, less consumer spending – in a word, recession.
The term has now become a kind of catch-all for a variety of economic problems. Newspapers talk of 'credit-crunch Britain', the word becoming a compound adjective. One news story even spoke of the 'credit crunch snip' – in other words, a vasectomy, a medical procedure which many men are apparently opting for in the US as they can’t afford the expense of having more children!
About Jim Pettiward
Jim Pettiward has a BA (hons) in French and Spanish, CTEFLA and Trinity TESOL Diploma. He has taught EFL, EAP, ESP and Business English in Ecuador, Venezuela, Hungary and the UK. He has also worked as an ICT trainer for the British Council and the University of the Arts, London. He is currently teaching English for Academic Purposes in the Department of Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education at London Metropolitan University.
BBC Learning English
Keep Your English Up To Date
19th
May 2009
Credit crunch
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
'Credit crunch'. If you’ve had your head buried in the sand for a couple of years, you won’t
have heard this term. If not, then you will certainly have seen, read and heard an awful lot
about the ‘credit crunch’. CR-edit CR-unch. It has a nice satisfying ring to it. When you have
a phrase or expression in which the first consonant sound of some of the words is the same,
it’s called ‘alliteration’.
You’ll often find alliteration in poetry, nursery rhymes or ‘tongue twisters’ like ‘She sells sea
shells on the sea shore’. ‘Crunch’ is a very expressive word, it makes you think of a breakfast
cereal, or the sound when you’re trying to park your car and you’re a bit heavy on the
accelerator. ‘Crunch!’ - oops! ‘Le crunch’ was even an advertising slogan in the 1980s
designed to sell a variety of French apple, ‘le crunch’ being the sound you made when biting
into it.
But credit crunch, despite its nice friendly sound, has a sinister meaning. Although the term
itself is not new (it was coined in the 1960s), it’s only since 2007 that it has really taken off to
become a defining term for the global economic downturn which began in August of that year.
A search in the Guardian newspaper reveals that ‘credit crunch’ was mentioned just once in
January 2007. In December of the same year it was used 255 times, while in October 2008,
the word was used an extraordinary 686 times!
You may be wondering what the difference is between this and the more usual word for an
economic downturn - ‘recession’. Well, apart from the fact that it sounds better, the ‘crunch’
really means that credit has dried up, there’s no more. For many years, credit was freely
available – we were all given the chance to be big spenders, particularly in Britain and the US.
“You want to buy a house but you haven’t got any money? No problem. How much do you
need?” It seemed too good to be true… and it was. As banks collapsed, businesses folded and
governments frantically bailed out, nobody wanted to lend money anymore. If you needed a
Keep Your English Up To Date © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
loan, whether you were an individual, a small business or even a bank, it was increasingly
hard to get it. Result? Bankruptcy, unemployment, less consumer spending – in a word,
recession.
The term has now become a kind of catch-all for a variety of economic problems. Newspapers
talk of “credit-crunch Britain”, the word becoming a compound adjective. One news story
even spoke of the ‘credit crunch snip’ – in other words, a vasectomy, a medical procedure
which many men are apparently opting for in the US as they can’t afford the expense of
having more children!
Jim Pettiward has a BA (hons) in French and Spanish, CTEFLA and Trinity TESOL Diploma.
He has taught EFL, EAP, ESP and Business English in Ecuador, Venezuela, Hungary and the
UK. He has also worked as an ICT trainer for the British Council and the University of the
Arts, London. He is currently teaching English for Academic Purposes in the Department of
Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education at London Metropolitan University.
Working protects against dementia
Summary
25 May 2009
A new study in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry suggests that carrying on working into old age, rather than occupation or education, can help protect against dementia.
Reporter:
Adam Brimelow
Listen
Click to hear the report:
Report
The study looked at nearly 400 men who developed Alzheimer's disease. It assessed the time they spent in full-time education, the type of work they did and the point at which they retired.
The researchers detected no link between the onset of dementia and education or occupation. But they found that every extra year at work was associated with a six week delay in Alzheimer's. They say this points to the value of keeping the brain active by working.
They also acknowledge that the nature of retirement is changing, and for some people it may be as intellectually stimulating as working. The Alzheimer's Research Trust, which funded the study, says more people than ever retire later in life to avert financial hardship, but there may be a silver lining: lower dementia risk. However it says much more research is needed in order to understand how to delay or prevent dementia.
Adam Brimelow, BBC News
Listen
Click to hear the vocabulary:
Vocabulary
Show All | Hide All
developed
began to suffer from
assessed
examined/studied and then came to conclusions about
detected no link
found no connection
the onset of
the moment at which something unpleasant begins
dementia
when the functions of the brain become progressively worse
was associated with
here, caused, was connected with
points to the value of
shows that something - here, working - is good
the nature of retirement is changing
people who no longer work because of old age spend their time differently than old people did in the past (e.g. they travel more, do more physical and mental activities etc.)
intellectually stimulating
making the brain work
a silver lining
a benefit (comes from the proverb 'every cloud has a silver lining', meaning there is a positive side to everything, even to bad things)
BBC Learning English
Words in the News
25th
May 2009
Working protects against dementia
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Research suggests that carrying on working into old age can help protect against dementia. A
study in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry concludes that extended
employment has a positive effect. Here's our Health Correspondent, Adam Brimelow:
The study looked at nearly 400 men who developed Alzheimer's disease. It assessed the time
they spent in full-time education, the type of work they did and the point at which they retired.
The researchers detected no link between the onset of dementia and education or
occupation. But they found that every extra year at work was associated with a six week
delay in Alzheimer's. They say this points to the value of keeping the brain active by
working.
They also acknowledge that the nature of retirement is changing, and for some people it
may be as intellectually stimulating as working. The Alzheimer's Research Trust, which
funded the study, says more people than ever retire later in life to avert financial hardship, but
there may be a silver lining: lower dementia risk. However it says much more research is
needed in order to understand how to delay or prevent dementia.
Adam Brimelow, BBC News
Words in the news © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Vocabulary and definitions
developed began to suffer from
assessed examined/studied and then came to conclusions about
detected no link found no connection
the onset of the moment at which something unpleasant begins
dementia when the functions of the brain become progressively
worse
was associated with here, caused, was connected with
points to the value of shows that something - here, working - is good
the nature of retirement is
changing
people who no longer work because of old age spend their
time differently than old people did in the past (e.g. they
travel more, do more physical and mental activities etc.)
intellectually stimulating making the brain work
a silver lining a benefit (comes from the proverb 'every cloud has a silver
lining', meaning there is a positive side to everything, even
to bad things)
Tall people earn more
Summary
18 May 2009
Researchers in Australia have found that tall people earn higher wages than their shorter counterparts. They also found that chubby people earn more than those who are skinny.
Reporter:
Nick Bryant
Listen
Click to hear the report:
Report
The long and short of this Australian report is that tall workers earn significantly more than their vertically challenged counterparts. A six foot man can expect a windfall of almost $750 a year.
The researchers found there were practical reasons why the size gap translated into a pay gap. Tall people were sometimes more capable of performing certain physical tasks, like reaching high shelves. But the discrepancy is explained mainly by discrimination, the simple fact that society tends to look on tall people as more powerful and smarter, even when they're not.
The study from the Australian National University also found that slimmer workers tend to get slimmer pay packets. Fat men earn 5% more than their slender colleagues.
Nick Bryant, BBC News, Sydney
Listen
Click to hear the vocabulary:
Vocabulary
Show All | Hide All
the long and short of
a commonly used set expression said when you want to explain the general situation without giving details
vertically challenged
an indirect way of saying 'short'
counterparts
your counterpart is someone who is generally similar to you but different in a particular way (e.g. they come from a different country, or, as here, they are shorter than you)
windfall
here, money that you win or receive unexpectedly
translated into
here, meant, caused, resulted in
discrepancy
a distinct difference between two things that should be the same
discrimination
unfair treatment of someone because of prejudice about race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender or, as here, size
tend to get slimmer pay packets
usually earn less money
slender
slim, thin
BBC Learning English
Words in the News
18th
May 2009
Tall people earn more
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Researchers in Australia have found that tall people earn higher wages than their shorter
counterparts, an extra ten centimetres in height means 3% higher wages. They also found that
chubby people earn more than those who are skinnier. From Sydney here's Nick Bryant:
The long and short of this Australian report is that tall workers earn significantly more than
their vertically challenged counterparts. A six foot man can expect a windfall of almost
$750 a year.
The researchers found there were practical reasons why the size gap translated into a pay gap.
