Vocabulary general 7 pot

tolled/told
TOLLED/TOLD
Some people imagine that the expression should be “all tolled” as if items were being ticked off to
the tolling of a bell, or involved the paying of a toll; but in fact this goes back to an old meaning of
"tell": “to count.” You could “tell over” your beads if you were counting them in a rosary. “All told”
means “all counted."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/tolled.html03/09/2005 15:40:17
tongue and cheek
TONGUE AND CHEEK
TONGUE IN CHEEK
When people want to show they are kidding or have just knowingly uttered a falsehood, they stick their tongues in their cheeks, so it's "tongue in cheek,"
not "tongue and cheek."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/tongue.html03/09/2005 15:40:17
toward/towards
TOWARD/TOWARDS
These two words are interchangeable, but "toward" is more common in the U.S. and "towards" in the
U.K.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/toward.html03/09/2005 15:40:17
track home
TRACK HOME
TRACT HOME
Commuters from a tract home may well feel that they are engaged in a rat race, but that does not justify them in describing their housing development as
a “track.” “Tract” here means an area of land on which inexpensive and uniform houses have been built. Incidentally, note that the phrase is “digestive
tract,” not “digestive track.”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/track.html03/09/2005 15:40:18
tradegy
TRADEGY

TRAGEDY
Not only do people often misspell "tragedy" as "tradegy," they mispronounce it that way too. Just remember that the adjective is "tragic" to recall that it's
the G that comes after the A. Also common is the misspelling "tradgedy."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/tradegy.html03/09/2005 15:40:18
troop/troupe
TROOP/TROUPE
A group of performers is a troupe. Any other group of people, military or otherwise, is a troop.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/troop.html03/09/2005 15:40:18
try and
TRY AND
TRY TO
Although "try and" is common in colloquial speech and will usually pass unremarked there, in writing try to remember to use "try to" instead of "try and."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/try.html03/09/2005 15:40:18
UFO
UFO
“UFO” stands for “Unidentified Flying Object,” so if you’re sure that silvery disk is an alien
spacecraft, there’s no point in calling it a "UFO.” I love the sign in a Seattle bookstore labeling the
alien-invasion section: “Incorrectly Identified Flying Objects."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/ufo.html03/09/2005 15:40:19
unconscience
UNCONSCIENCE
UNCONSCIOUS
Do people confuse the unconscious with conscience because the stuff fermenting in one’s unconscious is often stuff that bothers one’s conscience?
Whatever the cause, there is no such word as “unconscience.” And while we’re on the subject, Freudian psychology does not use “subconscious” which
implies something that is merely not consciously thought of, rather than something that is suppressed though it is used by Jungians.
List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/unconscience.html03/09/2005 15:40:19
underestimated
UNDERESTIMATED
Enthusiastic sportscasters often say of a surprisingly talented team that “they cannot be
underestimated” when what they mean is “they should not be underestimated.”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/underestimated.html03/09/2005 15:40:19
University of Indiana
UNIVERSITY OF INDIANA
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
There is no such place as “the University of Indiana”; it’s “Indiana University.” I should know; I went there.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/indiana.html03/09/2005 15:40:20