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Use of electrocution is shocking
This word is misused so often it is scary – or shocking if you can excuse the pun! In fact, last week I heard a TV host admit to murdering half of his contestants on national television!
electrocution: dying from electricity being applied to the body
He was electrocuted when he touched both live wires.
Electrocution, electrocuted, electrocute – whichever form of the word, it means being killed by electricity. Yet so many people talk about being electrocuted themselves – if you believe in ghosts, that could be possible but otherwise if the person is talking about it they were not electrocuted!
An electric shock on the other hand means feeling electricity through your body but you surive the experience – it can be as mild as the shock you get from synthetic carpets through to an almost fatal shock.
As for our TV host, he had given many of his contestants an electric shock but I’m pretty sure he hadn’t killed them despite saying he had electrocuted them.
Bye buying!
I was alerted to this trio of words by my daughter, although it is generally just the first two versions that get used incorrecctly. First, here are the words in question:
Buy: to purchase something
I am going to buy a new laptop this week.
Bye: a farewell, shortened from goodbye. (Originally written as ‘bye to show it is an abbreviation, it is generally written as bye now)
They said bye to everyone outside then left the party.
by: to be beside , close to or in support of; within a time frame; in an opinion or according to
The mother kept her child by her side in the park.
I need to finish this by Friday
It’s not a complete definition by a long way.
The prefix bi also sounds the same, but is used as the start of other words (e.g. bicycle, bicentenary, bifocals, binary).
If none of the above helps you remember the difference, rember the u in buy matches the u in purchase.
P.S. I explained the past tense of buy (bought) as a Monday Meaning last year.
Either, neither…
It is the use of either and neither (rather than the spelling) that people seem to have trouble with – I have just edited a 40 page document which repeatedly misused either/or.
either: an introduction of two alternatives separated by the word or
You can either buy or rent this property
neither: an introduction of two unavailable alternatives separated by the word nor
neither John nor Mary can run the meeting.
What is important to note is that both words refer to a choice of TWO options – if there is a list of choices, either/neither can’t be used.
wrong – You can choose either chocolate or vanilla or strawberry.
correct – You can chose either chocolate or strawberry.
correct – You can choose chocolate, vanilla or strawberry.
Can you see the site?
Cite: to reference something and identify that source, especially in academic and legal papers
The lawyer decided to cite John’s affidavit but not Mary’s.
Site: a location or area
They had to clear the site before they could build on it.
Sight: being able to see; what is seen
She lost her sight after staring at the eclipse.
“What a sight!” said the hikers when they reached the mountain top.
The word cite is used less often in general conversations and probably doesn’t suit most business documents. But I do see site and sight being misused.
Think of site as a place where you can sit and it may help you remember which is which.
Capitals change the meaning
It’s Monday but I’m going to do the Monday Meanings post a little differently today in honour of Anzac Day on Saturday.
Sometimes, a capital letter can change the meaning or significance of a word.
Digger: an Anzac soldier
The Diggers proudly walked off the ship in Melbourne.
digger: someone who is digging or regularly digs
Sitting in the sandpit, the digger created a moat around his castle.
The general rules for the use of capital letters obviously still apply, as does the annoyance of over using capitals. For the above example, I added a capital letter to a regular noun to make it a proper noun as I could also do for words such as Mother/mother, Father/father, Nurse/nurse and Captain/captain.
Cavalry and Calvary
Cavalry: a group or fighters (soldiers, warriors, etc) mounted on horses
The foot soldiers will follow the cavalry into the valley.
The foot soldiers will follow the cavalry into the valley.
Calvary: the Crucifixion place for Jesus; also used to refer to crucifixion crosses and sites in general or to describe intense pain
The pilgrims went to Calvary in Jerusalem.
Unless you write or read a lot of Christian materials, you probably won’t come across Calvary so learning to spell cavalry alone may be enough!
Just breathe
Breath: the process of taking in air to get oxygen into the lungs; the air taken in or pushed out during breathing; small amount of air or wind
Taking a deep breath, she gave her manuscript to the printer
Breathe: the act of taking air into or out of the lungs. Also refers to letting air through a material (e.g. letting red wine breathe or choosing a fabric that can breathe)
It can be harder to breathe at high altitudes.
Put your angel on an angle
Angel: a heavenly being, often depicted in white with wings and a halo; a person with admirable qualities, possibly above most people’s
She was an angel, visiting us everyday for hours while I was bedridden.
Angle: the difference in position of two intersecting lines
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is on an unusual angle for a building.
Be wary, you’ll get weary
Wary: to be cautious and aware, on guard
I am wary of links in emails from people I don’t know.
Weary: exhausted or very tired. It can be physically tired or an exhaustion of energy, tolerance and spirit.
The weary CFA volunteers were grateful for a cold drink.
Thinking “if you were in a war, you would need to be wary of your environment” may help you tell these two definitions apart.
Verses vs. Versus
Verses: a section of words in a poem or song, similar to a paragraph in text
The third verse in that song was sung a bit out of tune.
Versus: a term to link two things being compared against each other.
It’s Richmond versus Collingwood in the footy this weekend.
vs: The abbreviated version of versus.
It’s Richmond vs. Collingwood in the footy this weekend.
Not sure how to remember which is which? Just remember the us in versus relates to us against them!
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