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avocation AVOCATION/VOCATION Your avocation is just your hobby; don’t mix it up with your job: your vocation. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/avocation.html03/09/2005 15:36:59 a while/awhile A WHILE/AWHILE When “awhile” is spelled as a single word, it is an adverb meaning “for a time” (“stay awhile”); but when “while” is the object of a prepositional phrase, like “Lend me your monkey wrench for a while” the “while” must be separated from the “a.” (But if the preposition “for” were lacking in this sentence, “awhile” could be used in this way: “Lend me your monkey wrench awhile.”) List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/awhile.html03/09/2005 15:36:59 ax AX ASK The dialectical pronunciation of “ask” as “ax” suggests to most people that the speaker has a substandard education and is to be avoided in formal speaking situations. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/ax.html03/09/2005 15:36:59 avocation AXEL/AXLE The center of a wheel is its axle. An axel is a tricky jump in figure skating named after Axel Paulsen. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/axel.html03/09/2005 15:36:59 backslash/slash BACKSLASH SLASH This is a slash: /. Because the top of it leans forward, it is sometimes called a “forward slash.” This is a backslash: \. Notice the way it leans back, distinguishing it from the regular slash. Slashes are often used to indicate directories and subdirectories in computer systems such as Unix and in World Wide Web addresses. Unfortunately, many people, assuming “backslash” is some sort of technical term for the regular slash, use the term incorrectly, which risks confusing those who know enough to distinguish between the two but not enough to realize that Web addresses never contain backslashes. Newer browsers will silently correct this error, but older ones may not. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/backslash.html03/09/2005 15:37:00 backward BACKWARD/BACKWARDS As an adverb, either word will do: “put the shirt on backward” or “put the shirt on backwards.” However, as an adjective, only “backward” will do: “a backward glance.” When in doubt, use “backward.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/backward.html03/09/2005 15:37:00 barb wire BARB WIRE, BOB WIRE BARBED WIRE In some parts of the country this prickly stuff is commonly called “barb wire” or even “bob wire.” When writing for a general audience, stick with the standard “barbed wire.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/barbwire.html03/09/2005 15:37:00 bare/bear BARE/BEAR There are actually three words here. The simple one is the big growly creature (unless you prefer the Winnie-the-Pooh type). Hardly anyone past the age of ten gets that one wrong. The problem is the other two. Stevedores bear burdens on their backs and mothers bear children. Both mean “carry” (in the case of mothers, the meaning has been extended from carrying the child during pregnancy to actually giving birth). But strippers bare their bodies—sometimes bare-naked. The confusion between this latter verb and “bear” creates many unintentionally amusing sentences; so if you want to entertain your readers while convincing them that you are a dolt, by all means mix them up. “Bear with me,” the standard expression, is a request for forbearance or patience. “Bare with me” would be an invitation to undress. “Bare” has an adjectival form: “The pioneers stripped the forest bare.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/bare.html03/09/2005 15:37:00 basicly BASICLY BASICALLY There are “-ly” words and “-ally” words, and you basically just have to memorize which is which. But “basically” is very much overused and is often better avoided in favor of such expressions as “essentially,” “fundamentally,” or “at heart.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/basicly.html03/09/2005 15:37:01 bazaar/bizarre BAZAAR/BIZARRE A “bazaar” is a market where miscellaneous goods are sold. “Bizarre,” in contrast, is an adjective meaning “strange,” “weird.” Let all those As in “bazaar” remind you that this is a Persian word denoting traditional markets. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/bazaar.html03/09/2005 15:37:01 [...]... get this word worked at their bureaus (desks, spelled bureaux in French) in what came to be known as bureaucracies List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/beaurocracy.html03/09/2005 15 :37: 01 . “at heart.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/basicly.html03/09/2005 15 :37: 01 bazaar/bizarre BAZAAR/BIZARRE A “bazaar” is a market where miscellaneous goods are sold. “Bizarre,”. traditional markets. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/bazaar.html03/09/2005 15 :37: 01 beaurocracy.html BEAUROCRACY BUREAUCRACY The French bureaucrats from whom we get this word. bureaucracies. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/beaurocracy.html03/09/2005 15 :37: 01