Activity Log

Resist

Resist as a verb means to prevent some action from happening. For example –

·         I resisted myself from eating ice-creams as I had severe cold.

·         Don’t resist yourself from explaining your stand.

·         We are resisting the usage of corpus fund for bringing solar energy project in our society.

·         The resistance from students was too much for me too proceed with the speech.

Resist is a synonym of refrain which means to move away from doing something that’s otherwise attractive or tempting. In the 1^st example, we can use refrain as well.

The word resist originated from the latin resistere, re meaning oppose, and sistere meaning to stop.

Irresistible is something you cannot resist. For example, the desserts at the restaurant were irresistible.

Resistance is the noun of resist. For example – our society has a strange resistance towards changes.

Resist and persist

Persist is just the opposite of resist. Where resist is to prevent something from happening, persist is to try and do something no matter what obstacles come in the way of it. “Persistence is the key to success”, “She persisted the good work in spite of the resistance from her enemies.”

Insist is another related word, which means to say something firmly or assertively. In other words, to be persistent in a thought or action. “She insisted I travel with her for safety reasons.”

Desist

Desist means to stop some action. This means an action has already been started, and it has to be stopped from proceeding again. The word desist comes from the latin word desistere meaning to leave off. Example –

·         As a result of fierce opposition, the committee wanted to desist the project before completion.

·         He promised to desist chewing tobacco.

·         I desisted my son from meeting those naughty boys again.

·         They got a court order to desist from selling their products and services.

·         We told her to desist hurting herself with a knife, but she wouldn’t.

Resistance can often lead to desistance.

·         The committee members resisted to the idea of bringing water cans to the society, therefore the motion to desist the supply was passed.

·         The company was asked to desist the production because the sponsors resisted from releasing enough funds.

The popular term “Cease and desist”

A cease and desist is a letter sent to a business or an individual to stop (cease) alleged illegal activities and not start it again (desist). It is essentially an order mostly given by a public authority for disputes related to intellectual properties.

As we have seen, the words resist and desist sound similar but are quite different. One is to prevent an action and other is to stop it after it has been initiated. 

Resist

Resist as a verb means to prevent some action from happening. For example –

·         I resisted myself from eating ice-creams as I had severe cold.

·         Don’t resist yourself from explaining your stand.

·         We are resisting the usage of corpus fund for bringing solar energy project in our society.

·         The resistance from students was too much for me too proceed with the speech.

Resist is a synonym of refrain which means to move away from doing something that’s otherwise attractive or tempting. In the 1^st example, we can use refrain as well.

The word resist originated from the latin resistere, re meaning oppose, and sistere meaning to stop.

Irresistible is something you cannot resist. For example, the desserts at the restaurant were irresistible.

Resistance is the noun of resist. For example – our society has a strange resistance towards changes.

Resist and persist

Persist is just the opposite of resist. Where resist is to prevent something from happening, persist is to try and do something no matter what obstacles come in the way of it. “Persistence is the key to success”, “She persisted the good work in spite of the resistance from her enemies.”

Insist is another related word, which means to say something firmly or assertively. In other words, to be persistent in a thought or action. “She insisted I travel with her for safety reasons.”

Desist

Desist means to stop some action. This means an action has already been started, and it has to be stopped from proceeding again. The word desist comes from the latin word desistere meaning to leave off. Example –

·         As a result of fierce opposition, the committee wanted to desist the project before completion.

·         He promised to desist chewing tobacco.

·         I desisted my son from meeting those naughty boys again.

·         They got a court order to desist from selling their products and services.

·         We told her to desist hurting herself with a knife, but she wouldn’t.

Resistance can often lead to desistance.

·         The committee members resisted to the idea of bringing water cans to the society, therefore the motion to desist the supply was passed.

·         The company was asked to desist the production because the sponsors resisted from releasing enough funds.

The popular term “Cease and desist”

A cease and desist is a letter sent to a business or an individual to stop (cease) alleged illegal activities and not start it again (desist). It is essentially an order mostly given by a public authority for disputes related to intellectual properties.

As we have seen, the words resist and desist sound similar but are quite different. One is to prevent an action and other is to stop it after it has been initiated. 

I have quite a few writer friends for whom English is a second language and I have to tell you straight out, I admire them. English is tough for those of us born speaking it. English is a language that seems so random. Words that are spelled the same way can have different meanings. Words that appear to have the same sound have completely different sounds….and then….we have little expressions that have snuck into the language over the years that are completely wrong and yet seem to be totally acceptable.

What follows are a few mistakes that are used quite often by writers. The fact that they are used quite often does not change the fact that they are mistakes and should be corrected. Oh sure, if you are simply writing on your blog to a select audience, I guess it makes little difference if you continue to make these errors, but if you one day have visions of sending your work to an agent or publisher then you really need to clean your literary house of these boo-boos.

Before I begin, though, let me state that using these mistakes occasionally in dialogue can be acceptable. Sometimes our characters speak in an incorrect manner because that’s who they are. It is realistic to have your character speak incorrectly; heck, most Americans speak incorrectly! So yes, there are times in our stories and novels when we will purposely use incorrect language.

Now let’s turn our attention to a list of silly mistakes that can easily be corrected.

COMBINING WORDS INTO AN INCORRECT SINGLE WORD

The two examples that we see so often are “a lot” and “all right” when they are written as single words; the correct usage of these phrases are to use two words. As I type this on Word I am not even allowed to write them as one word.

