When Is “Currently” Needed? Almost never. It’s one of the words that aren’t needed, and yet I hear it used frequently. Some of the worst misuse can be found on answering machines and voicemails. I’m currently away from my desk. Or even worse, I’m currently away from my desk right now. The business world is…
Media Is or Media Are? Data has been around for a long time. It was taken from Latin, but has been used in the English language for almost 400 years. Since it’s a Latin word, data is the plural, and datum is the singular, and it has been used that way for a long time,…
If and Whether Should I use if or should I use whether? The question has been pondered by careful writers for years. The traditional advice has always been to use if when you have a conditional sentence and whether when you have two alternatives. There are lots of times when the words are interchangeable though….
When to Use Into or In Using in or into is easy to master. When you use the word in, position is indicated. His pen was in his shirt pocket. Into, however, points to movement—of something or someone. He put the thermos into his briefcase. Here are a few example sentences of when to use…
Meaning of Cognizant and Meaning of Prophylactic In my continuing quest to make note of words that have jumped to the forefront during this pandemic, I’ve identified two more offenders—cognizant and prophylactic. Don’t get me wrong; the words aren’t at fault, they’re fine words. I blame the people using them. The reporters, doctors, and analysts…
Plethora—It’s Not What You May Think If you listen to people speak, you’re bound to hear the word plethora used sooner or later. And when you do, it will probably be used erroneously. Last year, I decided to do an informal self-conducted poll, and, in a thirty-day span, I heard the word used eleven times….
How to Use Incredible Credible and Incredible are closely related words, and each of them used to mean something specific. The meaning of each was easy to decipher because of the root word: crediblis and because of their close association. Credible believable, worthy of belief, capable of being believed Incredible Incredible means (at least for…
When to Use Mitigate You might recall I mentioned that during any time of crisis, the not-so-often-heard words come out of the woodwork. We discussed the prevalence of proximity or should I say the misuse of close proximity earlier, but it’s long past time to delve into when to use mitigate and mitigation. Nowadays it…
7 Common Grammar Mistakes And How to Correct Them The how-to-correct-them-part is easy. Practice using them right. Make a habit out of it. Don’t simply read this article, and then forget it. Read the article, and then select one of the grammar rules and practe using it properly for several weeks. After that, your list…
Am I Grateful or Thankful I’ve had several people write to me about whether to use grateful or thankful, wondering when to use each word. My typical response of verifying my thoughts with a good dictionary and then presenting those people with answers didn’t work, mostly because the dictionaries seemed as confused as those people…