chomiji: Tenpou from Saiyuki Gaiden. with the caption Not necessarily by the book (Tenpou - Not by the book)
[personal profile] chomiji

Reader [personal profile] rebcake had a question about two venerable idioms concerning speaking out—or not. Is it proper to say “hold your peace," or is it “hold your piece"? What about “say your piece"—or “say your peace"? We’ll take a closer look with the help of old friends from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

“Let’s )
randi2204: (avengers - A is for)
[personal profile] randi2204
Today we’re looking at a pair of words that are easily confused – after all, there’s only one letter different between them.  [personal profile] tigerlilly asked us “When do you use ‘wonder’ vs ‘wander,’ like in ‘let the mind wander?’ What is a good way to remember, esp. for non-native English speakers?” Let’s jump right in, with some help from the characters of Doctor Strange.

I wonder as I wander… or is it the other way around? )
green_grrl: (SG1_JDWhat)
[personal profile] green_grrl
Welcome, grammar fans, to another installment of Commonly Confused Words. Today we are looking at brake and break. These two words not only sound exactly alike, they are both also used as a noun or a verb, and can even overlap somewhat in meaning. So, how do you know which to use when? Let's take a look, with a little help from our friends from Hawaii Five-0. )
whymzycal: an imaginary creature that's all teeth and beady little eyes (a gnauga)
[personal profile] whymzycal
Hello, fellow grammar lovers, and welcome to another look at “Commonly Confused Words”! Today we’re going to learn about the difference between all together and altogether with a little help from the cast of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. )
randi2204: (guitar gods)
[personal profile] randi2204
Welcome back, grammar fans! [community profile] fandom_grammar has a lighter schedule during these summer months, but fear not, we still have interesting grammar issues to discuss!  Today we’ll be talking about a couple of words that are very commonly used in place of each other.  Ground and floor aren’t exactly the same thing, and we’ll get into their differences with some help from the characters of Sherlock.

Are you sure you don’t mean the ground floor? )
traycer: (Default)
[personal profile] traycer
Someone wanted to know, is it toe the line or tow the line?

Let's discuss this with help from the people of Stargate Command.

Read more... )
traycer: (Default)
[personal profile] traycer
[livejournal.com profile] minesomine asks: When do you use "off" versus "of", and how do you remember the difference?

With examples from The Dresden Files

Off vs Of - Moving onward... )

Answer: Moot

Monday, 22 May 2017 16:31
randi2204: McCoy with all the things he says he's not in TOS (star trek - mccoy is not your)
[personal profile] randi2204
We were asked, What is the origin and correct usage of “moot?” Moot has a variety of meanings, so correct usage can be a bit tricky.  Let’s dig right in with some help from the characters of Star Trek.

Who gives a hoot about moot? )
chomiji: Tenpou from Saiyuki Gaiden. with the caption Not necessarily by the book (Tenpou - Not by the book)
[personal profile] chomiji

Today's set of easily confused words is as mellifluous as it is puzzling. We'll try to clarify the situation with the help of the Knight of Lost Words, October ("Toby") Daye, and her friends.

All right, let's go! )
ariestess: (autumn leaves -- from dhamphir)
[personal profile] ariestess
Welcome to another round of Commonly Confused Words. I'm your host, AJ, and today we'll be unraveling the differences between weary, wary, and worry, with the help of our friends from Once Upon a Time and Damien, as well as Dictionary.com.

weary vs. wary vs. worry )
whymzycal: Demon-shaped steam rising from tea (tea demon)
[personal profile] whymzycal
Happy Monday, grammar friends, and welcome to our next look at a pair of Commonly Confused Words!

Today we’re going to look at decent and descent, two words that are often mistaken for one another because their spellings are so similar. With examples from the Avengers and Star Trek. )
melayneseahawk: (meaning of life)
[personal profile] melayneseahawk
Hello, and welcome to another article on Commonly Confused Words! Today’s topic is a pair of words that I confuse all the time, so I thought I’d settle it once and for all: what is the difference between “appraise” and “apprise”, and what are some ways to remember which is which?

