A reader asks, Can the words jail and prison be used interchangeably? In colloquial usage, the words jail and prison are often used interchangeably in reference to any place where people are locked up for a legal offense. Jail is the usual choice when speaking of imprisonment in the abstract. For example: A man like that … Read more
In current usage, penance is associated with spiritual practice as a form of self-imposed punishment: penance noun: The performance of some act of self-mortification or the undergoing of some penalty as an expression of sorrow for sin or wrongdoing. When the word penance came into English from Anglo-Norman, it applied to secular punishments as well … Read more
A reader feels there’s a difference between the words minimize and reduce: Writers often use “minimize” to mean “reduce.” To minimize something is to reduce it to the smallest amount or degree. To “reduce” something is simply to make it smaller. He offers two examples of perceived misuse of the word minimize and draws a … Read more
Strolling along Internet Boulevard one morning, I encountered more than the usual quota of misspelled-words-per-minute. INCORRECT: My level of stress is nothing compared to your personal battles with illness and other life hurtles. CORRECT : My level of stress is nothing compared to your personal battles with illness and other life hurdles. hurtle verb: to … Read more
The phrases “center around” (US) and “centre round” (Br) are often heard in speech and seen in writing on the Web: Other concerns centered around decreased property values.—Book published by SUNY Press, 2004. Our concerns center around response time to our emergency rooms.—Statement issued by a Florida medical center. The main issues centre round the high level … Read more
The error of using despite to introduce a noun clause may be more common with ESL speakers, but plenty of examples can be discovered in the writing of native English speakers. Here are some examples of incorrect use: Many middle-class individuals find that they cannot obtain good medical attention, despite they need it badly. Furthermore, this … Read more
A reader has two questions about the idiom “buck naked”: 1. When did people start saying, “butt naked” instead of “buck naked”? 2. What does “buck naked” mean, anyway? buck naked, adjective: completely unclothed. In Old English, the word that is now spelled buck referred to a male deer. Later, the word also came be … Read more
A reader has asked about the use of these two terms: I was wondering if you would care to comment on the difference between cost-efficient and cost-effective. In both, Oxford and Webster (the free online versions), cost-effective is properly defined while the cost-efficient page points to that of cost-effective. It looks like cost-efficient is a … Read more