Introduction
We’re Judged by Our Words
People judge us by our words — the ones we use, and the ones we misuse. Some words are misused much more often than others, and the words in this book are among the biggest troublemakers, even for good speakers and writers.
Why Are They So Hard?
One reason is that they often come in look-alike pairs, such as affect-effect, who-whom, and regime-regimen. And sometimes they’re related in meaning, like imply-infer, and emigrate-immigrate. So it’s easy to choose the wrong one of these near-identical twins. And because both are valid words, our spellcheckers won’t give us much help in sorting them out. Fortunately, there are some simple tricks to help keep them straight.
Stalactites? Or Stalagmites?
One useful aid is mnemonics — memory hooks. As an example, let’s take a pair of words that are easy to mix up: stalactite and stalagmite. They’re not included in the dirty thirty, because they’re not common in everyday speech. But otherwise they’re good examples of troublesome terms. They look a lot alike, and they have similar meanings — both are found in caves, but one grows up from the ground, the other hangs down from the ceiling.
How to remember which is which? Simply notice that the first few letters are the same, until you get to c and g. Mentally pair these up with ceiling and ground, and you probably won’t be able to forget — even if you try — that stalactites hang from the ceiling, and stalagmites grow up from the ground.
Not all of the word-pairs are that easy to keep separate, but we’ll give you a clear explanation of the differences, along with practical exercises to confirm your understanding.
We’ll also give you a few helpful comments from some of the best current references.
Not All Authorities Agree
But remember that authorities don’t always agree. Sometimes you’ll find one reference saying a usage is unacceptable (or nonstandard), while another insists that it’s okay.
But knowing about that lack of unanimity can be helpful.
For example, Webster’s New World Dictionary gives infer as one definition of imply, but adds that this is sometimes considered a "loose usage." Knowing this doesn’t stop you from deciding for yourself whether to use the words as synonyms. But it may help you choose a workable middle ground, such as our recommendation: keep them separate in your own speech and writing, but don’t "correct" people who do otherwise.
This book is not intended to tell you how you should use words — nobody can or should dictate that to you. It is intended to tell you what some respected authorities on our language have to say about the words — about which uses are standard, which are not.
Their advice will help as you work through the exercises in this book, and the exercises will help you choose and use words with more precision and greater confidence.
One last bit of advice — let yourself have fun while you’re learning.
