A reader asks about these three words: I was wondering about the differences between comment, suggestion, and feedback. They often seem to be used interchangeably. I would like to know how to use each word appropriately in different contexts. Here are the relevant definitions of these words in the context of social media: comment … Read more
NOTE: Any spell-check program ought to catch most of these for you. However, the wisest course is to master them yourself. For fun, I did a search for the incorrect version of nine of the ten. I didn’t bother with Number 7 because both its and it’s are valid spellings. The number of hits for … Read more
This week I received an email that contained the phrase “reigning death and destruction on innocent people.” Naturally, I was moved to do a web search to see if other writers were misspelling the phrase “raining death and destruction.” Here is some evidence that some are: INCORRECT: Civil liberties are suppressed for our own good, … Read more
A reader questions the use of ask as a noun: “The ask was unreasonable.” “I realize it’s a big ask, but I’m hoping you can do it.” In these examples, “ask” seems to be a synonym for “request.” Merriam-Webster says “ask” is a verb, but increasingly I hear it used as a noun. Is this use … Read more
A reader asks for clarification regarding the use of the phrase “anyone and everyone” in such sentences as these: Everyone knows they love to talk on the phone to anyone and everyone. Anyone and everyone is [sic] to speak to you on the phone. You will speak to anyone and everyone who might listen. Anyone … Read more
Facebook postings often educate me in current usage. A recent discovery comes from this comment about a television show called Shark Tank: Georges’ caring nature steals the show and the hearts of the judges. It goes to show that character can never be undervalued or underestimated…Props to Paul Mitchell cofounder John Paul DeJoria for recognizing … Read more
Both words, tenant and tenet, derive from the Latin verb tenere, “to hold,” but they are not interchangeable. A tenant is someone who rents or leases a house, apartment, etc. from a landlord. A tenet is a principle, dogma, belief, or doctrine generally held to be true. The following examples of misuse were gathered from … Read more
This post is in response to a reader’s email: Please I want to know the usage of many and much. Both words have more than one function in English, but a common challenge for ESL learners is how to use many and much with countable and uncountable nouns. Countable nouns have singular and plural forms. … Read more
The following comment by a professional journalist set me wondering if I had the wrong idea about the meaning of the adjective consummate: Bernie Sanders is talking real issues. The pundits that are giving Bernie Sanders a bit of coverage, though not consummate to the crowds he is attracting, are noting the authenticity of his … Read more
Two verbs that give many native speakers fits are to lay and to lie. I’ve written more than one post to explain how lay is transitive and lie is intransitive. If you require a review, please use the links at the end of this article. This post focuses on mistaken spellings of the past tense … Read more
Wording in an astrological meme I saw on Facebook prompted this post: People born under the sign of Cancer are very observing. They are very seducing and captivating. I thought it odd to use seducing and not seductive in this context. (I was also bothered by the use of observing instead of observant, but that’s … Read more
The word below is used as a preposition and as an adverb, but never as an attributive adjective. At least, that is what I believed until I received this email from a reader: Have you written about the current use (or, rather, misuse) of “below”? People are saying, “Please read the below information and send … Read more