ANYWAYS IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE

It might have been in Medieval times but today is 2013 and it has outlived its usefulness. The word “anyway’ is an adverb and it is plural; thus, to put an s at the end of a plural adverb is pure silliness.

RAISE THE QUESTION NOT BEG THE QUESTION

Let’s take a look at this in sentence form. “The fact that you sneer whenever you see me raises the question: why do you dislike me.” That is the proper way to write that sentence. To beg the question means to present as true or to take for granted a premise that needs proof. Let’s look at it used correctly. “You beg the question by stating that I must not like you because I sneer whenever we pass each other.”

BURSTED IS NOT A WORD, FOLKS!

The verb “to burst” in its principal parts is burst, burst and burst…past, present and present participle. There is no such word as bursted. It does not exist. It is an abortion of the English language spoken by people who never took the time to learn proper English. Don’t be one of those people!

“COULD CARE LESS” MAKES NO SENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT

The correct way to say this is “could not care less.” Think about it for a second. If I say “I could care less about gymnastics” I am actually saying that I do care about it but it is possible for me to care less about it. Is that what you really want to say?

I COULD HAVE BUT I NEVER COULD OF

This is a bastardization of the English language, passed down by generations of, well, bastards. No, I’m kidding, please don’t take that seriously. However, “could of” is not correct. “I could have succeeded if it had not been for some terrible luck”….now that sentence makes sense AND is correct.

SPEAKING OF BASTARDS

Oh my, I seem to have a single-tracked mind now. Okay, enough of the bastard jokes. The word “diligency” is, in fact, not a word. Diligence is a word meaning consistent effort; diligency is not a word and it means you need to have a dictionary nearby at all times.

ELIMINATE FASTLY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE

Again, this word is not a word. Fast is both an adjective and an adverb. Fastly is neither. Use fastly and you will fast be considered an idiot.

FINAL ULTIMATUM IS RIDICULOUS

Ultimatum means a final statement of terms. Thus, final ultimatum means a final, final statement of terms, and that is just dumb, dumb.

ONE THAT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY

For all intents and purposes, the phrase “for all intensive purposes” should forever be stricken from the English language. Do not use it! It is wrong! It is sloppy! The correct way to say “for all practical purposes” is to say for all intents and purposes.

GUT-WRENCHING IS A WORD; HEART-WRENCHING IS NOT

If you must wrench your heart then say heart-rending. Heart-wrenching is one of those hyphenated words that somehow snuck out the back door of the dictionary and found its way into our street language. I repeat, it is not a word.

YOU HONE A BLADE; YOU DO NOT HONE IN ON ANYTHING

When you home in on something you are aiming at a target. When you hone something you are sharpening it. It is impossible to hone in on a target. I want to see the hands right now; how many of you have written “hone in on” in the past? Well you were wrong. J

IGNORANT DOES NOT MEAN RUDE

But somehow it has become a synonym for rude rather than a synonym for uneducated. I blame “No Child Left Behind” for this one; somehow when that legislation was passed we left quite a few students behind.

QUIT MISUSING NAUSEOUS

Nauseous means “to cause nausea.” Nauseous means “able to cause nausea.” Thus, you cannot write…I feel nauseous….rather you have to write….I feel nauseated.

SORRY, THERE IS NO QUICKER

The word quick exists. The word quickly exists. The word quicker is a figment of your imagination, passed down to you by equally imaginative people.

SUPPOSE TO OR SUPPOSED TO?

Here is how they should be used. “I know I’m supposed to practice my writing, and I suppose I’ll be sorry if I don’t.” The phrase “suppose to” should never be used.

REOCCURRENCE DOES NOT EXIST

Sorry but it is not a word. Recurrence is a word and it means to occur again. Reoccurence means you should think about getting some more sleep because you are making up words.

THERE, NOW, DON’T YOU FEEL SMARTER?

Smarter than the average bear at least, right Yogi?

Hey, I’ve just scratched the surface with boo-boos made by writers. Don’t feel bad; we have all made these mistakes from time to time. It’s easy to do and fortunately, correcting the mistakes is easy to do as well. I am willing to bet that all of you reading this have made at least one of the aforementioned mistakes in the past. Right? Right? Of course you have.

Now, though, you know better. Like I said earlier, using these mistakes in a certain context is perfectly okay. Maybe your main character is a bit, shall we say, ignorant. In that case feel free to toss in all of these mistakes while your character is speaking. If, however, you are writing your query letter to an agent, it might be a good idea to leave these out of that letter.

“Helping writer to spread their wings and fly.”

I have quite a few writer friends for whom English is a second language and I have to tell you straight out, I admire them. English is tough for those of us born speaking it. English is a language that seems so random. Words that are spelled the same way can have different meanings. Words that appear to have the same sound have completely different sounds….and then….we have little expressions that have snuck into the language over the years that are completely wrong and yet seem to be totally acceptable.

What follows are a few mistakes that are used quite often by writers. The fact that they are used quite often does not change the fact that they are mistakes and should be corrected. Oh sure, if you are simply writing on your blog to a select audience, I guess it makes little difference if you continue to make these errors, but if you one day have visions of sending your work to an agent or publisher then you really need to clean your literary house of these boo-boos.