Tall people were sometimes more capable of performing certain physical tasks, like reaching
high shelves. But the discrepancy is explained mainly by discrimination, the simple fact that
society tends to look on tall people as more powerful and smarter, even when they're not.
The study from the Australian National University also found that slimmer workers tend to
get slimmer pay packets. Fat men earn 5% more than their slender colleagues.
Nick Bryant, BBC News, Sydney
Words in the news © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Vocabulary and definitions
the long and short of a commonly used set expression said when you want to
explain the general situation without giving details
vertically challenged an indirect way of saying 'short'
counterparts your counterpart is someone who is generally similar to
you but different in a particular way (e.g. they come from a
different country, or, as here, they are shorter than you)
windfall here, money that you win or receive unexpectedly
translated into here, meant, caused, resulted in
discrepancy a distinct difference between two things that should be the
same
discrimination unfair treatment of someone because of prejudice about
race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender or, as here, size
tend to get slimmer pay
packets
usually earn less money
slender slim, thin
word confusions
p
eople send me quite a few word confusions which don’t seem worth writing up but which are nevertheless entertaining or interesting. I simply list a number of these below for your amusement. Many of them are discussed on the Eggcorn Database.
Note: if you don’t find what you’re looking for below, please be aware that this is only a supplementary page to a much more extensive site whose home page is at http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/.
What was said / What was meant
a stigmatism astigmatism
abolishment abolition
abraded upbraided
acrosst across
ad homonym ad hominem
aerobic numbers Arabic numbers
affidavid affidavit
all goes well augurs well
all of the sudden all of a sudden
alphabeticalize alphabetize
altercations alterations
alterior ulterior
anachronism acronym
ambliance ambulance
anticlimatic anticlimactic
anchors away anchors aweigh
ancy antsy
aperpo à propos
apples and organs apples and oranges
arm’s way harm’s way
artical article
as a pose to as opposed to
ashfault asphalt
assessible accessible
assumably presumably
at leased at least
authoritarian source authoritative source
back round background
balling out bawling out
based around based on
batter an eyelid bat an eyelid
bear the blunt bear the brunt
beautify a saint beatify a saint
beckon call beck and call
begs belief beggars belief
besiege beseech
beyond approach beyond reproach
bids well bids fair, bodes well
binded bound
bled like a stuffed pig bled like a stuck pig
blessing in the sky blessing in disguise
blindsighted blindsided
a board of director a member of a board of directors
boom to the economy boon to the economy
bonafied bona fide
bored of bored with
bottles the mind boggles the mind
bowl in a china shop bull in a china shop
bran new brand new
built off of built on or upon
BVD player DVD player
by in large or enlarge by and large
Cadillac converter catalytic converter
card shark cardsharp
carport tunnel carpal tunnel
case and point case in point
cease and decease cease and desist
cease the day seize the day
chalked full chock-full
cheap at half the price cheap at twice the price
chester drawers chest of drawers
chicken pops chicken pox
chomp at the bit champ at the bit
chow ciao
circus sized circumcised
clearified clarified
cohabitate cohabit
collaborating evidence corroborating evidence
component opponent
conversate converse
conservative effort concerted effort
copywrite copyright
copywritten copyrighted
coronated crowned
coronet cornet
cortage cortege
coruscating excoriating
a couple guys a couple of guys
coup de gras coup de grace
cream de mint creme de menthe
crimp my style cramp my style
crossified crucified
culvert sack cul de sac
cumberbun cummerbund
cursing through his veins coursing through his veins
cut to the chaff cut to the chase
darkest before the storm darkest before the dawn
dead wringer dead ringer
debockle debacle
decidated dedicated
deformation of character defamation of character
deja vous deja vu
Samuel R. Delaney Samuel R. Delany
detrius detritus
diabolically opposed diametrically opposed
dialate dilate
differ payment defer payment
diswraught distraught
do diligence due diligence
do to due to
documentated documented
doggy dog world dog-eat-dog world
dottering doddering
down the pipe down the pike
dresser draw dresser drawer
drownded drowned
drownding drowning
drudged up dredged up
dry reach dry retch
electorial college electoral college
end justifies the meaning end justifies the means
enervate energize
escape goat scapegoat
esculate escalate
exasperated exacerbated
excape escape
exhilarator accelerator
expecially especially
expeculation speculation
expediate expedite
exuberant price exorbitant price
eyesaw eyesore
fair to midland fair to middling
far and few between few and far between
fathom a guess hazard a guess
fast majority vast majority
fate accompli fait accompli
Federal Drug Administration Food and Drug Administration
final throws final throes
first come, first serve first come, first served
flamingo dancer flamenco dancer
flustrated frustrated
focus like a razor focus like a laser
foilage foliage
foul swoop fell swoop
Franklin Delanor Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt
frentic frantic or frenetic
front in center front and center
garner wages garnish wages
gave me slack gave me flak
gentile manners genteel manners
gentlelady gentlewoman
genuses genera
glaucomole glaucoma
glaze over gloss over
gleam glean
godforsaken right God-given right
gone array gone awry
gorilla warfare guerilla warfare
got my dandruff up got my dander up
grant it granted
greatfruit grapefruit
harbringer harbinger
heared heard
harps back harks back
hearst hearse
heart-rendering heart-rending
Heineken remover Heimlich maneuver
here on end here on in
High Iraqi hierarchy
hobbiest hobbyist
hold down the fort hold the fort
hurtles to overcome hurdles to overcome
howsomever however
I seen I saw or I’ve seen
ice tea iced tea
imbedded embedded
flaw in the ointment fly in the ointment
hare’s breath hair’s breadth
high dungeon high dudgeon
ideallic ideal or idyllic
impaling doom impending doom
imput input
in another words in other words
in lieu of in light of
in loo of in lieu of
in mass en masse
if I don’t say so myself if I do say so myself
in sink in synch
in the same vane or vain in the same vein
incredulous incredible
indiscrepancy discrepancy
insinnuendo insinuation or innuendo
insuremountable insurmountable
in tact intact
interduce introduce
internally grateful eternally grateful
International Workers of the World Industrial Workers of the World
intragul integral
Issac Isaac
it’s beggars belief it beggars belief
ivy tower ivory tower
jack of all traits jack of all trades
jaundra genre
jest of the idea gist of the idea
just assume just as soon
kindly kind of
kit gloves kid gloves
klu klux klan ku klux klan
lacksadaisical lackadaisical
lamblasted, landblasted lambasted
land up end up, land
landlover landlubber
lapse into a comma lapse into a coma
larnyx larynx
laxidaisical lackadaisical
lively hood livelihood
love nuts lug nuts
love one and other love one another
low and behold lo and behold
ludicrust ludicrous
Lykert scale Likert scale
make ends meat make ends meet
make head or tale make head or tail
masonary masonry
mean time meantime
menestrate menstruate
meter out justice mete out justice
misconscrew misconstrue
mister meaner misdemeanor
mix words mince words
momento memento
muncho man macho man
muriel mural
myocardial infraction myocardial infarction
new leash on life new lease on life
neck in neck neck and neck
needles to say needless to say
nitch niche
no bars held no holds barred
Nobel lariat Nobel laureate
notary republic notary public
odiferous odoriferous
oject d’art objet d’art
off my own back off my own bat
on mass en masse
on the same hand on the other hand, by the same token
once and a while once in a while
orthoscopic arthroscopic
overhauls overalls
overjealous overzealous
pacific specific
pain-staking painstaking
pair of parenthesis pair of parentheses
palatable feeling palpable feeling
parody of virtue paragon of virtue
part in parcel part and parcel
pastorial pastoral
patriarticle patriarchal
permiscuous promiscuous
peacemeal piecemeal
peak of health pink of health
pedastool pedestal
pension penchant
pentacle of his career pinnacle of his career
peon of praise paean of praise
periphial peripheral
perk up its ears prick up its ears
perscription prescription
Peruvian interest prurient interest
perverbial proverbial
phantom fathom
pick fun poke fun or pick on
piece of mind peace of mind
pillow to post pillar to post
pin a finger pin the blame on, point a finger at
play it by year play it by ear
plentitude plenitude
poison ivory poison ivy
portentious portentous
poseable thumbs opposable thumbs
pot-bellied politics pork-barrel politics
poultrygeist poltergeist
predominately predominantly
pratfall pitfall
prevaricate procrastinate
prevert pervert
prolong the inevitable delay the inevitable
protagonist proponent
punkin, pumkin pumpkin
radical chick radical chic
radioactive increase retroactive increase
ramsack ransack
ranking file rank and file
readdress the balance redress the balance
rebel rouser rabble rouser
recreate the wheel reinvent the wheel
repel rappel
repungent repugnant
roiling boil rolling boil
rubble rousing rabble rousing
rockweiler rottweiler
run rapid run rampant
schrap metal scrap metal or shrapnel
sequences sequins
shock ways shockwaves
short sided shortsighted
skewer the results skew the results
something or rather something or other
seizure salad Caesar salad
self-defacing self-effacing
sense of false security false sense of security
should’ve went should’ve gone
shutter to think shudder to think
similiar or simular similar
six and a half of one,
a dozen of the other six of one,
half a dozen of the other
skiddish skittish
skun your knee skinned your knee
sleep acnea sleep apnea
slither of cake sliver of cake
smack dad smack dab
smashed potatoes mashed potatoes
smoking mirrors smoke and mirrors
smothered onions smothered with onions
soak and wet soaking wet
somulent somnolent
sorted past or story sordid past or story
stain glass stained glass
stainless teal stainless steel
stolled stole
strident stringent
strum up support drum up support
subsiding on subsisting on
substantative substantive
sufficive to say it suffices to say
supremist supremacist
tactile squad tactical squad
terminity temerity
thankyou thank you
techknowledgy technology
Theolonius Monk Thelonious Monk
thread a fine line tread a fine line
Tiajuana Tijuana
tie me over tide me over
times the number multiply the number
tittering on the brink teetering on the brink
to eaches own to each his own
took it for granite took it for granted
trader to the cause traitor to the cause
turpentime turpentine
two sense worth two cents’ worth
tyrannical yolk tyrannical yoke
unchartered territory uncharted territory
unloosen loosen
udderly utterly
up and adam up and at ’em
upgraded upbraided
valevictorian valedictorian
Valentimes Valentines
vaulted vaunted
verbage verbiage
very close veins varicose veins
viadock viaduct
visa versa vice versa
vocal chords vocal cords
voiceterous boisterous
vunerable vulnerable
wait ago way to go
weary wary
wheedle down whittle down
whelp welt
Wimbleton Wimbledon
wideth width
windshield factor wind chill factor
witch which
without further adieu without further ado
world-renown world-renowned
worldwind whirlwind
worse case scenario worst-case scenario
worth its weight in salt worth its salt or worth its weight in gold
worth wild worthwhile
Add your own suggestions. But first read the paragraph in red at the top of this page.
