Be Impeccable: Commonly Misused Phrases That Will Make You Sound Ignorant

Another common one is "underlying" versus "underlining".

[quote author=http://grammarist.com/usage/underlie-or-underline/]
To underline something can be to literally mark a line under it, or it can be used figuratively as a way to stress or emphasize a point.

To underlie something is to literally be under it, or the term can be used figuratively as the cause of something or the source of it. This is most commonly found in the present participle form of underlying, as in the underlying cause.

Side note: The past tense of underlie is underlay and the past participle is underlain.[/quote]
 
dugdeep said:
Side note: The past tense of underlie is underlay and the past participle is underlain.
.... the best solution is to find a less convoluted synonym.

A common mistake that occurs in writing is to spell "of course" (as in yes of course) as "of coarse" or "off course", the latter of which means something like being on the wrong way.
 
From article on SOTT: https://www.sott.net/article/369663-Lavrov-Washington-looking-for-excuse-to-destroy-North-Korea-Russia-is-ready-but-advocates-diplomatic-solution

SOTT comments with incorrectly used apostrophes:

"Unlike the US, Russia has been doing everything in it's power to negotiate peacefully with North Korea: Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping pledge to peacefully deal with North Korea."

"However it's Washington makes it difficult for Russia (and China) to negotiate when North Korea is one of it's targets in it's propaganda war."

Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive of the pronoun. Grammarist.com says: Most English speakers are comfortable with the difference between its and it’s, yet even the most careful writers mix them up in careless moments. Such errors are typos, not grammar mistakes (there is a difference), and can usually be stamped out with a quick proofread. None of us is immune to these mistakes, so let’s not be too hard on people who make the occasional its/it’s slip-up.

In light of the seriousness of the article and the world in general, why did this pop out at me? Just my pet peeve. :headbash:
 
SevenFeathers said:
From article on SOTT: https://www.sott.net/article/369663-Lavrov-Washington-looking-for-excuse-to-destroy-North-Korea-Russia-is-ready-but-advocates-diplomatic-solution

SOTT comments with incorrectly used apostrophes:

"Unlike the US, Russia has been doing everything in it's power to negotiate peacefully with North Korea: Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping pledge to peacefully deal with North Korea."

"However it's Washington makes it difficult for Russia (and China) to negotiate when North Korea is one of it's targets in it's propaganda war."

Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive of the pronoun. Grammarist.com says: Most English speakers are comfortable with the difference between its and it’s, yet even the most careful writers mix them up in careless moments. Such errors are typos, not grammar mistakes (there is a difference), and can usually be stamped out with a quick proofread. None of us is immune to these mistakes, so let’s not be too hard on people who make the occasional its/it’s slip-up.

In light of the seriousness of the article and the world in general, why did this pop out at me? Just my pet peeve. :headbash:

Thanks. Fixed.
 
What helps me with knowing when to put an apostrophe in a word to signify a conjunction of two words or not (such as its and it's, or your and you're, is to say the word as if it was the two words separately and see how that fits in with the sentence. For example:

"The cup has its (or it's) own place." Now how would that sentence look if you said, "The up has it is own place."? So obviously, one would not use the apostrophe.

It can work in reverse, too. "Your going to the movies?" If we mentally break down what we are trying to say, then, since there is no apostrophe, it cannot say "You are going to the movies?" which is what the question is asking.

fwiw
 
Another article along this same line appeared today:

Ten Misused Words That Make Smart People Look Stupid
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ten-misused-words-make-smart-people-look-stupid-dr-travis-bradberry/

Ironic vs. Coincidental - A lot of people get this wrong. If you break your leg the day before a ski trip, that’s not ironic—it’s coincidental (and bad luck).

Ironic has several meanings, all of which include some type of reversal of what was expected. Verbal irony is when a person says one thing but clearly means another. Situational irony is when a result is the opposite of what was expected. O. Henry was a master of situational irony. In “The Gift of the Magi,” Jim sells his watch to buy combs for his wife’s hair, and she sells her hair to buy a chain for Jim’s watch. Each character sold something precious to buy a gift for the other, but those gifts were intended for what the other person sold. That is true irony.

If you break your leg the day before a ski trip, that’s coincidental. If you drive up to the mountains to ski, and there was more snow back at your house, that’s ironic.

Affect vs. Effect - To make these words even more confusing than they already are, both can be used as either a noun or a verb.

Let’s start with the verbs. Affect means to influence something or someone; effectmeans to accomplish something. “Your job was affected by the organizational restructuring” but “These changes will be effected on Monday.”

As a noun, an effect is the result of something: “The sunny weather had a huge effecton sales.” It’s almost always the right choice because the noun affect refers to an emotional state and is rarely used outside of psychological circles: “The patient’s affectwas flat.”

Lie vs. Lay - We’re all pretty clear on the lie that means an untruth. It’s the other usage that trips us up. Lie also means to recline: “Why don’t you lie down and rest?” Layrequires an object: “Lay the book on the table.” Lie is something you can do by yourself, but you need an object to lay.

It’s more confusing in the past tense. The past tense of lie is—you guessed it—lay: “I lay down for an hour last night.” And the past tense of lay is laid: “I laid the book on the table.”

Accept vs. Except - These two words sound similar but have very different meanings. Accept means to receive something willingly: “His mom accepted his explanation” or “She accepted the gift graciously.” Except signifies exclusion: “I can attend every meeting except the one next week.”

