Different vocabulary2 pps

a whole ” nother A WHOLE ’NOTHER A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT It is one thing to use the expression “a whole ’nother” as a consciously slangy phrase suggesting rustic charm and a completely different matter to use it mistakenly. The A at the beginning of the phrase is the common article “a” but is here treated as if it were simultaneously the first letter of “another,” interrupted by “whole.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/whole.html03/09/2005 15:40:30 whoseever WHO’S EVER WHOEVER’S In speech people sometimes try to treat the word “whoever” as two words when it‘s used in the possessive form: “Whose-ever delicious plums those were in the refrigerator, I ate them.” Occasionally it's even misspelled as “whoseever.” The standard form is “whoever’s,” as in “Whoever's plums those were. . . .” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/whoseever.html03/09/2005 15:40:31 -wise -WISE In political and business jargon it is common to append “-wise” to nouns to create novel adverbs: “Revenue-wise, last quarter was a disaster.” Critics of language are united in objecting to this pattern, and it is often used in fiction to satirize less than eloquent speakers. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/-wise.html03/09/2005 15:40:31 woman/women WOMAN/WOMEN The singular “woman” probably gets mixed up with the plural “women” because although both are spelled with an O in the first syllable; only the pronunciation of the O really differentiates them. Just remember that this word is treated no differently than “man” (one person) and “men” (more than one person). A woman is a woman—never a women. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/woman.html03/09/2005 15:40:31 WWW WORLD WIDE WEB “World Wide Web” is a name that needs to be capitalized, like “Internet.” It is made up of Web pages and Web sites (or, less formally, Websites). List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/www.html03/09/2005 15:40:31 worse comes to worse WORSE COMES TO WORSE WORST COMES TO WORST The traditional idiom is “if worst comes to worst.” The modern variation “worse comes to worst” is a little more logical. “Worse comes to worse” is just a mistake. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/worse.html03/09/2005 15:40:32 wreckless WRECKLESS RECKLESS This word has nothing to do with creating the potential for a wreck. Rather it involves not reckoning carefully all the hazards involved in an action. The correct spelling is therefore “reckless.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/wreckless.html03/09/2005 15:40:32 writting WRITTING WRITING One of the comments English teachers dread to see on their evaluations is “The professor really helped me improve my writting.” When “-ing” is added to a word which ends in a short vowel followed only by a single consonant, that consonant is normally doubled, but “write” has a silent E on the end to ensure the long I sound in the word. Doubling the T in this case would make the word rhyme with “flitting.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/writting.html03/09/2005 15:40:32 Xmas/Christmas XMAS/CHRISTMAS “Xmas” is not originally an attempt to exclude Christ from Christmas, but uses an abbreviation of the Greek spelling of the word “Christ” with the “X”representing the Greek letter chi. However, so few people know this that it is probably better not to use this popular abbreviation in religious contexts. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/xmas.html03/09/2005 15:40:32 ya” ll YA’LL Y’ALL “How y’all doin’?” If you are rendering this common Southernism in print, be careful where you place the apostrophe, which stands for the second and third letters in “you.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/yall.html03/09/2005 15:40:33 . WHOLE ’NOTHER A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT It is one thing to use the expression “a whole ’nother” as a consciously slangy phrase suggesting rustic charm and a completely different matter to use it. O in the first syllable; only the pronunciation of the O really differentiates them. Just remember that this word is treated no differently than “man” (one person) and “men” (more than one person).