Image: Rodrigo Muniz @ Flickr
Hi, my name is Kevin and I’m an English major.
Worse yet, I actually taught high school English for a few years before going to grad school and subsequently entering the business world. These things, coupled with my love for the language, has made me a bit of a purist when it comes to grammar and usage; I’m sure there’s some sort of 12 step program for folks like me.
Every day I cringe when I hear newscasters mangle the language - or see typos in the crawlers at the bottom of the screen on CNN and other networks, or in the local newspaper.
Additionally, and I know I’ll sound like a grammar snob but it’s true, some of my acquaintances routinely misuse common words and expressions. Particularly popular around here are “That’s a mute point,” “irregardless,” and a weird Nebraskan colloquialism, “That needs (fixed) (revised) (painted.)” What happened to the words “to be” in this sentence?? e.g., “That needs to be fixed,” etc. I don’t get it.
Yesterday a colleague, knowing I have an issue with poor grammar and usage, sent me a list of 41 common misuses of words and expressions compiled by the staff at JustSell.com. Here it is in its entirety… please, if you are making any of these mistakes, try to avoid them in the future:
| Correct | Incorrect | |
| all intents and purposes | all intensive purposes | The phrase all intents and purposes is a shortening of the legal phrase “all intents, constructions and purposes.” The phrase denotes every practical sense. |
| a lot |
alot | “Alot” is not a word. The correct form “a lot” is two words, but it’s still a vague and rather homely phrase. So don’t use “a lot” a lot. |
| band together | ban together | A group of people will band together, or collectively gather; ban together does not mean to assemble as a group. |
| barbed wire | barb wire | Barbed wire is commonly referred to as barb wire in certain dialects; however, barbed wire is preferred in formal writing. |
| bide one’s time | buy one’s time | When you bide your time you are waiting patiently to do something. You can bide your time until you can buy more things, but time unfortunately is not for sale. |
| buck naked | butt naked | A buck originally referred to an overly–dressed, pretentious man and the phrase buck naked originated from this. Students might dream about showing up buck naked to class, not butt naked. |
| calm, cool and collected | Calm, cool and collective | Collective implies a group, so unless you’re with an unusually peaceful assembly of people, you are a calm, cool and collected individual. |
| canned goods | can goods | Canned is an adjective meaning preserved. Can goods be canned? Yes, they’re called canned goods. |
| case in point | case and point | A case in point is an example that illustrates the topic being discussed. The English language is full of misused phrases. Case in point – people incorrectly say case and point. |
| champing at the bit | chomping at the bit | Champing at the bit implies an eagerness or anxiousness to do something and impatience at being held back; chomping at the bit is considered acceptable to say, by some. |
| contemporary | modern | To describe the present age or moment, “contemporary” is the best, most specific word. “Modern” can be confusing because in addition to its widely known uses, it also denotes a historical period (roughly 1800–1940). |
| converse | conversate | To converse is to hold a conversation or talk with someone. Conversate is a back formation of the noun conversation, and isn’t a word. |
| corroborating evidence | collaborating evidence | Corroborating evidence is testimony that’s in agreement with or strengthens prior testimony. Collaboration is when people work together. |
| cost him his job | caused him his job | Cost means to require the loss of something tangible (a direct object), like a job. Caused means to be the cause of or bring about a result (an action), like being fired. Excessive tardiness caused Ed’s boss to fire him; always being late cost him his job. |
| couldn’t care less | could care less | If you could care less, it means you still care. Couldn’t care less signifies an utter lack of interest. |
| cut and dried | cut and dry | Something that is cut and dried is arranged beforehand and not open to change. Cut and dry shows up in some dictionaries, but isn’t the dominant modern usage. |
| deep seated | deep seeded | Emotions you feel strongly are deeply seated. Seeded refers to distributing contestants in a tournament so that the best players or teams are not matched in early rounds. Tennis players are seeded; things you firmly believe are seated. |
| doesn’t jibe | doesn’t jive | Jibe means to be in agreement or accord with something; jive is slang for foolish or exaggerated talk. Jive talk doesn’t jibe with established office etiquette. |
| dog–eat–dog world | doggy–dog world | A dog–eat–dog world implies a world where people watch out for their own interests and fight only for themselves. Doggy dog is only correct when you’re talking about a rapper or a doggy day care. |
| duct tape | duck tape | Duct tape was originally called duck tape because it was waterproof and green. When the color was changed from green to sliver to match the ductwork it was being used to fix, people started calling it duct tape, which is the primary phrase used today. |