Want more? Browse the Eggcorn Database.
Other Commonly Misspelled Words
H
ere is a list of some of the most commonly misspelled words in English which I consider not interesting enough to write up as separate entries. These are the correct spellings. Reading over the list probably won’t improve your spelling much, but choosing a few which you find troublesome to write out correctly a few times may.
absence, abundance, accessible, accidentally, acclaim, accommodate, accomplish, accordion, accumulate, achievement, acquaintance, across, address, advertisement, aggravate, alleged, annual, apparent, appearance, argument, atheist, athletics, attendance, auxiliary, badminton, balloon, barbecue, barbiturate, bargain, basically, beggar, beginning, believe, biscuit, bouillon, boundary, Britain, Buddha, business, calendar, camouflage, cantaloupe, category, cemetery, chagrined, challenge, characteristic, changing, chief, cigarette, climbed, collectible, colonel, colossal, column, coming, committee, commitment, comparative, competent, completely, concede, conceive, condemn, condescend, conscientious, consciousness, consistent, continuous, controlled, convenient, coolly, corollary, correlate, correspondence, counselor, courteous, courtesy, criticize, deceive, defendant, deferred, dependent, descend, description, desirable, despair, desperate, develop, development, difference, dilemma, dining, disappearance, disappoint, disastrous, discipline, disease, dispensable, dissatisfied, doesn't, dominant, drunkenness, easily, ecstasy, efficiency, eighth, either, eligible, emperor, enemy, entirely, equipped, equivalent, especially, exaggerate, exceed, excellence, excellent, exhaust, existence, expense, experience, experiment, explanation, extremely, exuberance, fallacious, fallacy, familiar, fascinate, feasible, fictitious, finally, financially, fluorescent, forcibly, foreign, forfeit, formerly, foresee, forty, fourth, fulfill, fundamentally, gauge, generally, genius, government, governor, grievous, guarantee, guerrilla, guidance, handkerchief, happily, harass, height, heinous, hemorrhage, heroes, hesitancy, hindrance, hoarse, hoping, humorous, hypocrisy, hypocrite, ideally, idiosyncrasy, ignorance, imaginary, immediately, implement, incidentally, incredible, independence, independent, indicted, indispensable, inevitable, influential, information, inoculate, insurance, intelligence, intercede, interference, interrupt, introduce, irrelevant, irresistible, island, jealousy, judicial, knowledge, laboratory, legitimate, leisure, length, lenient, liaison, license, lieutenant, likelihood, likely, longitude, loneliness, losing, lovely, luxury, magazine, maintain, maintenance, manageable, maneuver, marriage, mathematics, medicine, millennium, millionaire, miniature, minuscule, minutes, mischievous, missile, misspelled, mortgage, mosquito, mosquitoes, murmur, muscle, mysterious, narrative, naturally, necessary, necessity, neighbor, neutron, ninety, ninth, noticeable, nowadays, nuisance, obedience, obstacle, obstinate, occasion, occasionally, occurred, occurrence, official, omission, omit, omitted, opinion, opponent, opportunity, oppression, optimism, ordinarily, origin, original, outrageous, overrun, panicky, parallel, parliament, particularly, pavilion, peaceable, peculiar, penetrate, perceive, performance, permanent, permissible, permitted, perseverance, persistence, physical, physician, picnicking, piece, pilgrimage, pitiful, planning, pleasant, portray, possess, possessive, potato, potatoes, practically, prairie, preference, preferred, prejudice, preparation, prescription, prevalent, primitive, privilege, probably, procedure, proceed, professor, prominent, pronounce, pronunciation, propaganda, psychology, publicly, pursue, quandary, quarantine, questionnaire, quizzes, realistically, realize, really, recede, receipt, receive, recognize, recommend, reference, referred, relevant, relieving, religious, remembrance, reminiscence, renege, repetition, representative, resemblance, reservoir, resistance, restaurant, rheumatism, rhythm, rhythmical, roommate, sacrilegious, sacrifice, safety, salary, satellite, scary, scenery, schedule, secede, secretary, seize, sentence, separate, sergeant, several, shepherd, shining, similar, simile, simply, sincerely, skiing, soliloquy, sophomore, souvenir, specifically, specimen, sponsor, spontaneous, statistics, stopped, strategy, strength, strenuous, stubbornness, subordinate, subtle, succeed, success, succession, Sudoku, sufficient, supersede, suppress, surprise, surround, susceptible, suspicious, syllable, symmetrical, synonymous, tangible, technical, technique, temperature, tendency, themselves, theories, therefore, thorough, though, through, till, tomorrow, tournament, tourniquet, transferred, truly, twelfth, tyranny, unanimous, undoubtedly, unnecessary, until, usage, usually, vacuum, valuable, vengeance, vigilant, village, villain, violence, visible, warrant, Wednesday, weird, wherever, wholly, yacht, yield, zoology
Non-Errors
(Those usages people keep telling you are wrong but which are actually standard in English.)
Split infinitives
For the hyper-critical, “to boldly go where no man has gone before” should be “to go boldly. . . .” It is good to be aware that inserting one or more words between “to” and a verb is not strictly speaking an error, and is often more expressive and graceful than moving the intervening words elsewhere; but so many people are offended by split infinitives that it is better to avoid them except when the alternatives sound strained and awkward.
Ending a sentence with a preposition
A fine example of an artificial “rule” which ignores standard usage. The famous witticism usually attributed to Winston Churchill makes the point well: “This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.” see The American Heritage Book of English Usage. Jack Lynch has some sensible comments on this issue. If you think you know the original version of this saying, click here.
Beginning a sentence with a conjunction
It offends those who wish to confine English usage in a logical straitjacket that writers often begin sentences with “and” or “but.” True, one should be aware that many such sentences would be improved by becoming clauses in compound sentences; but there are many effective and traditional uses for beginning sentences thus. One example is the reply to a previous assertion in a dialogue: “But, my dear Watson, the criminal obviously wore expensive boots or he would not have taken such pains to scrape them clean.” Make it a rule to consider whether your conjunction would repose more naturally within the previous sentence or would lose in useful emphasis by being demoted from its position at the head of a new sentence.
