These are about 50:50 pedantic insistence on lost causes (like “data” as plural) and correction of common confusions between similar words (like “home in”). See if you can spot which is which. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Harvard linguist reveals most misused words in English – Business Insider<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘… Here are some highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0Adverse means “detrimental.” It does not mean “averse” or “disinclined.” Correct: “There were adverse effects.” \/ “I’m not averse to doing that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Appraise means to “ascertain the value of.” It does not mean to “apprise” or to “inform.” Correct: “I appraised the jewels.” \/ “I apprised him of the situation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beg the question means that a statement assumes the truth of what it should be proving; it does not mean to “raise the question.” Correct: “When I asked the dealer why I should pay more for the German car, he said I would be getting ‘German quality,’ but that just begs the question.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bemused means “bewildered.” It does not mean “amused.” Correct: “The unnecessarily complex plot left me bemused.” \/ “The silly comedy amused me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clich\u00e9 is a noun, not an adjective. The adjective is clich\u00e9d. Correct: “Shakespeare used a lot of clich\u00e9s.” \/ “The plot was so clich\u00e9d.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Data is a plural count noun not, standardly speaking, a mass noun. [Note: “Data is rarely used as a plural today, just as candelabra and agenda long ago ceased to be plurals,” Pinker writes. “But I still like it.”] Correct: “This datum supports the theory, but many of the other data refute it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depreciate means to “decrease in value.” It does not mean to “deprecate” or to “disparage.” Correct: “My car has depreciated a lot over the years.” \/ “She deprecated his efforts.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disinterested means “unbiased.” It does not mean “uninterested.” Correct: “The dispute should be resolved by a disinterested judge.” \/ “Why are you so uninterested in my story?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enormity refers to extreme evil. It does not mean “enormousness.” [Note: It is acceptable to use it to mean a deplorable enormousness.] Correct: “The enormity of the terrorist bombing brought bystanders to tears.” \/ “The enormousness of the homework assignment required several hours of work.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hone means to “sharpen.” It does not mean to “home in on” or “to converge upon.” Correct: “She honed her writing skills.” \/ “We’re homing in on a solution.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hung means “suspended.” It does not mean “suspended from the neck until dead.” Correct: “I hung the picture on my wall.” \/ “The prisoner was hanged.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ironic means “uncannily incongruent.” It does not mean “inconvenient” or “unfortunate.” Correct: “It was ironic that I forgot my textbook on human memory.” \/ “It was unfortunate that I forgot my textbook the night before the quiz.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonplussed means “stunned” or “bewildered.” It does not mean “bored” or “unimpressed.” Correct: “The market crash left the experts nonplussed.” \/ “His market pitch left the investors unimpressed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parameter refers to a variable. It not mean “boundary condition” or “limit.” Correct: “The forecast is based on parameters like inflation and interest rates.” \/ “We need to work within budgetary limits.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phenomena is a plural count noun \u2014 not a mass noun. Correct: “The phenomenon was intriguing, but it was only one of many phenomena gathered by the telescope.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shrunk, sprung, stunk, and sunk are past participles–not words in the past tense. Correct: “I’ve shrunk my shirt.” \/ “I shrank my shirt.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simplistic means “naively or overly simple.” It does not mean “simple” or “pleasingly simple.” Correct: “His simplistic answer suggested he wasn’t familiar with the material.” \/ “She liked the chair’s simple look.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verbal means “in linguistic form.” It does not mean “oral” or “spoken.” Correct: “Visual memories last longer than verbal ones.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Effect means “influence”; to effect means “to put into effect”; to affect means either “to influence” or “to fake.” Correct: “They had a big effect on my style.” \/ “The law effected changes at the school.” \/ “They affected my style.” \/ “He affected an air of sophistication to impress her parents.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lie (intransitive: lies, lay, has lain) means to “recline”; lay (transitive: lays, laid, has laid) means to “set down”; lie (intransitive: lies, lied, has lied) means to “fib.” Correct: “He lies on the couch all day.” \/ “He lays a book upon the table.” \/ “He lies about what he does.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …’<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n