GrammarPhile Blog

As you can imagine, we see thousands of documents weekly at ProofreadNOW. We're cataloging a huge collection of contextual errors as we solve more and more problems for our clients.

Here are some words we often find mixed up in documents we read. Are you using these words correctly?

Do you write for newspapers? Do you write press releases? Do you want your writing to be succinct, compact, to the point? Take your lead from the 

• Jet Ski - A registered trademark of Kawasaki for a type of personal watercraft.
• Jell-O - A trademark for a brand of gelatin dessert.
• online - One word in all cases for the computer connection term.
• GIF - Acronym for graphics interchange format, a compression format for images. The acronym is acceptable in copy, but it should be explained somewhere in the story. Use lowercase in a file name.
• JPEG, JPG - Acronyms for joint photographic experts group, one of two common types of image compression mechanisms used on the World Wide Web (along with GIF).
• URL - Uniform Resource Locator, an Internet address. An example: http://politics.ap.org/states/mi.html where http: is the protocol, or method of transfer; // indicates a computer name follows; politics is the server; ap.org is the domain;/states is the folder; mi.html indicates the file (.html is the file type).
• emeritus - This word often is added to formal titles to denote that individuals who have retired retain their rank or title. When used, place emeritus after the formal title, in keeping with the general practice of academic institutions: Professor Emeritus Samuel Eliot Morison, Dean Emeritus Courtney C. Brown, Publisher Emeritus Peter Dibley. Or: Samuel Eliot Morison, professor emeritus of history; Courtney C. Brown, dean emeritus of the faculty of business; Peter Dibley, publisher emeritus.
• navy - Capitalize when referring to U.S. forces: the U.S. Navy, the Navy, Navy policy. Do not use the abbreviation USN. Lowercase when referring to the naval forces of other nations: the British navy. This approach has been adopted for consistency, because many foreign nations do not use navy as the proper name. [Ed. note: British readers, take this with a grain of salt; it's clearly from an American guide.]
• Netherlands - In datelines, give the name of the community followed by Netherlands: AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP)--. In stories: the Netherlands or Netherlands as the construction of a sentence dictates.
• teen, teen-ager, (n.)teen-age (adj.) - Do not use teen-aged. (The hyphen is an exception to Webster's.)
• war horse, warhorse - Two words for a horse used in battle. One word for a veteran of many battles: He is a political warhorse.
• hurricane watch - An announcement for specific areas that a hurricane or incipient hurricane conditions may pose a threat to coastal and inland communities.
• hurricane warning - Warns that one or both of these dangerous effects of a hurricane are expected in specified areas in 24 hours or less: (a) Sustained winds of 74 mph (64 knots) or higher, and/or (b) dangerously high water or a combination of dangerously high water and exceptionally high waves, even though winds expected may be less than hurricane force.
• MiG - The i in this designation for a type of Russian fighter jet is lowercase because it is the Russian word for and. The initials are from the last names of the designers, Arten Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. [This can be especially useful in your next office trivia contest.] The forms: MiG-19, MiG-21s.
• Procter & Gamble Co. - P&G is acceptable on second reference. Note it is NOT Proctor.
• Seven Seas - Arabian Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Bengal, Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, South China Sea. [Note that other sources differ in the oceans and seas associated with this phrase.]
• thermos - Formerly a trademark, now a generic term for any vacuum bottle, although one manufacturer still uses the word as a brand name. Lowercase thermos when it is used to mean any vacuum bottle; use Thermos when referring to the specific brand.

It seems that the list of commonly confused words just keeps growing. Here are more words we often see and hear misused.

among; amongst. Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate indicates these words are interchangeable. Under amongst, the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary simply has "=among" and no definition. Useamong instead of amongst.

more than; over. Over generally refers to spatial relationships {the plane flew over the city}. Over can, at times, be used with numerals {She is over 30} {I paid over $400 for this ski}. But more than may be better {Their salaries went up more than $20 a week}. Let your ear be the judge.

welcome; welcomed. The Merriam-Webster Eleventh Collegiate (MW) lists welcome as a transitive verb and as an adjective {was always welcome in their home}. But it lists welcomed only as a transitive verb {he welcomed us into his living room}.

notable; noticeable; noteworthy. Notable ("readily noticed") applies both to physical things and to qualities {notable sense of humor}. Noticeable means "detectable with the physical senses" {a noticeable limp}. Noteworthy means "remarkable" {a noteworthy act of kindness}.

loathe, vb.; loath, adj. To loathe something is to detest it or to regard it with disgust {I loathe tabloid television}. Someone who is loath is reluctant {Tracy seems loath to admit mistakes}.

jealousy; envy. Jealousy connotes feelings of resentment toward another, particularly in matters relating to an intimate relationship. Envy refers to covetousness of another's advantages, possessions, or abilities. 

repetitive; repetitious. Both mean "recurring over and over." But whereas repetitive is fairly neutral in connotation, repetitious has taken on an air of tediousness. 

disorganized; unorganized. Both mean "not organized," but disorganized suggests a group in disarray, either thrown into confusion or inherently unable to work together {the disorganized 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago}. 

disk; disc. Disk is the usual spelling {floppy disk} even though the dictionary informs that the word is derived from the Latin discus. But disc (a variant) is preferred in a few specialized applications {compact disc} {disc brakes} {disc harrow}.

decimate. The word literally means "to kill every tenth person," a means of repression that goes back to Roman times. But the word has come to mean "to inflict heavy casualties," and that use is accepted. Less accepted is the further extension to mean "to inflict heavy damage." Avoid decimate (1) when you are referring to complete destruction or (2) when a percentage is specified. That is, don't say that a city was "completely decimated," and don't say that some natural disaster "decimated 23 percent of the city's population." 

deserts; desserts. The first are deserved {Martha Stewart got her just deserts}, the second eaten {mango ice cream for dessert!}.

despite; in spite of. For brevity, prefer despite. 

premier; premiere. Premier is a noun or an adjective. As a noun, it means "a prime minister" {John Charest is the premier of Quebec}. As an adjective, it means "first in position, rank, or importance" and "first in time, earliest" {You can see the premier episode Monday night}. Premiere is a noun or a transitive verb. As a noun, it means "a first performance or exhibition" {the premiere of a play}. As a verb, it means "to have a first public performance" and "to appear for the first time as a star performer" {He will premiere his fabulous movie Monday night}. [Note: The NYT Manual of Style and Usag esuggests that premiere as a verb is jargon, and is to be avoided.] 

different. The phrasing different from is generally preferable to different than {this company is different from that one}, but sometimes the adverbial phrase differently than is all but required {she described the scene differently than he did}.

Sources: The Associated Press Stylebook; The Chicago Manual of Style; Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary.

Presenting numbers in running text can be confusing to people who want their documents to be formatted correctly. We're asked to copyedit number-rich documents often, and offer this advice, taken from the Chicago Manual of Style:

Here at ProofreadNOW we strive for perfection. See if you can achieve a perfect 10 with these absolutely impeccable words: 

1. spot-on: (a) slightly imperfect, with only one blemish; (b) one who insists on exactness or completeness in the observance of something; (c) exactly correct; accurate; perfect; (d) a common dry-cleaning term identifying attention required for a silk necktie. 

This is a common mistake we see in documents submitted by our clients. Do you know when to use that and when to use which?

Use that when the words following it are necessary to identify the word that refers to.