I’ve written more posts than I can count about confusing word pairs, words that are hard to spell and words that aren’t really words.
Instead of another article about usage, let’s see how you fare with a quiz.
Read the list below and make note of which words or phrases are incorrect—either from misspelling or from misstatement. Check your answers at the end.
RELATED: Improve your writing today with this free guide.
Definitions and usage guidance came from Oxford Dictionaries, Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster.
1. Alterior motive
2. Augurs well for the project
3. Brussel sprout
4. Caddy-corner
5. Center around
6. Conversate
7. Coursing through my veins
8. Cut and dry
9. Derring-do
10. Digestive track
11. Dire straits
12. Door jamb
13. Doughnut
14. Duct tape
15. Easedrop
16. Fine-tooth comb
17. Harebrained
18. Home in
19. Mute point
20. Old wise tale
21. Per say
22. Sleight of hand
23. Thunder and lightening
24. Wet your appetite
Answers:
1. Incorrect. “Alterior” should read “ulterior.”
2. Correct.
3. Incorrect. “Brussel sprouts” should be “Brussels sprouts.”
4. Incorrect. “Caddy” is not correct; instead, use “catty” or “kitty.”
5. Incorrect. Things don’t “center around,” but rather “center on” or “revolve around.”
6. Incorrect. It should be “converse.”
7. Correct.
8. Incorrect. It should be “cut and dried.”
9. Correct.
10. Incorrect. It should be “digestive tract.”
11. Correct.
12. Correct.
13. Correct.
14. Correct.
15. Incorrect. “Easedrop” should be “eavesdrop.”
16. Correct.
17. Correct.
18. Correct. “Home” is to “focus in on a target”; “hone” means “to sharpen.”
19. Incorrect. “Mute” should read “moot.”
20. Incorrect. Instead of “wise,” it’s an “old wives’ tale.”
21. Incorrect. “Per say” should read “per se,” meaning “by or in itself.”
22. Correct.
23. Incorrect. “Lightening” is incorrect; “lightning” is correct.
24. Incorrect. “Wet” should be “whet,” which means to “stimulate an appetite or desire.”
How did you do, PR Daily readers? What words or phrases cause you trouble?
Laura Hale Brockway is writer and editor from Austin, Texas. Read more of her work on PR Daily and at impertinentremarks.
(Image via)
from PR Daily News Feed http://ift.tt/294Is0H
No comments:
Post a Comment