Collection of Tools & Utilities/Collection of Tools and Utilities.iso/tex/pcb101_1.zip/MISUSED

Text File | 1990-02-06 | 24KB | 497 lines

accept          adapt           adopt           advice          advise                    [BR= /I:6.18 /J:22.20 /K:0.0]
affect          allude          allusion        alot            altar
alter           author          awhile          born            borne
breadth         breath          breathe         capital         capitol
choose          chose           complement      complementary   compliment
complimentary   council         councilor       counsel         counselor
credible        creditable      dual            duel            effect
elude           envelop         envelope        except          fewer
foreword        formally        formerly        forward         gorilla
guerilla        illusion        imply           infer           it's
its             last            later           latter          lead
led             less            loose           lose            maybe
moral           morale          passed          past            peace
persecute       personal        personnel       perspective     piece
precede         principal       principle       proceed         propose
prosecute       prospective     purpose         respectfully    respectively
right           rite            stationary      stationery      tack
tact            than            their           then            there
they're         to              too             two             weather
whether         who's           whose           wright          write
ACCEPT  versus  EXCEPT

 Accept, verb, To receive [something]:
    Tom accepts the gift from Mary.
 Except, preposition, In every case but:
    The memo was sent to everyone except John.
ADAPT  versus  ADOPT

 Adapt, verb, To change or be changed [in response to a situation]:
    Jenna rapidly, if unhappily, adapted to the longer work week.
    We can adapt our old forms to work with window envelopes.
 Adopt, verb, To take on as one's own:
    We can adopt this stray cat as our mascot and office manager.
ADVICE  versus  ADVISE

 Advice {ad-Vyess'}, noun, Suggestions, guidelines:
    Consultants can be hired to give advice.
 Advise {ad-Vyez}, verb, Make suggestions:
    Consultants can be hired to advise us.
AFFECT  versus  EFFECT

 In normal usage, effect can be both noun and verb, whereas affect is only
a verb.
   Affect {uh-Fehkt'}, verb, To have an impact on:
      I can affect the atmosphere in my office.
      The atmosphere in my office affects my work.
   Effect {eh-Fehkt'}, verb, To bring about:
      I can effect changes in the atmosphere in my office.
   Effect {eh-Fehkt'}, noun, Something brought about:
      The atmosphere in my office has an effect on my work.
 In addition, affect has two special meanings:
   Affect {uh-Fehkt'}, verb, To simulate, put on, or pretend:
      Joanna affects a high, whiny tone when she's imitating our boss.
   Affect {Af'ehkt}, noun, Feeling or emotion (psychology):
      John showed little affect when he learned of the death of his brother.
ALLUDE  versus  ELUDE

 Allude, verb, Refer to, often indirectly:
    At the presentation, Susan alluded to our reputation in the industry.
 Elude, verb, Avoid or get away from:
    The difference between these words can elude the incautious author.
        (See also ALLUSION)
ALLUSION  versus  ILLUSION

 Allusion, noun, A reference to [something], often indirect:
    Susan made an allusion to our reputation in the industry.
 Illusion, noun, A mirage, or an error in belief:"
    Our professionalism gives the illusion that we are a large corporation.
        (See also ALLUDE)
ALTAR  versus  ALTER

 Altar, noun, The place where a [religious] ceremony is held:
    I regret that our competitor worships at the altar of greed.
 Alter, verb, To change:
    Since we've altered our approach, we've become more competitive.
AUTHOR

 Author is used correctly only as a noun ── the person who writes something:
    We're going to the bookstore to meet the author of "The Author's Guide."
 It describes the writer, never the act of writing:
    WRONG: I am authoring a book called "The Author's Guide."
    CORRECT: I am writing a book called "The Author's Guide."
        (See also WRITE)
BORN  versus  BORNE

 Both words are past participles of bear.
    Born, past participle of bear as in To give birth to:
       People cheered when the new prince was born.
    Borne, past participle of bear as in To carry:
       People waved when the new prince was borne through the crowd.
BREATH  versus  BREATHE  versus  BREADTH

 Breath {rhymes with death}, noun, Intake of air:
    He was so tense that he held his breath.
 Breathe {rhymes with seethe}, verb, To take in air:
    He was so tense that he forgot to breathe.
 Breadth {rhymes with death}, noun, Size or scope [of something]:
    The breadth of his knowledge is breathtaking.
ALOT

 This misspelling of "a lot" is increasingly common ── but is no more correct
than it was 20 years ago.  (For that matter, "a lot" of something is itself
less than acceptable in formal writing.)
    WRONG: She has alot of friends.
    BETTER: She has a lot of friends.
    BEST: She has many friends.
AWHILE

 Be careful not to use awhile when you mean a while.  A "while" is a period
of time; if you can replace "while" with, say, "minute" in a sentence, you
should use a while instead of awhile.  For example, consider
    1) RIGHT: Susan's going to shop for a while.
    2) RIGHT: Susan's going to shop awhile.
In (1), you could as easily write
    1) RIGHT: Susan's going to shop for a minute.
Thus the correct ending for sentence (1) is a while.  In (2), however, you
may sense something awkward about the revised
    2) WRONG: Susan's going to shop a minute.
This construction is fine in conversation, but it's incorrect in writing.
Since you can't substitute "minute" for "while," the correct form of sentence
(2) ends in the single word "awhile."

 Technically, awhile is an adverb (while is a noun).  Adverbs hang out with
verbs (He spoke well), adjectives (The sky is very blue), and even other
adverbs (The sky is very very blue); however, they're not good pals with
prepositions such as "for" (WRONG: Stay for awhile).  Only a noun (such as
while can be the object of a prepositional phrase (Stay for a while).
CAPITAL  versus  CAPITOL

 Capitol's only meaning is the building in which a legislature meets:
    We're going to the capitol to watch our legislators in action.
 It's capitalized for a particular capitol in our nation's capital:
    We're going to the Capitol to watch America's government in action.
 All other meanings require capital:
    We're going to the capital of New York, Albany.
    Our business failed because we didn't have enough capital.
    A sentence must begin with a capital letter.
    America is one of the few Western countries with capital punishment.
    That's a capital idea!
    The top part of a pillar is called a capital.
    An alert businessperson capitalizes on opportunities.
CHOOSE  versus  CHOSE

 Chose is the past tense of choose:
    Let's choose up sides for the game.
    We chose up sides in the game of love.
COMPLEMENT  versus  COMPLIMENT

 Complement, noun, Something that completes
    Joanna skills are a good complement to Bill's.
 Compliment, noun, Praise
    Joanna gave Bill a compliment on his work.
 Complement, verb, Completing, filling in
    Joanna skills complement Bill's work.
 Compliment, verb, To praise
    Joanna complimented Bill on his work.
        (See also COMPLEMENTARY)
COMPLEMENTARY  versus  COMPLIMENTARY

 Complemen