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Tag: "spelling & grammar"

Spelling & grammar: “Should/could have” vs “should/could of”

One thing that fascinates me, though the result often frustrates me, is how many of our spelling errors arise from the spoken word. The phrases “should of” and “could of” are perfect examples of this.

Why “should of” and “could of” are incorrect

“Should of” and “could of”, if you break them out into their two separate words, don’t actually make any sense together. You can say “a pint of beer” or “three hours of sleep”, but “should of studied” doesn’t fit.

In this case, people say “should of” and “could of” because of the contraction that’s created from the word “have.” Really, it’s “should’ve” and “could’ve” – in other words, “should have” and “could have.” This contraction sounds very similar to “of” when spoken aloud, but “of” in this case is meaningless and incorrect.

Hope that helps! Personally, the words “should” and “could” are starting to look very strange to me after writing this post, so I’m done!

August 10, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Spelling & grammar: “conscious” vs “conscience”

This is a spelling misunderstanding I’ve been seeing around the internet quite often lately. These two words sound similar, but they’re different.

Here’s the difference between “conscious” and “conscience”

  • Conscious means to be awake, to be aware, or to have knowledge of something.
  • Conscience is the little voice inside you that tells you stealing your best friend’s car and driving it into a lake is wrong.

So, this means the following phrases are incorrect:

  • Socially conscience
  • Unconscience
  • Listen to your conscious

How to tell the difference between “conscious” and “conscience”

Because these words sound so similar, it’s easy to get them confused. However, the key to telling them apart is in the second ‘n’ in conscience. Say it aloud if you need to (if you’re in public, you can say it under your breath – it’s okay!). If you need to talk about how to tell the difference between right and wrong, watch for that second ‘n.’ Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to come up with an easy mnemonic device for this one, but after a while it should become second nature!

July 27, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

My most detested phrases

I know that the English language is ever evolving (though I try in my own way to keep it from evolving into incoherency), but there are some popular phrases that just make my skin crawl. I hereby vow to never use these in any form, written or spoken:

  • Across the pond
  • Pout – to describe lips in general, not an actual pout
  • Wow factor
  • Culture vulture

Here are words and phrases that bug me because they’re actually incorrect:

  • All intensive purposes (should be “intents and purposes”)
  • “Incidences” to mean “incidents” (“incidence” is actually a technical word which is not pluralized)
  • “Awe” as an alternate spelling of “aw” (I mean, it’s an entirely different word!).
  • “Comprised of”, but I’ve talked about that one before.
  • “Should of”, “would of”, etc.
  • “Penultimate” to mean “the most ultimate” (it actually means “next to last” – very far from the way it’s commonly used, which is a shame because it’s a great word).
  • “Reoccuring”

My mother can’t stand when people say “absolutely” as a synonym for “yes.”

What phrases drive you up the wall?

July 23, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Spelling and Grammar: “wont” vs “won’t”

This spelling & grammar installment isn’t a pet peeve, as they usually are. It’s just general word love. I recently noticed that someone had arrived at my blog through a Google search for “grammar of ‘i am won’t.’” It took me a minute or two to understand that the question really was about the word wont. So, in case you ever come back this way, Mystery Googler, here is your answer:

What is the difference between wont and won’t?

The word wont talks about someone in the habit of doing something, or of a characteristic of something. To use it in a couple of sentences:

“Samantha was wont to think about spelling too much.”
“Tomorrow will be quiet, as Sundays are wont to be.”

The word won’t, as I bet you already know, is a contraction meaning will not.

So, this one’s easy. It’s really a spelling thing, since speaking the two words aloud will tell you right away if you’re saying the wrong one – and if you’re saying wont, people might mishear you and think you’re saying want, depending on your accent. This adds a bit more excitement to life! Actually, the pronunciation might help you determine which one you want to write out. Wont sounds like want, and you wouldn’t spell want with an apostrophe, like won’t!

