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Spelling premier
premier (adjective): first, especially for rank, time and importance
They supply only the premier business resources.
premier (noun): a political leader of prominence
Each Australian state has a Premier.
premiere (noun): the first public performance, usually relating to a play, music or movie
He was very excited to be invited to the premiere last week.
While premiere is very specific, the word premier can be used a number of ways – the adjective premier could even be use to describe the first performance although accepted usage indicates premiere as the preferred option.
Between these words
Are you aware that among and between have quite distinct meanings and can’t be used in the same way?
among: surrounded by, part of, included with
Divided among a team of ten, five oranges didn’t go far.
between: fitting in, across or along a spectrum or group
They will provide between $2 and $5 per person for catering.
So you need to use between for two items, and among for more than two items.
A maternal berth?
Sounding exactly the same, birth and berth are extremely different words and misusing them would lead to confusion…
birth: a beginning, especially relating to the beginning of life when a mammal leaves its Mother’s body
Parents see their baby’s birth as a turning point in their lives.
berth: a space for resting or sleeping, particularly relating to ships and trains. It can refer to a bed/bunk on a ship or train or a mooring place for a ship in a marina
The crew untied the ship from its berth on time for the departure.
Mary climbed into the top berth as the train sped past another village.
My tip for rememebring which spelling to use: a berth is a bed.
That’s a lot
It’s not so much that I see this pair of words used instead of each other, but unfortunately a number of people get the first one wrong.
a lot: a large extent, often, many. Note it is two words.
She has been using the writer a lot for this project.
allot: to distribute or assign parts of something
The manager will allot tasks to his team.
The word alot does not actually exist – it is simply how ‘a lot’ sounds.
the mystique of a mystic
mystic:someone involved in mysterious things, usually relating to the occult and other non-mainstream beliefs. Also can describe things related to these beliefs and traditions
Jane saw a mystic to contact her husband’s spirit.
mystique: a sense of mystery, power and interest about a person, place or event
Modern communications have reduced the mystique of fashion models.
If you have trouble remembering which is which, remember that mystique is about mystery and questions.
An illicit response?
elicit: develop or arouse something.
The sad story will elicit your emotions and responses.
A problem solving team may elicit a solution faster than you alone.
illicit: illegal or otherwise forbidden (perhaps morally or against rules.)
The couple had an illicit meeting during the conference.
Not sure how to remember which is which? Notice that illicit is illegal and ‘wrong’, so it can be considered an ill choice or action.
Pride or pried?
This is a pair of words that sound identical and have the same letters but have very different meanings and are very different in other tenses.
pride: feelings of self-respect, value, and worth, especially after an achievement or about a particular aspect of self/life
Mary takes pride in her work and her customer’s feedback.
He has pride; she is proud
pried: to have peered or looked into something beyond a casual glance; to have levered things apart
Tom pried the board off the fence so he could see inside.
She pried into his papers; a spy will pry into many things.
Artists and artisans, not the other way
artisan: a skilled craftsperson or manual worker
A number of artisans can be seen at work behind their market stalls.
artist:a person skilled in a fine art (such as painting, silversmithing or sculpting)
Johann asked the artist to do a portrait of his wife.
artiste: a professional performer or enteratiner, especially a dancer or singer; someone with artisitic pretensions
Dame Nelly Melba was an artiste renowned for her farewells.
So an artisan is skilled a manual skill outside of the fine arts, which could include a mechanic, a carpenter, a cook and a draftsperson. Some artisans may be artistic even if they don’t work with a fine art.
An old man’s mist?
While this may be an uncommon pair of words in business writing, they are both used in speech fairly often so it is worth knowing how to spell both words.
fogy: person with old fashioned ideas and attitudes. Also spelt fogey and often used in a derogative way.
Jim was only 20 but his friends called him an old fogy.
foggy: murky, not clear, dull. Often refers to air when clouds are low
It was foggy when we climber out of our tents this morning.
the artifice of an artisan
artefact: any object made by humankind
The archeologist was excited to find some artefacts in the cave.
artisan: a skilled craftsperson or manual worker
A number of artisans can be seen at work behind their market stalls.
artifice: contrivance, cunning, skilled trick; skill
The conman’s artifice had fooled many people in the last five years.
artificer: inventor, skilled crafts person; skilled mechanic (in miltary and naval usage)
Da Vinci is one of the most famous artificers in European history.
Remember the artefact is the object made by the artisan, who might show some artifice in the process.
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