Using “between” for only two, “among” for more
The “-tween” in “between” is clearly linked to the number two; but, as the Oxford English Dictionary notes, “In all senses, between has, from its earliest appearance, been extended to more than two.” We’re talking about Anglo-Saxon here—early. Pedants have labored to enforce “among” when there are three or more objects under discussion, but largely in vain. Even the pickiest speaker does not naturally say, “A treaty has been negotiated among England, France, and Germany.”
Over vs. more than.
Some people claim that “over” cannot be used to signify “more than,” as in “Over a thousand baton-twirlers marched in the parade.” “Over,” they insist, always refers to something physically higher: say, the blimp hovering over the parade route. This absurd distinction ignores the role metaphor plays in language. If I write 1 on the blackboard and 10 beside it, 10 is still the “higher” number. “Over” has been used in the sense of “more than” for over a thousand years.
Gender vs. sex
Feminists eager to remove references to sexuality from discussions of females and males not involving mating or reproduction revived an older meaning of “gender,” which had come to refer in modern times chiefly to language, as a synonym for “sex” in phrases such as “Our goal is to achieve gender equality.” Americans, always nervous about sex, eagerly embraced this usage, which is now standard. In some scholarly fields, “sex” is now used to label biologically determined aspects of maleness and femaleness (reproduction, etc.) while “gender” refers to their socially determined aspects (behavior, attitudes, etc.); but in ordinary speech this distinction is not always maintained. It is disingenuous to pretend that people who use “gender” in the new senses are making an error, just as it is disingenuous to maintain that “Ms.” means “manuscript” (that’s “MS”). Nevertheless, I must admit I was startled to discover that the tag on my new trousers describes not only their size and color, but their “gender.”
Using “who” for people, “that” for animals and inanimate objects
In fact there are many instances in which the most conservative usage is to refer to a person using “that”: “All the politicians that were at the party later denied even knowing the host” is actually somewhat more traditional than the more popular “politicians who.” An aversion to “that” referring to human beings as somehow diminishing their humanity may be praiseworthily sensitive, but it cannot claim the authority of tradition. In some sentences, “that” is clearly preferable to “who”: “She is the only person I know of that prefers whipped cream on her granola.” In the following example, to exchange “that” for “who” would be absurd: “Who was it that said, ‘A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle’?”*
*Commonly attributed to Gloria Steinem, but she attributes it to Irina Dunn.
“Since” cannot mean “because.”
“Since” need not always refer to time. Since the 14th century, when it was often spelled “syn,” it has also meant “seeing that” or “because.”
Hopefully
This word has meant “it is to be hoped” for a very long time, and those who insist it can only mean “in a hopeful fashion” display more hopefulness than realism.
Momentarily
“The plane will be landing momentarily” says the flight attendant, and the grumpy grammarian in seat 36B thinks to himself, “So we’re going to touch down for just a moment?” Everyone else thinks, “Just a moment now before we land.” Back in the 1920s when this use of “momentarily” was first spreading on both sides of the Atlantic, one might have been accused of misusing the word; but by now it’s listed without comment as one of the standard definitions in most dictionaries.
Lend vs. loan
“Loan me your hat” was just as correct everywhere as “lend me your ears” until the British made “lend” the preferred verb, relegating “loan” to the thing being lent. However, as in so many cases, Americans kept the older pattern, which in its turn has influenced modern British usage so that those insisting that “loan” can only be a noun are in the minority.
Near miss
It is futile to protest that “near miss” should be “near collision.” This expression is a condensed version of something like “a miss that came very near to being a collision” and is similar to “narrow escape.” Everyone knows what is meant by it and almost everyone uses it. It should be noted that the expression can also be used in the sense of almost succeeding in striking a desired target: “His Cointreau soufflé was a near miss.”
“None” singular vs. plural
Some people insist that since “none” is derived from “no one” it should always be singular: “none of us is having dessert.” However, in standard usage, the word is most often treated as a plural. “None of us are having dessert” will do just fine.
Scan vs. skim
Those who insist that “scan” can never be a synonym of “skim” have lost the battle. It is true that the word originally meant “to scrutinize,” but it has now evolved into one of those unfortunate words with two opposite meanings: to examine closely (now rare) and to glance at quickly (much more common). It would be difficult to say which of these two meanings is more prominent in the computer-related usage, to “scan a document.”
That said, it’s more appropriate to use “scan” to label a search for specific information in a text, and “skim” to label a hasty reading aimed at getting the general gist of a text.
Off of
For most Americans, the natural thing to say is “Climb down off of [pronounced “offa”] that horse, Tex, with your hands in the air”; but many UK authorities urge that the “of” should be omitted as redundant. Where British English reigns you may want to omit the “of” as superfluous, but common usage in the US has rendered “off of” so standard as to generally pass unnoticed, though some American authorities also discourage it in formal writing. But if “onto” makes sense, so does “off of.” However, “off of” meaning “from” in phrases like “borrow five dollars off of Clarice” is definitely nonstandard.
Till vs. ’til.
Since it looks like an abbreviation for “until,” some people argue that this word should always be spelled “’til” (though not all insist on the apostrophe). However, “till” has regularly occurred as a spelling of this word for over 800 years and it’s actually older than “until.” It is perfectly good English.
Teenage vs. teenaged.
Some people object that the word should be “teenaged,” but unlike the still nonstandard “ice tea” and “stain glass,” “teenage” is almost universally accepted now.
Don’t use “reference” to mean “cite.”
Nouns are often turned into verbs in English, and “reference” in the sense “to provide references or citations” has become so widespread that it’s generally acceptable, though some teachers and editors still object.
Feeling bad
“I feel bad” is standard English, as in “This t-shirt smells bad” (not “badly”). “I feel badly” is an incorrect hyper-correction by people who think they know better than the masses. People who are happy can correctly say they feel good, but if they say they feel well, we know they mean to say they’re healthy.
Unquote vs. endquote
Some people get upset at the common pattern by which speakers frame a quotation by saying “quote . . . unquote,” insisting that the latter word should logically be “endquote”; but illogical as it may be, “unquote” has been used in this way for about a century, and “endquote” is nonstandard.
Persuade vs. convince
Some people like to distinguish between these two words by insisting that you persuade people until you have convinced them; but “persuade” as a synonym for “convince” goes back at least to the 16th century. It can mean both to attempt to convince and to succeed. It is no longer common to say things like “I am persuaded that you are an illiterate fool,” but even this usage is not in itself wrong.
Normalcy vs. normality
The word “normalcy” had been around for more than half a century when President Warren G. Harding was assailed in the newspapers for having used it in a 1921 speech. Some folks are still upset; but in the US “normalcy” is a perfectly normal—if uncommon—synonym for “normality.”
Aggravate vs. irritate
Some people claim that “aggravate” can only mean “make worse” and should not be used to mean “irritate”; but the latter has been a valid use of the word for four centuries, and “aggravation” means almost exclusively “irritation.”
You shouldn’t pronounce the “e” in “not my forte.”
Some people insist that it’s an error to pronounce the word “forte” in the expression “not my forte” as if French-derived “forte” were the same as the Italian musical term for “loud”: “for-tay.” But the original French expression is pas mon fort, which not only has no “e” on the end to pronounce—it has a silent “t” as well. It’s too bad that when we imported this phrase we mangled it so badly, but it’s too late to do anything about it now. If you go around saying what sounds like ”that’s not my fort,” people won’t understand what you mean.
However, those who use the phrase to mean “not to my taste” (“Wagnerian opera is not my forte”) are definitely mistaken. Your forte is what you’re good at, not just stuff you like.
“Preventive” is the adjective, “preventative” the noun.
I must say I like the sound of this distinction, but in fact the two are interchangeable as both nouns and adjective, though many prefer “preventive” as being shorter and simpler. “Preventative” used as an adjective dates back to the 17th century, as does “preventive” as a noun.
People should say a book is titled such-and-such rather than entitled.
No less a writer than Chaucer is cited by the Oxford English Dictionary as having used “entitled” in this sense, the very first meaning of the word listed by the OED. It may be a touch pretentious, but it’s not wrong.
People are healthy; vegetables are healthful.
Logic and tradition are on the side of those who make this distinction, but I’m afraid phrases like “part of a healthy breakfast” have become so widespread that they are rarely perceived as erroneous except by the hyper-correct. On a related though slightly different subject, it is interesting to note that in English adjectives connected to sensations in the perceiver of an object or event are often transferred to the object or event itself. In the 19th century it was not uncommon to refer, for instance, to a “grateful shower of rain,” and we still say “a gloomy landscape,” “a cheerful sight” and “a happy coincidence.”
