Verses vs Versus

During recent internet travels, I was reminded of two more words that are often misused - verses and versus.

The word verse is most commonly used as a noun.  Books of the Bible are broken down into chapter and verse, and a poem (or part of a poem) can be referred to as a verse.

Verse is occasionally used as a verb, i.e., something that is written in verse.

The word versus, more commonly abbreviated as vs, means two things in opposition, i.e, two sportsmen or teams  (Frazier vs Foreman, or Packers vs Vikings), or a legal battle (State of Ohio vs Joe Schmuckatelli, or in the case of a divorce, Jones vs Jones).  It is a preposition so links two nouns, and can't be used as a verb.

Verses is the plural form of verse.  Although it sounds similar, versus cannot be plural, nor past or future tense; it's always versus or vs.

You would be incorrect to say "My team will verse my cousin's team next week".  (One of my sons often used it in that sense when he was a youngster and it made me cringe.  I hope he knows better now).  

Does Proper Use of Allude Elude You?

I often do a double-take when I find words being misused while on my internet travels, but it does provide fodder for a quick blog post.  Today's post touches on allude and elude, which sound alike, but have very different meanings.  If you often confuse these two words, hopefully this post will help make it 'stick'.

Welch or Welsh? Never Welch With the Welsh

I was typing a response to a friend on facebook a bit ago and wanted to use the word welch, i.e., welch on a bet, but second-guessed myself as I was typing it.

Was the correct word welch, or welsh?

I typed welch, but thought I'd best double check before posting, and was happy to see confirmation from online dictionaries that my initial use was correct.  As I dug further, I wasn't so sure.

Equally Yolked

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Another pet peeve, although this one I don't see too often, is misuse of the words yoke and yolk.

Double Yolk = Yoked?

A yoke is something put around the neck of oxen or other beasts of burden when they are hitched to a plow or wagon.  The term equally yoked is used in another sense to say that a Christian's mate should also be a believer, so as not to work against each other.

I Would Of Posted About Something Else ...

.. but would of is another of my pet peeves, so would've/would of it is for W-day.

There is no correct usage of the words would of.  The proper phrase is would have, which can be contracted to would've, which is where some get confused.  Would've sounds like would of, so that's what many people write.

Again, there is no would of.  If you're guilty of using the incorrect words, practice saying would have instead of the contraction would've to break yourself of the habit.

The same applies to should've and should of.  Should've is a contraction of should have; there is no should of. I guess I should've written about should of on S-Day.

Click here to join in on the new Z to A in May Blogging Challenge.

Tounge and Cheek

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Killing two tongues with one post today.

First up is one of my biggest pet peeves - seeing the word tongue written as tounge. I don't understand the difficulty in spelling it correctly, but I see it as tounge more often than not.   I would guess that it rhymes with lounge when spelled that way, so where do they get it?

(Photo by borissey)

TONgue.  Seeing tounge is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

While on the subject of tongues, have you heard the expression tongue in cheek?  It's usually used to describe when something that could be true is said in jest, leaving the listener guessing as to whether the orator was serious or not.  The correct phrase is tongue in cheek (perhaps from the jokester putting his tongue in his cheek to suppress a smile) - not tongue and cheek.

You might find a bit of tongue in cheek in my various writings, but I hope you never see a tounge -  in cheek or otherwise.

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

O is for Onomatopoeia

What the heck is an onomatopoeia?  Even if you don't recognize this cool word, I'll bet you're familiar with what it is.

An onomatopoeia is a word that is derived from a sound, like beep or boing.  Remember the original Batman show from the 60s, with POW and BOOM in big letters exploding on your television screen?  Those were onomatopoeias.  Interestingly enough, one of Batman's villains was named Onomatopoeia.

You might find the stray onomatopoeia in my writing as I post about my critters fairly often on my other blogs.  They don't know that WOOF, MEOW, CLUCK, or PEEP are onomatopoeiae - it's all just words to them.

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

Misused Words – Moot and Mute

I often see writers mistakenly use the word mute when they mean moot.  The words aren’t pronounced the same and of course have different meanings, so I’m not sure why the confusion.

(photo by rvstsks)

Moot rhymes with boot.
Mute rhymes with cute.

