by Laura A. DeCarlo

BUGBEARS: Write Meaning, Rong Word?
Principal vs. Principle
“Principal” is a noun and adjective referring to someone or something which is highest in rank or importance.
e.g., In a loan, the principal is the more substantial part of the money, the interest is–or should be–the lesser.), or “The principal is your pal.”

“Principle” is only a noun, and has to do with law or doctrine.
e.g., “The workers fought hard for the principle of collective bargaining.”


i.e., vs. e.g.,:
e.g., “for example”
i.e., “that is”


Plural Acronyms:
CD’s is CDs


Oversee vs. Overlook
Oversee: To take control and manage the operation closely.
e.g., “I oversaw the preparation of dinner for the party.”

Overlook: To forget to do something entirely.
e.g., “I overlooked preparing dinner tonight, so we need to order pizza.”


Cite, Sight & Site
Cite: You cite the author in an endnote;
Site: You visit a Web site or the site of the crime
Sight: You sight your beloved running toward you in slow motion on the beach (a sight for sore eyes!).


In Regard to vs. In Regards to
It is always “in regard to; and never “in regards to.”


Access
Wrong: “You can access”
Correct: “You can get access to”


Accept vs. Except
Accept: To take or receive
e.g., “If you offer me Godiva chocolates I will gladly accept them.”

Except: To discount, remove, ignore.
e.g., “I like all of the chocolates except the strawberry crèmes.”


Adverse vs. Averse
Adverse: difficult
Averse: is aversion


Vita vs. Vitae
Vitae: Use to claim credit for accomplishments in previous incarnations. The “ae” in “vitae” supposedly indicates the genitive rather than the plural.
Vita: Most appropriate for curriculum vita


Advice vs. Advise
Advice: Noun
Advise: Verb.

e.g., “When Ann Landers advises people, she gives them advice.”


Assure, Ensure & Insure

Assure: To “assure” a person of something is to make him or her confident of it.

Ensure: To “ensure” that something happens is to make certain that it does.

Insure: To “insure” is to issue an insurance policy.

Note: Some authorities consider “ensure” and “insure” interchangeable.


A While vs. Awhile
Awhile: Adverb which means “for a time” (“stay awhile”).
A while: When “while” is the object of a prepositional phrase, like “Lend me your monkey wrench for a while” the “while” must be separated from the “a.”

Note: If the preposition “for” were lacking in this sentence, “awhile” could be used in this way: “Lend me your monkey wrench awhile.”


CD-ROM vs. CD-ROM DISK
CD-ROM stands for “compact disc, read-only memory,” so adding another “disc” or “disk” is redundant. The same goes for “DVD” -originally “Digital Versatile Disc.”


Center on vs. Center Around
You center on a topic, not center around the topic.


Warrantee vs. Warranty
Warrantee: Rare legal term that means “the person to whom a warrant is made.”

Warranty: A promise or guarantee of satisfaction.


A vs. An
Use “an” in place of “a” when it precedes a vowel sound, not just a vowel.

e.g., “It is an honor to be elected.”
“He saw a UFO.”


Affect vs. Effect
The problem here is that “affect” and “effect” actually represent four distinct words distinguished only by pronunciation.

Affect when accented on the final syllable “a-FECT”: Verb meaning to have an influence on. e.g., “The million-dollar donation from the industrialist did not affect my vote against the Clean Air Act.”

Affect when accented on the first syllable “AFF-ect”: Means emotion. Relatively rare and typically used mostly by psychiatrists and social scientists.

Effect as a noun: Resulting consequence of an action. e.g., “The effect of the drug was almost instantaneous.”

Effect as a verb: To create. Less commonly used meaning. e.g., “I’m trying to effect a change in the way we purchase widgets.”


Altogether vs. All Together
Altogether: Adverb which means completely or entirely. A unity of things. e.g., “When he first saw the examination questions, he was altogether baffled.”

All together: One word which indicates / implies a separation. e.g., “All together we went to the ballgame.”