Dinner is done; people are finished.
I pronounce this an antiquated distinction rarely observed in modern speech. Nobody really supposes the speaker is saying he or she has been roasted to a turn. In older usage people said, “I have done” to indicate they had completed an action. “I am done” is not really so very different.
Crops are raised; children are reared.
Old-fashioned writers insist that you raise crops and rear children; but in modern American English children are usually “raised.”
“You’ve got mail” should be “you have mail.”
The “have” contracted in phrases like this is merely an auxiliary verb, not an expression of possession. It is not a redundancy. Compare: “You’ve sent the mail.”
It’s “cut the muster,” not “cut the mustard.”
This etymology seems plausible at first. Its proponents often trace it to the American Civil War. We do have the analogous expression “to pass muster,” which probably first suggested this alternative; but although the origins of “cut the mustard” are somewhat obscure, the latter is definitely the form used in all sorts of writing throughout the twentieth century. Common sense would suggest that a person cutting a muster is not someone being selected as fit, but someone eliminating the unfit. See the alt.usage.english faq explanation of this term.
It’s “carrot on a stick,” not “carrot or stick.”
Authoritative dictionaries agree, the original expression refers to offering to reward a stubborn mule or donkey with a carrot or threatening to beat it with a stick and not to a carrot being dangled from a stick. Further discussion. This and other popular etymologies fit under the heading aptly called by the English “too clever by half."
“Spitting image” should be “spit and image.”
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earlier form was “spitten image,” which may indeed have evolved from “spit and image.” It’s a crude figure of speech: someone else is enough like you to have been spat out by you, made of the very stuff of your body. In the early 20th century the spelling and pronunciation gradually shifted to the less logical “spitting image,” which is now standard. It’s too late to go back. There is no historical basis for the claim sometimes made that the original expression was “spirit and image.”
“Lion’s share” means all of something, not the larger part of something.
Even though the original meaning of this phrase reflected the idea that the lion can take whatever he wants—typically all of the slaughtered game, leaving nothing for anyone else—in modern usage the meaning has shifted to “the largest share.” This makes great sense if you consider the way hyenas and vultures swarm over the leftovers from a typical lion’s kill.
“Connoisseur” should be spelled “connaisseur.”
When we borrowed this word from the French in the 18th century, it was spelled “connoisseur.” Is it our fault the French later decided to shift the spelling of many OI words to the more phonetically accurate AI? Of those Francophone purists who insist we should follow their example I say, let ’em eat bifteck.
See also Commonly Made Suggestions
WORDS MISTAKES
CONTRARY/CONTRAST
The phrases “on the contrary” and “to the contrary” are used to reply to an opposing point. Your friend tells you she is moving to New York and you express surprise because you thought she hated big cities. She replies, “On the contrary, I’ve always wanted to live in an urban area.”
When a distinction is being made that does not involve opposition of this sort, “in contrast” is appropriate. “In New York, you don’t need a car. In Los Angeles, in contrast, you can’t really get along without one, though you won’t need a snow shovel.”
Here’s a simple test: if you could possibly substitute “that’s wrong” the phrase you want is “on the contrary” or “to the contrary.” If not, then use “in contrast.”
BOUNCE
BOUNDS
A leaky ball may be out of bounce, but when it crosses the boundary line off the basketball court or football field it goes out of bounds. Similarly, any action or speech that goes beyond proper limits can be called “out of bounds”: “Mark thought that it was out of bounds for his wife to go spelunking with Tristan, her old boyfriend.”
BREATH/BREATHE
When you need to breathe, you take a breath. “Breathe” is the verb, “breath” the noun.
BRAKE/BREAK
You brake to slow down; if your brakes fail and you drive through a plate-glass window, you will break it.
BENEFACTOR/BENEFICIARY
Benefactors give benefits; beneficiaries receive them. We expect to hear of generous benefactors and grateful beneficiaries.
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.
BESIDE/BESIDES
“Besides” can mean “in addition to” as in “besides the puppy chow, Spot scarfed up the filet mignon I was going to serve for dinner.” “Beside,” in contrast, usually means “next to.” “I sat beside Cheryl all evening, but she kept talking to Jerry instead.” Using “beside” for “besides,” won’t usually get you in trouble; but using “besides” when you mean "next to” will.
BELIEF/BELIEVE
If you have it, it’s a belief; if you do it, you believe. People can’t have religious “believes”; they have religious beliefs. If you have it, it’s a belief; if you do it, you believe.
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.”
WANDER/WONDER
If you idly travel around, you wander. If you realize you’re lost, you wonder where you are.
WARY/WEARY/LEERY
People sometimes write “weary” (tired) when they mean “wary” (cautious) which is a close synonym with “leery” which in the psychedelic era was often misspelled “leary”; but since Timothy Leary faded from public consciousness, the correct spelling has prevailed.
WET YOUR APPETITE
WHET YOUR APPETITE
It is natural to think that something mouth-watering “wets your appetite,” but actually the expression is “whet your appetite”— sharpen your appetite, as a whetstone sharpens a knife.
WRANGLE/WANGLE
If you deviously manage to obtain something you wangle it: “I wangled an invitation to Jessica’s party by hinting that I would be inviting her to our house on the lake this summer.” But if you argue with someone, you wrangle with them: “Once I got to the party, Jessica’s attitude irritated me so much that we wound up wrangling constantly during it.” Of course cowboys wrangle cattle, and specialists wrangle other animal species in films.
YEAR END AND YEAR OUT
YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT
When something goes on continually, it is traditional to say it happens “year in and year out,” meaning “from the beginning of the year to its end—and so on year after year.”
The mistaken form “year end and year out” doesn’t make sense because “year end” and “year out” both refer to the same part of the year, so no time span is being described.
YOU CAN’T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO
YOU CAN’T EAT YOUR CAKE AND HAVE IT TOO
The most popular form of this saying—“You can’t have your cake and eat it too”— confuses many people because they mistakenly suppose the word “have” means “eat,” as in “Have a piece of cake for dessert.” A more logical version of this saying is “You can’t eat your cake and have it too,” meaning that if you eat your cake you won’t have it any more. The point is that if you eat your cake right now you won’t have it to eat later. “Have” means “possess” in this context, not “eat.”
ASPECT/RESPECT
When used to refer to different elements of or perspectives on a thing or idea, these words are closely related, but not interchangeable. It’s “in all respects,” not “in all aspects.” Similarly, one can say “in some respects” but not “in some aspects.” One says “in this respect,” not “in this aspect.” One looks at all “aspects” of an issue, not at all “respects.”
ATTRIBUTE/CONTRIBUTE
When trying to give credit to someone, say that you attribute your success to their help, not contribute. (Of course, a politician may attribute his success to those who contribute to his campaign fund, but probably only in private.)
AS OF YET
YET
“As of yet” is a windy and pretentious substitute for plain old English “yet” or “as yet,” an unjustified extension of the pattern in sentences like “as of Friday the 27th of May.”
AS LESS AS POSSIBLE
AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE
The expression is not “as less as possible,” but “as little as possible.”
ASSURE/ENSURE/INSURE
To “assure” a person of something is to make him or her confident of it. According to Associated Press style, to “ensure” that something happens is to make certain that it does, and to “insure” is to issue an insurance policy. Other authorities, however, consider “ensure” and “insure” interchangeable. To please conservatives, make the distinction. However, it is worth noting that in older usage these spellings were not clearly distinguished.
European “life assurance” companies take the position that all policy-holders are mortal and someone will definitely collect, thus assuring heirs of some income. American companies tend to go with “insurance” for coverage of life as well as of fire, theft, etc.
VERY SORT OF, VERY KIND OF
“He’s very sort of buffed.” Wha . . ? He can’t be very buffed and only sort of buffed at the same time. It’s an error to follow the phrase “very sort of” with an adjective (a quality, such as “rich,” “happy,” “conscientious”).
It’s all right to say “very sort of” when “very” means “exact, precise,” and the phrase is followed by an noun (a thing or person): “the very sort of pastry I can’t resist,” “the very sort of boss I can’t stand.”
Less common is the equally confused expression “very kind of” as in “he’s very kind of charming when he’s trying to impress women.”
Of course “very kind of” is fine in appreciative comments where “kind” is an adjective meaning “generous,” “helpful,” like “it was very kind of you to shovel Mrs. Mukherjee’s front walk.”
