32 Most Commonly Misused Words And Phrases (quote)

[Rob Allen]

Originally Posted by sweetheart1311

Most people use 'jealous' for everything. Even when they mean 'envious'.

I've pointed this out in threads like this one on other forums (fora?) and had people argue with me. They truly believe the words are synonymous.

I hear it on TV so often that I think we're going to lose on this point. Another useful distinction erased from the language... sigh.

[Moonlady]

That kind of reminds me...On the networking site LinkedIn, there is a feature you can use to request recommendations. When you click on it, it pops up a little window with the message that says "Can you endorse me"? I wrote LinkedIn and told them they needed to change it to "Will you endorse me" but they never replied back. I am so tempted when I get one of those messages (which I hate by the way) to reply back, "Yes I can but I won't".

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

"take it for granite..."

You've got to be kidding me. Never mind, I believe you both.

I saw another thread title on CD with a common misquote.

"All that glitters (is not gold)."

The correct quote is "all that glisters".

All that glistens is not gold - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

All that glistens/glitters is not gold. (British, American & Australian) also All that glisters is not gold. (British literary)

I learned that the phrase "All that glisters is not gold" comes from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene VII.
Who knew?

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by wannabee

All that glistens is not gold - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

All that glistens/glitters is not gold. (British, American & Australian) also All that glisters is not gold. (British literary)

I learned that the phrase "All that glisters is not gold" comes from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene VII.
Who knew?

I did! But only because I'd read an article once on how unaware most people are of just how much of Shakespeare's writing is part of our everyday language. It was pretty interesting, and I didn't know most of it because (horrors) I really don't like Shakespeare.

My teenaged daughter loves Shakespeare. I think she's weird.

The same thing is true of biblical references. "Can a leopard change its spots?" comes from the bible, for example. Same with "killing the fatted calf" and my personal favorite, often used by a former boss of mine, "cutting the baby in half."

[JustJulia]

Oh! Did anyone say "nauseous" yet? If you feel queasy, you're not nauseous--you're nauseated.

[jtur88]

predominate vs predominant

What is the difference? How do you know which one to use?

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by JustJulia

Oh! Did anyone say "nauseous" yet? If you feel queasy, you're not nauseous--you're nauseated.

AH, another teeth-grinder of mine! Good job.

As in the jealous/envious matter, I also become a little disturbed when convince/persuade are misused, but that may be me just getting old and crotchety. The usage notes on dictionary.com tell me that Those Who Are In Charge Of Such Things are allowing them to be interchanged these days.

[JustJulia]

Originally Posted by jtur88

predominate vs predominant

What is the difference? How do you know which one to use?

They do sound similar when spoken aloud, but predominate is a verb, while predominant is an adjective (think of dominate versus dominant).

[JustJulia]

Acronym.

An acronym is an abbreviation that is pronounced like a word (NASCAR, NATO, UNICEF). An abbreviation that is pronounced by its individual letters (USA, UK, WTF) is an initialism, but that word is usually pedantic. If it's not an acronym, call it an abbreviation. USA is not an acronym.

[Fred314X]

The word gargoyle is frequently misused. It refers to downspouts. If it's just a sculpture and not an actual spout, it's not a gargoyle.