| espresso | expresso | Espresso is a highly caffeinated coffee drink. The mispronunciation “expresso” makes your barista roll her eyes. |
| every day | everyday | “Every day” denotes each day. If you’re looking for a word that means usual or typical, “everyday” is the adjectival form. So if you go to the gym every day, your everyday activities include going to the gym. |
| fill the bill | fit the bill | Fill the bill originally described when small acts filled up a show’s bill for the night to supplement the main attraction, and has come to mean that something meets certain requirements or rounds something out nicely. Fit the bill does not mean to serve a particular purpose and shouldn’t be used. |
| give up the ghost | give up the goat | To give up the ghost means to die, or in the case of inanimate objects, to stop working; it’s a Biblical reference. People incorrectly say something has given up the goat when it refuses to work anymore. |
| home in on | hone in on | To home in on something is to target it, or set your sights on it and zero in. Hone refers to sharpening something, like skills. Scientists hone their research skills as they home in on cures for diseases. |
| mashed potatoes | mash potatoes | Mashed potatoes are what you serve with dinner. You mash potatoes until they become mashed potatoes. |
| mischievous | mischievious | Mischievous means causing mischief and inclined to annoy with playful tricks. Mischievous has only three syllables, not four like the more popular (and incorrect) mischievious. |
| nip it in the bud | nip it in the butt | When you nip a flower in the bud, you are stopping it from flowering. When you want to stop an action from fully developing, you nip it in the bud, not the butt. |
| prerogative | perogative | A prerogative is an exclusive right or privilege. It’s nobody’s prerogative to mispronounce it as ‘perogative.’ |
| regardless | irregardless | Regardless means without regard to objections or in spite of something. The suffix “less” makes the word negative; adding the prefix “ir” turns the word into a double negative. |
| rife with | ripe with | Rife means widespread and abounding, and ripe means fully prepared and ready. You can be ripe, or ready, for action, but you are rife with enthusiasm, not ‘ripe with.’ |
| set foot | step foot | Set foot is the traditional expression you should use when you are refusing to enter the same location twice. |
| sixth sense | sick sense | A sixth sense is an intuitive hunch or instinct, or the ability to perceive things beyond the five physical senses. This extrasensory perception could alert you before you fall ill, but it is not a sick sense. |
| skim milk | skin milk | Skim milk is milk from which the cream has been skimmed, or removed. There is no skin in milk. |
| spigot | spicket | A faucet is a spigot, not a spicket. Spicket is not a word. |
| statute of limitations | statue of limitations | A statute of limitations is an established rule limiting the amount of time that can elapse before legal action is taken. Statute should not be confused with statue, a carved figure. |
| supposedly | supposably | Supposedly means believed or reputed to be the case. There’s not an “a” or a “b” in this word. |
| take a different tack | take a different tact | Tack refers to a change in a boats direction – to take a different tack means to change course, or try another approach. Tact is the delicate perception of the right thing to do or say without offending. |
| tenterhooks | tender hooks | A tenterhook is a nail used to stretch canvas, and to be on tenterhooks is to be in a state of anxious suspense, or tense like a stretched canvas. Tender hooks doesn’t make much sense but sounds enough like tenter to be confusing. |
| tongue in cheek | tongue and cheek | To say something in a humorously ironic or kidding way is to say it with tongue in cheek, not tongue and cheek. |
| worst comes to worst | worse comes to worse | If worst comes to worst then the worst possible thing has happened. A more modern variation is if “worse comes to worst,” but it’s wrong to say if “worse comes to worse.” |
If you’d like to see other “smart talk” features at JustSell, click on this link; many thanks to Catherine Baab-Muguira of JustSell.com for granting me permission to reproduce this list.
Using the language properly isn’t quite was it used to be, but it still matters. If you’re interviewing, chatting with the company president or making a presentation, it matters. By which I mean to say, it’s hardly “mute!”
Thanks for listening… I feel better already! 
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July 28th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Thanks for this. I see myself saying, “could care less” too much. I’ll have to put a stop to that!
July 30th, 2008 at 2:38 am
Interesting, ever since I’ve been online and come across “could care less” I assumed it was an Americanism.
Glad you’ve got tenterhooks in there because that irks me too.
I’ve a feeling you’re going to feel like King Canute, though, with your campaign!