COMPRISED OF
COMPOSED OF
Although “comprise” is used primarily to mean “to include,” it is also often stretched to mean “is made up of”—a meaning that some critics object to. The most cautious route is to avoid using “of” after any form of “comprise” and substitute “is composed of” in sentences like this: “Jimmy’s paper on Marxism was composed entirely of sentences copied off the Marx Brothers Home Page.”
CAPITAL/CAPITOL
A “capitol” is almost always a building. Cities which serve as seats of government are capitals spelled with an A in the last syllable, as are most other uses of the word as a common noun. The only exceptions are place names alluding to capitol buildings in some way or other, like “Capitol Hill” in DC, Denver, or Seattle (the latter named either after the hill in Denver or in hopes of attracting the Washington State capitol building). Would it help to remember that Congress with an O meets in the Capitol with another O?
CALM, COOL, AND COLLECTIVE
CALM, COOL, AND COLLECTED
Unless you’re living in an unusually tranquil commune, you wouldn’t be “calm, cool, and collective.” The last word in this traditional phrase is “collected,” in the sense of such phrases as “let me sit down a minute and collect my thoughts.” If you leave out “cool” the last word still has to be “collected.”
BRING/TAKE
When you are viewing the movement of something from the point of arrival, use “bring”: “When you come to the potluck, please bring a green salad.” Viewing things from the point of departure, you should use “take“: “When you go to the potluck, take a bottle of wine.”
BY FAR AND AWAY
BY FAR, FAR AND AWAY
You could say that Halloween is by far your favorite holiday, or you can say that it’s far and away your favorite holiday; but if you combine the two expressions and say “by far and away” you’ll annoy some people and puzzle others who can’t figure out why it doesn’t sound quite right.
LIST OF WORDS
ABLE TO
People are able to do things, but things are not able to be done: you should not say, “the budget shortfall was able to be solved by selling brownies.”
A/AN
If the word following begins with a vowel sound, the word you want is “an”: “Have an apple, Adam.” If the word following begins with a consonant, but begins with a vowel sound, you still need “an”: “An X-ray will show whether there's a worm in it.” It is nonstandard and often considered sloppy speech to utter an “uh” sound in such cases.
The same rule applies to initialisms like “NGO” (for “non-governmental organization”). Because the letter N is pronounced “en,” it’s “an NGO” but when the phrase is spoken instead of the abbreviation, it’s “a non-governmental organization.”
When the following word definitely begins with a consonant sound, you need “a”: “A snake told me apples enhance mental abilities.”
Note that the letter Y can be either a vowel or a consonant. Although it is sounded as a vowel in words like “pretty,” at the beginning of words it is usually sounded as a consonant, as in “a yolk.”
Words beginning with the letter U which start with a Y consonant sound like “university” and “utensil” also take an “a”: “a university” and “a utensil.” But when an initial U has a vowel sound, the word is preceded by “an”: it’s “an umpire,” “an umbrella,” and “an understanding.”
See also “an historic.”
AM/PM
“AM” stands for the Latin phrase Ante Meridiem —which means “before noon”—and “PM” stands for Post Meridiem : “after noon.” Although digital clocks routinely label noon “12:00 PM” you should avoid this expression not only because it is incorrect, but because many people will imagine you are talking about midnight instead. The same goes for “12:00 AM.” You can say or write “twelve noon,” “noon sharp,” or “exactly at noon” when you want designate a precise time.
It is now rare to see periods placed after these abbreviations: “A.M.”; but in formal writing it is still preferable to capitalize them, though the lower-case “am” and “pm” are now so popular they are not likely to get you into trouble.
Occasionally computer programs encourage you to write “AM” and “PM” without a space before them, but others will misread your data if you omit the space. The nonstandard habit of omitting the space is spreading rapidly, and should be avoided in formal writing.
ABJECT
“Abject” is always negative—it means “hopeless,” not “extreme.” You can’t experience “abject joy” unless you’re being deliberately paradoxical.
ABOUT
“This isn’t about you.” What a great rebuke! But conservatives sniff at this sort of abstract use of “about,” as in “I’m all about good taste” or “successful truffle-making is about temperature control” ; so it’s better to avoid it in very formal English.
ABSORBTION
ABSORPTION
Although it’s “absorbed” and “absorbing,” the correct spelling of the noun is “absorption.”
But note that scientists distinguish between “absorption” as the process of swallowing up or sucking in something and “adsorption” as the process by which something adheres to the surface of something else without being assimilated into it. Even technical writers often confuse these two.
ABSTRUSE/OBTUSE
Most people first encounter “obtuse” in geometry class, where it labels an angle of more than 90 degrees. Imagine what sort of blunt arrowhead that kind of angle would make and you will understand why it also has a figurative meaning of “dull, stupid.” But people often mix the word up with “abstruse,” which means “difficult to understand.”
When you mean to criticize something for being needlessly complex or baffling, the word you need is not “obtuse,” but “abstruse.”
ACADEMIA
Although some academics are undoubtedly nuts, the usual English-language pronunciation of “academia” does not rhyme with “macadamia.” The third syllable is pronounced “deem.” Just say “academe” and add “ee-yuh.”
However, there’s an interesting possibility if you go with “ack-uh-DAME-ee-yuh: although some people will sneer at your lack of sophistication, others will assume you’re using the Latin pronunciation and being learned.
ACCEDE/EXCEED
If you drive too fast, you exceed the speed limit. “Accede” is a much rarer word meaning “give in,” “agree.”
ACCENT MARKS
In what follows, “accent mark” will be used in a loose sense to include all diacritical marks that guide pronunciation. Operating systems and programs differ in how they produce accent marks, but it’s worth learning how yours works. Writing them in by hand afterwards looks amateurish.
Words adopted from foreign languages sometimes carry their accent marks with them, as in “fiancé, ” “protégé,” and “cliché.” As words become more at home in English, they tend to shed the marks: “Café” is often spelled “cafe.” Unfortunately, “résumé” seems to be losing its marks one at a time (see under “vita/vitae”).
Many computer users have not learned their systems well enough to understand how to produce the desired accent and often insert an apostrophe (curled) or foot mark (straight) after the accented letter instead: “cafe'.” This is both ugly and incorrect. The same error is commonly seen on storefront signs.
So far we’ve used examples containing acute (right-leaning) accent marks. French and Italian (but not Spanish) words often contain grave (left-leaning) accents; in Italian it’s a caffè. It is important not to substitute one kind of accent for the other.
The diaeresis over a letter signifies that it is to be pronounced as a separate syllable: “noël” and “naïve” are sometimes spelled with a diaeresis, for instance. The umlaut, which looks identical, modifies the sound of a vowel, as in German Fräulein (girl), where the accent mark changes the “frow” sound of Frau (woman) to “froy.” Rock groups like “Blue Öyster Cult” scattered umlauts about nonsensically to create an exotic look.
Spanish words not completely assimilated into English like piñata and niño retain the tilde, which tells you that an “N” is to be pronounced with a “Y” sound after it.
In English-language publications accent marks are often discarded, but the acute and grave accents are the ones most often retained.
ACCESS
GET ACCESS TO
“Access” is one of many nouns that’s been turned into a verb in recent years. Conservatives object to phrases like “you can access your account online.” substitute “use,” “reach,” or “get access to” if you want to please them.
ACCESSORY
There’s an “ack” sound at the beginning of this word, though some mispronounce it as if the two “C’s” were to be sounded the same as the two “SS’s.”
ACCEPT/EXCEPT
If you offer me Godiva chocolates I will gladly accept them—except for the candied violet ones. Just remember that the “X” in “except” excludes things—they tend to stand out, be different. In contrast, just look at those two cozy “C’s” snuggling up together. Very accepting. And be careful; when typing “except” it often comes out “expect.”
ACCIDENTLY
ACCIDENTALLY
You can remember this one by remembering how to spell “accidental.” There are quite a few words with -ally suffixes (like “incidentally”) which are not to be confused with words that have “-ly” suffixes (like “independently”). “Incidental” is a word, but “independental” is not.
ACCURATE/PRECISE
In ordinary usage, “accurate” and “precise” are often used as rough synonyms, but scientists like to distinguish between them. Someone could say that a snake is over a meter long and be accurate (the snake really does exceed one meter in length), but that is not a precise measurement. To be precise, the measurement would have to be more exact: the snake is 1.23 meters long. The same distinction applies in scientific contexts to the related words “accuracy” and “precision.”
AD NAUSEUM
AD NAUSEAM
Seeing how often ad nauseam is misspelled makes some people want to throw up. English writers also often mistakenly half-translate the phrase as ad nausea.
This Latin phrase comes from a term in logic, the argumentum ad nauseam, in which debaters wear out the opposition by just repeating arguments until they get sick of the whole thing and give in.
