a little edu-ma-cation for you
Those of you who understand that English runs through my veins like blood (in that I love language and writing and all their quirks) will understand why the following points are SO important for people to know and love. And why I CANNOT STAND when people get them wrong!
GRAMMAR LESSON #1: Words that sound the same but are oh-so-different
THERE vs. THEIR
There indicates a location away from the speaker/writer. Their indicates the third person plural possessive pronoun, as in "Their house was on fire."
CHORD vs. CORD
Chord is a group of musical tones played together. A cord is a rope or wire. We also have cords in our bodies - our vocal cords.
DISCREET vs. DISCRETE
(I forgive this mistake on occasion since it's trickier.) Discreet means subtle or unnoticeable, as in "The spinach between her front teeth was hardly discreet." Discrete means separate or distinct, as in "No one realized she had two discrete lives: one as a belly dancer in Athens, Georgia, and one as a spinach farmer in Normal, Illinois."
HOME vs. HONE
You home in on a target. You hone a skill by practicing, as a chef sharpens or hones a knife.
And for the record, President Bush, "misunderestimated" is not a word in the English language.
(Adapted from <i>Real Simple</i>, September 2003)
Comments
Actually, I never really learned grammar in school...picked it all up from books and writing tons of papers. They never taught us how to use the English language, and I still don't know the names for the different kinds of words. Luckily, I very rarely mess up with grammar.
Posted by: Sholeh | October 30, 2003 10:17 PM
spinach is my friend.
Posted by: delara | October 29, 2003 03:59 PM
you seem obsessed with spinach (teeth/farmer) today. at hone today their was some spinach in the fridge.
Posted by: mahsa | October 29, 2003 12:17 PM
i live! yes, the its/it's thing bugs me too. and should of/could of. ACK! don't these people study grammar and spelling in sixth grade like all good boys and girls? don't they have that teacher that taps their hand with a hazel stick when they spell things wrong? ah, yes - that is where the madness was born!
Posted by: delara | October 28, 2003 09:15 PM
She lives!
My pet peeve is misusing "its" and "it's." I'm sometimes guilty of it myself, when I'm not paying attention, but it still jumps out at me when I read it.
Re. the "home" v. "hone" issue, I don't know how to break this to you, but my quick research has shown that they can be synonyms when it comes to your first example - the "focus" meaning. But this should translate into less stress when you hear it! (Whichever "it" it might be. Heehee.)
Posted by: shokufeh | October 28, 2003 07:57 PM