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Saturday, January 30, 2010

32 most commonly misused words

Let’s get right to the point. Misusing words makes you look less intelligent than you really are. If you misuse words in your writing, it can damage your credibility and diminish the point you’re trying to make. Even worse, it could completely change the meaning of the sentence.

What follows is a list of the 32 most commonly misused words and phrases.

1. Accept/Except- Although these two words sound alike (they’re homophones), they have two completely different meanings. “Accept” means to willingly receive something (accept a present.) “Except” means to exclude something (I’ll take all of the books except the one with the red cover.)

2. Affect/Effect- The way you “affect” someone can have an “effect” on them. “Affect” is usually a verb and “Effect” is a noun.

3. Alright- If you use “alright,” go to the chalkboard and write “Alright is not a word” 100 times.

4. Capital/Capitol- “Capitol” generally refers to an official building. “Capital” can mean the city which serves as a seat of government or money or property owned by a company. “Capital” can also mean “punishable by death.”

5. Complement/Compliment- I often must compliment my wife on how her love for cooking perfectly complements my love for grocery shopping.

6. Comprise/Compose- The article I’m composing comprises 32 parts.

7. Could Of- Of the 32 mistakes on this list, this is the one that bothers me most. It’s “could have” not “could of.” When you hear people talking, they’re saying “could’ve.” Got it?

8. Desert/Dessert- A desert is a hot, dry patch of sand. Dessert, on the other hand, is the sweet, fatty substance you eat at the end of your meal.

9. Discreet/Discrete- We can break people into two discrete (separate) groups, the discreet (secretive) and indiscreet.

10. Emigrate/Immigrate- If I leave this country to move to Europe, the leaving is emigrating and the arriving is immigrating.

11. Elicit/Illicit- Some people post illicit things on message boards to elicit outrageous reactions from others.

12. Farther/Further- Farther is used for physical distance, whereas further means to a greater degree.

13. Fewer/Less- Use fewer when referring to something that can be counted one-by-one. Use less when it’s something that doesn’t lend itself to a simple numeric amount.

14. Flair/Flare- A flair is a talent, while a flare is a burst (of anger, fire, etc.)

15. i.e/e.g- I.e. is used to say “in other words.” E.g. is used in place of “for example.”

16. Inflammable- Don’t let the prefix confuse you, if something is inflammable it can catch on fire.

17. It’s/Its- It’s= it is. Its=a possessive pronoun meaning of it or belonging to. Whatever you do, please don’t use its’.

18. Imply/Infer- A reader infers what an author implies. In other words, when you imply something, you hint at it. When you infer something, you draw a conclusion based on clues.

19. Literally- If you say “His head literally exploded because he was so mad!” then we should see brains splattered on the ceiling.

20. Lose/Loose- If your pants are too loose you may lose them. That would be almost as embarrassing as misusing these two words.

21. Moral/Morale- Morals are something you want to teach your kids. If your team’s morale is low, you need to do something to boost their confidence.

22. Percent/Percentage- The word “percent” should only be used when a specific number is given. “Percentage” is more of a general term.

23. Stationary/Stationery- You are stationary when you aren’t moving. Stationery is something you write on.

24. Then/Than- “Then” is another word for “after.” Incidentally, the word “then” makes for boring writing. “Than” is a comparative word (e.g. I am smarter than you).

25. There/Their/They’re- There are few things as frustrating as when I look at my students’ writing and they’re misusing these words in their writing.

26. Unique- Something can’t be “kind of unique” or even “very unique.” It’s either one-of-a-kind or it isn’t. There is no in between when it comes to unique.

27. Your/You’re- If I had a nickel for every time I saw this one… yeah, you know the rest. “Your” shows ownership and you’re is a contraction meaning “you are.” Get it right.

28. To/Too/Two- Two is a number. “To” is used in instances such as, “I am going to the store.” If you are supposed to use the word “too,” try inserting the word “extra” or “also.” If one of those fits, you need to also add the extra “o” to make “too.”