ADDICTING/ADDICTIVE
Do you find beer nuts addicting or addictive? “Addicting” is a perfectly legitimate word, but much less common than “addictive,” and some people will scowl at you if you use it.
ADD
AD
“Advertisement” is abbreviated “ad,” not “add.”
ACTUAL FACT
ACTUALLY
“In actual fact” is an unnecessarily complicated way of saying “actually.”
ACTIONABLE/DOABLE
“Actionable” is a technical term referring to something that provides grounds for a legal action or lawsuit. People in the business world have begun using it as a fancy synonym for “doable” or "feasible." This is both pretentious and confusing.
ACROSSED
ACROSS
The chicken may have crossed the road, but did so by walking across it.
ACRONYMS AND APOSTROPHES
One unusual modern use of the apostrophe is in plural acronyms, like “ICBM’s” “NGO’s” and “CD’s”. Since this pattern violates the rule that apostrophes are not used before an S indicating a plural, many people object to it. It is also perfectly legitimate to write “CDs,” etc. See also “50’s.” But the use of apostrophes with initialisms like “learn your ABC’s and “mind your P’s and Q’s” is now so universal as to be acceptable in almost any context.
Note that “acronym” was used originally only to label pronounceable abbreviations like “NATO,” but is now generally applied to all sorts of initialisms. Be aware that some people consider this extended definition of “acronym” to be an error.
ADAPT/ADOPT
You can adopt a child or a custom or a law; in all of these cases you are making the object of the adoption your own, accepting it. If you adapt something, however, you are changing it.
ACRONYMS AND APOSTROPHES
One unusual modern use of the apostrophe is in plural acronyms, like “ICBM’s” “NGO’s” and “CD’s”. Since this pattern violates the rule that apostrophes are not used before an S indicating a plural, many people object to it. It is also perfectly legitimate to write “CDs,” etc. See also “50’s.” But the use of apostrophes with initialisms like “learn your ABC’s and “mind your P’s and Q’s” is now so universal as to be acceptable in almost any context.
Note that “acronym” was used originally only to label pronounceable abbreviations like “NATO,” but is now generally applied to all sorts of initialisms. Be aware that some people consider this extended definition of “acronym” to be an error.
ACTIONABLE/DOABLE
“Actionable” is a technical term referring to something that provides grounds for a legal action or lawsuit. People in the business world have begun using it as a fancy synonym for “doable” or "feasible." This is both pretentious and confusing.
ADVERSE/AVERSE
The word “adverse” turns up most frequently in the phrase “adverse circumstances,” meaning difficult circumstances, circumstances which act as an adversary; but people often confuse this word with “averse,” a much rarer word, meaning having a strong feeling against, or aversion toward.
ADVISER/ADVISOR
“Adviser” and “advisor” are equally fine spellings. There is no distinction between them.
ADMINISTER/MINISTER
You can minister to someone by administering first aid. Note how the “ad” in “administer” resembles “aid” in order to remember the correct form of the latter phrase. “Minister” as a verb always requires “to” following it.
ADVICE/ADVISE
“Advice” is the noun, “advise” the verb. When Ann Landers advises people, she gives them advice.
ADVANCE/ADVANCED
When you hear about something in advance, earlier than other people, you get advance notice or information. “Advanced” means “complex, sophisticated” and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the revealing of secrets
ADVOCATE FOR
ADVOCATE
When they are acting as advocates for a cause, people often say they are “advocating for”—say—traffic safety. This is not as widely accepted as “campaigning for” or “working toward.” Saying you are “advocating for the blind” leaves a lot of listeners wondering what it is you advocate for them. If you can substitute “advocate” for “advocate for,” you should do so: “I advocate for higher pay for teachers” becomes “I advocate higher pay for teachers.”
AESTHETIC/ASCETIC
People often encounter these two words first in college, and may confuse one with the other although they have almost opposite connotations. “Aesthetic” (also spelled “esthetic”) has to do with beauty, whereas “ascetic” has to do with avoiding pleasure, including presumably the pleasure of looking at beautiful things.
St. Francis had an ascetic attitude toward life, whereas Oscar Wilde had an esthetic attitude toward life.
AFTERWARDS/AFTERWORDS
Like “towards,” “forwards,” and “homewards,” “afterwards” ends with -wards.
“Afterwords” are sometimes the explanatory essays at the ends of books or speeches uttered at the end of plays or other works. They are made up of words.
AFFLUENCE/EFFLUENCE
Wealth brings affluence; sewage is effluence.
ALL GOES WELL
AUGURS WELL
Some folks who don’t understand the word “augur” (to foretell based on omens) try to make sense of the common phrase “augurs well” by mangling it into “all goes well.” “Augurs well” is synonymous with “bodes well.”
ALL FOR NOT
ALL FOR NAUGHT
“Naught” means “nothing,” and the phrase “all for naught” means “all for nothing.” This is often misspelled “all for not” and occasionally “all for knot.”
ALL BE IT
ALBEIT
“Albeit” is a single word meaning “although”: “Rani’s recipe called for a tablespoon of saffron, which made it very tasty, albeit rather expensive.” It should not be broken up into three separate words as “all be it,” just as “although” is not broken up into “all though.”
ALL AND ALL
ALL IN ALL
“The dog got into the fried chicken, we forgot the sunscreen, and the kids started whining at the end, but all in all the picnic was a success.” “All in all” is a traditional phrase which can mean “all things considered,” “after all,” or “nevertheless.” People unfamiliar with the traditional wording often change it to “all and all,” but this is nonstandard.
AIDE/AID
In American English, a personal assistant is usually an aide (nurse’s aide, presidential aide) but an inanimate object or process is always an aid (hearing aid, first aid).
AFTERALL
AFTER ALL
“After all” is always two words.
AFTERWARDS/AFTERWORDS
Like “towards,” “forwards,” and “homewards,” “afterwards” ends with -wards.
“Afterwords” are sometimes the explanatory essays at the ends of books or speeches uttered at the end of plays or other works. They are made up of words.
ALLS
ALL
“Alls I know is . . .” may result from anticipating the “S” in “is,” but the standard expression is “All I know is. . . .”
ALLITERATE/ILLITERATE
Pairs of words which begin with the same sound are said to alliterate, like “wild and wooly.” Those who can’t read are illiterate.
ALL THE FARTHER
AS FAR AS
In some American dialects it is not uncommon to hear sentences such as “Abilene is all the farther the rustlers got before the posse caught up with them.” The strangely constructed expression “all the farther” should be replaced with the much more straightforward “as far as.”
ALL OF THE SUDDEN
ALL OF A SUDDEN
An unexpected event happens not “all of the sudden” but “all of a sudden.”
ALMOST
Like “only,” “almost” must come immediately before the word or phrase it modifies: “She almost gave a million dollars to the museum” means something quite different from “She gave almost a million dollars to the museum.” Right? So you shouldn’t write, “There was almost a riotous reaction when the will was read” when what you mean is “There was an almost riotous reaction.”
ALLUSIVE/ELUSIVE/ILLUSIVE
When a lawyer alludes to his client’s poor mother, he is being allusive. When the mole keeps eluding the traps you’ve set in the garden, it’s being elusive. We also speak of matters that are difficult to understand, identify, or remember as elusive. Illusions can be illusive, but we more often refer to them as illusory.
ALLUSION/ILLUSION
An allusion is a reference, something you allude to: “Her allusion to flowers reminded me that Valentine’s Day was coming.” In that English paper, don’t write “literary illusions” when you mean "allusions.” A mirage, hallucination, or a magic trick is an illusion. (Doesn’t being fooled just make you ill?)
ALLUDE/ELUDE
You can allude (refer) to your daughter’s membership in the honor society when boasting about her, but a criminal tries to elude (escape) captivity. There is no such word as “illude.”
ALLUDE/REFER
To allude to something is to refer to it indirectly, by suggestion. If you are being direct and unambiguous, you refer to the subject rather than alluding to it.
ALONG THE SAME VEIN
IN THE SAME VEIN, ALONG THE SAME LINE
The expressions “in the same vein” and “along the same line” mean the same thing (“on the same subject”), but those who cross-pollinate them to create the hybrid “along the same vein” sound a little odd to those who are used to the standard expressions.
ALTERNATE/ALTERNATIVE
Although UK authorities disapprove, in U.S. usage, “alternate” is frequently an adjective, substituted for the older “alternative”: “an alternate route.” “Alternate” can also be a noun; a substitute delegate is, for instance, called an “alternate.” But when you’re speaking of “every other” as in “our club meets on alternate Tuesdays,” you can’t substitute “alternative.”
