Book Sale Continues! Also, the Latest Blog Post from Paul Brians + A Couple of Favorites

Paul Brians’ Common Errors in English Usage is on sale through the end of the year—just $15 with free domestic shipping (US). Looking for something a little different? Far from the Madding Gerund is also on sale through the year’s end.

Here are a couple of old favorites from Common Errors in English Usage:

tender hooks/tenterhooks A “tenter” is a canvas-stretcher, and to be “on tenterhooks” means to be as tense with anticipation as a canvas stretched on one.




dolly/handcart
A dolly is a flat platform with wheels on it, often used to make heavy objects mobile or by an auto mechanic lying on one under a car body. Many people mistakenly use this word to designate the vertically oriented, two-wheeled device with upright handles and horizontal lip. This latter device is more properly called a “handcart” or “hand truck.”

 
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Paul Brians’ most recent blog post takes a whack at “hack.”
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We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but we discussed today’s featured cartoons in Episode 114.

Book Sale! Also, the Latest Blog Post from Paul Brians + A Couple of Favorites

Paul Brians’ Common Errors in English Usage is on sale through the end of the year—just $15 with free domestic shipping (US). Looking for something a little different? Far from the Madding Gerund is also on sale through the year’s end.

Here are a couple of old favorites from Common Errors in English Usage:

dieties/deities
This one is always good for a laugh. The gods are deities, after the Latin deus, meaning “god.”



scone/sconce
If you fling a jam-covered biscuit at the wall and it sticks, the result may be a “wall scone”; but if you are describing a wall-mounted light fixture, the word you want is sconce.

 

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Paul Brians’ most recent blog post muses on various uses for “mac.”
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We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but we discussed today’s featured cartoons in Episode 113: Giving Thanks for the Book.

Book Sale! Also, the Latest Blog Post from Paul Brians + balogna/baloney

bologna/baloney
“Bologna” is the name of a city in Italy, pronounced “boh-LOAN-ya.” But although in English the sausage named after the city is spelled the same, it is pronounced “buh-LOAN-ee” and is often spelled “baloney.” Either spelling is acceptable for the sliced meat product.

Then there is the expression “a bunch of baloney.” “Baloney” in this case probably originated as a euphemism for “BS.” When it means “nonsense,” the standard spelling is “baloney.” People who write “bunch of bologna” are making a pun or are just being pretentious.



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Paul Brians’ most recent blog post talks about his appearance in The Huffington Post. Featured prominently in the Huffington Post piece are Mark Liberman and Ben Zimmer, both contributors to the William, James publication, Far from the Madding Gerund. 

That means it’s a good time to put that book and Paul Brians’ Common Errors in English Usage on sale through the end of the year. Each is just $15 with free domestic shipping (US).



We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but we discussed “balogna/baloney” in Episode 20: What’s on the Menu? (Part 1).

Paul Brians Two Recent Blog Posts + raise/raze

raise/raze 
To raze a building is to demolish it so thoroughly that it looks like it’s been scraped right off the ground with a razor. To raise a building is just the opposite: to erect it from the ground up.


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Two recent blog posts by Paul Brians address “rails and walls” and an interesting fact about a suffix in two forms.



We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but several episodes, starting with Episode 105: Government and Politics—More Than Just Words, covered the language of politics.

New Post: Paul Brians Discusses "Well and Good" + good/well

good/well
You do something well, but a thing is good. The exception is verbs of sensation in phrases such as “the pie smells good,” or “I feel good.” Despite the arguments of nitpickers, this is standard usage. Saying “the pie smells well” would imply that the pastry in question had a nose. Similarly, “I feel well” is also acceptable, especially when discussing health; but it is not the only correct usage.

 

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Recycling cartoons from the book is all well and good, but how about we all go read Paul Brians’ latest blog post.



We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but you can still browse and listen to episodes.

New Post: Paul Brians Discusses Soup and Scones + vichyssoise

vichyssoise
Waiters in restaurants offering this potato-leek cream soup often mispronounce it “vish-ee-SWAH” in a mistaken attempt to sound authentically French. Setting aside the fact that this soup was invented in New York, French final consonants are not silent when they are followed by an E. The correct pronunciation is “vee-shee-SWAHZ.”

 

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A recent Paul Brians’ blog post looks at usage in a Seattle magazine.



Podcast episodes that cover pronunciation:
Episode 68: Pronunciation (Part 1)
Episode 69: Pronunciation (Part 2)—This Time It's French

This Week: Paul Brians Addresses "Prick" + amature/amateur

amature/amateur
Most of the words we’ve borrowed from the French that have retained their “-eur” endings are pretty sophisticated, like “restaurateur” (notice, no N) and “auteur” (in film criticism), but “amateur” attracts amateurish spelling.




A recent Paul Brians’ blog post discusses the understandable reluctance to use "prick."




Plans to continue the podcast as a monthly show have been scrapped, but we invite you to peruse the archives covering all the interesting topics we discussed over our two-year run.