To help you remember, note that both except and exclusion begin with ex.

Bring vs. Take - Bring and take both describe transporting something or someone from one place to another, but the correct usage depends on the speaker’s point of view. Somebody brings something to you, but you take it to somewhere else: “Bring me the mail, then take your shoes to your room.”

Just remember, if the movement is toward you, use bring; if the movement is away from you, use take.
 
Lately, I've seen a few people using "whoa" in place of "woe" in the sentence, "Woe is me." I've always said "woe" so I decided to look it up and see which is correct.

It seems that it is "Woe is me."

Is it woe is me or whoa is me?
Woe is me is a phrase that means I am distressed or troubles have befallen me. Whoa is me is a mistake based on the pronunciations of whoa and woe.

I found it on this site: Woe Is Me vs. Whoa Is Me – Which is Correct? - Writing Explained
 
But then "whoa" or "whoah" can mean "Wow" or "stop the train". So context is everything.
 
I've heard all of these but I didn't realize how many there were. This reminds me of a comment made to me by a client when I was working in an architectural firm. It actually contained four commonly-mispronounced words. This was her introductory statement to me: "I'm a deacon at the African-Epistobal Church and our alunimum roof has been leaking down the chimley into our church libary."!

Here's a few more misused words I can recall at the moment:

Butt naked vs. buck naked
The standard expression is “buck naked,” and the contemporary “butt naked” is an error that will get you laughed at in some circles. However, it might be just as well if the new form were to triumph. Originally a “buck” was a dandy, a pretentious, overdressed show-off of a man. Condescendingly applied in the US to Native Americans and black slaves, it quickly acquired negative connotations. To the historically aware speaker, “buck naked” conjures up stereotypical images of naked “savages” or—worse—slaves laboring naked on plantations. Consider using the alternative expression “stark naked.” butt | Common Errors in English Usage and More | Washington State University

Foundering vs. floundering
To flounder is to struggle, but to founder is to sink like a stone and fail. Both are fun as nouns, not so fun as verbs. ... But it all falls apart when they're verbs — if you're floundering, you're struggling. If you're foundering, you're failing completely.

Alot vs. a lot
A commonly made error in English is the mixing up of the words alot, allot and a lot. In fact, the word "alot" does not even exist.

A nother vs. another
I heard this said often, "and a nother thing that bothered me". Maybe it's just in the South where people draw out their words and sentences. It'd be interesting to see if these folks wrote it correctly.

Notate vs. note; conversate vs. converse

This one is understandable since these are attempts to extract a verb from the noun form of the words (e.g. notate from notation; conversate from conversation) in the same way as done with other words (e.g. discuss from discussion or instruct from instruction).
 
Another article along this same line appeared today:

Ten Misused Words That Make Smart People Look Stupid
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ten-misused-words-make-smart-people-look-stupid-dr-travis-bradberry/

Ironic vs. Coincidental - A lot of people get this wrong. If you break your leg the day before a ski trip, that’s not ironic—it’s coincidental (and bad luck).

Ironic has several meanings, all of which include some type of reversal of what was expected. Verbal irony is when a person says one thing but clearly means another. Situational irony is when a result is the opposite of what was expected. O. Henry was a master of situational irony. In “The Gift of the Magi,” Jim sells his watch to buy combs for his wife’s hair, and she sells her hair to buy a chain for Jim’s watch. Each character sold something precious to buy a gift for the other, but those gifts were intended for what the other person sold. That is true irony.

If you break your leg the day before a ski trip, that’s coincidental. If you drive up to the mountains to ski, and there was more snow back at your house, that’s ironic.

Chemical attacks in Syria continue to appear coincidental. I guess the US foreign policy yields ironic results? :-P

Another trap I commonly see is Defiantly vs. Definitively

"I defiantly use the incorrect pronunciation of definitely in my emails"
 
I've noticed that use of "defiantly" when I know that the person meant "definitely" and I think it is most often just bad spelling or typo. Surely they are pronouncing "definitely" in their heads? Defiant is pronounced quite differently.
 
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Keit recommended the Grammar Girl awhile back. I got one of her books and review it any now and then. She boils down basic grammar rules, commonly misused words and punctuation in a way that is very easy to remember. She is very entertaining as well. Whenever there is a debate, she summarizes the authoritative literature and grammatical trends of the last years, as well as the consensus. She also explains what the Brits and Americans prefer. I realized that there were certain verbs that I thought were incorrect. For instance,"dreamt". Mystery resolved, it is one of those cultural differences. She also shares interesting data, e.g. some foreigners living in America often use certain verbs in a better context than Americans.

My English might be suboptimal, but it is difficult to misuse certain words that are translated from Latin or that I know very well from Spanish, French or Italian.

https://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Girls-Quick-Better-Writing/dp/0805088318

Her articles and podcasts can be found here:

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips – Complete Archive of Posts & Podcasts
 
She also explains what the Brits and Americans prefer.

At times while writing, I came across the differences between how Brits and Americans spell. I remember colour (British) and color (North-American). There's also a difference in nouns/verbs. I remember Jenn telling me that she's going to get the hoover, and I had to think for a second, as I didn't know what she was referring to. After her explanation, I understood she meant the vacuum cleaner. It's funny to see the differences :-) I found a few examples here: British Vs American English: 100+ Differences Illustrated
 
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