Native English speakers frequently make mistakes with the irregular verbs run and drink, even in contexts that call for standard usage: Woman arrested on manslaughter charge; man was ran over by car he was fixing. – Albany Democrat-Herald The pair are believed to have ran up an estimated £3,000 credit card bill after they sneaked … Read more
In a recent post, Don’t Do Due Diligence, I used the word Realtor as if it were a generic word for “real estate agent”: Not so very long ago, the only people I heard talk about “due diligence” were realtors. I should have caught myself on that. Realtor–with a capital–is the legally recognized trademark of … Read more
When I received not one, but three emails telling me that I’d punctuated a sentence with because incorrectly, I decided I’d better write a post about adverbial clauses of reason. Here’s the example that drew the criticism: Incorrect: The famous author lives in a small town, because she doesn’t like the noise of a big … Read more
A local public service announcement invites listeners to telephone for further information “about spay and neutering.” A Web search finds numerous examples of the verb spay joined with the participle form: This vet clinic in SW Portland offers low-cost spay and neutering for cats and dogs. Pet Spay and Neutering Program–Just Fix It [USDA] provides … Read more
A reader is confused about this expression: Kindly explain the usage and difference, if any, of “at a crossroad,” “at crossroads” and similar phrases. Literally, a crossroad is a road that crosses another. “A crossroad” is the place where two or more roads intersect. “A crossroads” is also the place where roads intersect. In remote … Read more
A circle is a perfectly round plane figure. The fact that a circle may be drawn from beginning to end without a break makes it a powerful symbol. The word circle occurs in many English idioms, often as a symbol of wholeness or repetition. 1. the circle of life: the cycle of reproduction and survival, … Read more
A reader is curious about the expression “to take in stride”: What exactly does it mean and where does the expression come from? The verb stride is one of those lovely old words to survive from Old English. As an intransitive verb, stride means “to walk with long or extended steps.” The word connotes confidence … Read more
Two words that many English speakers confuse are past and passed. The confusion between past and passed is understandable because they sound the same: [past]. The spellings have been confused for centuries, but modern speakers who have access to free dictionaries and universal public education may be expected to master the difference. Passed is the … Read more