‘Project Smart
English’
Say it Right
32 Incorrectly Used
Words
That Can Make You
Look Bad
(Adapted from an article
by Jeff Haiden on Inc.)
Adverse and averse
Adverse means harmful or unfavorable: "Adverse market conditions
caused the IPO to be poorly subscribed." Averse refers to
feelings of dislike or opposition: "I was averse to paying $18 a share for
a company that generates no revenue."
But you can feel free to
have an aversion to adverse conditions.
Affect and effect
Verbs first. Affect means to influence:
"Impatient investors affected our roll-out date."Effect means
to accomplish something: "The board effected a sweeping policy
change." How you use effect or affect can
be tricky. For example, a board can affect changes by influencing them, or can
effect changes by implementing them. Use effect if you're making it
happen, and affect if you're having an impact on something
someone else is trying to make happen.
As for nouns, effect is almost always correct:
"Once he was fired he was given 20 minutes to gather his personal
effects." Affect refers to an emotional state, so unless
you're a psychologist, you probably should not be using it.
Compliment and complement
Compliment is to say something nice. Complement is to
add to, enhance, improve, complete, or bring close to perfection. So, I can
compliment your staff and their service, but if you have no current openings
you have a full complement of staff. And your new app may complement your
website.
For which I may decide to
compliment you.
Criteria and criterion
"We made the
decision based on one overriding criteria" sounds pretty impressive but is
wrong.
Remember: one criterion, two or more criteria,
although you could always use "reason" or "factors" and not
worry about getting it wrong.
Discreet and discrete
Discreet means careful, cautious, showing good judgment: "We made
discreet inquiries to determine whether the founder was interested in selling
her company."
Discrete means individual, separate, or distinct: "We analyzed
data from a number of discrete market segments to determine overall pricing
levels." And if you get confused, remember you don't use
discretion to work through sensitive issues; you exercise discretion.
Elicit and illicit
Elicit means to draw out or coax. Think of elicit as
the mildest form of extract or, even worse, extort. So if one lucky survey
respondent will win a trip to the Bahamas, the prize is designed to elicit
responses.
Illicit means illegal or unlawful. I suppose you could
"illicit" a response at gunpoint ... but you best not.
Farther and further
Farther involves a physical distance: "Florida is farther from
New York than Tennessee." Further involves a figurative
distance: "We can take our business plan no further." So, as we
say in the South, "I don't trust you any farther than I can throw
you." Or, "I ain't gonna trust
you no further."
Imply and infer
The speaker or writer implies. The listener or
reader infers. Imply means to suggest, while infer means
to deduce (whether correctly or not). So, I might imply you're going to receive
a raise. You might infer that a pay increase is imminent. (But not eminent, unless
the raise will be prominent and distinguished.)
Insure and ensure
This one's easy. Insure refers to insurance. Ensure means
to make sure. So if you promise an order will ship on time, ensure it
actually happens. Unless, of course, you plan to arrange for compensation
if the package is damaged or lost--then feel free to insure away.
Number and amount
I goof these up all the time. Use number when you
can count what you refer to: "The number of subscribers who
opted out increased last month." Amount refers to a
quantity of something that can't be counted: "The amount of alcohol
consumed at our last company picnic was staggering."
Of course it can still be confusing: "I can't believe the
number of beers I drank" is correct, but so is "I can't believe the
amount of beer I drank." The difference is I can count beers, but beer,
especially if I was way too drunk to keep track, is an uncountable total--so amount is
the correct usage.
Precede and proceed
Precede means to come before. Proceed means to begin
or continue. Where it gets confusing is when an ing comes
into play. "The proceeding announcement was brought to you by..."
sounds fine, but preceding is correct since the announcement
came before.
If it helps, think precedence: Anything that takes
precedence is more important and therefore comes first.
Principal and principle
A principle is a fundamental: "We've created
a culture where we all share certain principles." Principal means
primary or of first importance: "Our startup's principal is located in
NYC." (Sometimes you'll also see the plural, principals, used
to refer to executives or (relatively) co-equals at the top of a particular
food chain.)
Principal can also refer to the most important item in a particular
set: "Our principal account makes up 60 percent of our gross
revenues."
Principal can also refer to money, normally a sum that was borrowed,
but can be extended to refer to the amount you owe--hence principal and
interest.
If you're referring to laws, rules, guidelines, ethics, etc.,
use principle. If you're referring to the CEO or the president (or
the individual in charge of the high school), use principal. And
now for those dreaded apostrophes.
It's and its
It's is the contraction of it is. That means it's doesn't
own anything. If your dog is neutered (the way we make a dog, however much
against his or her will, gender neutral), you don't say, "It's collar is
blue." You say, "Its collar is blue." Here's an easy test
to apply. Whenever you use an apostrophe, un-contract the word to see how it
sounds. In this case, turn it's into it is:
"It's sunny" becomes "It is sunny." Sounds good to me.
They're and their
Same with these: They're is the contraction
for they are. Again, the apostrophe doesn't own anything. We're
going to their house, and I sure hope they're home.
Who's and whose
"Whose password hasn't been changed in six months?" is
correct. "Who is (the non contracted version of who's)
password hasn't been changed in six months?" sounds silly.
You're and your
One more. You're is the contraction of you
are. Your means you own it; the apostrophe in you're doesn't
own anything. For a long time a local nonprofit had a huge sign that said
"You're Community Place."
Hmm. "You Are
Community Place"?
Probably not.
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