Without Regard ......

"Irregardless", a much used word in the 20th century, is actually not a real word at all. If you break it up, you will see that the two negative elements,  ir and less, create a meaning exactly the opposite of what is intended in the use of the word.

The correct word is "regardless" which means without regard for.

So...regardless of a bad habit you may have picked up along the way,  the use of irregardless is erroneous, and for some, hearing it is similar to the sound of nails on a blackboard!

Affect vs Effect - How do you know?

In our research, much of which has been done simply by reading email, blogs and social media posts, we have found the misuse of these two words to be extremely common.

It is actually quite simple to prevent this error, by remembering that EFFECT is a NOUN and AFFECT is a VERB.

AFFECT means to act on or to influence, as in "the world has been deeply affected by the Tsunami in Japan"

EFFECT is a result, or the power to produce a result. "The Tsunami has had a devastating effect on the Japanese people."

There are exceptions, but the above examples are the most common uses of these two words.

P.S. If you have been affected by the effects of the Tsunami and wish to help, please go to http://www.worldvision.com/ and make a donation.

Company Policy

It is very common to see a company name treated as a plural noun. This happens because our perception of a company often includes the employees as the focus. The company name though, is a singular noun, and should be treated as such.


IN THE NEWS.......
Cadbury to ship its crème eggs to the Easter Bunny this Friday!

SHOULD NEVER BE IN THE NEWS......
Cadbury to ship their crème eggs to the Easter Bunny this Friday!

...and THEN there was THAN

Even though spellings and meanings are very different, when pronunciations of words are similar, they often get misused in writing.

THEN is not to be confused with THAN ...

THEN is an adverb usually referring to a time reference meaning "at that time" or "next on the order of time" or even "at the same time" as in: 

·         Life was better THEN

·         We wrote the Blog, then we celebrated

·         Initially, the Blog was cumbersome, then it became second nature

THAN is most commonly seen as a conjunction used "to introduce a second part of an unequal comparison" or "to introduce the rejected choice in expressions of preference" as in:

·         My sister is older THAN I (am old)

·         I would rather be a millionaire THAN a pauper

We are hoping that this quick Blog lesson, THEN, will prove to be more helpful THAN "going it alone"

A Lot, Alot, Allot - Pick 2

Today's post is to confirm that you can know a lot about something, but never alot. The word "alot" does not exist! The noun "lot "basically means a large amount ,so having "a lot" of something is the opposite of having "a little".

"Allot" on the other hand is a verb, which means to distribute or allocate.

So, if you are going out tonight to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, please allot yourself plenty of time to drink a lot of green beer, and then... take a cab!

It's NOT a Choice!

Here is another common error that creeps up on you when you don't take the time to think through what you are actually trying to say ...

To use "it's" or "its" ... THAT is the question.

"It's" is a contraction - it is short for it is or it has while  "its" is a possessive pronoun - as in "The jaguar killed its prey."

A good way to verify if you have chosen the correct i-t-s is to ask yourself if the i-t-s can be substituted with it is or it has ....if so, use "it's", if not, use "its"

Never use ANYWAYS in ANY WAY!!

Adding an "s" to anyway is one of the most common grammatical errors, and although it is so frequently misused it is almost accepted, it is nevertheless a mistake!


Anyway is an adverb, and adverbs do not have plurals. Anyway means "in any case", nonetheless, and regardless.


In addition anyway is occasionally spelled like the two word phrase, any way, meaning "in any manner".


So, you may choose to continue using "anyways", but we thought you would like to know anyway because any way we can help out, we are happy to do so.

Thank you.....

... to which the most common reply is "You're Welcome"! But too often we see it written as YOUR welcome.


The misuse of your and you're is a very common one, but particularly conspicuous when used in this oft-emailed two word response. 'You're', is the contraction of you are, as in you are welcome. The 2 words your welcome would rarely be used together, except in reverse order such as I welcome your arrival.

The use of proper grammar makes a big impression - but improper grammar often makes a bigger one.

http://www.cyainternational.com/

If you COULD; why don't you?

This mistake is probably made by 50% of the English-speaking population. When you are completely dismissive about something or someone, the appropriate expression is "I couldn't care less" , although so many people say that they could!

"I could care less" is the grammatically incorrect but widely used expression. When you think about it, if you could care less than you do-wouldn't you?  

Win-Wind Situation

Today's entry is about being lucky, but your luck may run out if you are grammatically incorrect. We have seen many times, that people have had a WINfall, but did you know it is actually WINDfall?

Its origins seem to be from wind blowing fruit off the tree, resulting in a windfall (an unexpected piece of good fortune) for a passerby.

"Just Deserts"

Have you seen this expression written and perhaps been frustrated because it is spelled incorrectly? Well, actually it's not.

Deserts, as in "things deserved" has been used since the 13th century. Although it is now rarely used except within the context of this expression, this is the correct spelling, even though many now erroneously replace it with desserts (the sweet course after the entree) and others confuse it with desert (an arid region of land).