Ask OXFORD

by Leigh Lundin

The words ‘Oxford’ and ‘free’ aren’t normally seen in the same sentence, so when I saw Oxford University Press was sponsoring an Ask Oxford web site, that got my attention. It has a number of useful articles for writers (and readers), but today I focus on their Commonly Confused Words.

My friend Micheline said that in French, it’s the "little words" that trip me up. The same can be said in English. Exotic words stick to my brain like lint on velvet, but once in a while, I need to be reminded how to use the ordinary. I found Oxford’s reminders about may or might and which or that useful. For the latter, I try to remember that a comma is usually found in the vicinity of which, but not that.

In helping others edit, I see other words confused. Recently, writer Loretta Craig expressed frustration an editor changed a sentence, "the woman’s musk permeated the room," substituting the word ‘must’ for ‘musk’. I suppose it was possible her must engulfed the room, but that wasn’t what the writer intended.

Below, I’ve included much of the Ask Oxford list, but added a few of my own that I see commonly misused. And please, tell us of other verbal bugbears, expecially exceptionable principle uncensured creditable words that effect a complaisant writer likely to forego editing a grizzly storey better left interned.

adapt / adopt

Adapt means to ‘repurpose’, to alter, adjust, or modify for a new purpose. Adopt means to take on, accept, assume an idea, principle, report, book, or a child or pet.

affect / effect

affect means ‘make a difference to’, whereas effect means ‘a result’ or ‘bring about (a result)’.

auger / augur

augur, ‘be a sign of (a likely outcome)’, with auger (a tool used for boring).

capital / capitol

Capital refers to importance, wealth, upper case letters, and the death penalty. Capitol refers to the temple of Jupiter in Rome and the seat of Congress in Washington.

censure / censor

Censure means ‘express strong disapproval of’, whereas censor means ‘suppress unacceptable parts of (a book, film, etc.)’.

complacent / complaisant

Complacent means ‘smug and self-satisfied’, while complaisant means ‘willing to please’.

continuous / continual

Continuous primarily means ‘without interruption’, and can refer to space as well as time, as in "the cliffs form a continuous line along the coast." Continual, on the other hand, typically means ‘happening frequently, with intervals between’, as in "the bus service has been disrupted by continual breakdowns."

credible / creditable

Credible means ‘believable, convincing’, whereas creditable means ‘deserving acknowledgement and praise’.

draft / draught

In British English draft means ‘a preliminary version’ or ‘an order to pay a sum’, whereas a draught is a current of air or an act of drinking; in North American English the spelling draft is used for all senses. The verb is usually spelled draft.

exceptionable / exceptional

Exceptionable means ‘open to objection; causing disapproval or offence’, while exceptional implies ‘not typical’ or ‘unusually good’).

faun / fawn

A fawn is a young deer, and a light brown colour; a faun is a Roman deity that is part man, part goat.

forego / forgo

Forego means ‘precede’, but is also a less common spelling for forgo, ‘go without’.

grisly / grizzly

Grisly means ‘causing horror or revulsion’, whereas grizzly (the bear) is from the same root as grizzled and refers to the bear’s white-tipped fur.

interment / internment^[1]

Interment refers to burial. Internment refers to incarceration, confinement.

loath / loathe

Loath means ‘reluctant; unwilling’, while loathe means ‘dislike greatly’.

luxuriant / luxurious

Luxuriant is ‘rich and profuse in growth’, whereas luxurious means ‘characterized by luxury; very comfortable and extravagant’.

may / might

‘May have’ should be used only when you are not sure whether or not something happened. If you want to say that at some time in the past it was possible for something to happen but in fact it did not, use ‘might have’. So saying "an accident in which two people may have drowned" implies that you do not know whether the people are alive or dead; if you say "two people might have drowned," you are implying that they survived, although the accident could in other circumstances have led to their deaths.

musk / must

Musk is usually associated with female scent or perfume (except for the male musk deer). Must refers to fermentation, mold, or decay, or the frenzied state of certain male animals.

perspicuous / perspicacious

Perspicuous is ‘expressing things clearly’, but perspicacious means ‘having a ready understanding of things’.

story / storey

A story is a tale or account, while a storey is a floor of a building. In North America the spelling story is sometimes used for storey.

titillate / titivate

Titillate means ‘excite’, whereas titivate means ‘adorn or smarten up’.

tortuous / torturous

Tortuous means ‘full of twists and turns’ or ‘excessively lengthy and complex’, but torturous means ‘characterized by pain or suffering’.

which / that

The key is whether you, or the person you are talking to, already know what it is you are talking about. In the sentence "I’ve lost the book that I was reading yesterday," that introduces information that the listener needs in order to know what book is being talked about. You can also say "I’ve lost the book which I was reading yesterday." In ‘This book, which I bought yesterday, is very interesting’, which tells the listener something new about a book that has already been identified. You shouldn’t use that in sentences of this kind.

The Publishing Industry

Traditional book businesses have been facing a rough time with fewer and smaller independent stores, fewer people reading, the advent of eBooks, and an onslaught of self-publishers. As if that wasn’t enough, they have to deal with a tanking economy.

A Salon article poses questions about the situation, but there’re a couple of lights on the horizon. One is that Stephenie Meyer‘s Twilight series has taken teen girls (and others) by storm, however much it leaves us wishing already suffering boys could be induced to pick up a book.

Yet another positive in these perceived hours of doom and gloom is that we have a reader in the White House. There may be hope for us yet.

^[1] Fran Rizer in her Callie Parrish series reminds readers to distinguish between the often confused interment and internment.