Video Series Based on Common Errors in English Usage + only

only
Writers often inadvertently create confusion by placing “only” incorrectly in a sentence. It should go immediately before the word or phrase it modifies. “I lost my only shirt” means that I had but one to begin with. “I lost only my shirt” means I didn’t lose anything else. “Only I lost my shirt” means that I was the only person in my group to lose a shirt. Strictly speaking, “I only lost my shirt” should mean I didn’t destroy it or have it stolen—I just lost it, but in common speech this is usually understood as being identical with “I lost only my shirt.” Scrutinize your uses of “only” to make sure you are not creating unwanted ambiguities. 

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NBC made a series of videos based on some of the entries in Common Errors in English Usage, including this one:

 You can see the full list of videos and watch them here.

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There were only 122 episodes of the podcast; you may still listen to all of them here.

New Blog Post by Paul Brians + phantom/fathom

phantom/fathom
Brianna exclaims confusedly, “I can’t phantom why he thought I’d want a coupon for an oil change for Valentine’s Day!” A phantom is a ghost, but a fathom is a nautical measure of depth. When you can’t understand something—being unable to get to the bottom of it—you should say, “I can’t fathom it.” “Phantom” is not a verb. 

 
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Paul Brians’ most recent blog post discusses “ghosting” through the ages. Does Paul have other interests besides English usage? Of course! He’s also an authority on the history of American comic strips.
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The podcast is just a ghost by now, but you may still listen to all the episodes you may have missed. Episodes 40 and 41 are about American comic strips.

End-of-year Book Sale + in terms of

in terms of 
Originally this expression was used to explain precise quantifiable relationships: “We prefer to measure our football team’s success in terms of the number of fans attending rather than the number of games won.” But it has for a long time now been greatly overused in all kinds of vague ways, often clumsily.

Here are some awkward uses followed by recommended alternatives:

“We have to plan soon what to do in terms of Thanksgiving.” (for)
“What are we going to do in terms of paying
these bills?” (about)
“A little chili powder goes a long way in terms
of spicing up any dish.” (toward)
“What do you like in terms of movies?”
(What kind of movies do you like?)

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Two books on sale through the end of December—just $12 for Common Errors in English Usage and $17 for Far from the Madding Gerund:

    

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We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but you may still listen to all the episodes you may have missed, including our 2017 Thanksgiving special.

Summer Sale on Books Continues + New Blog Post + laissez-faire

laissez-faire 
The mispronunciation “lazy-fare” is almost irresistible in English, but this is a French expression meaning “let it be” or, more precisely, “the economic doctrine of avoiding state regulation of the economy,” and it has retained its French pronunciation (though with an English R): “lessay fare.” It is most properly used as an adjective, as in “laissez-faire capitalism,” but is also commonly used as if it were a noun phrase: “the Republican party advocates laissez-faire.”



Paul Brians’ latest blog post is here:
The Triumph of Late Capitalism

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Two books on sale through the end of August—just $12 for Common Errors in English Usage and $17 for Far from the Madding Gerund:

    

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We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but you may still listen to all the episodes you may have missed.

Summer Sale on Books Continues + New Blog Posts + beyond the pail/beyond the pale

beyond the pail/beyond the pale
A pale is originally a stake of the kind which might make up a palisade, or enclosure. The uncontrolled territory outside was then “beyond the pale.” The expression “beyond the pale” came to mean “bizarre, beyond proper limits”; but people who don’t understand the phrase often alter the last word to “pail.”

The area of Ireland called “the Pale” inside the Dublin region formerly controlled by the English is often said to have been the inspiration for this expression, but many authorities challenge that explanation.

Paul Brians’ latest blog posts are here:
When It Rains, It Pours
Politically Healthy Language

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Two books on sale through the end of August—just $12 for Common Errors in English Usage and $17 for Far from the Madding Gerund:

    

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We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but you may still listen to all the episodes you may have missed.

Summer Sale on Books + gauge/gouge

gauge/gouge
“Gauge” is an unusual spelling in English, and the word frequently gets misspelled. Your spelling-checker will catch “gague” (believe it!), but won’t catch “gouge,” which occurs more often than you might think. It’s pretty easy to find a “tire pressure gouge” for sale on the Web. If the word you want has an A sound in it, the spelling you want is “gauge.”


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Two books on sale through the end of August—just $12 for Common Errors in English Usage and $17 for Far from the Madding Gerund:

    

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We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but you may still listen to all the episodes you may have missed.

Jew/Hebrew + New Blog Post by Paul Brians

Jew/Hebrew
These terms overlap but are often distinguished in usage. In the older portions of the Bible the descendants of Abraham and Sarah are referred to as “Hebrews.” Since the sixth century BCE Babylonian captivity and the return from exile, they have been known as “Jews,” a name derived from the dominant remaining tribe of Judah. Modern Jews are seldom referred to as “Hebrews” but the language spoken in the state of Israel today, based on ancient Hebrew, is “Modern Hebrew.” Although “Hebrew” has sometimes been used in a condescending or insulting manner to refer to modern Jews, it is not in itself an insulting term. However, it is normal when you have a choice to use “Jew” to refer both to people of the Jewish faith and to ethnic Jews, religious or not.

“Hewbrew” is a common misspelling of “Hebrew.” If you’re in the habit of ignoring names when they are flagged by your spelling checker, don’t ignore this one.



Paul Brians’ latest blog post discusses the language of anti-Semitism.
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We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but we covered this entry in Episode 50, “Commonly Confused Words, the PC Edition.”