This Week: On the podcast, More Commonly Confused Words + footnotes/endnotes

footnotes/endnotes
About the time that computers began to make the creation and printing of footnotes extremely simple and cheap, style manuals began to urge a shift away from them to endnotes printed at the ends of chapters or at the end of a book or paper rather than at the foot of the page. I happen to think this was a big mistake; but in any case, if you are using endnotes, don’t call them “footnotes.”


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This week on the podcast we discuss more commonly confused words.

This Week: On the podcast, Swell (and other Fabulous Words) + emergent/emergency

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.”



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This week on the podcast we discuss “swell” (and other fabulous words).

This Week: On the podcast, Trump, the name + aisle/isle

aisle/isle
An aisle is a narrow passageway, especially in a church or store; an isle is an island. Propose to the person you’re stranded on a desert isle with and maybe you’ll march down the aisle together after you’re rescued.


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This week on the podcast we discuss Trump, the name.

This Week: On the podcast, the names of the nominated + face the piper/pay the piper, face the music

face the piper/pay the piper, face the music  

When it comes time to accept the consequences of your actions you may have to pay the piper or face the music, but you don’t have to “face the piper.”

 
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This week on the podcast we discuss the names of the nominated.

This Week: On the podcast, more words often confused + PC computer/PC

PC computer/PC 
The phrase “PC computer” is a bit awkward and redundant since “PC” stands for “personal computer.” The problem is that originally the label “PC” meant not personal computers generally, but computers compatible with the IBM PC introduced in 1981. By the time IBM adopted the abbreviation for a specific model there had been many earlier personal computers like the Commodore PET and the Apple II. Now IBM doesn’t make PCs and none of today’s popular personal computers is compatible with the original PC. The label is still used to distinguish between computers running some version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system and the Macintosh computers made by Apple, even though Macs are certainly personal computers and the newer ones can also run Windows. No wonder people forget what “PC” stands for. If you want to use the abbreviation to indicate that your computer is not a Mac, “PC” alone will do, despite its literal inaccuracy.


 

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This week on the podcast we discuss Melania Trump, labyrinths, and words often confused.