Posts by Don Hauptman

Language errors occur so frequently that this subject is a well that will never run dry for those of us who write about grammar and usage. Here’s a new list of common misuses and misspellings, with examples drawn from online and print media:

Some writers ostentatiously drop in such words to flaunt their erudition. But foreign-language words are used for good reasons. Although the English language offers us a remarkably wide choice of words, some concepts are better expressed in other languages, especially when no precise equivalent exists in English. In addition, an imported locution is often more concise and stylistically superior.

On National Public Radio recently, a newscaster reporting on the Middle East conflict said that Gaza had been “bisected in two.” Of course, the word bisected means divided into two parts, so the phrase is redundant.

As I create these columns, I often encounter interesting errata that don’t fit into a specific category. So here’s a potpourri of miscellaneous misuses:

In an earlier installment of “The Language Perfectionist,” I presented a list of the most commonly mispronounced words, courtesy of Charles Harrington Elster, a leading expert on pronunciation. In that column, I pointed out that if you don’t pronounce words properly, your image and reputation could suffer.

Often, the word can simply be eliminated: “I bought myself a new suit” is equally as clear as “I bought a new suit.”

The same rules apply to other pronouns: “yourself,” “himself,” “herself,” “themselves,” etc. Many dictionaries are permissive on this subject, but it’s usually wise to follow convention, especially in formal writing.

The word “complimentary,” with an “i,” means free. It’s also the adjectival form of “compliment,” an expression of praise. On the other hand, “complementary,” with an “e,” means completing or making up a whole. Here’s an example of the correct use of the latter word: “Rather than contradicting each other, the two historians’ seemingly different views on the Renaissance are in fact complementary.”

Recently, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times published letters from readers citing the same familiar expression. Unfortunately, both readers – and the editors of these two distinguished newspapers – got it wrong.

Recently, a friend of mine, attempting to convey the idea that someone was naive, referred in an article to “a babe in the manger.”