Since we’ve been on the topic of word confusion, today’s quiz is on there, their, and they’re. These homonyms (words that are pronounced the same, but have different meanings and spellings) can be tricky when you’re writing quickly and typing according to the “voice” in your head. Or am I the only one that hears that?:-)

Read the sentences below and select the correct option. Jot down your answers and select the correct combination of words(using the voting buttons) before noon today. I’ll send the answers and explanations this afternoon.

1. Their/there/they’re is a skunk in my laundry room!

2. I can’t wait to see the looks on their/there/they’re faces when they I tell them that pâté was made from cat food.

3. Toady, Cody, and Brodie just called to let us know their/there/they’re going canoeing down the Cahulawassee River.

A) there/they’re/they’re

B) there/their/they’re

C) they’re/their/they’re

D) their/their/their

E) there/their/their

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

After I sent the Editor’s Corner yesterday, I received several e-mails asking me to explain “flammable” and “inflammable.” This is a fairly simple definition that won’t require any of us to look up the etymologies or to try and piece together numerous dictionary definitions. This article was written by Simon Kewin for Daily Writing Tips (www.dailywritingtips.com):

Don’t Be Burnt By “Inflammable”

The words “flammable” and “inflammable” mean the same thing: “easily set on fire.” Why is this?

In English, the in- prefix is often used to reverse the meaning of an adjective. Thus inactive is the opposite of active and inelegant is the opposite of elegant. So why isn’t inflammable the opposite of flammable?

The reason is that the in of inflammable is not the prefix meaning “not.” Inflammable derives from the Latin in meaning into and flamma, “a flame.” Flammable derives simply from flamma. Inflammable is thus very close to the word enflame, which has the same origin.

In practice, it can be confusing having two words that sound as if they could be opposites but which actually mean the same thing. It could even be dangerous, if “inflammable” were taken to mean “not flammable.” The Compact Oxford English Dictionary recognizes this and recommends using “flammable” at all times:

“The words flammable and inflammable have the same meaning. It is, however, safer to use flammable to avoid ambiguity, as the in- prefix of inflammable can give the impression that the word means ‘non-flammable’.”

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

More frequently confused words from Paul Brians’ book, Common Errors in English Usage (http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/irregardless.html)

ATTAIN/OBTAIN

“Attain” means “reach” and “obtain” means “get.” You attain a mountaintop, but obtain a rare baseball card. “Attain” usually implies a required amount of labor or difficulty; nothing is necessarily implied about the difficulty of obtaining that card. Maybe you just found it in your brother’s dresser drawer.

Some things you obtain can also be attained. If you want to emphasize how hard you worked in college, you might say you attained your degree; but if you want to emphasize that you have a valid degree that qualifies you for a certain job, you might say you obtained it. If you just bought it from a diploma mill for fifty bucks, you definitely only obtained it.

AFFLUENCE/EFFLUENCE

Wealth brings affluence; sewage is effluence.

IRREGARDLESS/REGARDLESS

Regardless of what you have heard, “irregardless” is a redundancy. The suffix “-less” on the end of the word already makes the word negative. It doesn’t need the negative prefix “ir-” added to make it even more negative.

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

Moot vs. Mute

I’ve received more e-mail about this topic than just about anything else, so let’s get into it. The phrase in question is “moot point.”

In America, moot generally means one of the following: insignificant, debatable, of no effect, irrelevant, pointless, purely academic, or hypothetical.

In Britain, well, it’s a little more specific. From Grammar Girl (http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/moot-versus-mute.aspx):

A "moot" was originally a group of lawyers or politicians, and they used items called "moot horns" or "moot bells" to call the assemblies together.

Later, in the 16th century, "moot" started to refer to a group of lawyers or students arguing hypothetical cases. For example, you may have heard of law students participating in something called moot court. When students started doing that, the noun "moot" also started to mean “an argument.” It’s actually used on the title page of the Magna Carta. It reads: With an Almanac and Calendar to know the moots, necessary for all young studiers of the law.

In the 16th century, “moot” also took on a meaning as an adjective that meant an arguable or debatable point, and it still holds on to that meaning in Britain.

For our purposes, when someone in the United States says “it’s a moot point,” I think the indication is that the point is irrelevant—it doesn’t matter.

And then there’s mute. According to our trusty Merriam-Webster Dictionary (http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged) here are some abbreviated definitions:

· (adjective) characterized by the inability to speak; characterized by absence of speech

· (noun) one that does not speak (also “a device on a musical instrument serving to reduce, soften, or muffle its tone”)

· (transitive verb) to muffle or reduce the sound of; to subdue or tone down (a color)

I imagine a “mute point” is the time in a performance at which the trumpet player sticks a plunger on the end of her instrument.

I haven’t heard much about trumpet or trombone playing in the financial industry, so if you’re going to use the phrase, it’s “a moot point.”

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

Your requests tell me it’s time for some frequently confused words and phrases. These definitions are from Common Errors in English Usage, by Paul Brians. (Also available online at: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/)

To “flesh out” an idea is to give it substance, as a sculptor adds clay flesh to a skeletal armature. To “flush out” a criminal is to drive him or her out into the open. The latter term is derived from bird-hunting, in which one flushes out a covey of quail. If you are trying to develop something further, use “flesh”; but if you are trying to reveal something hitherto concealed, use “flush.”

