Kimberly Lang

Battling the Grammar Gremlins

More Commonly Confused Words

Kimberly Lang

Last month, I gave you the first part of a list of commonly confused words that creep into texts without us meaning them to. They’re hard to catch, especially if they’re spelled right, so it’s worth a read-through to be sure you’ve picked the right word for what you mean. We got as far as E last time, so let’s continue.

FARTHER/FURTHER: Farther (like “far”) refers to distance. [The store is only a little farther down the road.] Further suggests quality or degree. [The prank went further than intended and someone got hurt.]

FEMALE/MALE vs. WOMAN/MAN: Female and male refer to gender. [We need a female subject for the research project.] When referring to specific people, use man or woman. [Two women (not females) walked into the room.]

FEWER/LESS: You know those signs over the checkouts that say “10 items or less?” That’s incorrect. Use fewer if the items can be counted. [We have fewer students studying English than last year.] Use less if you’re referring to general amounts—things that can’t be counted individually. [We had less snow this year than last.]

FLAUNT/FLOUT: Flaunt means “to display ostentatiously” or “to treat contemptuously.” Flout also means “to treat with contemptuous disregard. Most language-picky people don’t like the use of “flaunt” in the contemptuous sense. Be choosy and careful.

GALL/GAUL: Gall has one of the best definitions ever: “Brazen boldness coupled with impudent assurance and insolence.” Gaul is the ancient name for what is now France and Belgium and is sometimes used to refer to the modern French.

GOOD/WELL: (I covered this—along with its buddy bad/badly-in the Gremlins article, “Common Gremlins”.) But, to review: Good is an adjective; well is an adverb unless serving as a subject complement.

IMPLY/INFER: Imply means “to suggest,” while infer means “to draw a conclusion.” You imply; I infer your meaning.

IRREGARDLESS: This is non-standard. Use “regardless.”

LIABLE/LIKELY: These words are not interchangeable. Liable means “responsible.” [Companies are liable when their products malfunction.] Likely means “probable.” [It’s likely to rain this afternoon.]

LIE/LAY: For a full discussion of this gremlin, see Common Gremlins. In a nutshell—lie does not take a direct object. [I like to lie in the sun.] Lay takes an object. [Chickens lay eggs.]

LIKE/AS: Like is a preposition and should be followed by a noun or noun phrase. As is a subordinating conjunction that introduces a dependant clause. [I always wanted to look like Cindy Crawford. I feel as fresh as a daisy today.]

MAY BE/MAYBE: If it’s two words, you have a verb phrase. [I may be going to France next summer.] Maybe (one word) is an adverb. [Maybe I can learn French while I’m there.]

NAUSEOUS: Language-types used to love to argue about this. The first definition of “nauseous” means “causing nausea or disgust.” That, of course, brings new meaning to the sentence “I’m nauseous.” However, the second definition of the word means “affected with nausea or disgust.” Merriam-Webster’s 10^th Edition weighs in: “Those who insist that nauseous can properly only be used in sense 1 and that in sense 2 it is an error for nauseated are mistaken” (774).

PENULTIMATE: This means “next to last.” [Y is the penultimate letter of the alphabet.] Don’t use it to mean “last” or “worst.”

PRECEDE/PROCEED: Precede means “to come before.” Proceed means to “go forward.” [Kathy preceded me down the aisle. You may proceed with the project.]

PRINCIPAL/PRINCIPLE: (I once found an e-book that had these two words confused; it drove me insane, and I wrote a letter to the publisher about it.) A principal is the head of a school or organization. (If it helps, remember this person is your “pal.”) It can also mean “a sum of money.” As an adjective, it means “most important. Principle (noun) is a “basic truth or law.” [I went to see my daughter’s principal. Your car payment includes money towards the principal as well as the interest. The principal female dancer is a ballet company is called a ballerina. Honesty is a matter of principle.]

PROPHECY/PROPHESY: Prophecy is a noun meaning “the inspired utterance of a prophet,” or a “prediction of something to come.” Prophesy is a verb meaning “to make predictions.”

SENSUAL/SENSUOUS: Sensual means “gratifying the physical senses,” while sensuous means “pleasing to the senses.” Sensual is usually associated with sexual pleasure (hence the use of the word “gratifying”), while sensuous is associated with art, music, and nature.

STATIONARY/STATIONERY: Stationary means “not moving.” Stationery is paper to write letters on.

SHEAR/SHEER: Shear is the easy one: use it when something is being cut. [Shear the sheep.] Scissors are also called “shears.” Sheer can have several meanings: 1) to be thin or transparent [My shirt was sheer.]; 2) to be pure or unmixed [The sheer arrogance of the man was annoying.]; 3) a great or continuous steepness [Sheer cliffs lead to the sea.]

SUPPOSED TO: This is the correct form. The phrase “suppose to” is incorrect. The same thing goes for USED TO (“use to” is incorrect.). I think the confusion may come from pronunciation. [I’m supposed to go to the doctor tomorrow. I used to bite my nails.]

WAIT ON/ WAIT FOR: Wait on means “to serve.” Wait for means “to be in readiness for.” You wait for (not “on”) the train to arrive. Servers in restaurants wait on you.

I also have a list of phrases that are just WRONG. I once read a contest entry with a “toe-headed” child in it. The visual on that is just scary. AOL’s “You’ve got mail” also irks me (“You have got mail?” Yikes!). Rather than list the worst of the worst here, I’ll send you over to the Making Light blog and editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden’s “Dreadful Phrases” post from May 1, 2006. The entries there will make your skin crawl. The full URL is http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/007425.html#007425. You may find one of your own mistakes there. If not, you can have a “feel superior” moment.

Some of these mistakes are worse than others—some will completely change the meaning of your sentence. What this list should remind you to do is PROOFREAD—preferably a cold proofread a couple of weeks after you finish the project. Use your words carefully. If you aren’t 100% sure you have the right word for your meaning, grab a dictionary and look it up.

As Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”