Recently I was under the weather and was forced to lounge about reading for a day (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). The books I read were written by intelligent authors who used beta readers and editors. There were still consistent errors.
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Writers are always in hurry to meet our deadline or personal goal. We often confuse words when we know the difference. Sometimes, however, we may have forgotten proper usage. The following are errors I have seen repeated in books, blog posts, and on Facebook.
Conscious and conscience -- These are not interchangeable.
His conscience bothered him because he was guilty.
She was still in a coma and not conscious.
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| Virile but, as far as we know, not viral |
Viral and Virile -- not the same
He was a handsome, virile man.
The illness was viral. The video went viral.
Then and than
We went to the movies then to have ice cream. (a sequence)
I would rather have Dr Pepper than Coca-Cola. (a comparison)
Further and farther How much farther is it to the hotel? (physical distance. Remember far is in farther)
Go any further and I’ll punch you into next week. (figurative distance)
According to some experts, confusing these is not a big deal.
Here is my Achilles heel:
Lie and lay
Lay means to place something down flat. Lay requires an object to act upon.
Lie means to be in a flat position on a surface. Lie describes something moving on its own or already in position—it’s a quiet word.
Our chickens lay brown eggs. I lay down my book to answer the door.
I need to lie down. If you need me, I’ll be lying on the couch.
Don’t be confused by the children’s prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” That line says “I am laying me down” rather than “I am lying down.”
I’m sure you have similar words that are your pet peeves when used incorrectly. I hope I don’t misuse them!
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My Achilles heel is lie/lay. thank you for describing the differences so clearly!
ReplyDeleteYes, I always have to stop and think over the lie/lay one. One that drives me crazy is lose/loose. Ugh!!
ReplyDeleteI dislike seeing poor English usage, because the more the wrong word is used the more accepted it becomes by the masses. I confess to being horrified the other day to see a writer post a question on a writers' FB group asking "Whose your biggest supporter?" A writer who doesn't know the difference between whose and who's (as in who is)? It's as bad as not know when to use your and you're. Or it's and its. Pet peeves, all of them.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit to griping quite often about grammatical errors I see in books and in public speaking. I'll also confess that I often say, "In another 20 years, our language will consist of acronyms, emojis, "stand-in" words, etc. TU (smiley face emoji) luv U (thumbs up emoji)
ReplyDeleteMine is than/then. Thank you for the rules for lie/lay because I always have to think about that one!
ReplyDeleteLie/lay is a hard one for me, too, but one of my main irritants is its and it's. I just don't think they're that hard!
ReplyDeleteMy pet peeve is definitely "its" vs. "it's" but I also get upset with the misused pronouns (they're vs. their vs. there and your vs. you're). I am most annoyed, however, by the number of people who think it just doesn't matter since "you know what I meant." I don't know if it's my eldest child personality or my lifelong reader/English major one, but I am frequently unhappy about grammar issues. I saw one in a book I was just reading but cannot remember what it was right now. It took me right out of the experience and I really hate that. Karen H near Tampa (kesh307 at yahoo dot com)
ReplyDeleteMy list includes quite a few you've listed, but my biggest pet peeve is lie/lay. I have to agree with Liz about people confusing its and it's too.
ReplyDeletepurpleunicorn019 (at) gmail (dot) com
I help a lot authors with editing that now its become such a habit that I correct books that I don't even have to... I just can't help it. Lol and since I do my reading challenges through Goodreads you can post the corrections there. I hope the authors get to see them and fix them. I don't mean it to be insulting, I was just raised with a father that was a writer and had killer English teachers.
ReplyDeleteMsredk at aol dot com
My pet peeve is people misusing "I" as in "That was between Brad and I." OMG THAT'S NOT RIGHT!
ReplyDeleteit's Brad and me. "That was between Brad and me." ughhhh....indirect object is not going to be I. And I hear it more and more.
Also drug. A lot of Southerners use "drug" instead of "dragged." I see it consistently in books by one of my favorites. "He drug her out of the house." ARGH! it's "dragged." Sorry to be the grammar police, but you did ask ;)
oh my gosh! this reminds me of my mother's griping at me to get Lay and Lie correct...I still don't know. hahahahahah loved the article! clarksuzannah at gmail dot com
ReplyDelete