Different vocabulary pdf

wheat
WHEAT
WHOLE WHEAT
Waiters routinely ask “Wheat or white?” when bread is ordered, but the white bread is also made of wheat. The correct term is “whole wheat,” in which
the whole grain, including the bran and germ, has been used to make the flour. “Whole wheat” does not necessarily imply that no white flour has been
used in the bread; most whole wheat breads incorporate some white flour.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/wheat.html03/09/2005 15:40:27
whereabouts are
WHEREABOUTS ARE
WHEREABOUTS IS
Despite the deceptive S on the end of the word, “whereabouts” is normally singular, not plural. “The whereabouts of the stolen diamond is unknown.”
Only if you were simultaneously referring to two or more persons having separate whereabouts would the word be plural, and you are quite unlikely to
want to do so.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/whereabouts.html03/09/2005 15:40:27
where it’s at
WHERE IT’S AT
This slang expression gained widespread currency in the sixties as a hip way of stating that the
speaker understood the essential truth of a situation: “I know where it’s at.” Or more commonly:
“You don’t know where it’s at.” It is still heard from time to time with that meaning, but the user risks
being labeled as a quaint old Boomer. However, standard usage never accepted the literal sense of the
phrase. Don’t say, “I put my purse down and now I don’t know where it’s at” unless you want to be
regarded as uneducated. “Where it is” will do fine; the “at” is redundant.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/where.html03/09/2005 15:40:28
whether
WHETHER/WHETHER OR NOT
“Whether” works fine on its own in most contexts: “I wonder whether I forgot to turn off the stove?”
But when you mean “regardless of whether” it has to be followed by “or not” somewhere in the
sentence: “We need to leave for the airport in five minutes whether you’ve found your teddy bear or

not.”
See also “
if/whether.”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/whether.html03/09/2005 15:40:28
whilst/while
WHILST/WHILE
Although “whilst” is a perfectly good traditional synonym of “while,” in American usage it is
considered pretentious and old-fashioned.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/whilst.html03/09/2005 15:40:28
whim and a prayer/wing and a prayer
WHIM AND A PRAYER
WING AND A PRAYER
A 1943 hit song depicted a fighter pilot just barely managing to bring his shot-up plane back to base, “comin’ in on a wing and a prayer” (lyrics by
Harold Adamson, music by Jimmy McHugh). Some people who don’t get the allusion mangle this expression as “a whim and a prayer.” Whimsicality
and fervent prayerfulness don’t go together.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/whim.html03/09/2005 15:40:29
whimp
WHIMP
WIMP
The original and still by far the most common spelling of this common bit of slang meaning “weakling, coward,” is “wimp.” If you use the much less
common “whimp” instead people may regard you as a little wimpy.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/whimp.html03/09/2005 15:40:29
whisky/whiskey
WHISKY/WHISKEY
Scots prefer the spelling “whisky”; Americans follow instead the Irish spelling, so Kentucky bourbon
is “whiskey.”

List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/whisky.html03/09/2005 15:40:29
who/whom
WHO/WHOM
“Whom” has been dying an agonizing death for decades—you’ll notice there are no Whoms in Dr.
Seuss’s Whoville. Many people never use the word in speech at all. However, in formal writing,
critical readers still expect it to be used when appropriate. The distinction between “who” and
“whom” is basically simple: “who” is the subject form of this pronoun and “whom” is the object
form. “Who was wearing that awful dress at the Academy Awards banquet?” is correct because
“who” is the subject of the sentence. “The MC was so startled by the neckline that he forgot to whom
he was supposed to give the Oscar” is correct because “whom” is the object of the preposition “to.”
So far so good.
Now consider this sort of question: “Who are you staring at?” Although strictly speaking the pronoun
should be “whom,” nobody who wants to be taken seriously would use it in this case, though it is the
object of the preposition “at.” (Bothered by ending the sentence with a preposition? See
my “Non-
Errors” page.) “Whom” is very rarely used even by careful speakers as the first word in a question;
and many authorities have now conceded the point.
There is another sort of question in which “whom” appears later in the sentence: “I wonder whom he
bribed to get the contract?” This may seem at first similar to the previous example, but here “whom”
is not the subject of any verb in the sentence; rather it is part of the noun clause which itself is the
object of the verb “wonder.” Here an old gender-biased but effective test for “whom” can be used.
Try rewriting the sentence using “he” or “him.” Clearly “He bribed he" is incorrect; you would say
“he bribed him.” Where “him” is the proper word in the paraphrased sentence, use “whom.”
Instances in which the direct object appears at the beginning of a sentence are tricky because we are
used to having subjects in that position and are strongly tempted to use “who“: “Whomever Susan
admired most was likely to get the job.” (Test: “She admired him.” Right?)
Where things get really messy is in statements in which the object or subject status of the pronoun is
not immediately obvious. Example: “The police gave tickets to whoever had parked in front of the
fire hydrant.” The object of the preposition “to” is the entire noun clause, “whoever had parked in

front of the fire hydrant,” but “whoever” is the subject of that clause, the subject of the verb “had
parked.” Here’s a case where the temptation to use “whomever” should be resisted.
Confused? Just try the “he or him” test, and if it’s still not clear, go with “who.” You’ll bother fewer
people and have a fair chance of being right.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/who.html03/09/2005 15:40:30
who’s/whose
WHO’S/WHOSE
This is one of those cases where it is important to remember that possessive pronouns never take
apostrophes, even though possessive nouns do (see it’s/its). “Who’s” always and forever means only
“who is,” as in “Who’s that guy with the droopy mustache?” or “ who has,” as in “Who’s been eating
my porridge?” “Whose” is the possessive form of “who” and is used as follows: “Whose dirty socks
are these on the breakfast table?”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/who's.html03/09/2005 15:40:30
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