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forego/forgo
FOREGO/FORGO
The E in “forego” tells you it has to do with going before. It occurs mainly in the expression
“foregone conclusion,” a conclusion arrived at in advance. “Forgo” means to abstain from or do
without. “After finishing his steak, he decided to forgo the blueberry cheesecake.”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/forego.html03/09/2005 15:38:04
forsee
FORSEE
FORESEE
This word means “to see into the future.” There are lots of words with the prefix “fore-” which are future-oriented, including “foresight,” “foretell,”
“forethought,” and “foreword,” all of which are often misspelled by people who omit the E. Just remember: what golfers shout when they are warning
people ahead of them about the shot they are about to make is “fore!”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/forsee.html03/09/2005 15:38:05
formally/formerly
FORMALLY/FORMERLY
These two are often mixed up in speech. If you are doing something in a formal manner, you are
behaving formally; but if you previously behaved differently, you did so formerly.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/formally.html03/09/2005 15:38:05
forward/forwards
FORWARD/FORWARDS/FOREWORD
Although some style books prefer “forward” and “toward” to “forwards” and “towards,” none of
these forms is really incorrect, though the forms without the final S are perhaps a smidgen more
formal. The spelling “foreword” applies exclusively to the introductory matter in a book.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/forward.html03/09/2005 15:38:05
fortuitous/fortunate
FORTUITOUS/FORTUNATE
“Fortuitous” events happen by chance; they need not be fortunate events, only random ones: “It was


purely fortuitous that the meter reader came along five minutes before I returned to my car.”
Although fortunate events may be fortuitous, when you mean “lucky,” use “fortunate."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/fortuitous.html03/09/2005 15:38:05
foul/fowl
FOUL/FOWL
A chicken is a fowl. A poke in the eye is a foul.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/foul.html03/09/2005 15:38:06
Frankenstein
FRANKENSTEIN
"Frankenstein" is the name of the scientist who creates the monster in Mary Shelley's novel. The
monster itself has no name, but is referred to popularly as "Frankenstein's monster."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/frankenstein.html03/09/2005 15:38:06
frankly
FRANKLY
Sentences beginning with this word are properly admissions of something shocking or unflattering to
the speaker; but when a public spokesperson for a business or government is speaking, it almost
always precedes a self-serving statement. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” is correct; but
“Frankly, I think the American people can make their own decisions about health care” is an abuse of
language. The same contortion of meaning is common in related phrases. When you hear a public
figure say, “to be completely honest with you,” expect a lie.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/frankly.html03/09/2005 15:38:06
french dip with au jus
FRENCH DIP WITH AU JUS
FRENCH DIP
This diner classic consists of sliced roast beef on a more or less firm bun, with a side dish of broth in which to dip it. “Au jus” means “with broth” so
adding “with” to “au jus” is redundant. In fancier restaurants, items are listed entirely in French with the English translation underneath:

Tête de cochon avec ses tripes farcies
Pig’ s head stuffed with tripe
Mixing the languages is hazardous if you don’t know what the original means. “With au jus broth” is also seen from time to time. People generally know
what a French dip sandwich is, and they’ll see the broth when it comes. Why not just call it a “French dip?”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/french.html03/09/2005 15:38:06
from . . . to
FROM . . . TO
“From soup to nuts” makes sense because soup was the traditional first course in a formal meal, nuts
the last. Similarly “from A to Z” makes sense because these are the first and last letters of the
alphabet. But this construction which identifies the extremes of a spectrum or range is often
improperly used when no such extremes are being identified, as in “She tried everything from
penicillin to sulfa drugs.” These are not extremes, just examples of different sorts of drugs. Even
worse is “he gave his daughter everything from a bicycle to lawn darts to a teddy bear.” A range can’t
have more than two extremes. “He gave his daughter everything from paper dolls to a Cadillac”
conveys the notion of a spectrum from very cheap to very expensive, and is fine. Often when people
are tempted to use “from . . . to” they would be better off using a different expression, as, for
example, in this sentence: “She tried all sorts of medicines, including penicillin and sulfa drugs.”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/from.html03/09/2005 15:38:07
from the beginning of time
FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME
ANYTHING MORE SPECIFIC
Stephen Hawking writes about the beginning of time, but few other people do. People who write “from the beginning of time” or “since time began” are
usually being lazy. Their grasp of history is vague, so they resort to these broad, sweeping phrases. Almost never is this usage literally accurate: people
have not fallen in love since time began, for instance, because people arrived relatively late on the scene in the cosmic scheme of things. When I visited
Ferrara several years ago I was interested to see that the whole population of the old city seemed to use bicycles for transportation, cars being banned
from the central area. I asked how long this had been the custom and was told “We‘ve ridden bicycles for centuries.” Since the bicycle was invented only
in the 1890s, I strongly doubted this (no, Leonardo da Vinci did not invent the bicycle—he just drew a picture of what one might look like—and some
people think that picture is a modern forgery). If you really don’t know the appropriate period from which your subject dates, you could substitute a less

silly but still vague phrase such as “for many years," or “for centuries”; but it’s better simply to avoid historical statements if you don’t know your
history.
See “today’s modern society.”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/beginning.html03/09/2005 15:38:07

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