29. Lie/Lay- After you lay the books on the table, go lie down on the couch.

30. Sit/Set- Set your drink on the table and sit in your chair. Got it?

31. Whose/Who’s- Whose is the possessive form of who. Who’s is a contraction meaning “who is.”

32. Allude/Elude- When someone alludes to something in conversation (indirectly references), if you aren’t paying attention the meaning may elude you (escape you).

Which misused words drive you crazy? Share them in the replies.

Friday, January 29, 2010


Back to Business English, I found a great site http://www.businessenglishsite.com/index.html

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Teaching Kids

We are going to start teaching 3-4-5-6 year-olds soon... And it's really challenging, I guess we have to dig far and wide to get ready.
This link is pretty good http://www.angles365.com/classroom/stories2/mouse.swf

The Buzzwords of 2009



There's a list of these words in the NY Times. Catchphrases and buzzwords can tell us much about a year past — what resonated, what stuck, what the year revealed about the sensibility of the nation, whether you’re a wise Latina woman, a mini-Madoff, a teabagger or Balloon Boy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/weekinreview/20buzz.html?_r=4

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Meeting students' needs

As you know I'm teaching Business English, and the thing is my students are from various fields: management, IT, HR, PR, production, sales, finance, etc. No wonder, our course book (which is really very good) can't meet all their professional needs.
"What might be done under these circumstances?" I asked myself. And a few days ago one of my students ( She works for a fashion company) asked me to help her with clothing vocabulary (particular terminology for clothing designers, tailors, etc). So she gave me a push to surf on the net and find something handy for her. I created a special page for this student with certain links on my pbworks.com site. She was really happy about this! And today I made such pages with extra stuff for some other students.
Hope they will appreciate it as well:)

Monday, January 25, 2010

Business English


So, I'm teaching Business Result Intermediate and decided to find corresponding topics on the net. At the moment I'm intrested in the activities developing listening skill, 'cos classroom listening doesn't allow me to prepare my students for BEC preliminary properly. Currently we're doing Unit 7 "Security".
I was lucky to find something on esl.lab.com
http://www.esl-lab.com/securitysystems/securitysystemsrd1.htm
Hope my students like it:)

Saturday, January 23, 2010

The annoyng orange


А few days ago my students told me about very popular videos on youtube. Five hillarious clips about the annoying orrange. Watching them I laughed like billy :) I guess the secret is in play on words (pumpkin - plumpkin; ketchup - catch up, etc)
You know it's about words that sound alike, but are spelled differently, and mean different things. For example, 'Seven days without laughter makes one weak'.
Actually word play means different literary techniques such as homographic and homophonic pans, palindromes, oxymorons, anagrams, etc.
Sorry, got off a subject - The Annoying Orange! Seeing once is better than hearing twice,
have fun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN5PoW7_kdA

Some jokes alike
  • Why did the blond stare at the frozen orange juice can? Because it said "concentrate!"
  • I got hit with a can of soda! Good thing it was a soft drink!!! Get it?! SOFT drink?!
  • A woman tells a mushroom she doesn't date food. The mushroom says "Why? I'm a fungi!" Get it?! Fun guy?! You're not laughing.
  • What's invisible and smells like carrots? Rabbit farts!
  • Why don't vampires eat meat? Because they stay away from stakes! GET IT?! STAKES..STEAKS!!!
  • Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted! GET IT?! A-SALT-ED?!
  • The Energizer Bunny was just arrested!!! He was charged with battery! Get it?! Charged with battery?!
  • Two bears were eating a clown. One says to the other, "Does this taste funny?" Get it?! Funny?! He's a clown!!!
  • A knife decided to wear a suit. He looked really sharp! Get it?! SHARP?! GET IT?! Knives are sharp!!!
  • What do you get when you cross a Christmas tree and an apple? A pineapple! GET IT?! PINE-APPLE?!