These two are often mixed up in speech. If you are doing something in a formal manner, you are behaving formally; but if you previously behaved differently, you did so formerly.

“Perspective” has to do with sight, as in painting, and is usually a noun. “Prospective” generally has to do with the future… (“What are your prospects, young man?”) and is usually an adjective. [KC – At work we are speaking of “prospective clients,” not “perspective clients,” Unless, of course, you are talking about on-site visitors here to teach you the best way to use charcoal pencils to draw
a barn off in the distance. J]

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

Today’s tidbit is from Mignon Fogarty, also known as Grammar Girl (at quickanddirtytips.com).

Is It OK to Abbreviate "Barbecue" as "BBQ"?

Is that party you’re planning a barbecue, barbeque, bar-b-que, bar-b-q, or BBQ?

The most accepted spelling of the word is "barbecue" because it most closely resembles the word from which it’s derived—"barbacòa." The shorter forms, such as "bar-b-q," are just abbreviations that play on the sounds from the syllables "be" (b) and "cue" (q).

Most sources say the Spanish adopted the word "barbacòa" from local populations they encountered in the Caribbean who used the word to describe the wooden frameworks they used to cook meat.

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

Today’s item is a special request from San Diego. The question is: Are Utz really better than nuts? Wait—that’s Mad Men. The actual question is: How do I know whether to use “its” or “it’s”?

its

Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it.

Examples:

The dog lost its collar.

The tasty vegetarian “meatloaf” gets its great flavor from a secret ingredient: ground beef.

Hint:

Singular pronouns his, hers, and its all end with “s,” but none of them require an apostrophe.

It’s

It’sis a contraction for it is or it has.

Example:

It’s been sunny all day today; I hope it’s sunny tomorrow.

(It has been sunny all day today; I hope it is sunny tomorrow.)

Hint:

Read the questionable text. If you can replace it’s with it isor it has and it still makes sense, use the apostrophe. If the replacement terms don’t work, you’re probably looking at the possessive pronoun and the apostrophe should be removed.

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

Happy Friday! Today we have the second helping of words from “30 Archaic Adjectives and Adverbs” by Mark Nichol (DailyWritingTips.com).

· Hither (adj., adv.): to this place (“Come hither when you are able”)

· Hitherto: see heretofore [KC – heretofore: up to this time]

· Lief (adj., adv.): beloved (“You are my lief friend”); willing (“I would as lief be beside you now”)

· Mayhap (adv.): perhaps (“Mayhap we shall see them tomorrow”)

· Meet (adv.): appropriate (“It is meet that you do so”)

· Nary (adj.): not any or not one (“Nary a sign have I seen of him”)

· Natheless (adv.): nevertheless (“Though it is dangerous, natheless will I go)

· Needs (adv.): necessarily (“I must needs be heard so that all shall know”)

· Nigh (adj., adv.; prep.): near, nearly, direct (“Those who pursue are nigh upon us”)

· Peradventure (adj., adv., prep.): see mayhap (also n.: a doubt or chance)

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

The number of responses per answer:

AAA – 49

BBB – 3

ABA – 4

BAB – 1

AAB – 14

BAA – 4

And total responses: 65

The correct sentences are in bold, with the parallel items italicized.

Select the sentence that illustrates the use of proper parallel construction.

In French class, Pete learned to read poems critically and to appreciate good prose.
In French class, Pete learned to read poems critically and he appreciated good prose.

She wanted three things from the university: to join a sorority, to make good friends, and to learn how to party like a rock star.
She wanted three things from the university: to join a sorority, to make good friends, and learn how to party like a rock star.

Mr. Hadubi rewarded his students for working hard on the final project and going beyond the call of duty.
Mr. Hadubi rewarded his students for their hard work on the final project and going beyond the call of duty.

For more information on parallelism, check out this link:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/parallelism.htm

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

Today’s quiz is on parallelism. Here is a very brief definition, from a textbook used at the University of Washington some time ago (faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/ParallelConstruc.pdf):

Parallel construction, also called parallelism, shows that two or more ideas are equally important by stating them in grammatically parallel form: noun lined up with noun, verb with verb, phrase with phrase. Parallelism can lend clarity, elegance, and symmetry to what you say:

I came;

I saw;

I conquered.

–Julius Caesar

Select the sentence from each pair that illustrates the use of proper parallel construction. Use the voting buttons (in MS Outlook) to respond with your answer before noon today. I will send the correct answers and a tally of all responses sometime after that.

1. (A) In French class, Pete learned to read poems critically and to appreciate good prose.
(B) In French class, Pete learned to read poems critically and he appreciated good prose.

2. (A) She wanted three things from the university: to join a sorority, to make good friends, and to learn how to party like a rock star.
(B) She wanted three things from the university: to join a sorority, to make good friends, and learn how to party like a rock star.

3. (A) Mr. Hadubi rewarded his students for working hard on the final project and going beyond the call of duty.
(B) Mr. Hadubi rewarded his students for their hard work on the final project and going beyond the call of duty.

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123