barb wire, bob wire vs barbed wire
In some parts of the country this prickly stuff is commonly called “barbwire” or even “bob wire.” When writing for a general audience, stickwith the standard “barbed wire.”
Read MoreIn some parts of the country this prickly stuff is commonly called “barbwire” or even “bob wire.” When writing for a general audience, stickwith the standard “barbed wire.”
Read MoreA decorative pin is a “brooch” even though it sounds like “broach”—a quite different word. Although some dictionaries now accept the latter spelling for jewelry, you risk looking ignorant to many rea…
Read MoreTechnically, a biweekly meeting occurs every two weeks and a semiweeklyone occurs twice a week; but so few people get this straight that yourclub is liable to disintegrate unless you avoid these word…
Read MoreA British person is a Briton; only the country can be referred to as “Britain.”
Read MoreCasual restaurants like to advertise “BAR-B-Q” and you often see the spelling “barbeque” and variations like “barbaque,” but the standard form is “barbecue.”
Read More<p>These words can cause confusion when used to talk about the time of an event. When some people say “Let’s move the meeting back”, they mean earlier. </p><p>Other people understand it mean later. T…
Read MoreThis is a slash: /. Because the top of it leans forward, it is sometimes called a “forward slash.”This is a backslash: \. Notice the way it leans back, distinguishing it from the regular slash.Slashe…
Read More<p>Backup is a noun meaning a person or thing that can give help or support if needed. </p><pre>“The fire department called for backup when they saw how large the fire was.” </pre><p>Back up is a phr…
Read MoreAs an adverb, either word will do: “put the shirt on backward” or “putthe shirt on backwards.” However, as an adjective, only “backward” willdo: “a backward glance.” When in doubt, use “backward.”
Read MoreThe thing itself is a two-word phrase: you grow vegetables in your back yard. The adjective form that describes the location of something behind your house is a single word: you have a backyard veget…
Read MoreIn informal speech “bad” is sometimes used as an adverb: “the toilet was leaking pretty bad” or “my arm hurt so bad I thought it was broken.” In formal writing, “badly” is preferred in both contexts.
Read More<p>Bail is a sum of money paid or exchanged for the release of an arrested person for guarantee of the person's appearance for possible trial. </p><pre>"We couldn't pay the bail money, it was quite e…
Read MoreWhether you are bailing out a rowboat or a bank, use the two-word spelling to describe the action of doing it (the verb form): “we need to bail out the boat before we can go fishing.”But to label the…
Read MoreAlthough the odor of the chocolate truffle you just ate may be irresistible bait to your beloved, the proper expression is “bated breath.” “Bated” here means “held, abated.” You do something with bat…
Read MoreThe only one of these spellings recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary as meaning “shameless” is “barefaced.” Etymologies often refer to the prevalence of beards among Renaissance Englishmen, bu…
Read MoreTo “bawl” is to cry out loudly, so when you break down in tears you bawl like a baby and when you reprimand people severely you bawl them out. Don’t use “ball” in these sorts of expressions. It has a…
Read More<p>Bare means to go completely naked, by either removing clothes or showing something in its basic form.</p><pre>"Tell him not to walk on the grass bare footed."</pre><p>Bear, traditionally means the…
Read MoreWhen you offer to trade your vintage jeans for a handwoven shirt in Guatemala, you are engaged in barter—no money is involved. One thing (or service) is traded for another.But when you offer to buy t…
Read MoreLike Billy the singing bass, things musical are usually “bass”: bass guitars, bass drums, bass clefs. Don’t use the more common word “base” in such contexts.
Read MoreYou can build a structure around a center; but bases go on the bottom of things, so you can’t base something around something else. Similarly, you can build something off of a starting point, but you…
Read More<p>‘Basicly’ seems logical enough, doesn’t it? We learn that adding ‘ly’ makes a word an adverb. But there are variations on how we add ‘ly’, and in this case we have to expand it to ‘ally’. </p><p>‘…
Read More<p>Bases is the inflected form of the word, base which means a foundation from which other things extend from. It also means a basic yet essential component of a structure.</p><pre>"The item has a wi…
Read MoreA “bazaar” is a market where miscellaneous goods are sold. “Bizarre,” in contrast, is an adjective meaning “strange,” “weird.”
Read MoreIn American English when you focus narrowly on something or define it carefully you “get a bead” or “draw a bead” on it. In this expression the term “bead” comes from the former name for the little m…
Read MoreThe French bureaucrats from whom we get this word worked at their bureaus (desks, spelled bureaux in French) in what came to be known as bureaucracies.
