English Usage - cannot - English editing.

Both the one-word form cannot and the two-word form can not are correct, but cannot is far more common in all contexts; in the Oxford English Corpus, there are 25 times more examples of cannot than of can not. The two-word form is recommended only when not is part of a set phrase, such as ‘not only . . . but (also)’: Paul can not only sing well, he also paints brilliantly.
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English Usage - can - English editing.

People are often unclear whether there is any difference between may and can when used to request or express permission, as in may/can I ask you a few questions? It is still widely held that using can for permission is somehow incorrect, and that it should be reserved for expressions to do with capability, as in can you swim? Although using can to request or give permission is not regarded as incorrect in standard English, there is clear difference in formality between the two verbs: may is a more polite way of asking for something and is the better choice in more formal contexts.
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English Usage - caesarean - English editing.

The spelling caesarean, ending with -ean (or cesarean in the US), is now much more commonly used than caesarian with an I and is the generally accepted form.
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English Usage - burned, burnt - English editing.

Both burned and burnt are used for the past tense and past participle of burn and are equally correct. Burned is much more common for the past tense, e.g.: she burned her hand on the kettle; the church burned down in 1198. As a past participle, burned and burnt are equally common in British English, e.g.: she had burned herself on the wax; the place was burnt to a crisp, but burned is found elsewhere. When the participle is used as an adjective, however, burnt is somewhat commoner in all varieties of English: walls of burnt brick.
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English usage - bruschetta - English editing.

If you want to refer to this topped slice of Italian rustic bread approximately as an Italian would, pronounce it /broo-sket-uh/, with a short pause before the t sound, and spell it with -sch- not -sh- in the middle. However, so many people pronounce it as /broo-shet-uh/ that this seems likely to be the pronounciation that will established itself.
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English Usage - broadcast - English editing.

The verb broadcast, by analogy with cast, does not change in its past form and past participle: the programme will be broadcast on Saturdays. The form ‘broadcasted’ is not generally considered correct.
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English Usage - both - English editing.

When both is used in constructions with and, the structures following each should be symmetrical in well-formed English. Thus, studies of lions, both in the wild and in captivity is better than, for example, studies of lions, both in the wild and captivity. In the example, the symmetry of ‘in the wild’ and ‘in captivity’ has been lost.
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English Usage - blatant - English editing.

Blatant, a word invented by Spenser in the 16th century, generally refers to bad behaviour which is done openly: a blatant lie is one which is very obviously a lie.
Flagrant also refers to behaviour which is obviously bad or immoral, and is often applied to concrete breaches of laws, rules, and regulations: a flagrant violation of school rules.
Nowadays there is considerable overlap in meaning between them, with blatant often applied to such breaches, though purists will maintain the distinction. The adverb blatantly (unlike flagrantly) has developed a weakened meaning, especially in youth slang, as a stock form of intensifier like absolutely and extremely: this song is blatantly subtle.
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English Usage - bored -English editing.

The normal construction for bored is bored by or bored with. More recently, bored of has emerged (probably by analogy with other construction, such as tired of), but bored of, though common in informal English, is not yet considered acceptable in standard English.
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English Usage - bona fide, bona fides - English editing.

Bona fide is an adjectival phrase meaning ‘in good faith’ and hence ‘genuine’: a bona fide tourist. Bona fides is a noun phrase meaning ‘good faith’ and hence ‘sincerity and honesty of intention’: he was at pains to establish his liberal bona fides. Be careful not to spell them ‘bone fide’ or ‘bone fides’. The pronunciation is /boh-nuh fl-dee(z)/.
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English Usage - blond, blonde - English editing.

The alternative spelling blond and blonde correspond to the masculine and feminine forms in French, but in English the same distinction is not applied, and either form is therefore correct. Thus, blond woman, blonde woman, blond man, blonde man are all used, though overall blonde is the commoner of the two spellings. American usage since the 1970s has generally preferred blond, thereby making it gender-neutral.
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English Usage - blind - English editing.

It is better to avoid using the blind to refer to people in society with sight problems. Instead you should refer to visually impaired people or blind or partially sighted people.
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English Usage - bipolar disorder - English editing.

This term is increasingly being used as a more neutral way of referring to what was previously known as manic depression.
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English Usage - billion - English editing.

The older meaning of billion in British English was ‘a million million’. However, this meaning has now been almost entirely superseded by the meaning ‘a thousand million’.
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English Usage - biceps - English editing.

The form biceps works as both a singular and plural noun: the biceps on his left arm; a pair of bulging biceps. The singular ‘bicep’ is a back-formation and is generally viewed as incorrect, as is the plural ‘bicepses’.
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English Usage - bi-. - English editing.

