Giáo trình oxford 6 doc

careen/career CAREEN/CAREER A truck careening down the road is swerving from side to side as it races along, whereas a truck careering down the road may be simply traveling very fast. But because it is not often clear which meaning a person intends, confusing these two words is not likely to get you into trouble. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/careen.html03/09/2005 15:37:12 caring CARING Most people are comfortable referring to “caring parents,” but speaking of a “caring environment” is jargon, not acceptable in formal English. The environment may contain caring people, but it does not itself do the caring. See also “ may/might.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/caring.html03/09/2005 15:37:12 catch 22 CATCH 22 People familiar with Joseph Heller’s novel are irritated when they see “Catch-22” used to label any simple hitch or problem rather than this sort of circular dilemma: you can’t get published until you have an agent, and you can’t get an agent until you’ve been published. “There’s a catch” will do fine for most other situations. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/catch22.html03/09/2005 15:37:13 CD-ROM disk CD-ROM disk CD-ROM “CD-ROM” stands for “compact disc, read-only memory,” so adding another “disc” or “disk” is redundant. The same goes for “DVD” (from “Digital Video Disc” or “Digital Versatile Disc"”—there are non-video versions). Don’t say “give me that DVD disk,” just “give me that DVD.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/cdrom.html03/09/2005 15:37:13 ceasar CEASAR CAESAR Did you know that German “Kaiser” is derived from the Latin “Caesar” and is pronounced a lot more like it than the English version? We’re stuck with our illogical pronunciation, so we have to memorize the correct spelling. (The Russians messed up the pronunciation as thoroughly as the English, with their “Czar.”) Thousands of menus are littered with “Ceasar salads” throughout America—named after a restaurateur, not the emperor (but they both spelled their names the same way). Julius Caesar’s family name was “Julius”; he made the name “Caesar” famous all by himself. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/ceasar.html03/09/2005 15:37:13 celibate/chaste CELIBATE/CHASTE Believe it or not, you can be celibate without being chaste, and chaste without being celibate. A celibate person is merely unmarried, usually (but not always) because of a vow of celibacy. The traditional assumption is that such a person is not having sex with anyone, which leads many to confuse the word with “chaste,” denoting someone who does not have illicit sex. A woman could have wild sex twice a day with her lawful husband and technically still be chaste, though the word is more often used to imply a general abstemiousness from sex and sexuality. You can always amuse your readers by misspelling the latter word as “chased.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/celibate.html03/09/2005 15:37:13 celtic CELTIC Because the Boston Celtics basketball team pronounces its name as if it began with an S, Americans are prone to use this pronunciation of the word as it applies to the Bretons, Cornish, Welsh, Irish and Scots; but the dominant pronunciation among sophisticated US speakers is “keltik.” Just remember: “Celts in kilts.” Interestingly, the Scots themselves often use the “S” pronunciation, notably in referring to the soccer team, “Glasgow Celtic.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/celtic.html03/09/2005 15:37:14 cement/concrete CEMENT/CONCRETE People in the building trades distinguish cement (the gray powder that comes in bags) from concrete (the combination of cement, water, sand, and gravel which becomes hard enough in your driveway to drive your car on). In contexts where technical precision matters, it’s probably better to speak of a “concrete sidewalk” rather than of a “cement sidewalk.” See also “ may/might.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/cement.html03/09/2005 15:37:14 center around CENTER AROUND CENTER ON, REVOLVE AROUND Two perfectly good expressions—"center on” and “revolve around”—get conflated in this nonsensical neologism. When a speaker says his address will “center around the topic of” whatever, my interest level plummets. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/center.html03/09/2005 15:37:14 cents CENTS On a sign displaying a cost of twenty-nine cents for something the price can be written as “.29,” as “$.29,” or as “29¢,” but don’t combine the two forms. “.29¢” makes no sense, and “$.29¢” is worse. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/cents.html03/09/2005 15:37:14