Before I begin, though, let me state that using these mistakes occasionally in dialogue can be acceptable. Sometimes our characters speak in an incorrect manner because that’s who they are. It is realistic to have your character speak incorrectly; heck, most Americans speak incorrectly! So yes, there are times in our stories and novels when we will purposely use incorrect language.

Now let’s turn our attention to a list of silly mistakes that can easily be corrected.

COMBINING WORDS INTO AN INCORRECT SINGLE WORD

The two examples that we see so often are “a lot” and “all right” when they are written as single words; the correct usage of these phrases are to use two words. As I type this on Word I am not even allowed to write them as one word.

ANYWAYS IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE

It might have been in Medieval times but today is 2013 and it has outlived its usefulness. The word “anyway’ is an adverb and it is plural; thus, to put an s at the end of a plural adverb is pure silliness.

RAISE THE QUESTION NOT BEG THE QUESTION

Let’s take a look at this in sentence form. “The fact that you sneer whenever you see me raises the question: why do you dislike me.” That is the proper way to write that sentence. To beg the question means to present as true or to take for granted a premise that needs proof. Let’s look at it used correctly. “You beg the question by stating that I must not like you because I sneer whenever we pass each other.”

BURSTED IS NOT A WORD, FOLKS!

The verb “to burst” in its principal parts is burst, burst and burst…past, present and present participle. There is no such word as bursted. It does not exist. It is an abortion of the English language spoken by people who never took the time to learn proper English. Don’t be one of those people!

“COULD CARE LESS” MAKES NO SENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT

The correct way to say this is “could not care less.” Think about it for a second. If I say “I could care less about gymnastics” I am actually saying that I do care about it but it is possible for me to care less about it. Is that what you really want to say?

I COULD HAVE BUT I NEVER COULD OF

This is a bastardization of the English language, passed down by generations of, well, bastards. No, I’m kidding, please don’t take that seriously. However, “could of” is not correct. “I could have succeeded if it had not been for some terrible luck”….now that sentence makes sense AND is correct.

SPEAKING OF BASTARDS

Oh my, I seem to have a single-tracked mind now. Okay, enough of the bastard jokes. The word “diligency” is, in fact, not a word. Diligence is a word meaning consistent effort; diligency is not a word and it means you need to have a dictionary nearby at all times.

ELIMINATE FASTLY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE

Again, this word is not a word. Fast is both an adjective and an adverb. Fastly is neither. Use fastly and you will fast be considered an idiot.

FINAL ULTIMATUM IS RIDICULOUS

Ultimatum means a final statement of terms. Thus, final ultimatum means a final, final statement of terms, and that is just dumb, dumb.

ONE THAT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY

For all intents and purposes, the phrase “for all intensive purposes” should forever be stricken from the English language. Do not use it! It is wrong! It is sloppy! The correct way to say “for all practical purposes” is to say for all intents and purposes.

GUT-WRENCHING IS A WORD; HEART-WRENCHING IS NOT

If you must wrench your heart then say heart-rending. Heart-wrenching is one of those hyphenated words that somehow snuck out the back door of the dictionary and found its way into our street language. I repeat, it is not a word.

YOU HONE A BLADE; YOU DO NOT HONE IN ON ANYTHING

When you home in on something you are aiming at a target. When you hone something you are sharpening it. It is impossible to hone in on a target. I want to see the hands right now; how many of you have written “hone in on” in the past? Well you were wrong. J

IGNORANT DOES NOT MEAN RUDE

But somehow it has become a synonym for rude rather than a synonym for uneducated. I blame “No Child Left Behind” for this one; somehow when that legislation was passed we left quite a few students behind.

QUIT MISUSING NAUSEOUS

Nauseous means “to cause nausea.” Nauseous means “able to cause nausea.” Thus, you cannot write…I feel nauseous….rather you have to write….I feel nauseated.

SORRY, THERE IS NO QUICKER

The word quick exists. The word quickly exists. The word quicker is a figment of your imagination, passed down to you by equally imaginative people.

SUPPOSE TO OR SUPPOSED TO?

Here is how they should be used. “I know I’m supposed to practice my writing, and I suppose I’ll be sorry if I don’t.” The phrase “suppose to” should never be used.

REOCCURRENCE DOES NOT EXIST

Sorry but it is not a word. Recurrence is a word and it means to occur again. Reoccurence means you should think about getting some more sleep because you are making up words.

THERE, NOW, DON’T YOU FEEL SMARTER?

Smarter than the average bear at least, right Yogi?

Hey, I’ve just scratched the surface with boo-boos made by writers. Don’t feel bad; we have all made these mistakes from time to time. It’s easy to do and fortunately, correcting the mistakes is easy to do as well. I am willing to bet that all of you reading this have made at least one of the aforementioned mistakes in the past. Right? Right? Of course you have.

Now, though, you know better. Like I said earlier, using these mistakes in a certain context is perfectly okay. Maybe your main character is a bit, shall we say, ignorant. In that case feel free to toss in all of these mistakes while your character is speaking. If, however, you are writing your query letter to an agent, it might be a good idea to leave these out of that letter.

“Helping writer to spread their wings and fly.”

I have quite a few writer friends for whom English is a second language and I have to tell you straight out, I admire them. English is tough for those of us born speaking it. English is a language that seems so random. Words that are spelled the same way can have different meanings. Words that appear to have the same sound have completely different sounds….and then….we have little expressions that have snuck into the language over the years that are completely wrong and yet seem to be totally acceptable.