ALTAR/ALTER
An altar is that platform at the front of a church or in a temple; to alter something is to change it.
ALRIGHT
ALL RIGHT
The correct form of this phrase has become so rare in the popular press that many readers have probably never noticed that it is actually two words. But if you want to avoid irritating traditionalists you’d better tell them that you feel “all right” rather than “alright.”
ALL READY/ALREADY
“All ready” is a phrase meaning “completely prepared,” as in “As soon as I put my coat on, I’ll be all ready.” “Already,” however, is an adverb used to describe something that has happened before a certain time, as in “What do you mean you’d rather stay home? I’ve already got my coat on.”
ALOUD/ALLOWED
If you think Grandma allowed the kids to eat too much ice cream, you’d better not say so aloud, or her feelings will be hurt. “Aloud” means “out loud” and refers to sounds (most often speech) that can be heard by others. But this word is often misused when people mean “allowed,” meaning “permitted.”
ALTOGETHER/ALL TOGETHER
“Altogether” is an adverb meaning “completely,” “entirely.” For example: “When he first saw the examination questions, he was altogether baffled.” “All together,” in contrast, is a phrase meaning “in a group.” For example: “The wedding guests were gathered all together in the garden.” Undressed people are said in informal speech to be “in the altogether” (perhaps a shortening of the phrase “altogether naked” ).
BARE/BEAR
There are actually three words here. The simple one is the big growly creature (unless you prefer the Winnie-the-Pooh 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 bodies—sometimes bare-naked. 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.”
AFFECT/EFFECT
There are five distinct words here. When “affect” is accented on the final syllable (a-FECT), it is usually a verb meaning “have an influence on”: “The million-dollar donation from the industrialist did not affect my vote against the Clean Air Act.”
Occasionally a pretentious person is said to affect an artificial air of sophistication. Speaking with a borrowed French accent or ostentatiously wearing a large diamond ear stud might be an affectation. In this sort of context, “affect” means “to make a display of or deliberately cultivate.”
Another unusual meaning is indicated when the word is accented on the first syllable (AFF-ect), meaning “emotion.” In this case the word is used mostly by psychiatrists and social scientists—people who normally know how to spell it.
The real problem arises when people confuse the first spelling with the second: “effect.” This too can be two different words. The more common one is a noun: “When I left the stove on, the effect was that the house filled with smoke.” When you affect a situation, you have an effect on it.
The less common is a verb meaning “to create”: “I’m trying to effect a change in the way we purchase widgets.” No wonder people are confused. Note especially that the proper expression is not “take affect” but “take effect”—become effective. Hey, nobody ever said English was logical: just memorize it and get on with your life.
The stuff in your purse? Your personal effects.
The stuff in movies? Sound effects and special effects.
AISLE/ISLE
An aisle is a narrow passageway, especially in a church or store; an isle is an island. Propose to the person you’re stranded on a desert isle with and maybe you’ll march down the aisle together after you’re rescued.
ALTERIOR
ULTERIOR
When you have a concealed reason for doing something, it’s an ulterior motive
ALUMNUS/ALUMNI
We used to have “alumnus” (male singular), “alumni” (male plural), “alumna” (female singular) and “alumnae” (female plural); but the latter two are now popular only among older female graduates, with the first two terms becoming unisex. However, it is still important to distinguish between one alumnus and a stadium full of alumni. Never say, “I am an alumni” if you don’t want to cast discredit on your school. Many avoid the whole problem by resorting to the informal abbreviation “alum.”
BARTER/HAGGLE
When you offer to trade your vintage jeans for a handwoven shirt in Guatemala, you are engaged in barter—no 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.
AND/OR
The legal phrase “and/or,” indicating that you can either choose between two alternatives or choose both of them, has proved irresistible in other contexts and is now widely acceptable though it irritates some readers as jargon. However, you can logically use it only when you are discussing choices which may or may not both be done: “Bring chips and/or beer.” It’s very much overused where simple “or” would do, and it would be wrong to say, “you can get to the campus for this morning’s meeting on a bike and/or in a car.” Choosing one eliminates the possibility of the other, so this isn’t an and/or situation.
ANOTHER WORDS
IN OTHER WORDS
When you reword a statement, you can preface it by saying “in other words.” The phrase is not “another words.”
ANGEL/ANGLE
People who want to write about winged beings from Heaven often miscall them “angles.” A triangle has three angles. The Heavenly Host is made of angels. Just remember the adjectival form: “angelic.” If you pronounce it aloud you’ll be reminded that the E comes before the L.
AMOUNT/NUMBER
This is a vast subject. I will try to limit the number of words I expend on it so as not to use up too great an amount of space. The confusion between the two categories of words relating to amount and number is so pervasive that those of us who still distinguish between them constitute an endangered species; but if you want to avoid our ire, learn the difference. Amount words relate to quantities of things that are measured in bulk; number to things that can be counted.
In the second sentence above, it would have been improper to write “the amount of words” because words are discrete entities which can be counted, or numbered.
Here is a handy chart to distinguish the two categories of words:
amount number
quantity number
little few
less fewer
much many
You can eat fewer cookies, but you drink less milk. If you eat too many cookies, people would probably think you’ve had too much dessert. If the thing being measured is being considered in countable units, then use number words. Even a substance which is considered in bulk can also be measured by number of units. For instance, you shouldn’t drink too much wine, but you should also avoid drinking too many glasses of wine. Note that here you are counting glasses. They can be numbered.
The most common mistake of this kind is to refer to an “amount” of people instead of a “number” of people.
Just to confuse things, “more” can be used either way: you can eat more cookies and drink more milk.
Exceptions to the less/fewer pattern are references to units of time and money, which are usually treated as amounts: less than an hour, less than five dollars. Only when you are referring to specific coins or bills would you use fewer: “I have fewer than five state quarters to go to make my collection complete.”
AMORAL/IMMORAL
“Amoral” is a rather technical word meaning “unrelated to morality.” When you mean to denounce someone’s behavior, call it “immoral.”
ANXIOUS/EAGER
Most people use “anxious” interchangeably with “eager,” but its original meaning had to do with worrying, being full of anxiety. Perfectly correct phrases like, “anxious to please” obscure the nervous tension implicit in this word and lead people to say less correct things like “I’m anxious for Christmas morning to come so I can open my presents.” Traditionalists frown on anxiety-free anxiousness. Say instead you are eager for or looking forward to a happy event.
AND ALSO
AND, ALSO
“And also” is redundant; say just “and” or “also.”
APROPOS/APPROPRIATE
“Apropos,” (anglicized from the French phrase “à propos” ) means relevant, connected with what has gone before; it should not be used as an all-purpose substitute for “appropriate.” It would be inappropriate, for example, to say “Your tuxedo was perfectly apropos for the opera gala.” Even though it’s not pronounced, be careful not to omit the final “S” in spelling “apropos.”
ASCRIBE/SUBSCRIBE
If you agree with a theory or belief, you subscribe to it, just as you subscribe to a magazine.
Ascribe is a very different word. If you ascribe a belief to someone, you are attributing the belief to that person, perhaps wrongly.
AS BEST AS
AS BEST
You can try to be as good as you can be, but it's not standard to say that you do something “as best as you can.” You need to eliminate the second “as” when “good” changes to “best.” You can try to do something as best you can. You can also do the best that you can (or even better, the best you can).
Unlike asbestos removal, “as best as” removal is easy, and you don’t have to wear a hazmat suit.
AS FAR AS
AS FAR AS *** IS CONCERNED
Originally people used to say things like “As far as music is concerned, I especially love Baroque opera.” Recently they have begun to drop the “is concerned” part of the phrase. Perhaps this shift was influenced by confusion with a similar phrase, “as for.” “As for money, I don’t have any,” is fine; “As far as money, I don’t have any,” is clumsy.
AS FOLLOW
AS FOLLOWS
“My birthday requests are as follows.” This standard phrase doesn’t change number when the items to follow grow from one to many. It’s never correct to say “as follow.”
AUGER/AUGUR
An augur was an ancient Roman prophet, and as a verb the word means “foretell”—“their love augurs well for a successful marriage.” Don’t mix this word up with “auger,” a tool for boring holes. Some people mishear the phrase “augurs well” as “all goes well” and mistakenly use that instead.
AROUND
ABOUT
Lots of people think it’s just nifty to say things like “We’re having ongoing discussions around the proposed merger.” This strikes some of us as irritating jargon. We feel it should be “discussions about” rather than “around.”
