I wrote a blog post recently all about incorrectly used words. I thought it would be a fun diversion—at best, titillation for the grammatically inclined.
Readers loved it.
Not only did they share it (a lot), they offered up more great suggestions.
And so, dear reader, I present to you 11 more incorrectly used words that make you look bad (you can thank me in the comments). And if this new list doesn’t levitate your lexicon, you can read the original post here.
#1 COMPLIMENT AND COMPLEMENT
Both compliment and complement sound the same (homonyms), but have very different meanings (like made and maid…but I digress). Compliment is all about giving praise (maybe I should rename my blog’s Comment section as the Compliment section?). Whereas Complement means completing or making something perfect. (hat tip to Jill Hilderman for this suggestion)
#2 INFER AND IMPLY
Question: did you infer that more sales is what’s needed, or did you imply it?
“If you are trying to suggest something by what you have said,” writes reader Virginia Nichols, “you are implying. If you have come to a conclusion based on what you have previously heard, then you are inferring.”
#3 NONE AND NO ONE
This one is controversial. According to reader, Neal of expertmediacoach.com “None (short for no one) is singular (as in none is). Most people use it as a plural (as in none are) because they are incorrectly modifying a prepositional phrase that follows, not the noun. “
But, according to Mignon Fogarty (Grammar Girl), none can be singular (as in “None of the students was wrong” or plural (as in “According to the students, none of them were wrong.”).
#4 LESS AND FEWER
Do you have less potatoes and fewer potato salad? Here’s a simple rule from Grammar Girl: “The traditional advice is that fewer is for things you count, and less is for things you don’t count.” So you ate less potato salad (but you double dipped at the dessert bar). (Thanks to Shirley Nain and Janice Porter for this suggestion)
#5 MYRIAD AND VARIETY
I am guilty of misusing this one: Myriad is only about quantity, as in ‘the myriad stars in the summer night’, and not about variety as in ‘there was a myriad of choices.’ “Myriad comes from the Greek for 10,000 and we don’t say a 1,000 of…” (Clare Edwards)
#6 CENTER AROUND AND CENTER ON
Even though it’s illogical to center around, you get some grace on this one. According to Merriam-Webster “The logic on which the objections are based is irrelevant, since center around is an idiom and idioms have their own logic.
Power to the idioms!
#7 I AND ME
Try this out loud: “It was 2:00 so John and me left for the meeting.” Now try this: “It was 2:00 so John and I left for the meeting.” I’m no grammar expert but “John and me” sounds like it came from Eliza Doolittle, pre-Henry Higgins make over. The trick, I learned (thank you big sister, Noni), is to delete the other person’s name and see if your sentence sounds right. “It was 2:00 so me left for the meeting.” is worse than awkward. (hat tip to Shirley Nain)
#8 BRING AND TAKE
Here’s a tricky one – do you bring home, or take home the bacon? Whether you use bring or take depends on your point of reference. “You ask people to bring things to the place you are, and you take things to the place you are going.” (Grammar Girl).
That’s why getting food to go isn’t called bring-out food!
#9 CONTINUOUSLY AND CONTINUALLY
Are you continuously improving or continually getting better?
Even though both words harken from the same roots, the meaning of continuously and continually are different cousins. Continuously means never ending and hopefully you are continuously improving.
Continually means very often or at regular intervals. That’s why you should be continually reading this blog and continuously practicing what you learn.
#10 DISCREET AND DISCRETE
Here’s another tricky homonym: to be discreet is to be careful, cautious and using good judgment.
Whereas discrete means separate or distinct. When authorities tested discrete neighbourhoods on the now-defunct Ashley Maddison site they tried to keep the results discreet.
#11 EVOKE AND INVOKE
Here’s a slippery one: do you evoke the powers of higher beings or invoke them? Actually, you could do both!
To evoke is to call to mind – a smell, long-lost memory, or names of actors who’ve played Batman since Adam West (Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck).
To invoke is to call for help or maybe a higher power, like when the Mayor lights up the batman spotlight over Gotham City.
Want to go farther and insure a series is continuous? Precede to ad alot of suggestions in the comments (irregardless if you know right usage.) Than myself and me can create another post.
Thanks Hugh,
You always make it easy and fun to pick up the information you have for us. Sunday morning is the perfect time for me to read it because I have fewer (or less?) distractions.
:- )
Thanks Deborah! That is great motivation to keep on writing every week. Thanks for that!
Great column! Thank you.
