This list will be added to over the coming week. Please feel free to comment below with any ‘pet words’ of your own!
• Homogeneous is pronounced as homo-genius and “homogenous” is not a word but a corruption of homogenized.
Correct: The population was not homogeneous; it was a melting pot.
• Hone means to sharpen and does not mean to home in on or to converge upon.
Correct: She honed her writing skills./ We’re homing in on a solution.
• Hot button means an emotional, divisive controversy and does not mean a hot topic.
Correct: “She tried to stay away from the hot button of abortion.” / Drones are a hot topic in the tech world.
• Hung means suspended and does not mean suspended from the neck until dead.
Correct: I hung the picture on my wall. / The prisoner was hanged.
• Intern (verb) means to detain or to imprison and does not mean to inter or to bury.
Correct: The rebels were interned in the military jail. / The king was interred with his jewels.
• Ironic means
uncannily incongruent and 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.
• Irregardless is not a word but a portmanteau of regardless and irrespective. [Note: Pinker acknowledges that certain schools of thought regard “irregardless” as simply non-standard, but he insists it should not even be granted that.]
Correct: Regardless of how you feel, it’s objectively the wrong decision. / Everyone gets a vote, irrespective of their position.
• Literally means in actual fact and does not mean figuratively.
Correct: I didn’t mean for you to literally run over here. / I’d rather die than listen to another one of his lectures — figuratively speaking, of course!
• Dichotomy means two mutually exclusive alternatives and does not mean difference or discrepancy.
Correct: There is a dichotomy between even and odd numbers. / There is a discrepancy between what we see and what is really there.
• Disinterested means unbiased and does not mean uninterested.
Correct: “The dispute should be resolved by a disinterested judge.” / Why are you so uninterested in my story?
• Enervate means to sap or to weaken and does not mean to energise.
Correct: That was an enervating rush hour commute. / That was an energizing cappuccino.
• Enormity means extreme evil and 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.
• Flaunt means to show off and does not mean to flout.
Correct: “She flaunted her abs.” / “She flouted the rules.”
• Floundermeans to flop around ineffectually and does not mean to founder or to sink to the bottom.
Correct: “The indecisive chairman floundered.” / “The headstrong chairman foundered.”
• Fortuitous means coincidental or unplanned and does not mean fortunate.
Correct: Running into my old friend was fortuitous. / It was fortunate that I had a good amount of savings after losing my job.
• Fulsome means unctuous or excessively or insincerely complimentary and does not meanfull or copious.
Correct: She didn’t believe his fulsome love letter. / The bass guitar had a full sound.
• Adverse means detrimental and does not mean averse or disinclined.
Correct: “There were adverse effects.” / “I’m not averse to doing that.”
• Appraise means to ascertain the value of and does not mean to apprise or to inform.
Correct: “I appraised the jewels.” / “I apprised him of the situation.”
• As far as means the same as but cannot be used the same way as as for.
Correct: “As far as the money is concerned …” / As for the money …
• Begs the question means assumes what it should be proving and does not mean raises 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.”
• Bemused means bewildered and does not mean amused.
Correct: The unnecessarily complex plot left me bemused. / The silly comedy amused me.
• Cliché is a noun and is not an adjective.
Correct: “Shakespeare used a lot of clichés.” / The plot was so clichéd.
• Credible means believable and does not mean credulous or gullible.
Correct: His sales pitch was not credible. / The con man took advantage of credulous people.
• Criteria is the plural, not the singular of criterion.
Correct: These are important criteria.
• 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.”
• Depreciate means to decrease in value and does not mean to deprecate or to disparage.
Correct: My car has depreciated a lot over the years. / She deprecated his efforts.