What follows are a few mistakes that are used quite often by writers. The fact that they are used quite often does not change the fact that they are mistakes and should be corrected. Oh sure, if you are simply writing on your blog to a select audience, I guess it makes little difference if you continue to make these errors, but if you one day have visions of sending your work to an agent or publisher then you really need to clean your literary house of these boo-boos.

Before I begin, though, let me state that using these mistakes occasionally in dialogue can be acceptable. Sometimes our characters speak in an incorrect manner because that’s who they are. It is realistic to have your character speak incorrectly; heck, most Americans speak incorrectly! So yes, there are times in our stories and novels when we will purposely use incorrect language.

Now let’s turn our attention to a list of silly mistakes that can easily be corrected.

COMBINING WORDS INTO AN INCORRECT SINGLE WORD

The two examples that we see so often are “a lot” and “all right” when they are written as single words; the correct usage of these phrases are to use two words. As I type this on Word I am not even allowed to write them as one word.

ANYWAYS IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE

It might have been in Medieval times but today is 2013 and it has outlived its usefulness. The word “anyway’ is an adverb and it is plural; thus, to put an s at the end of a plural adverb is pure silliness.

RAISE THE QUESTION NOT BEG THE QUESTION

Let’s take a look at this in sentence form. “The fact that you sneer whenever you see me raises the question: why do you dislike me.” That is the proper way to write that sentence. To beg the question means to present as true or to take for granted a premise that needs proof. Let’s look at it used correctly. “You beg the question by stating that I must not like you because I sneer whenever we pass each other.”

BURSTED IS NOT A WORD, FOLKS!

The verb “to burst” in its principal parts is burst, burst and burst…past, present and present participle. There is no such word as bursted. It does not exist. It is an abortion of the English language spoken by people who never took the time to learn proper English. Don’t be one of those people!

“COULD CARE LESS” MAKES NO SENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT

The correct way to say this is “could not care less.” Think about it for a second. If I say “I could care less about gymnastics” I am actually saying that I do care about it but it is possible for me to care less about it. Is that what you really want to say?

I COULD HAVE BUT I NEVER COULD OF

This is a bastardization of the English language, passed down by generations of, well, bastards. No, I’m kidding, please don’t take that seriously. However, “could of” is not correct. “I could have succeeded if it had not been for some terrible luck”….now that sentence makes sense AND is correct.

SPEAKING OF BASTARDS

Oh my, I seem to have a single-tracked mind now. Okay, enough of the bastard jokes. The word “diligency” is, in fact, not a word. Diligence is a word meaning consistent effort; diligency is not a word and it means you need to have a dictionary nearby at all times.

ELIMINATE FASTLY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE

Again, this word is not a word. Fast is both an adjective and an adverb. Fastly is neither. Use fastly and you will fast be considered an idiot.

FINAL ULTIMATUM IS RIDICULOUS

Ultimatum means a final statement of terms. Thus, final ultimatum means a final, final statement of terms, and that is just dumb, dumb.

ONE THAT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY

For all intents and purposes, the phrase “for all intensive purposes” should forever be stricken from the English language. Do not use it! It is wrong! It is sloppy! The correct way to say “for all practical purposes” is to say for all intents and purposes.

GUT-WRENCHING IS A WORD; HEART-WRENCHING IS NOT

If you must wrench your heart then say heart-rending. Heart-wrenching is one of those hyphenated words that somehow snuck out the back door of the dictionary and found its way into our street language. I repeat, it is not a word.

YOU HONE A BLADE; YOU DO NOT HONE IN ON ANYTHING

When you home in on something you are aiming at a target. When you hone something you are sharpening it. It is impossible to hone in on a target. I want to see the hands right now; how many of you have written “hone in on” in the past? Well you were wrong. J

IGNORANT DOES NOT MEAN RUDE

But somehow it has become a synonym for rude rather than a synonym for uneducated. I blame “No Child Left Behind” for this one; somehow when that legislation was passed we left quite a few students behind.

QUIT MISUSING NAUSEOUS

Nauseous means “to cause nausea.” Nauseous means “able to cause nausea.” Thus, you cannot write…I feel nauseous….rather you have to write….I feel nauseated.

SORRY, THERE IS NO QUICKER

The word quick exists. The word quickly exists. The word quicker is a figment of your imagination, passed down to you by equally imaginative people.

SUPPOSE TO OR SUPPOSED TO?

Here is how they should be used. “I know I’m supposed to practice my writing, and I suppose I’ll be sorry if I don’t.” The phrase “suppose to” should never be used.

REOCCURRENCE DOES NOT EXIST

Sorry but it is not a word. Recurrence is a word and it means to occur again. Reoccurence means you should think about getting some more sleep because you are making up words.

THERE, NOW, DON’T YOU FEEL SMARTER?

Smarter than the average bear at least, right Yogi?

Hey, I’ve just scratched the surface with boo-boos made by writers. Don’t feel bad; we have all made these mistakes from time to time. It’s easy to do and fortunately, correcting the mistakes is easy to do as well. I am willing to bet that all of you reading this have made at least one of the aforementioned mistakes in the past. Right? Right? Of course you have.

