Note: An initialism is a group of initial letters, each pronounced separately, used as an abbreviation of a name. Many English speakers who probably use the indefinite article an in front of a vowel when speaking seem to encounter a mental disconnect when it comes to writing. The following examples were found on major news … Read more
A common error with commas is to sprinkle them where they don’t belong. Here are five examples of this type of comma error. 1. Incorrect: The laptop on the table, is mine. Correct: The laptop on the table is mine. Do not separate a subject from its verb. The subject is “The laptop on the … Read more
A reader asks, Could you write a piece on the use of the term “mutually exclusive”? I always get a little befuddled when someone says, “This and that are not mutually exclusive.” I have to stop and do the math to make sure I follow. The expression “mutually exclusive” is used in statistics to refer … Read more
A reader in the UK who grew up hearing the word adaption used in reference to radio and television programs based on books wonders, Where did adaptation come from, since there is no verb adaptate? The earliest OED documentation of the verb adapt is dated 1531. The noun adaptation comes along in 1597, 18 years … Read more
Not so very long ago, the only people I heard talk about “due diligence” were realtors. Due diligence is a legal term that refers to the exercise of proper care and attention to avoid committing an offense through ignorance. For example, a realtor must trace previous ownership and make sure that a property is free … Read more
ESL learners sometimes have difficulty with the uses of the verb do. For example, a reader wonders about the use of the -ing form doing: According to what I have learned, “do” is used with the simple present form of the verb to make a question: “Do you like pizza?” But I have seen “do” … Read more
A reader wonders why some speakers write “most everybody” when what they mean is “almost everybody.” For example: Most everyone agrees that children benefit from living with two caring parents. “Most everyone” is commonly heard in colloquial speech but is avoided in formal speech and writing because most is a superlative. Most refers to the … Read more
My post A Useful Reminder About ‘An’ prompted an outpouring of emails asking, “How about an history or an historic?” Some points of English usage stir strong feelings. Placing the indefinite article “an” in front of the words historical or historic is one of these. Here are some comments prompted by a post I wrote … Read more
Three words often confused are the homonyms there, their, and they’re. Their is a possessive adjective. It always precedes a noun and indicates possession: Is that collie their dog? That cabin is their country residence. They’re is a contraction of the words “they are”: They’re interested in buying your house. Do you know if they’re … Read more
English speakers have yet to agree on a word, phrase or acronym to label the terrorist group making news for such atrocities as beheading noncombatants and butchering unarmed prisoners. A few years ago, American journalists started referring to the group that was calling itself “Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham” as ISIS (Islamic State of … Read more
My recent post on Driver License vs. Driver’s License stirred a discussion about the spellings licence and license. In American usage, the word license is used as both noun and verb: license (noun): permission to act. license (verb): to grant or issue a license to someone, usually after special qualifications have been met. Modern British … Read more
In my reading last night, I discovered a new marriage word: hypergamy [hye-PER-guh-mee]: marriage with a partner of higher social standing. Cinderella’s marriage to the prince is an example of hypergamy. Hypergamy belongs to a group of English words formed with -gamy, a suffix derived from Greek words for husband, wife, and marry. The presence … Read more