I prefer to call myself a “grammar enthusiast” vs. a “grammar Nazi” – though not Jewish myself, I always think of a Nazi warily. I am quite aware of the rules of grammar and speech, and it drives me absolutely bonkers when people speak and spell incorrectly, confusing me with their meaning: No, you did not “go to the bar to”. What did you go to the bar to do? You went to the bar ALSO, as in too. Got that?
Tirade over (but know I judge you), I was thrilled to figuratively stumble over The 32 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases listed on the Help! Educational blog, touting “Learning is a Lifestyle”. I know I’m not perfect (though I must say my Mom is typically the only one who can ever correct me!) and you’re likely not perfect either so the list below is a good thing to review, as you never know the next time you’ll be asked to know the difference between less & few, further & farther. In light of full disclosure I will admit to having used discreet/discrete incorrectly in the past, ew. Enjoy!
1.Accept/Except- Although these two words sound alike (they’re homophones), they have two completely different meanings. “Accept” means to willingly receive something (accept a present.) “Except” means to exclude something (I’ll take all of the books except the one with the red cover.)
2. Affect/Effect- The way you “affect” someone can have an “effect” on them. “Affect” is usually a verb and “Effect” is a noun.
3. Alright- If you use “alright,” go to the chalkboard and write “Alright is not a word” 100 times.
4. Capital/Capitol- “Capitol” generally refers to an official building. “Capital” can mean the city which serves as a seat of government or money or property owned by a company. “Capital” can also mean “punishable by death.”
5. Complement/Compliment- I often must compliment my wife on how her love for cooking perfectly complements my love for grocery shopping.
6. Comprise/Compose- The article I’m composing comprises 32 parts.
7. Could Of- Of the 32 mistakes on this list, this is the one that bothers me most. It’s “could have” not “could of.” When you hear people talking, they’re saying “could’ve.” Got it?
8. Desert/Dessert- A desert is a hot, dry patch of sand. Dessert, on the other hand, is the sweet, fatty substance you eat at the end of your meal.
9. Discreet/Discrete- We can break people into two discrete (separate) groups, the discreet (secretive) and indiscreet.
10. Emigrate/Immigrate- If I leave this country to move to Europe, the leaving is emigrating and the arriving is immigrating.
11. Elicit/Illicit- Some people post illicit things on message boards to elicit outrageous reactions from others.
12. Farther/Further- Farther is used for physical distance, whereas further means to a greater degree.
13. Fewer/Less- Use fewer when referring to something that can be counted one-by-one. Use less when it’s something that doesn’t lend itself to a simple numeric amount.
14. Flair/Flare- A flair is a talent, while a flare is a burst (of anger, fire, etc.)
15. i.e/e.g- I.e. is used to say “in other words.” E.g. is used in place of “for example.”
16. Inflammable- Don’t let the prefix confuse you, if something is inflammable it can catch on fire.
17. It’s/Its- It’s= it is. Its=a possessive pronoun meaning of it or belonging to. Whatever you do, please don’t use its’.
18. Imply/Infer- A reader infers what an author implies. In other words, when you imply something, you hint at it. When you infer something, you draw a conclusion based on clues.
19. Literally- If you say “His head literally exploded because he was so mad!” then we should see brains splattered on the ceiling.
20. Lose/Loose- If your pants are too loose you may lose them. That would be almost as embarrassing as misusing these two words.
21. Moral/Morale- Morals are something you want to teach your kids. If your team’s morale is low, you need to do something to boost their confidence.
22. Percent/Percentage- The word “percent” should only be used when a specific number is given. “Percentage” is more of a general term.
23. Stationary/Stationery- You are stationary when you aren’t moving. Stationery is something you write on.
24. Then/Than- “Then” is another word for “after.” Incidentally, the word “then” makes for boring writing. “Than” is a comparative word (e.g. I am smarter than you).
25. There/Their/They’re- There are few things as frustrating as when I look at my students’ writing and they’re misusing these words in their writing.
26. Unique- Something can’t be “kind of unique” or even “very unique.” It’s either one-of-a-kind or it isn’t. There is no in between when it comes to unique.
27. Your/You’re- If I had a nickel for every time I saw this one… yeah, you know the rest. “Your” shows ownership and you’re is a contraction meaning “you are.” Get it right.
28. To/Too/Two- Two is a number. “To” is used in instances such as, “I am going to the store.” If you are supposed to use the word “too,” try inserting the word “extra” or “also.” If one of those fits, you need to also add the extra “o” to make “too.”
29. Lie/Lay- After you lay the books on the table, go lie down on the couch.
30. Sit/Set- Set your drink on the table and sit in your chair. Got it?
31. Whose/Who’s- Whose is the possessive form of who. Who’s is a contraction meaning “who is.”
32. Allude/Elude- When someone alludes to something in conversation (indirectly references), if you aren’t paying attention the meaning may elude you (escape you).
Which misused words drive you crazy? Share them in the replies.
12 comments
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May 7, 2009 at 5:04 am
Neil
The word ‘enthusiasm’ etymologically speaking means literally (heh) being taken over by God. So you are possessed by the god of grammar.
May 7, 2009 at 7:43 am
novelwhore
Neil – Thanks for the “enlightenment” – I am sure there are worse things to be possessed by, though I wish my God of Grammar would spread his/her wings and possess more people!!!
May 7, 2009 at 6:18 am
OUB
Thanks for the guidelines. I sometimes always get them exactly correct and I often never get them perfectly wrong.
May 7, 2009 at 11:51 am
Erin
The ones that drive me most nuts aren’t on here … I get very, very bugged by people typing “yea” instead of “yeah”. “Yea” should only be used if you’re a character in Shakespeare.
The other one doesn’t really belong on this list, but it bugs me nonetheless: when people don’t put spaces where they should — e.g., “I need to setup my computer.” No, you need to *set up* your computer. Just like you need to make up and exam (however, the exam could be called a makeup exam).
Ooh, another one is “irregardless” … don’t even get me started on that.
May 8, 2009 at 5:13 am
OUB
Past history makes my skin crawl and I usually scream.
May 8, 2009 at 8:19 am
Josh
The way that I always remember the difference between ‘desert’ and ‘dessert’ is that the latter has two S’s and that makes me think “there’s always room for seconds of dessert!”
Now that I’ve written that out it really makes no sense. Damn middle-school education.
May 10, 2009 at 4:33 pm
scholarslip
Who/Whom and Good/Well, of course! I can’t believe they’re not on this list.
May 11, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Marilyn Brant
All these years of reading, and I still have to resort to tricks to remember the lie/lay distinction… Loved the list!
BTW, I’m with scholarslip on this–good/well misuse drives me insane :). Oh! And so does using “I” for the object of a sentence instead of “me.”
May 12, 2009 at 12:44 pm
John R
There / their / they’re frustrates me beyond belief!
May 21, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Shawn
“Since” and “As.” I see it a lot.
May 24, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Twitter
Enormity.
Enormity refers to a great evil. The enormity of the Nazi movement.
It does NOT refer to something large.
Although, modern usage is condoning it to mean immensity.
See Dictionary.com
Usage note:
3. Enormity has been in frequent and continuous use in the sense “immensity” since the 18th century: The enormity of the task was overwhelming. Some hold that enormousness is the correct word in that sense and that enormity can only mean “outrageousness” or “atrociousness”: The enormity of his offenses appalled the public. Enormity occurs regularly in edited writing with the meanings both of great size and of outrageous or horrifying character, behavior, etc. Many people, however, continue to regard enormity in the sense of great size as nonstandard.
November 23, 2009 at 7:53 am
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