Now, though, you know better. Like I said earlier, using these mistakes in a certain context is perfectly okay. Maybe your main character is a bit, shall we say, ignorant. In that case feel free to toss in all of these mistakes while your character is speaking. If, however, you are writing your query letter to an agent, it might be a good idea to leave these out of that letter.

“Helping writer to spread their wings and fly.”

I have quite a few writer friends for whom English is a second language and I have to tell you straight out, I admire them. English is tough for those of us born speaking it. English is a language that seems so random. Words that are spelled the same way can have different meanings. Words that appear to have the same sound have completely different sounds….and then….we have little expressions that have snuck into the language over the years that are completely wrong and yet seem to be totally acceptable.

What follows are a few mistakes that are used quite often by writers. The fact that they are used quite often does not change the fact that they are mistakes and should be corrected. Oh sure, if you are simply writing on your blog to a select audience, I guess it makes little difference if you continue to make these errors, but if you one day have visions of sending your work to an agent or publisher then you really need to clean your literary house of these boo-boos.

Before I begin, though, let me state that using these mistakes occasionally in dialogue can be acceptable. Sometimes our characters speak in an incorrect manner because that’s who they are. It is realistic to have your character speak incorrectly; heck, most Americans speak incorrectly! So yes, there are times in our stories and novels when we will purposely use incorrect language.

Now let’s turn our attention to a list of silly mistakes that can easily be corrected.

COMBINING WORDS INTO AN INCORRECT SINGLE WORD

The two examples that we see so often are “a lot” and “all right” when they are written as single words; the correct usage of these phrases are to use two words. As I type this on Word I am not even allowed to write them as one word.

ANYWAYS IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE

It might have been in Medieval times but today is 2013 and it has outlived its usefulness. The word “anyway’ is an adverb and it is plural; thus, to put an s at the end of a plural adverb is pure silliness.

RAISE THE QUESTION NOT BEG THE QUESTION

Let’s take a look at this in sentence form. “The fact that you sneer whenever you see me raises the question: why do you dislike me.” That is the proper way to write that sentence. To beg the question means to present as true or to take for granted a premise that needs proof. Let’s look at it used correctly. “You beg the question by stating that I must not like you because I sneer whenever we pass each other.”

BURSTED IS NOT A WORD, FOLKS!

The verb “to burst” in its principal parts is burst, burst and burst…past, present and present participle. There is no such word as bursted. It does not exist. It is an abortion of the English language spoken by people who never took the time to learn proper English. Don’t be one of those people!

“COULD CARE LESS” MAKES NO SENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT

The correct way to say this is “could not care less.” Think about it for a second. If I say “I could care less about gymnastics” I am actually saying that I do care about it but it is possible for me to care less about it. Is that what you really want to say?

I COULD HAVE BUT I NEVER COULD OF

This is a bastardization of the English language, passed down by generations of, well, bastards. No, I’m kidding, please don’t take that seriously. However, “could of” is not correct. “I could have succeeded if it had not been for some terrible luck”….now that sentence makes sense AND is correct.

SPEAKING OF BASTARDS

Oh my, I seem to have a single-tracked mind now. Okay, enough of the bastard jokes. The word “diligency” is, in fact, not a word. Diligence is a word meaning consistent effort; diligency is not a word and it means you need to have a dictionary nearby at all times.

ELIMINATE FASTLY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE

Again, this word is not a word. Fast is both an adjective and an adverb. Fastly is neither. Use fastly and you will fast be considered an idiot.

FINAL ULTIMATUM IS RIDICULOUS

Ultimatum means a final statement of terms. Thus, final ultimatum means a final, final statement of terms, and that is just dumb, dumb.

ONE THAT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY

For all intents and purposes, the phrase “for all intensive purposes” should forever be stricken from the English language. Do not use it! It is wrong! It is sloppy! The correct way to say “for all practical purposes” is to say for all intents and purposes.

GUT-WRENCHING IS A WORD; HEART-WRENCHING IS NOT

If you must wrench your heart then say heart-rending. Heart-wrenching is one of those hyphenated words that somehow snuck out the back door of the dictionary and found its way into our street language. I repeat, it is not a word.

YOU HONE A BLADE; YOU DO NOT HONE IN ON ANYTHING

When you home in on something you are aiming at a target. When you hone something you are sharpening it. It is impossible to hone in on a target. I want to see the hands right now; how many of you have written “hone in on” in the past? Well you were wrong. J

IGNORANT DOES NOT MEAN RUDE

But somehow it has become a synonym for rude rather than a synonym for uneducated. I blame “No Child Left Behind” for this one; somehow when that legislation was passed we left quite a few students behind.

QUIT MISUSING NAUSEOUS

Nauseous means “to cause nausea.” Nauseous means “able to cause nausea.” Thus, you cannot write…I feel nauseous….rather you have to write….I feel nauseated.

SORRY, THERE IS NO QUICKER

The word quick exists. The word quickly exists. The word quicker is a figment of your imagination, passed down to you by equally imaginative people.

SUPPOSE TO OR SUPPOSED TO?

Here is how they should be used. “I know I’m supposed to practice my writing, and I suppose I’ll be sorry if I don’t.” The phrase “suppose to” should never be used.

REOCCURRENCE DOES NOT EXIST

Sorry but it is not a word. Recurrence is a word and it means to occur again. Reoccurence means you should think about getting some more sleep because you are making up words.

