24 Things You’ve Been

Saying Wrong This

Whole Time

Claire Nowak

George Miata
        
It's hard to remember those confusing grammar rules
you learned all the way back in grade school. So we
rounded the trickiest phrases and words and explain
what you actually should be saying.

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Could care less

What you actually mean: Couldn’t care less

You want to say you care so little already that you couldn’t possibly
care any less. When the Boston Celtics’ Ray Allen said, “God could
care less whether I can shoot a jump shot,” we know he
meant exactly the opposite because 1) God has other things on his
mind, and 2) God is a Knicks fan.

Mano a mano
What you actually mean: Man-to-man

You don’t speak Spanish by adding vowels to the end of English

words, as a columnist describing father–teenage son relationships
seemed to think when he wrote, “Don’t expect long, mano a mano
talks.” Mano a mano (literally, “hand to hand”) originated with
bullfighting and usually refers to a knock-down, drag-out direct
confrontation.

Less
What you actually mean: Fewer

In general, use fewer when you’re specifying a number of countable

things (“200 words or fewer”); reserve less for a mass (“less than
half”). So when you’re composing a tweet, do it in 140 characters or
fewer, not less. Speaking of Twitter, these parenting tweets will
make you LOL, guaranteed.

Hone in
What you actually mean: Home in

Knowing the difference between these phrases instantly makes you

sound smarter. Like homing pigeons, we can be single-minded
about finding our way to a point: “Scientists are homing in on the
causes of cancer.” Hone means “to sharpen”: “The rookie spent the
last three seasons honing his skills in the minor leagues.” But it’s
easy to mishear m’s and n’s, which is probably what happened to
the Virginia senator who said, “We’ve got to hone in on cost
containment.” If you’re unsure, say “zero in” instead.

Bring
What you could mean: Take

The choice depends on your point of view. Use bring when you
want to show motion toward you (“Bring the dog treats over here,
please”). Use take to show motion in the opposite direction (“I have
to take Rufus to the vet”). The rule gets confusing when the
movement has nothing to do with you. In those cases, you can use
either verb, depending on the context: “The assistant brought the
shot to the vet” (the vet’s point of view); “the assistant took the shot
to the doctor” (the assistant’s). This is the grammar rule you didn’t
know you already knew.

Who
What you could mean: Whom

It all depends. Do you need a subject or an object? A subject (who)

is the actor of the sentence: “Who left the roller skates on the
sidewalk?” An object (whom) is the acted-upon: “Whom are you
calling?” Parents, hit the Mute button when Dora the Explorer
shouts, “Who do we ask for help when we don’t know which way to
go?” A lot of classic pop songs fall victim to this grammatical
confusion.

Brother-in-laws, runner-ups,
hole in ones, etc.
What you actually mean: Brothers-in-law, runners-up, holes in
one, etc.

Plurals of these compound nouns are formed by adding an “s” to

the thing there’s more than one of (brothers, not laws). Some
exceptions: words ending in “-ful” (mouthfuls) and phrases like cul-
de-sacs. On the other hand, it’s hard to believe these irregular
plurals are actually correct.

Try and
What you actually mean: Try to

Try and try again, yes, but if you’re planning to do something, use
the infinitive form: “I’m going to try to run a marathon.”
Commenting on an online story about breakups, one woman
wrote, “A guy I dated used to try and impress me with the choice of
books he was reading.” It’s no surprise that the relationship didn’t
last.

Different than
What you actually mean: Different from

This isn’t the biggest offense, but if you can easily substitute “from”
for “than” (My mother’s tomato sauce is different from my mother-
in-law’s), do it. Use “than” for comparisons: My mother’s tomato
sauce is better than my mother-in-law’s.

Beg the question

What you actually mean: Raise the question

Correctly used, “begging the question” is like making a circular

argument (I don’t like you because you’re so unlikable). This is how
to win an argument with someone who’s always right. But unless
you’re a philosophy professor, you shouldn’t ever need this phrase.
Stick to “raise the question.”

More than
You can also say: Over
The two are interchangeable when the sentence is “Over 6,000 hats
were sold.” We like grammarian Bryan Garner’s take on it: “The
charge that over is inferior to more than is a baseless crotchet.”

Supposably
What you probably mean: Supposedly

Supposably is, in fact, a word—it means “conceivably”—but not the

one you want if you’re trying to say “it’s assumed,” and certainly not
the one you want if you’re on a first date with an English major or
a job interview with an English speaker.

All of
What you actually mean: All

Why: Drop the “of” whenever you can, as Julia Roberts recently did,
correctly: “Every little moment is amazing if you let yourself access
it. I learn that all the time from my kids.” But you need “all of”
before a pronoun (“all of them”) and before a possessive noun (“all
of Julia’s kids”).

That
What you probably mean: Which

“The money that is on the table is for you” is different from “the
money, which is on the table, is for you.” “That” pinpoints the
subject: The money that is on the table is yours; the money in my
pocket is mine. “Which” introduces an aside, a bit of extra
information. If you remove “which is on the table,” you won’t
change the meaning: The money is for you (oh, and unless you
don’t want it, it’s on the table). If the clause is necessary to your
meaning, use “that;” if it could safely be omitted, say “which.”

Outside of
What you actually mean: Outside

These two prepositions weren’t meant for each other. Perfectly

acceptable: “Wearing a cheese-head hat outside Wisconsin will
likely earn you some stares and glares (unless you’re surrounded
by Green Bay Packers fans, that is).” Grammar nerds will
appreciate these hilarious jokes.

Each other
What you actually mean: One another

Tradition says that “each other” should be used with two people or
things, and “one another” with more than two, and careful speakers
should follow suit: “The three presenters argued with one another
over who should announce the award, but Ann and Barbara gave
each other flowers after the ceremony.” (By the way, if you need
the possessive form of either one when writing that business letter,
it’s always each other’s and one another’s; never end with s’.)

Confusing pair: Wary

vs Weary
A wary or leery person is suspicious, but someone who is weary is
simply tired.

Confusing pair: Farther vs
Further
Use “farther” when talking about physical distance and “further” for
metaphorical distance or time. He hopes to run farther at his next
race, but right now, he’s focused on reading further in his new
novel. These are the books you should have read by now.

Confusing pair: Principal vs
Principle
A principal is a person, and a principle is a rule. The principal of a
school lives her life by certain principles that she set for herself.

Confusing pair: Compliment
vs Complement
Compliments are nice things to say. A complement makes
something complete or perfect; it’s also used as a verb. You can
give a compliment to a coworker who found a scarf that
complements her outfit.

Confusing pair: Continual vs
Continuous
Continual means ongoing but intermittent. Something that is
continuous has no interruptions.

Confusing pair: Stationary vs
Stationery
A stationary soldier stands still, but he writes letters on fancy
stationery.

Confusing pair: Imply vs Infer

To imply is to suggest a meaning, and to infer means to draw
meaning from something. The speaker does the implying, and the
listener infers something from that statement. People can also
infer a lot about you through your body language.

Confusing pair: Affect vs
Effect
Affect is typically a verb, meaning “to act upon or cause an effect”;
as a noun, it’s “an emotional response.” On the other hand, effect
is typically a noun, meaning “something produced,” like a special
effect; as a verb, “to bring about,” as in “to effect change.” See how
well you know these sneakily similar word pairs.