Similar words

Sometimes you think you're saying one thing, but you're really saying something else. Here are a few examples.

Apprise = inform.  Appraise = determine the value of.

Keep me apprised. I don't need to be appraised, thanks.

Regard = attention.  Regards = greetings.

In regard to the matter at hand .  .  ..    Regards are appreciated but irrelevant.

Imminent = about to happen.  Eminent = prominent and respected.

We may have an imminent problem, but it's not eminent.

Principal = most important.  Principle = underlying rule.

Our principal problem and our principle problem are two different things.

There are many more.

Appears or is displayed

Most procedures in user guides contain steps that look like this:

. . .

3. Click Add.

   The Add User dialog box appears.

4. . . .    

I've heard that some experts claim "appears" suggests something magical and insist on saying ". . . dialog box is displayed." The reason is silly and the gratuitous passive voice expression that results is annoying.

Users are easier to write for than the user

You can solve a lot of problems relating to "gender neutrality" simply by using plural subjects. 

For example, "The File menu enables users to maintain their files" works well, while writing the same thing for "the user" leads to awkward sentences like "The File menu enables the user to maintain his/her/its files" or the ear-grating "The File menu enables the user to maintain their files."

Hyphens

Twelve years ago the members of the copyediting-L list engaged in an exercise to resolve, or at least clarify, some disputed issues. First we identified issues, then we assigned people to advocate on each side of each issue. 

I argued then against hyphenating the word "email," but the majority on the list wanted to give the hyphenated version more time to evolve into the unhyphenated version. Well, they've had plenty of time, but the same people who never hyphenated the word (Sun, Wired, and many others) still don't, and the ones who advocated hyphens (Microsoft and the "mainstream" publishers) still use them.

I say it's time to give the hyphens a rest and agree to spell comon terms like email and website solid.

Useless words

I don't remember who first suggested this, but somewhere along the line -- years ago -- I read the suggestion that you can always improve your sentences -- with no change in meaning -- by omitting every instance of the word "very." 

Since then I've never come across a sentence that was better with "very" than without.

This applies to other imprecise adverbs like "extremely" or "quite." 

I wonder what other words are useless.

Why I started this blog

When you say something that makes people do a double take, they may suddenly find you less credible. Most people use infelicitous expressions because nobody has ever (or at least recently) pointed out the effect they have on listeners or readers. 

For example, since his election, I have heard Barack Obama refer more than once to "the enormity" of the problems facing the US economy. As a former head of the Harvard Law Review, he ought to know better -- unless he means something different from what I think he means.

Another thing that puzzles me is why so many people in the last few decades have become confused by the phrase " is one of." What follows that phrase should be a definition of the group that the subject belongs to. Such definitions almost always involve plural verb forms (for example, "the people who keep their opinions to themselves"). Every day, I hear people who have presumably gone through journalism school say things like "John McCain is one of those people who puts country first." Obviously, that should be "people who put country first." Thirty years ago, nobody would have made that error.

Many things grate on my ear simply because of my upbringing. I know that "dove" for "dived" is a regionalism, but my grade school teachers drilled into me that saying "dove" was evidence of ignorance.  Saying "wait on" for "wait for" falls into that category  too, but my grade school teacher never mentioned "wait on." Until I came to California, I thought the only meaning of "wait on" was "serve," as in a restaurant.

Using "loan" for "lend" also grates on my ear. It falls somewhere between ignorance and regionalism -- where the region in question is Wall Street. It's so common now, we might as well just call it correct and forget about the distinction altogether. But I still hear the difference.

The one I'll never accept -- no matter how common it becomes -- is using "lay" for "lie." When you hear about someone "laying low" or getting the" lay of the land," think of it this way. If you hit a golf ball and it comes to rest in an advantageous position, that's a good ---- (fill in lie or lay).