By the way, this is one of those pesky exceptions to the rule, "I before E except after C," but the vowels are seldom switched, perhaps because we see it printed on so many forms along w
Trang 1HEIGHTH
HEIGHT
“Width” has a TH at the end, so why doesn’t “height"? In fact it used to, but the standard pronunciation today ends in a plain “T” sound People who use the obsolete form misspell it as well, so pronunciation is no guide By the way, this is one of those pesky exceptions to the rule, "I before E except after C," but the vowels are seldom switched, perhaps because we see it printed on so many forms along with “age” and “weight."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/heighth.html03/09/2005 15:38:16
Trang 2help the problem
HELP THE PROBLEM
HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM
People say they want to help the problem of poverty when what they really mean is that they want to help solve the problem of poverty Poverty
flourishes without any extra help, thank you I guess I know what a “suicide help line” is, but I’d rather it were a “suicide prevention help line.” I suppose it’s too late to ask people to rename alcoholism support groups as sobriety support groups, but it’s a shoddy use of language.
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file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/help.html03/09/2005 15:38:16
Trang 3HERO/PROTAGONIST
In ordinary usage “hero” has two meanings: “leading character in a story” and “brave, admirable person.” In simple tales the two meanings may work together, but in modern literature and film the leading character or “protagonist” (a technical term common in literary criticism) may behave in a very unheroic fashion Students who express shock that the “hero” of a play or novel behaves
despicably reveal their inexperience In literature classes avoid the word unless you mean to stress a character’s heroic qualities However, if you are discussing the main character in a traditional opera, where values are often simple, you may get by with referring to the male lead as the "hero"—but is Don Giovanni really a hero?
See also “heroin/heroine."
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Trang 4HEROIN/HEROINE
Heroin is a highly addictive opium derivative; the main female character in a narrative is a heroine
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Trang 5highly looked upon
HIGHLY LOOKED UPON
HIGHLY REGARDED
Many people, struggling to come up with the phrase “highly regarded,” come up with the awkward “highly looked upon” instead; which suggests that the looker is placed in a high position, looking down, when what is meant is that the looker is looking up to someone or something admirable List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/lookedupon.html03/09/2005 15:38:17
Trang 6him, her/he, she
HIM, HER/HE, SHE
There is a group of personal pronouns to be used as subjects in a sentence, including “he,” “she,” “I,” and “we.” Then there is a separate group of object pronouns, including “him,” “her,” “me,” and “us.” The problem is that the folks who tend to mix up the two sets often don’t find the subject/object distinction clear or helpful, and say things like “Her and me went to the movies."
A simple test is to substitute “us” for “her and me.” Would you say “us went to the movies?”
Obviously not You’d normally say “we went to the movies,” so when “we” is broken into the two persons involved it becomes “she and I went to the movies.”
But you would say “the murder scene scared us,” so it’s correct to say “the murder scene scared her and me.”
If you aren’t involved, use “they” and “them” as test words instead of “us” and “we.” “They won the lottery” becomes “he and she won the lottery,” and “the check was mailed to them” becomes “the check was mailed to him and her.”
See also “I/me/myself.”
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/him.html03/09/2005 15:38:17
Trang 7HIPPIE/HIPPY
A long-haired 60s flower child was a “hippie.” “Hippy” is an adjective describing someone with wide
hips The IE is not caused by a Y changing to IE in the plural as in “puppy” and “puppies.” It is rather
a dismissive diminutive, invented by older, more sophisticated hipsters looking down on the new kids
as mere “hippies.” Confusing these two is definitely unhip
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file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hippie.html03/09/2005 15:38:18
Trang 8HISSELF
HIMSELF
In some dialects people say “hisself” for “himself,” but this is nonstandard
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file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hisself.html03/09/2005 15:38:18
Trang 9HISTORIC/HISTORICAL
The meaning of “historic” has been narrowed down to “famous in history.” One should not call a building, site, district, or event “historical.” Sites may be of historical interest if historians are interested in them, but not just because they are old In America “historic” is grossly overused as a synonym for “older than my father’s day."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/historic.html03/09/2005 15:38:18
Trang 10an historic
AN HISTORIC
A HISTORIC
You should use “an” before a word beginning with an “H” only if the “H” is not pronounced: “An honest effort.” It’s “a historic event” and “a hysterical scene.” However, a lot of sophisticated people like the sound of “an historical,” so it’s not likely to get you into trouble.
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file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/an_historic.html03/09/2005 15:38:19
Trang 11hoi polloi
HOI POLLOI
Hoi polloi is Greek for “the common people,” but it is often misused to mean “the upper class” (does
“hoi” make speakers think of “high” or "hoity-toity"?) Some urge that since “hoi” is the article “the hoi polloi” is redundant; but the general rule is that articles such as "the” and “a” in foreign language phrases cease to function as such in place names, brands, and catch phrases except for some of the most familiar ones in French and Spanish, where everyone recognizes “la"—for instance—as
meaning “the.” “The El Nino” is redundant, but “the hoi polloi” is standard English
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file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hoipolloi.html03/09/2005 15:38:19