Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends
How new technologies are modifying our way of life


lundi 5 janvier 2004
 

Choosing the right word when you write is always difficult, especially when you're not using your mother tongue. The difference between a *correct* and an *incorrect* word can send your text directly in the trash without having been read. And even this is valid for every kind of writer, it is even more true for a blogger who doesn't have an editor to help him clarifying his thoughts and to pick the appropriate word. So I want to thank Darwin Magazine for this new guide about avoiding mistakes in English, "What Are Words For?"

Here are some examples taken from the original article, starting with a very common mistake..

AMONG: refers to three or more. The prize money was divided among the four winners.
BETWEEN: refers to two. The prize money was divided between the two winners.

And what about this trilogy?

ASSURE: to promise. We can assure you of a great stay in our B&B.
ENSURE: to make certain. You can ensure success by careful planning.
INSURE: to guarantee against loss. Here's how to insure all your valuables with one policy.

Now, when do you use *convince* or *persuade*?

CONVINCE: to win an argument through appeals to logic and intellect. The experiment convinced even the skeptics.
PERSUADE: to win an argument through appeals to emotion. His tears and choked voice persuaded her of his sincerity.

Or when will you write *disc* or *disk*?

DISC: correct spelling for all non-computer references: a compact disc, a herniated disc.
DISK: correct spelling for computer references: a ZIP disk, a floppy disk.

I just checked on my blog, and I found 5 posts with "disc" and 17 with "disk," all appearing to be correct.

Another tough one is the distinction between *everyday* and *every day*.

EVERY DAY: each day. We record the air temperature four times every day.
EVERYDAY: routine. Recording air temperature is an everyday activity for us.

Again checking my site, I found 22 occurrences of "everyday" and 13 of "every day". But I'm sure some are wrong.

I could add more examples, but let's turn to another resource on the Web, "Common Errors in English," maintained by Paul Brians. Let's see what he says about *everytime.*

"Every time" is always two separate words.

Let's close by a final example, which always confuses me a little, "may" or "might"?

Most of the time "might" and "may" are almost interchangeable, with "might" suggesting a somewhat lower probability. You're more likely to get wet if the forecaster says it may rain than if she says it might rain; but substituting one for the other is unlikely to get you into trouble--so long as you stay in the present tense.
But "might" is also the past tense of the auxiliary verb "may," and is required in sentences like "Chuck might have avoided arrest for the robbery if he hadn't given the teller his business card before asking for the money." When speculating that events might have been other than they were, don't substitute "may" for "might."

Paul Brians has gathered many of these common mistakes into a book published by Franklin Beedle & Assoc. in June 2003 and available for $13.

But if your needs don't exceed mine, what is available on the Web is certainly good enough to correctly express yourself.

Sources: Crawford Kilian, Darwin Magazine, December 2003; Paul Brians's Common Errors in English Usage


12:45:19 PM   Permalink   Comments []   Trackback []  


Click here to visit the Radio UserLand website. © Copyright 2004 Roland Piquepaille.
Last update: 01/11/2004; 08:54:18.


January 2004
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
        1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Dec   Feb


Search this blog for

Courtesy of PicoSearch


Supported by
BigFitness.com

If you're tired to read about technology, it's time to take a break.
Try their exercise and fitness equipment.
Read more


Personal Links



Other Links

Ars Technica
Bloglines
BoingBoing
Daily Rotation News
del.icio.us
Engadget
Feedster
Gizmodo
I4U News
Mindjack Daily Relay
Nanodot
Slashdot
Smart Mobs
Techdirt
Technorati


People

Paul Boutin
Dan Gillmor
Lawrence Lessig
Jenny Levine
Karlin Lillington
John Robb
Dolores Tam
Jon Udell
Dave Winer


Drop me a note via Radio
Click here to send an email to the editor of this weblog.

E-mail me directly at
pique@noos.fr

Subscribe to this weblog
Subscribe to "Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends" in Radio UserLand.

XML Version of this page
Click to see the XML version of this web page.