Words You Thought You Knew
October 10, 2009Free gift: Free is redundant because all gifts are, by definition, free.
ATM machine & PIN number: Similarly, 'machine' and 'number' are redundant. ATM already stands for Automated Teller Machine and PIN for Personal Identification Number. Same goes for J corporation, the organization I'm at now. I guess the last word is repeated to give people an idea of what the abbreviation/acronym is.
Abbreviation & Acronym: Which brings us to this. Initials only form an acronym if they make a word that can be pronunced. For example, PIN, APEC, OPEC, MINDEF. Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases sometimes followed by a punctuation Ms., Dr., etc., e.g.
Forte: Should be pronunced as "fort" (one syllable) not "for-tay". The two syllable pronunciation has been possibly influenced by the the music term forte in Italian.
Nuclear: Pronunced as "noo-klee-er" not "new-clear"
Revert back: There is no such thing as revert back. When you revert, you go back.
Irregardless: Irregardless is considered nonstandard and should be only used in casual writing. It is considered illogical to combine two negatives ir-prefix and -less suffix in a single term.
Alumni, Criteria, Data, Media, Agenda: Plural nouns. Singular: alumnus, criterion, datum, medium, agendum.
Angst: I remember a friend used this word in the following context "When I was a teen, I was full of angst." There and then, I thought angst means anger as young people have the tendency to be angry with the world as they grapple with identity crisis, relationship issues and biological changes. I was wrong. Angst means anxiety, usually accompanied by sadness. I'm experiencing angst about graduating from university. I'm worried that I won't find a good job and I'm sad to leave my friends behind.
Hear & Listen: Listening requires effort. Hearing is a passive activity. I know you can hear me but sometimes I think you're not listening to me.
Choice & Option: Choice implies broadly the freedom to choose from a set. Option is about a choice between only 2 possibilities. If you need to decide between A and B, you have 2 options but 1 choice.
For more "I never knew that" moments, see Words You Thought You Knew...1001 Commonly Misunderstood & Misused Words and Phrases by Jenna Glatzer.
ATM machine & PIN number: Similarly, 'machine' and 'number' are redundant. ATM already stands for Automated Teller Machine and PIN for Personal Identification Number. Same goes for J corporation, the organization I'm at now. I guess the last word is repeated to give people an idea of what the abbreviation/acronym is.
Abbreviation & Acronym: Which brings us to this. Initials only form an acronym if they make a word that can be pronunced. For example, PIN, APEC, OPEC, MINDEF. Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases sometimes followed by a punctuation Ms., Dr., etc., e.g.
Forte: Should be pronunced as "fort" (one syllable) not "for-tay". The two syllable pronunciation has been possibly influenced by the the music term forte in Italian.
Nuclear: Pronunced as "noo-klee-er" not "new-clear"
Revert back: There is no such thing as revert back. When you revert, you go back.
Irregardless: Irregardless is considered nonstandard and should be only used in casual writing. It is considered illogical to combine two negatives ir-prefix and -less suffix in a single term.
Alumni, Criteria, Data, Media, Agenda: Plural nouns. Singular: alumnus, criterion, datum, medium, agendum.
Angst: I remember a friend used this word in the following context "When I was a teen, I was full of angst." There and then, I thought angst means anger as young people have the tendency to be angry with the world as they grapple with identity crisis, relationship issues and biological changes. I was wrong. Angst means anxiety, usually accompanied by sadness. I'm experiencing angst about graduating from university. I'm worried that I won't find a good job and I'm sad to leave my friends behind.
Hear & Listen: Listening requires effort. Hearing is a passive activity. I know you can hear me but sometimes I think you're not listening to me.
Choice & Option: Choice implies broadly the freedom to choose from a set. Option is about a choice between only 2 possibilities. If you need to decide between A and B, you have 2 options but 1 choice.
For more "I never knew that" moments, see Words You Thought You Knew...1001 Commonly Misunderstood & Misused Words and Phrases by Jenna Glatzer.
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