1.The meaning of bimonthly and other similar words such as biweekly and biyearly is ambiguous. Such words can either mean ‘occurring twice a month/week/year’ or ‘occurring every two months/weeks/years’. The only way to avoid this ambiguity is to use alternative expressions like ‘every two months’ and ‘twice a month’.
2.Biennial means ‘taking place every two years’: congressional elections are a biennial phenomenon. A biennial plant is one that lives a two-year cycle, flowering and producing seed in the second year. Biannual means ‘twice a year’: the solstice is a biannual event. To avoid confusion, rephrasing is often the best option.
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English Usage - between - English editing.

In standard English it is correct to say between you and me but incorrect to say between you and I. There is a very good reason for this. A preposition such as between is correctly followed by objective pronouns such as me, him, her, and us rather than subjective pronouns such as I, he, she, and we. Thus it is correct to say between us or between him and her and it is clearly incorrect to say between we or between he and she.
People mistakenly say between you and I through confusing what follows a preposition and what ordinarily comes at the beginning of a sentence. They know that it is not correct to say John and me went to the shops and that the correct sentence is John and I went to the shops. They therefore assume that ‘and me’ should be replaced by ‘and I’ in all cases.
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English Usage - better - English editing.

In the verb phrase had better do something the word had acts as an auxiliary verb and in informal spoken contexts is often dropped, as in you better not come tonight. In writing, the had may be contracted to’ d, but it should not be dropped altogether.
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English Usage - beside, besides - English editing.

1.Both beside and besides have the meaning of ‘apart from’. Some people claim that only besides should be used in this meaning: he commissioned work from other artists besides Minton rather than he commissioned work from other artists beside Minton. Although there is little logical basis for such a view, in standard English it can be clearer to use besides in this meaning, because beside can be ambiguous: beside the cold meat, there are platters of trout and salmon could mean either ‘the cold meat is next to the trout and salmon’ or ‘apart from the cold meat, there are also trout and salmon’.
2.Besides is the correct form to use as an adverb meaning ‘as well’, as in I’m capable of doing the work, and a lot more besides or Besides, I wasn’t sure.
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English Usage - beholden, behove - English editing.

If you are beholden to someone for something, you owe them something in return for favours or services that they have done you: politicians who are beholden to big business. In formal language, if it behoves you to do something, it is your responsibility or duty to do it: it behoves the House to assure itself that there is no conceivable alternative. The form ‘behoven’ created by combining the two words is occasionally used instead of beholden but is not yet acceptable in standard English.
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English Usage - behalf - English editing.

Behalf is used in the phrase on behalf of and the rare variant in behalf of, the second used in America English. It can mean either ‘in the interests of’ as in he campaigned on behalf of the poor, or ‘as a representative of’, as in I attended on her behalf. It is increasingly being used to express responsibility for something, as in this was a mistake on behalf of the government, where on the part of is the appropriate phrase. This use is generally considered incorrect and should be avoided in writing.
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English Usage - beg - English editing.

The original meaning of the phrase beg the question belongs to the field of logic and is a translation of Latin petition principii, literally meaning ‘laying claim to a principle’, i.e. assuming something that ought to be proved first, as in the following sentence: by devoting such a large budget to Civics, we are begging the question of its usefulness. For some people this is still the only correct meaning. However, over the last 100 years or so another, more general use has arisen; ‘invite an obvious question’, as in some definitions of mental illness beg the question of what constitutes normal behaviour.This is by far the commoner use today and is widely accepted in modern standard English.
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English Usage - because - English editing.

1.When because follows a negative construction the meaning can be ambiguous. In the sentence he did not go because he was ill, for example, it is not clear whether it means ‘the reason he did not go was that he was ill’ or ‘being ill was not the reason for him going; there was another reason’. Some usage guides recommend using a comma for the first interpretation (he did not go, because he was ill) and no comma for the second interpretation, but it is probably wiser to avoid using because after a negative altogether; one way would be to turn the sentence around: because he was ill, he didn’t go.
2.As with other conjunctions such as but and and, it is still widely held that it is incorrect to begin a sentence with because. It has, however, long been used in this way in both written and spoken English (typically for rhetorical effect), and is quite acceptable.
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English Usage - bear - English editing.

Until the 18th century borne and born were simply variants of the past participle of bear, used interchangeably with no distinction in meaning. By around 1775, however, the present distinction in use had become established. Borne became the standard past participle for the transitive verb: she has borne you another son; the findings have been borne out. Born became the standard, neutral way to refer to birth: she was born in 1965; he was born lucky; I was born and bred in Gloucester. The most common mistake is to write born instead of borne, as in the incorrect his suspicions have not been born out.
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English Usage - BC - English editing.

BC is normally printed in small capitals and placed after the year, as in 72 BC or the 2nd century BC. This position is logical since BC stands for ‘before Christ’; compare with AD. It is not written with full stops after each letter.
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