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ELLIPSES Those dots that come in the middle of a quotation to indicate something omitted are called an “ellipsis” plural “ellipses”: “Tex told Sam to get the.. If the ellipsis ends your

ELLIPSES

Those dots that come in the middle of a quotation to indicate something omitted are called an

“ellipsis” (plural “ellipses”): “Tex told Sam to get the cow out of the bunk house.” Here Tex’s language has been censored, but you are more likely to have a use for ellipses when quoting some

source in a paper: “Ishmael remarks at the beginning of Moby Dick, ‘some years ago I thought I

would sail about a little’ —a very understated way to begin a novel of high adventure.” The three dots stand for a considerable stretch of prose that has been omitted If the ellipsis ends your sentence, some editorial styles require four dots, the first of which is a period: From the same paragraph in

Moby Dick: “almost all men cherish very nearly the same feelings .” Note that the period in the

second ellipsis has to be snug up against the last word quoted, with spaces between the other dots

Some modern styles do not call for ellipses at the beginning and ending of quoted matter unless not doing so would be genuinely misleading, so check with your teacher or editor if you’re uncertain whether to use one in those positions It is never correct to surround a quoted single word or short phrase with ellipses: “Romeo tells Juliet that by kissing her again his ’sin is purged’” (note, by the way, that I began the quotation after the first word in the phrase “my sin is purged” in order to make

it work grammatically in the context of the sentence)

When text is typeset, the spaces are often but not always omitted between the dots in an ellipsis Since modern computer printer output looks much more like typeset writing than old-fashioned

typewriting, you may be tempted to omit the spaces; but it is better to include them and let the

publisher decide whether they should be eliminated

An ellipsis that works perfectly well on your computer may “break” when your text is transferred to another if it comes at the end of a line, with one or more of the dots wrapping around to the next line

To avoid this, learn how to type “non-breaking spaces” between the dots of ellipses: in Word for Windows it’s Control-Shift-Spacebar; on a Mac, it’s Option-Spacebar

When writing HTML code to create a Web page, make a nonbreaking space with this code:

 

List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/ellipses.html03/09/2005 15:37:48

EMBARESS

EMBARRASS

You can pronounce the last two syllables as two distinct words as a jog to memory, except that then the word may be misspelled “embareass,” which

isn’t right either You also have to remember the double R.

List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/embaress.html03/09/2005 15:37:48

EMERGENT/EMERGENCY

The error of considering “emergent” to be the adjectival form of “emergency” is common only in medical writing, but it is becoming widespread “Emergent” properly means “emerging” and normally refers to events that are just beginning—barely noticeable rather than catastrophic

“Emergency” is an adjective as well as a noun, so rather than writing “emergent care,” use the homely “emergency care.”

List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/emergent.html03/09/2005 15:37:48

EMIGRATE/IMMIGRATE

To “emigrate” is to leave a country The E at the beginning of the word is related to the E in other

words having to do with going out, such as “exit.” “Immigrate,” in contrast, looks as if it might have

something to do with going in, and indeed it does: it means to move into a new country The same distinction applies to “emigration” and “immigration.” Note the double M in the second form A

migrant is someone who continually moves about

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file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/emigrate.html03/09/2005 15:37:49

EMINENT/IMMINENT/IMMANENT

By far the most common of these words is “eminent,” meaning “prominent, famous.” “Imminent,” in

phrases like “facing imminent disaster,” means "threatening.” It comes from Latin minere, meaning

“to project or overhang.” Think of a mine threatening to cave in Positive events can also be

imminent: they just need to be coming soon The rarest of the three is “immanent,” used by

philosophers to mean “inherent” and by theologians to mean “present throughout the universe” when

referring to God It comes from Latin manere, “remain.” Think of God creating man in his own

image

List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/eminent.html03/09/2005 15:37:49

EMPATHY/SYMPATHY

If you think you feel just like another person, you are feeling empathy If you just feel sorry for another person, you’re feeling sympathy

List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/empathy.html03/09/2005 15:37:49

emphasize on

EMPHASIZE ON

EMPHASIZE

You can place emphasis on something, or you can emphasize it; but you can’t emphasize on it or stress on it, though you can place stress on it List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/emphasize.html03/09/2005 15:37:49

EMULATE/IMITATE

People generally know what “imitate” means, but they sometimes don't understand that “emulate” is

a more specialized word with a purely positive function, meaning to try to equal or match Thus if you try to climb the same mountain your big brother did, you're emulating him; but if you copy his habit of sticking peas up his nose, you're just imitating him

List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/emulate.html03/09/2005 15:37:49

end result

END RESULT

Usually a redundancy Most of the time plain “result” will do fine List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/end.html03/09/2005 15:37:50

ENORMITY/ENORMOUSNESS

Originally these two words were synonymous, but “enormity” got whittled down to meaning something monstrous or outrageous Don’t wonder at the “enormity” of the Palace of Versailles unless you wish to express horror at this embodiment of Louis XIV’s ego

List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/enormity.html03/09/2005 15:37:50

ENQUIRE/INQUIRE

These are alternative spellings of the same word “Enquire” is perhaps slightly more common in the U.K., but either is acceptable in the U.S

List of errors

file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/enquire.html03/09/2005 15:37:50