THERE, NOW, DON’T YOU FEEL SMARTER?

Smarter than the average bear at least, right Yogi?

Hey, I’ve just scratched the surface with boo-boos made by writers. Don’t feel bad; we have all made these mistakes from time to time. It’s easy to do and fortunately, correcting the mistakes is easy to do as well. I am willing to bet that all of you reading this have made at least one of the aforementioned mistakes in the past. Right? Right? Of course you have.

Now, though, you know better. Like I said earlier, using these mistakes in a certain context is perfectly okay. Maybe your main character is a bit, shall we say, ignorant. In that case feel free to toss in all of these mistakes while your character is speaking. If, however, you are writing your query letter to an agent, it might be a good idea to leave these out of that letter.

“Helping writer to spread their wings and fly.”

I have quite a few writer friends for whom English is a second language and I have to tell you straight out, I admire them. English is tough for those of us born speaking it. English is a language that seems so random. Words that are spelled the same way can have different meanings. Words that appear to have the same sound have completely different sounds….and then….we have little expressions that have snuck into the language over the years that are completely wrong and yet seem to be totally acceptable.

What follows are a few mistakes that are used quite often by writers. The fact that they are used quite often does not change the fact that they are mistakes and should be corrected. Oh sure, if you are simply writing on your blog to a select audience, I guess it makes little difference if you continue to make these errors, but if you one day have visions of sending your work to an agent or publisher then you really need to clean your literary house of these boo-boos.

Before I begin, though, let me state that using these mistakes occasionally in dialogue can be acceptable. Sometimes our characters speak in an incorrect manner because that’s who they are. It is realistic to have your character speak incorrectly; heck, most Americans speak incorrectly! So yes, there are times in our stories and novels when we will purposely use incorrect language.

Now let’s turn our attention to a list of silly mistakes that can easily be corrected.

COMBINING WORDS INTO AN INCORRECT SINGLE WORD

The two examples that we see so often are “a lot” and “all right” when they are written as single words; the correct usage of these phrases are to use two words. As I type this on Word I am not even allowed to write them as one word.

ANYWAYS IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE

It might have been in Medieval times but today is 2013 and it has outlived its usefulness. The word “anyway’ is an adverb and it is plural; thus, to put an s at the end of a plural adverb is pure silliness.

RAISE THE QUESTION NOT BEG THE QUESTION

Let’s take a look at this in sentence form. “The fact that you sneer whenever you see me raises the question: why do you dislike me.” That is the proper way to write that sentence. To beg the question means to present as true or to take for granted a premise that needs proof. Let’s look at it used correctly. “You beg the question by stating that I must not like you because I sneer whenever we pass each other.”

BURSTED IS NOT A WORD, FOLKS!

The verb “to burst” in its principal parts is burst, burst and burst…past, present and present participle. There is no such word as bursted. It does not exist. It is an abortion of the English language spoken by people who never took the time to learn proper English. Don’t be one of those people!

“COULD CARE LESS” MAKES NO SENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT

The correct way to say this is “could not care less.” Think about it for a second. If I say “I could care less about gymnastics” I am actually saying that I do care about it but it is possible for me to care less about it. Is that what you really want to say?

I COULD HAVE BUT I NEVER COULD OF

This is a bastardization of the English language, passed down by generations of, well, bastards. No, I’m kidding, please don’t take that seriously. However, “could of” is not correct. “I could have succeeded if it had not been for some terrible luck”….now that sentence makes sense AND is correct.

SPEAKING OF BASTARDS

Oh my, I seem to have a single-tracked mind now. Okay, enough of the bastard jokes. The word “diligency” is, in fact, not a word. Diligence is a word meaning consistent effort; diligency is not a word and it means you need to have a dictionary nearby at all times.

ELIMINATE FASTLY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE

Again, this word is not a word. Fast is both an adjective and an adverb. Fastly is neither. Use fastly and you will fast be considered an idiot.

FINAL ULTIMATUM IS RIDICULOUS

Ultimatum means a final statement of terms. Thus, final ultimatum means a final, final statement of terms, and that is just dumb, dumb.

ONE THAT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY

For all intents and purposes, the phrase “for all intensive purposes” should forever be stricken from the English language. Do not use it! It is wrong! It is sloppy! The correct way to say “for all practical purposes” is to say for all intents and purposes.

GUT-WRENCHING IS A WORD; HEART-WRENCHING IS NOT

If you must wrench your heart then say heart-rending. Heart-wrenching is one of those hyphenated words that somehow snuck out the back door of the dictionary and found its way into our street language. I repeat, it is not a word.

YOU HONE A BLADE; YOU DO NOT HONE IN ON ANYTHING

When you home in on something you are aiming at a target. When you hone something you are sharpening it. It is impossible to hone in on a target. I want to see the hands right now; how many of you have written “hone in on” in the past? Well you were wrong. J

IGNORANT DOES NOT MEAN RUDE

But somehow it has become a synonym for rude rather than a synonym for uneducated. I blame “No Child Left Behind” for this one; somehow when that legislation was passed we left quite a few students behind.

QUIT MISUSING NAUSEOUS

Nauseous means “to cause nausea.” Nauseous means “able to cause nausea.” Thus, you cannot write…I feel nauseous….rather you have to write….I feel nauseated.