Read MoreThis is a fine example of what linguists call “popular etymology.” People don’t understand the origins of a word or expression and make one up based on what seems logical to them. “Beck” is just an o…
Read More<p>Began is a conjugate of the irregular verb "to begin" which means to start or proceed with something. It is the past tense of begin.</p> <pre>"As soon as it had arrived, David began to open the p…
Read MoreAn argument that improperly assumes as true the very point the speaker is trying to argue for is said in formal logic to “beg the question.” Here is an example of a question-begging argument: “This p…
Read MoreYou beggar people by impoverishing them, reducing them to beggary. This term now survives mainly in metaphorical expressions such as “it beggars description” (exhausts my ability to describe it) or “…
Read MoreUsing “being that” to mean “because” is nonstandard, as in “Being that the bank robber was fairly experienced, it was surprising that he showed the teller his ID card when she asked for it.” “Being a…
Read MorePeople can’t have religious “believes”; they have religious beliefs. If you have it, it’s a belief; if you do it, you believe.
Read MoreYou may have a positive attitude toward an idea, but you have a belief in it.
Read MoreAs an author/writer, when you are referring to a table or a figure below the text, you will say "in the table below" or "in the figure below". "In the below table" is incorrect. "In the table below…
Read MoreWhen you bemuse someone, you confuse them, and not necessarily in anentertaining way. Don’t confuse this word with “amuse.”
Read More<p>Benefactor is someone who gives people gifts usually in form of money or charity or via an organization.</p><pre>"That man is so many people's benefactor, he has helped a lot."</pre><p>Beneficiary…
Read More“Besides” can mean “in addition to” as in “besides the puppy chow, Spotscarfed up the filet mignon I was going to serve for dinner.” “Beside,”in contrast, usually means “next to.” “I sat beside Chery…
Read More“Between you and me” is preferred in standard English.See “I/me/myself.”
Read More<p>‘Bias’ means a treating people or groups unfairly because you have a conscious or unconscious belief that some people or ideas are better than others. You’ll often see the phrases ‘racial bias’ an…
Read MoreA biceps is a single muscle with two attaching tendons at one end. Although “bicep” without the S is often used in casual speech, this spelling is frowned on in medical and anatomical contexts.
Read More<p>To hit or attack (an opponent) from their blind side is to blindside him. The 2008 stock market crash blindsided many investors. "Blindsighted" is a misspelling. "Blindsided" is correct.</p><p>Bli…
Read More“Block” has a host of uses, including as the spelling in the phrase “block of time.” But for groups of people and nations, use the French spelling bloc: “bloc of young voters,” “Cold War-era Eastern …
Read MoreSome people mistakenly substitute the adjective “blunt” for the noun ”brunt” in standard expressions like “bear the brunt.” “Brunt” means “main force.”
Read More<p>Boarders is the inflected form of the word, boarder which means a pupil who lives within the school premises during term time.</p><pre>"You're going to be a boarder next term."</pre><p>Borders is …
Read MoreA bolster is a large pillow, and when you bolster something you support it as if you were propping it up with a pillow. Thus the expression is “bolster your confidence.” People unfamiliar with the wo…
Read MoreBona fide is a Latin phrase meaning “in good faith,” most often used tomean “genuine” today. It is often misspelled as if it were the pasttense of an imaginary verb: “bonafy.”
Read MoreIn expressions like “beyond the bounds of credibility” and “beyond the bounds of decency” the word “bounds” is short for “boundaries,” and means “limits.” Many people transform these sayings by subst…
Read MoreWrite “my love of dance was born of my viewing old Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire movies,” not “born out of.” The latter expression is probably substituted because of confusion with the expression “borne…
Read More<p>Borne is widely known as the past participle of the verb, bear which is applicable to all situations except birth. </p><pre>"Most diseases out here are waterborne."</pre><p>Born is also a past par…
Read MoreIn some dialects it is common to substitute “borrow” for “loan” or “lend,” as in “borrow me that hammer of yours, will you, Jeb?” In standard English the person providing an item can loan it; but the…
Read MoreIn some dialects you can borrow five dollars off a friend; but in standard English you borrow the money from a friend.