Oh wow. Was I getting carried away there or what? Sorry, spelling tends to do that to me.

March 4, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

What education is needed to become a copywriter?

The post title comes from a question I came across on LinkedIn a few months ago, and it’s been knocking around in my head ever since. I suppose the only way to really answer this question is subjectively. There isn’t, as far as I know (and if there is, I bet I’m in trouble), a governing body for copywriters that calls us to a copywriting bar or something.

So. What education is needed to become a copywriter? My subjective answer is: absolutely none. And here is why I say this: I am a copywriter and I have no education.

Well, not no education. I did graduate high school, but that’s about it. I know now that I can hold some out-of-date opinions about how to move through the world. This was evidenced when, upon graduating high school, I decided it would be more logical to spend my post-high school years in the working world. I would enter at the lowest level and work my way up, just like in the wholesome ’50s! At the time, I dreamed of working in publishing. I sent my wee resume along to every publisher in Toronto, with a cheeky letter saying, essentially, “I love books and will sweep floors if I have to.” I was surprised at the time that nobody took me up on this too-good-to-miss offer.

I ended up working in restaurants, pursuing web and magazine writing opportunities as they arose in my free time. As always, I read a lot and wrote as much as I could, getting used to adapting my voice and tone to the subject matter. After a few years I moved to Calgary and began working office jobs, including my first marketing & communications job, which I held for five years. The rest, if I may be cheesy, is history.

Now, I’m not advocating shunning post-secondary education in the least. In fact, by rights I shouldn’t have even got that job I just mentioned – the posting called for someone with a BA. It was just luck that they overlooked that. I’m merely saying that, with copywriting, all you really need to succeed is a good grasp of spelling and grammar and a way with words. I have those things naturally (tooting my own horn, yes). I like to think that early employers took a chance on me because they liked my writing (I still hold the record for best speller at the aforementioned marketing & communications job), and sensed how much I love writing.  As a freelance copywriter, I’ve not had a single prospective client ask about my education. They only care about how awesome I can make their project sound. In the end, experience spoke louder for me than any degree I could get.

What do you think? Is higher education necessary to become a copywriter?

(Image courtesy of stock.xchng user tsunei.)

February 17, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Spelling & Grammar Pet Peeve: Using the word “which” to signify an afterthought

So I’m reading this novel right now. It’s good, but it uses the word “which” in a way that really bugs me. This spelling & grammar pet peeve has been a fairly recent, but intense, one of mine for the past couple of years.

Dear editor of novel: The word “which” is not a synonym for “and,” “anyway” or even a period. Here is an example from the book:

“And if you tell him you saw me smoking, I will banish you to the lowest circle of hell. Which I’ve never been there, but . . .”

Now I’m not going to get all academic on you here (I couldn’t even if I wanted to, anyway), but “which” is a pronoun. That means it refers directly to something that’s been mentioned in a conversation, or refers to the people having the conversation.

The character in the example I used should say either, ” . . . the lowest circle of hell, which I’ve never been to, but . . .” or drop it altogether. If he says which in the way I just suggested, he’s referring directly to the lowest circle of hell. In the way that appears the book, he’s using it to refer to, “I’ve never been there” – a future, entirely new point – which is redundant and makes no sense at all. He’s using which to indicate an afterthought, in which case a, “come to think of it” at the beginning or “anyway” at the end of the thought would suffice. Actually, in this example, dropping it altogether would make the most sense.

I know the example I used is from a character speaking, but that doesn’t make it right! Using which to signify an afterthought or make a new point isn’t a regionalism as far as I know, so it gets no pass from me. No sir!

I hope the above made sense. The thing with me is I usually feel it when a word is used wrong or a sentence is composed badly, but I can’t often put it into words. A loud clanging bell goes off somewhere in my torso. I think it’s my mutant superpower.

February 15, 2010 | 2 comments | View Post
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