Brians' Errors

[Ed]

No, these aren't errors Brians makes. These are common errors writers make that Brians has compiled.

I use this list frequently to point out errors such as the use of compliment in place of complement or edition in place of addition, for example.

You may find Brians' Errors useful:
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

Ed

[AnneM]

I'll have a peek at this later but there are two that really get my hair standing on end.

loose instead of lose - I mean how the nuts are you going to loose weight? I have been trying to visualize it for ages and I can't come up with an image yet lol

then instead of than

Those two seem to be an epidemic if you ask me.

[Ed]

"Loose" is especially hilarious in certain circumstances.

Along the same lines, because lose sounds like looz a lot of writers use chose for choose!

[CRDonovan]

Thanks for this link, Ed. My own nemesis is affect and effect. I will go miles out of my way to avoid using either of these words. No matter how many times I consult Websters, I still cringe with the horrible feeling that I'm using the wrong one. And can I just say that this makes me gnash my teeth? You look up affect: it says "to have an effect on". Quit torturing me!!!

[Ed]

I agree - nauseatingly unhelpful.

[Sharion]

Sounds like fodder for a humerous article

[AnneM]

Ugh! I just saw "loose" again!!! And it was on a self-help site for a company that sells a massive amount of self help CDs. I mean with the millions they make they can't afford to pay someone to proofread their web copy? Seriously! Let's all "loose weight" together...

[Celeste Stewart]

CR, the way I remember affect/effect is with "special effects" in mind. When in doubt, I remember that we often discuss "special effects" as things such as, "What did you think about those cool special effects?" That reminds me that effect is a thing (noun). Therefore, "effect" (the noun) doesn't make sense in a sentence such as, "Nancy's attitude positively affects the other students."

[ecdoran]

I remember affect/effect because it's in alphabetical order. Affect is to change or alter something and Effect is the result of the changes. Does that make sense to anyone but me?

[Celeste Stewart]

Makes sense: affect equals alter, effect = result.

The hurricane affected (altered) cities throughout Florida. Its effect (result) crippled communications statewide and cut power to millions.

[Debbi]

To be picky, I have to point out that sometimes affect is a noun (The psychiatric patient presented with a flat affect) and effect can be a verb (The politician promised to effect change after his election). But these are rare and specialized cases and seldom found in web content writing.

I see "loose" everywhere and it makes me want to scream! And it can be ambigious too. If someone says "Close the door! I might lose my dog." or "Close the door! I might loose my dog.", you don't konw if they're worried about their dog escaping or if they are gonig to tell it to attack you.

Another thing I see in blogs and even in some articles is people writing "there" when they mean "their" and vice versa. Less commonly, "are" and "our" and "here" and "hear" but I have seen it. I'm sure this is mostly typos from homophones that spellcheck doesn't catch, but it sure doesn't belong in professional writing.

[CRDonovan]

Thanks for the tips on straightening affect/effect Celeste and ecdoran. It's gotta help. I particularly like the one which sorts them alphabetically -
my brain likes that sort of thing.

But then we had to stir the pot... [quote]To be picky, I have to point out that sometimes affect is a noun (The psychiatric patient presented with a flat affect) and effect can be a verb (The politician promised to effect change after his election). But these are rare and specialized cases and seldom found in web content writing.[/quote]
ARRRGH!

LOL!

[Celeste Stewart]

If English is tough for us natives, no wonder ESL writers struggle.

[Debbi]

Nothing is ever simple, is it? Sometimes when I'm reseraching an article I think "hey, this will be easy. These three references all say the same thing about this topic." Then I look at a fourth reference and it says something completely different! Argh, I am then focusing on finding out exactly what is the "truth" and wondering if there is such a thing.......

[KateDaniels]

The ones I cringe at the most are there, they're and their. Whenever I see these used inappropriately it changes my opinion entirely about the site, article or writer. Linda