Common Usage Errors Almost Done

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Common Usage ErrorsAlmost Done

• 81-100

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81. ADVICE/ADVISE

• Advice is the noun, advise the verb. When Ann
  Landers advises people, she gives them advice.

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82. AESTHETIC/ASCETIC

• People often encounter these two words first in
  college, and may confuse one with the other
  although they have almost opposite connotations.
  Aesthetic (also spelled esthetic) has to do
  with beauty, whereas ascetic has to do with
  avoiding pleasure, including presumably the
  pleasure of looking at beautiful things.
• St. Francis had an ascetic attitude toward life,
  whereas Oscar Wilde had an esthetic attitude
  toward life.

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83. ALL READY/ALREADY

• All ready is a phrase meaning completely
  prepared, as in As soon as I put my coat on,
  Ill be all ready. Already, however, is an
  adverb used to describe something that has
  happened before a certain time, as in What do
  you mean youd rather stay home? Ive already got
  my coat on.

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84. AMBIGUOUS/AMBIVALENT

• Even though the prefix ambi- means both,
  ambiguous has come to mean unclear,
  undefined, while ambivalent means torn
  between two opposing feelings or views. If your
  attitude cannot be defined into two polarized
  alternatives, then youre ambiguous, not
  ambivalent.

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85. AMORAL/IMMORAL

• Amoral is a rather technical word meaning
  unrelated to morality. When you mean to
  denounce someones behavior, call it immoral.

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86. COARSE/COURSE

• Coarse is always an adjective meaning rough,
  crude. Unfortunately, this spelling is often
  mistakenly used for a quite different word,
  course, which can be either a verb or a noun
  (with several different meanings).

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87. DEVICE/DEVISE

• Device is a noun. A can-opener is a device.
  Devise is a verb. You can devise a plan for
  opening a can with a sharp rock instead. Only in
  law is devise properly used as a noun, meaning
  something deeded in a will.

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88. ENVIOUS/JEALOUS

• Although these are often treated as synonyms,
  there is a difference. You are envious of what
  others have that you lack. Jealousy, on the other
  hand, involves wanting to hold on to what you do
  have. You can be jealous of your boyfriends
  attraction to other women, but youre envious of
  your boyfriends CD collection.

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89. FAIR/FARE

• When you send your daughter off to camp, you hope
  shell fare well. Thats why you bid her a fond
  farewell. Fair as a verb is a rare word meaning
  to smooth a surface to prepare it for being
  joined to another.

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90. HIPPIE/HIPPY

• A long-haired 60s flower child was a hippie.
  Hippy is an adjective describing someone with
  wide hips. The IE is not caused by a Y changing
  to IE in the plural as in puppy and puppies.
  It is rather a dismissive diminutive, invented by
  older, more sophisticated hipsters looking down
  on the new kids as mere hippies. Confusing
  these two is definitely unhip.

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91. FOUL/FOWL

• A chicken is a fowl. A poke in the eye is a foul.

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92. INSTALL/INSTILL

• People conjure up visions of themselves as
  upgradable robots when they write things like My
  Aunt Tillie tried to install the spirit of giving
  in my heart. The word they are searching for is
  instill. You install equipment, you instill
  feelings or attitudes.

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93. PATIENCE/PATIENTS

• Doctors have patients, but while youre waiting
  to see them you have to have patience.

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94. SARCASTIC/IRONIC

• Not all ironic comments are sarcastic. Sarcasm is
  meant to mock or wound. Irony can be amusing
  without being maliciously aimed at hurting
  anyone.

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95. TAKEN BACK/TAKEN ABACK

• When youre startled by something, youre taken
  aback by it. When youre reminded of something
  from your past, youre taken back to that time.

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96. TIMBER/TIMBRE

• You can build a house out of timber, but that
  quality which distinguishes the sound produced by
  one instrument or voice from others is timbre,
  usually pronounced TAM-bruh, so the common
  expression is vocal timbre.

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97. AVOCATION/VOCATION

• Your avocation is just your hobby dont mix it
  up with your job your vocation.

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98. CORE/CORPS/CORPSE

• Apples have cores. A corps is an organization,
  like the Peace Corps. A corpse is a dead body, a
  carcass.

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99. CRESCENDO/CLIMAX

• When something is growing louder or more intense,
  it is going through a crescendo (from an Italian
  word meaning growing). Traditionalists object
  to its use when you mean climax. A crescendo of
  cheers by an enthusiastic audience grows until it
  reaches a climax, or peak. Crescendo as a verb
  is common, but also disapproved by many
  authorities. Instead of the orchestra
  crescendos, write the orchestra plays a
  crescendo.

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100. DISINTERESTED/UNINTERESTED

• A bored person is uninterested. Do not confuse
  this word with the much rarer disinterested,
  which means objective, neutral.