Choosing Words Carefully

At a corporate training I taught last week, participants asked me to clarify the meaning of the above word pairs.  Since these words seem to perplex many people, here are simple definitions. Affect (verb) This word has many meanings in the dictionary. It can refer, as a noun, to one’s emotional state. As a verb, it […]

Some common phrases are hard to tell apart. Here is a brief guide to a few common trouble-makers. Compared To vs. Compared With When making an analogy to something of an entirely different class, use compare to. He compared leading a company through recessionary times to steering an ocean liner through a storm. Compared to moving

I recently came across a pamphlet called Slips of Speech and How to Avoid Them. It was published in 1922 and written by Frank H. Vizetelly, Litt.D, LLD, Managing Editor of the Funk and Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary and its Abridgements. This fading, dog-eared publication is about 6 inches long and 4 inches wide. It has only

Last week I gave a few examples of words and distinctions made clear in a pamphlet from 1922 titled S.O.S.: Slips of Speech. Here are a few more excerpts. Statements in parentheses are mine. Divide Up As divide means to “separate into pieces,” “cut asunder,” “apportion,” or “distribute in shares,”, up is redundant and absurd. Each/Every Each as an adjective is

Here are a few more fine distinctions from the 1922 pamphlet S.O.S. Slips of Speech by Frank H. Vizetelly, Litt.D., L.L.D. 1.Hypercritical/Hypocritical Hypercritical means overly or excessively critical. Hypocritical signifies deceptive, sham, for hypocrisy is false pretense. 2.Idea/Opinion Idea implies something undetermined in the mind; Opinion is formed after deduction or reflection and therefore is determined 3.Idleness/Laziness These words are not synonymous. Idleness describes