As pointed out in last week's blog, the English language (or
at least the American branch of the language) is often confusing even to those
who were born here with this being the only language they speak.
Here is a list of 20 common errors. Some are spelling/using
wrong spelling of word with same pronunciation, some are different
pronunciations of words spelled the same way, and others relate to literally
using the wrong words in popular phrases.
1) It didn't phase me,
should be: It didn't faze me.
2) For all intensive
purposes, should be: For all intents and purposes.
3) He has another
thing coming, should be: He has another think coming.
4) Escape goat,
should be: Scape goat.
5) One in the same,
should be: One and the same.
6) Given free reign,
should be: Given free rein.
7) Low and behold,
should be: Lo and behold.
8) Case and point,
should be: Case in point.
9) Peak your
interest, should be: Pique your interest.
10) Hunger pains,
should be: Hunger pangs.
11) Suppose to,
should be: Supposed to.
12) Should of, should
be: Should have.
13) Nipped that
problem in the butt, should be: Nipped
that problem in the bud.
14) Mute point,
should be: Moot point.
15) Piece of mind,
should be: Peace of mind.
16) Beck on call,
should be: Beck and call.
17) On accident,
should be: By accident.
18) Expresso, should
be: Espresso.
and tied for most commonly misused:
19) I could care
less, should be: I couldn't care less.
20) Irregardless,
should be: Regardless.
6 comments:
LOL - I've found ALL of those mistakes in books and CRINGE every time. Especially Moot and Pique seem to be words no one knows anymore, and the others are mostly things people have only "heard" instead of "read" on a page to know what it should say.
Never trust spell check - it doesn't know everything.
Wonderful blog for a Sunday morning as I'm sitting down to write - makes me glad there are others who see these mistakes too!
An author I know, who's also a freelance editor, gave me a list of mistakes to avoid, similar to your list and I go through and check before I submit my manuscripts. Super helpful!
I've hard that English is one of the hardest languages to learn. I've made some of those mistakes, too. Thanks Samantha!
Katie: Definitely agree with you on spell check. It merely tells you if the word you're checking is in its dictionary. It does not tell you if its the word you intended (your spelling error having created a different correctly spelled word). It takes a human/visual inspection to hopefully catch all the spelling errors. I use spell check, but not as the be all and end all.
As you said, many of those errors are the result of someone having heard the word or expression rather than having seen it written.
Thanks for your comment.
Jennifer: It's good to have some sort of list of known problem areas and/or specific words that are problematic. One of my specific problems is the big time over use of 'that'. I'm constantly on the lookout for too many 'thats'.
Thanks for your comment.
Ilona: I think learning English as a second language (or third language) would be an extremely difficult task. As noted in my two previous blog postings, there are too many pitfalls and too much confusion.
Thanks for your comment.
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