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
ye
YE
THE
Those who study the history of English know that the word often misread as “ye” in Middle English is good old “the” spelled with an unfamiliar
character called a thorn which looks vaguely like a “Y” but which is pronounced “TH.” So all those quaint shop names beginning “Ye Olde” are based
on a confusion: people never said “ye” to mean “the.” However, if you’d rather be cute than historically accurate, go ahead. Very few people will know
any better.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/ye.html03/09/2005 15:40:33