Giáo trình oxford 1 pps

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
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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
beaurocracy.html
BEAUROCRACY
BUREAUCRACY
The French bureaucrats from whom we 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