Read MoreThere are times when it is important to use “each” instead of “both.” Few people will be confused if you say “I gave both of the boys a baseball glove,” meaning “I gave both of the boys baseball glov…
Read More<p>Brought means to move something or someone to a place or person. It is the past participle of the word, bring. </p><pre>"As soon as she got to work, she brought a cup of steaming hot coffee to the…
Read More<p>Bought is the past tense of the original word, 'buy' which means to purchase something or an item for a price paid for with currency.</p><pre>"I bought some watermelons on my way back."</pre><p>Bo…
Read MoreA leaky ball may be out of bounce, but when it crosses the boundary line off the basketball court or football field it goes out of bounds. Similarly, any action or speech that goes beyond proper limi…
Read MoreBuoys are buoyant. In the older pronunciation of “buoyant” as “bwoyant” this unusual spelling made more sense. Now that the pronunciation has shifted to “boyant” we have to keep reminding ourselves t…
Read MoreSome people misuse “brainchild,” as in “Steve Jobs is the brainchild behind the iPhone.” A brainchild is not a person, but the child (product) of someone’s brain. So the iPhone is the brainchild of S…
Read More<p>Break means to separate into two or more pieces which can't be possibly reversed for fixing. It can also mean a short time observed for rest after working for hours.</p><pre>A. "The Boss has permi…
Read MorePopular usage frequently converts brand names into generic ones, with the generic name falling into disuse. Few people call gelatin dessert mix anything other than “Jell-O,” which helps to explain wh…
Read More<p>‘Brought’ is the standard past tense and past participle of bring. </p><pre>“I brought my laptop with me so I could take notes.”</pre><p> However, you’ll hear ‘brang’ or ‘brung’ instead in some re…
Read More<p>Breach is the act of breaking in a figurate sense of a contract, promise or relations.</p><pre>"James said he was filing a case of breach of contract to the court."</pre><p>Breech has the historic…
Read MoreA breakup is what happens when two people break up. The one-word form is the result, whereas the two-word form is the action that leads to it.
Read More<p>Breath is the air expelled from the lungs inspired by the single act of breathing in or out.</p><pre>"I can't hold my breath for long."</pre><p>Breathe means to repeatedly draw air and expel from …
Read MoreWhen you are viewing the movement of something from the point of arrival, use “bring”: “When you come to the potluck, please bring a green salad.” Viewing things from the point of departure, you shou…
Read More<p>If you are broke, you are out of money. If something is broken, it needs to be fixed or replaced. </p><pre>“I would fix my broken bicycle, but I’m broke!”</pre><p> Broken is also the past particip…
Read MoreA person who is the target of jokers is the butt of their humor (from an old meaning of the word “butt”: target for shooting at). But the object of this joking has to bear the brunt of the mockery (f…
Read MoreThese tiny cabbage-like vegetables are named after the Belgian city of Brussels, which has an “S” on the end. The correct spelling is “Brussels sprout.”
Read MoreYou build on your earlier achievements, you don’t build off of them.
Read MoreGold bricks are bullion. Boil down meat stock to get bouillon. It’s an expensive mistake to confuse bullion with bouillon in a recipe.
Read MoreWe occasionally still use the old positive meaning of the word “bully” when congratulating somebody (sincerely or sarcastically) by saying “Bully for you!” A century ago “bully” meant “good,” “great.…
Read MoreA 1987 recording by the rap group Public Enemy popularized the slang term “bumrush” as a verb meaning “to crash into a show hoping to see it for free,” evidently by analogy with an earlier usage in w…
Read MoreSince “but” and “however” perform the same function in a sentence, it’s not appropriate to use them together. Suppose you have written “but the cake he made for my birthday, however, was his old girl…
Read MoreThe standard expression is “buck naked,” and the contemporary “butt naked” is an error that will get you laughed at in some circles. However, it might be just as well if the new form were to triumph.…
Read MoreThe original expression (meaning “a lot”), both more polite and more logical, is “boatload.”
Read More<p>Buttocks basically refers to either of the two meaty protuberances for the back and lower part of the human trunk.<br></p><pre>"The nurse asked me to show my buttocks so she could inject it."</pre…
Read More<p>By means next to or near to a particular object or someone. </p><pre>"Mary stood by her husband till the very end of the trial."</pre><p>Bye is a colloquial word for goodbye which means to say far…
Read MoreYou could say that Halloween is by far your favorite holiday, or you can say that it’s far and away your favorite holiday; but if you combine the two expressions and say “by far and away” you’ll anno…
Read MoreA pale is originally a stake of the kind which might make up a palisade, or enclosure. The uncontrolled territory outside was then “beyond the pale.” The expression “beyond the pale” came to mean “bi…
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