Comments on: The Triple Threat of ‘Sures’

By: Andy Knoedler

Andy Knoedler — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:23:54 +0000

I was puzzled when living in the UK to hear the word “assurance” used in contexts where I wouild use “insurance”. Here is the Oxford University Press’ definition of “assurance”:

• noun 1 a positive declaration intended to give confidence. 2 confidence or certainty in one’s own abilities. 3 chiefly Brit. life insurance.

— USAGE In the context of life insurance, a technical distinction is made between assurance and insurance. Assurance is used of policies under whose terms a payment is guaranteed, either after a fixed term or on the death of the insured person; insurance is the general term, and is used in particular of policies under whose terms a payment would be made only in certain circumstances (e.g. accident or death within a limited period).

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:47:26 +0000

As a Brit who writes for an American audience I find these postings fascinating.

Until this post I to had no idea that insure and ensure could have the same meaning in American English. I always assumed such usage was an error.

On this side of the pond there is not much confusion about how to use insure, ensure and assure – so was initially surprised by the post – but now it all makes sense.

By: David

David — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:50:11 +0000

I recently corrected an Insurance Salesman friend of mine for using the word ‘insure’ in what I claimed was an ‘ensure’ use. A debate ensued, and when he defined ‘insure’ as an action taken related to an anticipated, undesired conclusion, I decided I needed to be more flexible.

By: Eric C

Eric C — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:56:24 +0000

Grammar girl has a great podcast on these tricky words.

By: Cynthia Price

Cynthia Price — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:49:53 +0000

I enjoyed this post. I’d like to see it taken a step further. I and others stuggle with how to avoid the word “ensure.” It seems there should be a way to write the sentence more concretely, but we always come back to statements such as “We ensure the safety of the children.” Or this, “We ensure that they are on the right path for future growth.”

Any suggestions would be appreciated.