First, let’s start with some definitions...

appraise/apprise, with examples from Steven Universe and Star Trek (2009) )

Tune in next week for another set of Commonly Confused Words!

(The Star Trek example is shamelessly borrowed from Deastar’s marvelous So Wise We Grow.)
randi2204: (avengers - A is for)
[personal profile] randi2204
Hello, and welcome back to [community profile] fandom_grammar!  We’re in our new digs on Dreamwidth—mind the fresh paint!—and ready to answer your grammar questions.  Today we’ll ease back in to a regular posting schedule, starting off with a couple of commonly confused words that have similar spellings but very different meanings.  Let’s take a look at alter and altar, with some help from the Avengers.

How can we alter that altar? )
ariestess: (grammar -- from cmzero)
[personal profile] ariestess
Welcome to another installment of Blast From the Past. This week we're going to look at a couple more sets of easily confused words: it's/its and your/you're. [livejournal.com profile] melayneseahawk first covered them back in 2008, and then [livejournal.com profile] chiroho tackled them in a 2011 BftP. So let's give both of these easily confused duos another glance with a little help from our friends over at Once Upon a Time, shall we?

Blast from the past: it's/its and your/you're )
randi2204: EVIL! (dawn - the slayer)
[personal profile] randi2204
Welcome to your Monday, fellow grammarians!  Today we’ll be looking at a thorny little question about some words (or possible words) that are all spelled very similarly and sound alike when spoken.  [livejournal.com profile] lanalucy asked us “What is the difference between ‘a lot’ and ‘allot’? Is ‘alot’ a word?”  Let’s dig right into this with some help from our friends in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

There are a lot of lots to allot.  )
ariestess: (beta-whore -- from ctorres)
[personal profile] ariestess
Welcome to this week's installment of Blast From the Past! This week, we've got a two-fer of commonly confused words for you: their/there/they're and to/too/two. Both were orignally covered in January 2008 by [livejournal.com profile] green_grrl, then both got individual focus in their own BftP: the former in November 2011 by [livejournal.com profile] chiroho and the latter in October 2011 by [livejournal.com profile] supercheesegirl. So let's see if we can get a brief refresher on these two homophone triads with a little help from our friends over at Witches of East End.


Blast from the past: their/there/they're and to/too/two )
[identity profile] achacunsagloire.livejournal.com
Happy Monday, Fandom Grammar watchers! Today, we’ll be answering a question submitted by one of our watchers, [livejournal.com profile] lanalucy:

“What are the differences between ‘sit,’ ‘sat,’ and ‘set?’”

An excellent question as both writers and readers tend to mix up these three—particularly “sit” and “set”—quite a bit. Lara and the rest of the characters of Tomb Raider will help us discover the answer.

And the answer is just under this cut: )
chomiji: Tenpou from Saiyuki Gaiden. with the caption Not necessarily by the book (Tenpou - Not by the book)
[personal profile] chomiji

In today's column, we'll examine a trio of easily confused and closely related words, with the help of the cast of C.J. Cherryh's science fiction novel Merchanter's Luck.

Let's go! )
[identity profile] achacunsagloire.livejournal.com
Happy Monday, Fandom Grammar watchers! In this week’s Commonly Confused Words, we’ll be looking at the difference between two law- and confinement-related words that readers and writers alike often mix up: “jail” and “prison.”

Let's take a look under the cut: )
[identity profile] whymzycal.livejournal.com
Most of us with a fondness for (or even a passing familiarity with) grammar can relate to the jarring, nails-on-a-chalkboard sensation of running across a sentence that claims, “Me and him are best friends.” Unless the sentence is meant to be an example of ultra-relaxed colloquial dialogue, most grammar-minded people will want to run screaming from the room as soon as they’ve parsed it.

Fortunately, we’re not alone.

Such is the point made in Jen Doll’s June 2012 article from TheWire.com. Doll graciously shares 10 of her favorite copyediting and grammar-for-life rules, some of which I’ll be discussing right here )

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