Mute means absence of speaking, unable to talk.

Someone who is deaf/mute can’t hear or speak.
You might mute the volume on the television if it’s distracting.

Moot in the legal sense means subject to debate or arguable, however recent use generally means irrelevant, of no consequence, i.e., moot point.

If you already know the proper use of moot and mute, this is a moot post.

Lose Credibility With Loose Grammar

(Photo by ilce)

Improper use of the words loose and lose can quickly shoot down a writer’s credibility, but it’s not an uncommon occurrence in any printed form.

Lose rhymes with news and is the opposite of win.
Loose rhymes with noose and is the opposite of tight.

If you lose weight. your clothes might be loose.
If your dog gets loose, you might lose him.

You can lose your marbles, your mind and your memory.
You can have loose morals, loose change and a loose screw.

I don’t know of any trick to help remember when to use which word, but memorizing some of the phrases above can't hurt.  You've got nothing to loose lose.

K is for Kudos

Kudos.

I love the word kudos. Such a small word that signifies glorious recognition.

Kudos is a singular noun, the s doesn't mean more than one kudo.  You might give someone kudos to convey your appreciation.  You can even give someone a Kudos® candy bar in appreciation, but you can't give someone a kudo as there is no such thing.

The naval term Bravo Zulu is derived from the Allied Signal Book created after WWII, where two letters of the phonetic alphabet were combined to signify certain phrases in abbreviated form.  Bravo Zulu simply means well done and is synonymous with kudos.  Bringing it into to the 21st Century, you might give someone props.  And I do mean you might give someone props.  I still like kudos.

No, I love kudos.  And Kudos®.

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on at least one if not all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

Misused Words: Jam and Jamb

I found myself in a jam this morning when trying to think of a topic for this blog for J-day in the A-Z challenge, so there was my answer - jam and its homophone, jamb.

Since they're pronounced alike, jam and jamb might be misused when writing, but they have very different definitions.  Jam is the more common of the two and has several meanings, and is a noun as well as a verb.

Photo by LazySunday

If you're in a tight spot, you're in a jam.
You can jam something into a small space.
Grandma's homemade jam is great on toast.
Grab your guitar for a jam session with the guys.
A traffic jam is a commuter's nightmare.

Photo by clshearin

A jamb is the vertical part of a door frame, a noun probably more familiar to those who write home improvement articles.

You might bust your knuckles on a door jamb will moving furniture.

Thanks to jam and jamb for getting me out of a jam today.

Capitalization Rules: When is the President Not the President?

I learned something new today.  I was taught years ago that when speaking of the President of the United States, the word president was capitalized.  It was also correct to capitalize when speaking of a particular person, i.e, President Lincoln.  I learned today that when using the name of the office to denote a particular person without using their name, that it is no longer capitalized.

Grammar Lesson: It’s Not Hard, Really It’s Not

Do you struggle with when to use it’s or its?  Many do, and I admit that years ago I did too, always insisting that it’s was the proper possessive form of it.  It sure made sense to me.  Most everything else uses an apostrophe s to show possession, so why should it be any different?

I believe the first time it hit home was when I was a corrected by a Major I worked for not long after I joined the Marine Corps.  I’m not sure how he explained it, but it has stuck with me to this day, more than 30 years later.  Since I don’t have his words of wisdom to fall back on, I use my own ways of remembering which form to use.

It’s is a contraction, a short way of writing two words.  A simple way to remember when it’s ok to use the apostrophe before the s is when you can substitute it with the full version of the two words it’s being used for – it is.  If you can’t say it is in place of it’s, then you’re using it - er,  it’s - incorrectly.  Remembering that it's is the opposite of it isn't might help too.

(Photo courtesy of Chris Baker)

So why isn’t it’s considered possessive?  And why is the proper possessive form – its – not considered plural?   I’m not a grammarian so I honestly have no idea and too lazy to look for an answer.  Maybe someone wiser than I will leave a comment and explain it to where it makes sense. I just liken it to the word mine, which is possessive all by itself (although I’m sure most of us have heard someone make mincemeat of our language by saying mine’s, but that’s another story).

So in a nutshell:

It's = it is
Its = ownership

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Copyright 2011 Marie Anne St. Jean