SORRY, THERE IS NO QUICKER

The word quick exists. The word quickly exists. The word quicker is a figment of your imagination, passed down to you by equally imaginative people.

SUPPOSE TO OR SUPPOSED TO?

Here is how they should be used. “I know I’m supposed to practice my writing, and I suppose I’ll be sorry if I don’t.” The phrase “suppose to” should never be used.

REOCCURRENCE DOES NOT EXIST

Sorry but it is not a word. Recurrence is a word and it means to occur again. Reoccurence means you should think about getting some more sleep because you are making up words.

There, Now, Don’t You Feel Smarter?

I have quite a few writer friends for whom English is a second language and I have to tell you straight out, I admire them. English is tough for those of us born speaking it. English is a language that seems so random. Words that are spelled the same way can have different meanings. Words that appear to have the same sound have completely different sounds….and then….we have little expressions that have snuck into the language over the years that are completely wrong and yet seem to be totally acceptable.

What follows are a few mistakes that are used quite often by writers. The fact that they are used quite often does not change the fact that they are mistakes and should be corrected. Oh sure, if you are simply writing on your blog to a select audience, I guess it makes little difference if you continue to make these errors, but if you one day have visions of sending your work to an agent or publisher then you really need to clean your literary house of these boo-boos.

Before I begin, though, let me state that using these mistakes occasionally in dialogue can be acceptable. Sometimes our characters speak in an incorrect manner because that’s who they are. It is realistic to have your character speak incorrectly; heck, most Americans speak incorrectly! So yes, there are times in our stories and novels when we will purposely use incorrect language.

Now let’s turn our attention to a list of silly mistakes that can easily be corrected.

COMBINING WORDS INTO AN INCORRECT SINGLE WORD

The two examples that we see so often are “a lot” and “all right” when they are written as single words; the correct usage of these phrases are to use two words. As I type this on Word I am not even allowed to write them as one word.

ANYWAYS IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE

It might have been in Medieval times but today is 2013 and it has outlived its usefulness. The word “anyway’ is an adverb and it is plural; thus, to put an s at the end of a plural adverb is pure silliness.

RAISE THE QUESTION NOT BEG THE QUESTION

Let’s take a look at this in sentence form. “The fact that you sneer whenever you see me raises the question: why do you dislike me.” That is the proper way to write that sentence. To beg the question means to present as true or to take for granted a premise that needs proof. Let’s look at it used correctly. “You beg the question by stating that I must not like you because I sneer whenever we pass each other.”

BURSTED IS NOT A WORD, FOLKS!

The verb “to burst” in its principal parts is burst, burst and burst…past, present and present participle. There is no such word as bursted. It does not exist. It is an abortion of the English language spoken by people who never took the time to learn proper English. Don’t be one of those people!

“COULD CARE LESS” MAKES NO SENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT

The correct way to say this is “could not care less.” Think about it for a second. If I say “I could care less about gymnastics” I am actually saying that I do care about it but it is possible for me to care less about it. Is that what you really want to say?

I COULD HAVE BUT I NEVER COULD OF

This is a bastardization of the English language, passed down by generations of, well, bastards. No, I’m kidding, please don’t take that seriously. However, “could of” is not correct. “I could have succeeded if it had not been for some terrible luck”….now that sentence makes sense AND is correct.

SPEAKING OF BASTARDS

Oh my, I seem to have a single-tracked mind now. Okay, enough of the bastard jokes. The word “diligency” is, in fact, not a word. Diligence is a word meaning consistent effort; diligency is not a word and it means you need to have a dictionary nearby at all times.

ELIMINATE FASTLY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE

Again, this word is not a word. Fast is both an adjective and an adverb. Fastly is neither. Use fastly and you will fast be considered an idiot.

FINAL ULTIMATUM IS RIDICULOUS

Ultimatum means a final statement of terms. Thus, final ultimatum means a final, final statement of terms, and that is just dumb, dumb.

ONE THAT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY

For all intents and purposes, the phrase “for all intensive purposes” should forever be stricken from the English language. Do not use it! It is wrong! It is sloppy! The correct way to say “for all practical purposes” is to say for all intents and purposes.

GUT-WRENCHING IS A WORD; HEART-WRENCHING IS NOT

If you must wrench your heart then say heart-rending. Heart-wrenching is one of those hyphenated words that somehow snuck out the back door of the dictionary and found its way into our street language. I repeat, it is not a word.

YOU HONE A BLADE; YOU DO NOT HONE IN ON ANYTHING

When you home in on something you are aiming at a target. When you hone something you are sharpening it. It is impossible to hone in on a target. I want to see the hands right now; how many of you have written “hone in on” in the past? Well you were wrong. J

IGNORANT DOES NOT MEAN RUDE

But somehow it has become a synonym for rude rather than a synonym for uneducated. I blame “No Child Left Behind” for this one; somehow when that legislation was passed we left quite a few students behind.

QUIT MISUSING NAUSEOUS

Nauseous means “to cause nausea.” Nauseous means “able to cause nausea.” Thus, you cannot write…I feel nauseous….rather you have to write….I feel nauseated.

SORRY, THERE IS NO QUICKER

The word quick exists. The word quickly exists. The word quicker is a figment of your imagination, passed down to you by equally imaginative people.

SUPPOSE TO OR SUPPOSED TO?