Here’s another…
Hack vs Tip – This one is driving me up the wall. Lifestyle magazines & websites are now using the word hack, instead of tip. Example, in a column on “Food Hacks” a popular website showed you how to tell if an avocado is ripe by removing the little stem and seeing the color underneath. Depending on the color, you’ll know if it’s ready to eat or not. That’s a tip, not a hack! They also suggested wine and cheese pairings – now how’s that a hack? Granted if you open a bottle of wine with your shoe (that’s a thing, see youtube) or if you clean your toilet with Coca-Cola those are hacks. A hack is to use something in a way it’s not intended, it’s not simply a helpful tip. These editors are constantly using the word hack when they really mean tip.
Niche vs Indie. This is an especially popular term now used in perfume marketing. I often hear the term “niche perfumes”, and it’s just wrong…isn’t it? Niche marketing refers to the user, not the provider. For example, if I made guitars for left handed people, that would be a niche product and I would be a niche marketer. Whenever I hear someone referring to a company making niche perfumes, I can only wonder whom they’re intended for….school teachers, blondes, truck drivers, left handed peopled? What they really mean is perfume not made by large a large company such as Avon, Coty, L’Oreal, etc. but rather a small company with limited production and limited distribution. These companies are generally referred to as “Boutique perfume” or “indie perfumers”, certainly not niche, as anyone can buy them.
Molly – great additions. I’ve never seen the interchanging of niche and indie – have to watch for that one!
Thanks Hugh…..every little or big clarification helps.
I hope mistakes are minor in my this year’s book INSANITY OF WARS
Available at: Insanityofwars.com
A. David Barnes,MD
PS I am willing to show picture slides and discuss.
Happy to help!
Hey Hugh, Fun and useful article. Gotcha! The trick last paragraph to see if we picked up all your faux-pas. I counted 6. Did I get them all amigo?
Hugs,
Shelle
Well let’s see: “Want to go farther (1) and insure (2) a (3) series is continuous (4)? Precede(5) to ad(6) alot(7) of suggestions in the comments (irregardless(8) if you know right usage(9).) Than myself(10) and me(11) can create another post.” I count at least 11, but it seems to keep getting worse 🙂
Excellent read. What a fun article! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Laurel! As fun to write as it is to read.
Hugh here: Sharing a great comment from reader Diana:
Thanks for the fun blog. I love your ideas.
You touched on one of my biggest pet peeves at the end of your second post about grammar. My ‘when-he-was-becoming-unbearably-annoying’ ex-boyfriend thought the use of the “irregardless” made him look important and, ever since that time, it has grated on my nerves.
Also your blog referred to desert, when I think you meant dessert.
Another is a clerk standing in front of me, in real time, asking, “what was your name?” Actually, I’m not dead and gone, I am right here, and my name is Diana Birrell.
More on the wrong use of verbs, this one drives me insane and seems to be prevalent with people from certain geographic regions. It’s almost as if they have deliberately switched all the verbs around, just to see who they can get a rise out of.
He shoulda went
I seen him
I been there
I done it
And “I could of done it”, rather than “I could have”.
When writing, I have to think if I should be using “which is” or “that is”.
I am noticing many more grammatical errors in the Vernon Morning Star these days. I would wager that I will become one of those intolerable bitties in the old folks home. (Or Bitties? Do they command a capital letter?) Must be my British roots showing through.
in #2 you wrote, “But, according to Mignon Fogarty (Grammar Girl), none can be singular (as in “None of the students were wrong” or plural (as in “According to the students, none of them were wrong.”). But did you mean, “But, according to Mignon Fogarty (Grammar Girl), none can be singular (as in “None of the students WAS wrong” or plural (as in “According to the students, none of them were wrong.”).
#4 DESSERT not desert, unless you were deserting the salad bar, to lose weight, or because you were allergic to what was on the salad bar …
Thank you for irregardless – see it even pops up in red so spellcheck even knows it is incorrect!
Insure and ensure – one to guarantee (ensure) and one to financially insure (therefore insurance)
effect (noun) and affect (verb) I affected the outcome. That effect was negative.
Great post!
Thanks Jeanne for your eagle eye – I’ll have to go back and do some editing!
Thanks Hugh, great post – you had me laughing at some of the examples.
“Continuously” actually means “without interruption”. The mathematical use of “Continuous” is similar, meaning a graph of which has a smooth unbroken curve. It’s not about going on forever. In maths the opposite of this is Discrete, meaning “having separate, countable points or values”.