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
chai tea
CHAI TEA
CHAI
Chai is simply the word for “tea” in Hindi and several other Asian languages. The spicy, milky variety known in India as masala chai is called “chai” in
the U.S. Since Americans likely to be attracted by the word “chai” already know it’s a tea-based drink, it’s both redundant and pointless to call the
product “chai tea.”
List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/chai.html03/09/2005 15:37:15