Thursday, September 30, 2010

Irregardless - English editing.

Irregardless means the same as regardless, but the negative prefix ir- merely duplicates the suffix -less, and is completely unnecessary. The word dates back to the 19th century, and may be a confusion of regardless with irrespective. It is regarded as incorrect in Standard English, and most people would regard it as a non-word.
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Saturday, September 25, 2010

Squirrel - English editing.

Squirrel is a noun and also a verb. Rule: Double the l when adding endings which begin with a vowel to words which end in a vowel plus l (as in travel): squirrels, squirreling, squirreled.
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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Interface - English editing.

The word interface has existed as a noun since the 1880s. The metaphorical meaning, ‘a place or means of interactions between two systems, organizations, etc.’, to which many people object, was first used before the literal, computing meaning. It has become widespread in this extended use as both a noun and a verb in all sorts of spheres. Some people object to it on the grounds that there are plenty of the other words that could be used instead. Although it is now well established as a part of Standard English, if you wish to avoid it in certain contexts you could use interaction, liaison, dialogue, contact, etc. and their related verbs.
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Integral - English editing.

There are two possible pronunciations for integral as an adjective: /in-ti-gruhi/ and /in-teg-ruhi/. /In-teg-ruhi/ is sometimes frowned on, but both are acceptable as standard.
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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Insure - English editing.

Insure and ensure are related in meaning and use. In both British and US English the main meaning of insure is the commercial sense of providing financial compensation in the event of damage to property; ensure is not used at all with this meaning. For the more general meaning of ‘to make sure’, ensure that is at least 50 times more common in the Oxford English Corpus than insure that, as in the system is run to ensure that a good quality of service is maintained. In similar examples to the last one, insure that is sometimes used but is likely to be regarded as a mistake.
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Monday, September 20, 2010

Inflammable - English editing.

The words inflammable and flammable both have the same meaning, ‘easily set on fire’. This might seem surprising, since the prefix in- normally has the function of negation, as in words like indirect and insufficient. In fact, inflammable is formed using a different Latin prefix in-, which has meaning ‘into’ and here has the effect of intensifying the meaning of the word in English. Flammable is frequently used where the writer is concerned that inflammable could be misunderstood as meaning ‘not easily set on fire’, for example on warning signs. The opposite of both inflammable and flammable is either non-inflammable or non-flammable.
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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Indian - English editing.

The native peoples of American came to be described as Indian as a result of Christopher Columbus and other voyagers in the 15th and 16th centuries believing that, when they reached the east coast of America, they had reached part of India by a new route. The terms Indian and Red Indian are today regarded as old-fashioned and inappropriate, recalling, as they do, the stereotypical portraits of the Wild West. American Indian, however, is well established.
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Friday, September 17, 2010

Judgement - English editing.

In British English the traditional spelling in general contexts is judgement, though judgment without the -e is also often found. However, the spelling judgment is the standard spelling in legal contexts, and in all contexts in North American English.
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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Impracticable, impractical - English editing.

Although their meanings are similar, impracticable and impractical should not be used in exactly the same way. Impracticable means ‘impossible to carry out’ and is normally used of a specific procedure or course of action, as in poor visibility made the task difficult, even impracticable. Impractical, on the other hand, tends to be used in more general senses, often to mean simply ‘unrealistic’ or ‘not sensible’: in windy weather an umbrella is impractical.
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Important,Importantly - English editing.

Both more/most important and more/most importantly are used as written asides, e.g. a noun-drinking, non-smoking, and more importantly, non-political sportsman. It is sometimes maintained that the only correct form in this use is important, on the grounds that it stands for ‘what is more/most important’. However, importantly used in this way is perfectly well established and acceptable in modern English.
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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Impact - English editing.

The verb impact on, as in when produce is lost, it always impacts on the bottom line, has been in the language since the 1960s. Many people disapprove of it, despite its relative frequency, saying that make an impact on or other equivalent wordings should be used instead. They may object partly because new forms of verbs from nouns (as in the case of impact) are often regarded as somehow inferior. Also, since the use of impact is associated with business and commercial writing, it has the unenviable status of jargon, which makes it doubly disliked.
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Monday, September 13, 2010

Illegal, Illicit - English editing.

Something that is illegal is against the law, as in illegal drugs, illegal immigrants. Illicit traditionally covers things that are forbidden or disapproved of but not against the law, as in an illicit love affair, but it is commonly used to mean the same as illegal.
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Friday, September 10, 2010

Ilk - English editing.

Nowadays, ilk is used in phrases such as of ilk, of that ilk, to mean ‘type’ or ‘sort’. This use arose out of a misunderstanding of the earlier, Scottish use in the phrase of that ilk, where it means ‘of the same name or place’. For this reason, some traditionalists regard the modern use as incorrect. It is, however, the only common current use and is now part of standard English.
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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Ignoramus - English editing.

The correct plural of ignoramus is ignoramuses. This may sound odd, considering the word is from Latin, leading one to think the plural ought to be ‘ignorami’. However, it was never a noun in Latin, only a verb, meaning literally ‘we do not know’, and the English word derives from the name of a character in George Ruggle’s play ignoramus (1615), a satirical comedy exposing lawyers’ ignorance.
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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

IF – English editing.

If and whether are more or less interchangeable in sentences like I’ll see if he left an address and I’ll see whether he left an address, although whether is generally regarded as more formal and suitable for written use.
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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Humanitarian - English editing.

Humanitarian means ‘concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare’, so it is rather loosely used in sentences such as this is the worst humanitarian disaster this country has seen, where it just means ‘human’. This use is quite common, especially in journalism, but is not generally considered good style.
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Monday, September 6, 2010

Hottentot - English editing.

Hottentot is first recorded in the late 17th century and was a name applied by white Europeans to the khoikhoi group of peoples of South Africa and Namibia. It is now regarded as offensive with reference to people and should always be avoided in favour of khoikhoi or the names of the particular peoples, such as the Nama. The only acceptable modern use for Hottentot is in the names of animals and plants, such as the Hottentot cherry.
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Saturday, September 4, 2010

Hotel - English editing.

The normal pronunciation of hotel sounds the h-, which means that you should write and say a hotel. However, the older pronunciation without the h- is still sometimes heard.
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Friday, September 3, 2010

Homogeneous - English editing.

This word meaning ‘uniform, alike’ is correctly spelled homogeneous with an e before the ou, and pronounced /hom-uh-jee-ni-us/, but it is frequently spelled homogenous and pronounced /huh-moj-i-nuhss/. This rarely matters, but it is good to be aware that homogenous is a different word, an albeit dated term used in biology.
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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Hoard - English editing.

The words hoard and horde are similar in meaning and are pronounced the same, and so they are sometimes confused. A hoard is ‘a secret stock or store of something’, as in a hoard of treasure, while a horde is sometimes a disparaging word for ‘a large group of people’, as in hordes of fans descended on the stage. Instances of hoard being used instead of horde are not uncommon.
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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Historic, Historical - English editing.

Historic and historical are used in slightly different ways. Historic means ‘famous or important in history’, as in a(n) historic occasion, whereas historical means ‘concerning history or historical events’, as in historical evidence: thus a historic event is one that was very important, whereas a historical event is something that happened in the past.
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