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from the its-quiet-awl-write-two-laugh-hat-you're-miss-steaks dept.
I was recently introduced to Professor Paul Brians' web site at Washington State University (WSU). I know I've made many mistakes like these over the years, and would like to think that I have learned from those mistakes. Would that I could have learned them, then, without having to go through those experiences.
So, with a sense of gratitude for what I've been taught and learned so far, and in hopes that it might afford a Soylentil a chance to avoid a red-face-inducing faux pas, I offer you examples of some Common Errors in English Usage:
People send me quite a few word confusions which don't seem worth writing up but which are nevertheless entertaining or interesting. I simply list a number of these below for your amusement. Many of them are discussed on the Eggcorn Database site.
Note: if you don't find what you're looking for below, please be aware that this is only a supplementary page to a much more extensive site that begins here.
NOTE: This is a greatly thinned list of examples from the linked page and has been reformatted for use here. Ellipses ([...]) between entries are implied.
| What was said | What was meant |
|---|---|
| ad homonym | ad hominem |
| aerobic numbers | Arabic numbers |
| ashfault | asphalt |
| Cadillac converter | catalytic converter |
| circus sized | circumcised |
| deformation of character | defamation of character |
| flamingo dancer | flamenco dancer |
| four-stair heating | forced-air heating |
| gentile manners | genteel manners |
| glaucomole | glaucoma |
| gorilla warfare | guerilla warfare |
| Heineken remover | Heimlich maneuver |
| immaculate degeneration | macular degeneration |
| in sink | in synch |
| ivy tower | ivory tower |
| misconscrew | misconstrue |
| muncho man | macho man |
| parody of virtue | paragon of virtue |
| piece of mind | peace of mind |
| pot-bellied politics | pork-barrel politics |
| shock ways | shockwaves |
| techknowledgy | technology |
| two sense worth | two cents' worth |
| tyrannical yolk | tyrannical yoke |
| very close veins | varicose veins |
| windshield factor | wind chill factor |
What are your favorites — either from this list — or from elsewhere?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 11 2019, @03:13PM (3 children)
Shrug. The meaning of "begs the question" as a logical fallacy comes from an archaic meaning of "beg" which literally no English speaker uses in any other context anymore. The obvious meaning of the phrase becomes "a question is demanded [in some particular situation]" -- and this is how many English speakers actually use the phrase.
Like most cases of "kids these days get English wrong" It is far too late to change what people think the meaning of "begs the question" is. The fact is that today, this expression has multiple meanings.
(Score: 4, Informative) by aristarchus on Friday October 11 2019, @06:22PM (2 children)
Wrong, you charlatain! "Question begging" [begthequestion.info] is in no way related to "begging for questions". This is not a change in usage, it is a persistent mistake based on the decline in education in America. Someone has related it to an example that begs to be exhibited: were on to say on the passing of another, that, well, "the die is cast", because that person did "die", they are just exposing the fact that they do no know the singular of "dice", which being on SoylentNews, is especially egregious. And something of a damp squid [youtube.com]
https://www.linguee.fr/anglais-francais/traduction/begs+the+question.html [linguee.fr]
https://grammarist.com/rhetoric/begging-the-question-fallacy/ [grammarist.com]
In another Common Errors in English [wsu.edu].
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Saturday October 12 2019, @09:41AM (1 child)
Your Grammarist gem contains this gem:
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday October 12 2019, @09:49AM
Ah, finally, correct usage. Now if only we could take khallow's word that people congraudulate him on disagreeing with his completely insane positions. This would up my appreciation of the khallow from scum, to only mostly illiterate!