Here is how they should be used. “I know I’m supposed to practice my writing, and I suppose I’ll be sorry if I don’t.” The phrase “suppose to” should never be used.

REOCCURRENCE DOES NOT EXIST

Sorry but it is not a word. Recurrence is a word and it means to occur again. Reoccurence means you should think about getting some more sleep because you are making up words.

There, Now, Don’t You Feel Smarter? 

Fill

Fill as we know is to occupy a space with something. For example, fill the bottle with water.

Filling can be used in more than one way. For one, it is the continuous form of fill. For example, I am filling the bottles with water. As an adjective, filling can mean in abundance. For example, the food was quite filling and delicious. Few more examples –

·         I will be filling in for him for next two weeks.

·         He was filling the bag with chocolates when I saw him.

·         Her words were filled with emotion and love.

·         I went to the dentist to fill up the gaps in my teeth.

·         We made the pillow thick by filling the cloth with cotton.

·         Fill out the form quickly and submit it.

Here, fill out, fill up and fill in are some phrasal verbs.

Related tips –

·         When you fill something to the brim, it becomes “full”.

·         Fulfil something is to fully achieve what one has desired or do what one is supposed to do. Example, fulfil a dream, fulfil oneself with gratitude, fulfil the duties etc…

File

A file (noun) is something that stores text or images or any form of data. For example, an MS word document is a file. It is a ‘soft’ copy. A resume ‘MyResume’ is a file with the name ‘MyResume’. Similarly, file can be a hard copy too.

A file (as a verb) can also mean a collection of documents that need to be placed in a folder or some place in a particular organised manner. For example, “the place is cluttered with papers, let me file them for you.”

File is also a tool to smooth out rough surfaces of some object. For example, “file your nails so that they are not sharp.”

Filing as the present participle of file means the action in present. For example, “I was filing the documents with my grandpa today.” You can re-write the sentence as – “I was helping my grandpa file the documents today” and it would mean the same.

Filing as a gerund can be used in many ways –

·         Organising documents in a proper way – filing the papers.

·         Submitting set of papers for tax – filing tax returns.

Examples –

·         Filing your tax returns can be a gruelling task unless you have agents to do the job.

·         Let’s do the filing today, so that we can concentrate on the presentation tomorrow.

As we see, there are plenty of ways in which file and filing both can be used. With a single ‘l’ missing, the words are easy to be misread, and one has to be careful in readying them.

The conclusion – The words fill and file are in no way related but can be confused because of the “looks”.

·         Filling the cake with strawberries will give a nice flavour. File the ends of the cake to make it even.

·         My heart fills with respect for those who file their taxes properly and on time.

·         Instead of filing a complaint right away, fill up the form and wait for the authorities to respond.

·         You don’t have to fill in for him, let him organise the files when he comes back.

·         A case has been filed against those who have filled the area with trash.

·         Hope this article filled your heart with joy and you will file it with your personal favourites.

Fill

Fill as we know is to occupy a space with something. For example, fill the bottle with water.

Filling can be used in more than one way. For one, it is the continuous form of fill. For example, I am filling the bottles with water. As an adjective, filling can mean in abundance. For example, the food was quite filling and delicious. Few more examples –

·         I will be filling in for him for next two weeks.

·         He was filling the bag with chocolates when I saw him.

·         Her words were filled with emotion and love.

·         I went to the dentist to fill up the gaps in my teeth.

·         We made the pillow thick by filling the cloth with cotton.

·         Fill out the form quickly and submit it.

Here, fill out, fill up and fill in are some phrasal verbs.

Related tips –

·         When you fill something to the brim, it becomes “full”.

·         Fulfil something is to fully achieve what one has desired or do what one is supposed to do. Example, fulfil a dream, fulfil oneself with gratitude, fulfil the duties etc…

File

A file (noun) is something that stores text or images or any form of data. For example, an MS word document is a file. It is a ‘soft’ copy. A resume ‘MyResume’ is a file with the name ‘MyResume’. Similarly, file can be a hard copy too.

A file (as a verb) can also mean a collection of documents that need to be placed in a folder or some place in a particular organised manner. For example, “the place is cluttered with papers, let me file them for you.”

File is also a tool to smooth out rough surfaces of some object. For example, “file your nails so that they are not sharp.”

Filing as the present participle of file means the action in present. For example, “I was filing the documents with my grandpa today.” You can re-write the sentence as – “I was helping my grandpa file the documents today” and it would mean the same.

Filing as a gerund can be used in many ways –

·         Organising documents in a proper way – filing the papers.

·         Submitting set of papers for tax – filing tax returns.

Examples –

·         Filing your tax returns can be a gruelling task unless you have agents to do the job.

·         Let’s do the filing today, so that we can concentrate on the presentation tomorrow.

As we see, there are plenty of ways in which file and filing both can be used. With a single ‘l’ missing, the words are easy to be misread, and one has to be careful in readying them.

The conclusion – The words fill and file are in no way related but can be confused because of the “looks”.

·         Filling the cake with strawberries will give a nice flavour. File the ends of the cake to make it even.

·         My heart fills with respect for those who file their taxes properly and on time.

·         Instead of filing a complaint right away, fill up the form and wait for the authorities to respond.

·         You don’t have to fill in for him, let him organise the files when he comes back.

·         A case has been filed against those who have filled the area with trash.

·         Hope this article filled your heart with joy and you will file it with your personal favourites.