Comparisons

[Eng. Sameer]

i have a new idea to orginize our words and make a comparisons between the similar words. i will stick this thread.

[Eng. Sameer]

e.g./i.e.

When you mean “for example,” use e.g. It is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase exempli gratia. When you mean “that is,” use “i.e.” It is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase id est. Either can be used to clarify a preceding statement, the first by example, the second by restating the idea more clearly or expanding upon it. Because these uses are so similar, the two abbreviations are easily confused. If you just stick with good old English “for example” and “that is” you won’t give anyone a chance to sneer at you. If you insist on using the abbreviation, perhaps “example given” will remind you to use “e.g.,” while “in effect” suggests “I.E.”

Since e.g. indicates a partial list, it is redundant to add “etc.” at the end of a list introduced by this abbreviation.

[Eng. Sameer]

EMIGRATE/IMMIGRATE

To “emigrate” is to leave a country. The E at the beginning of the word is related to the E in other words having to do with going out, such as “exit.” “Immigrate,” in contrast, looks as if it might have something to do with going in, and indeed it does: it means to move into a new country. The same distinction applies to “emigration” and “immigration.” Note the double M in the second form. A migrant is someone who continually moves about.

[Eng. Sameer]

EXPRESSES THAT / SAYS THAT

“In her letter Jane expresses that she is getting irritated with me for not writing” should be corrected to “In her letter Jane says that. . . .” You can express an idea or a thought, but you can’t ever express that. In technical terms, “express” is a transitive verb and requires an object

[Eng. Sameer]

FOR SURE / SURE
In casual speech, when you agree with somebody’s statement, you may say “for sure.” Your date says ”That was outstanding tiramisu.” and you, wanting to show your how in tune you are, reply “For sure!” You can also use the phrase to mean “for certain,” as in “I couldn’t tell for sure that the bench was wet until I sat on it.”

But people often substitute this phrase when they should use plain old “sure,” as in “I couldn’t be for sure.” That should be “I couldn’t be sure.”

[Eng. Sameer]

heyyyyyy come on i wait your participations.

[SEES]

great idiea semsem

[rana]

thank you

[Eng. Sameer]

AROUND / ABOUT
Lots of people think it’s just nifty to say things like “We’re having ongoing discussions around the proposed merger.” This strikes some of us as irritating jargon. We feel it should be “discusssions about” rather than “around.”

[Eng. Sameer]

FILL THE BILL
Originally a “bill” was any piece of writing, especially a legal document (we still speak of bills being introduced into Congress in this sense). More narrowly, it also came to mean a list such as a restaurant “bill of fare” (menu) or an advertisement listing attractions in a theatrical variety show such as might be posted on a “billboard.” In nineteenth-century America, when producers found short acts to supplement the main attractions, nicely filling out an evening’s entertainment, they were said in a rhyming phrase to “fill the bill.” People who associate bills principally with shipping invoices frequently transform this expression, meaning “to meet requirements or desires,” into “fit the bill.” They are thinking of bills as if they were orders, lists of requirements. It is both more logical and more traditional to say “fill the bill.”

[SEES]

thank u very much semsem
of course u always come up with nice things

[Eng. Sameer]

May have been!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

[Eng. Sameer]

1- plays a factor:

Some people say that an influential force “plays a factor” in a decision or change. They are mixing up two different expressions: “is a factor” and “plays a role.”

reticent/hesitant:

“Reticent” most often means “reluctant to speak.” It can also mean "reserved,” “restrained,” though conservatives prefer to use it to apply only to speech. If you’re feeling nervous about doing something, you’re hesitant: “I’m hesitant about trying to ride a unicycle in public.” “Hesitant” is by far the more common word; so if you hesitate to choose between the two, go with “hesitant."

[Eng. Sameer]

BOTH\EACH
There are times when it is important to use “each” instead of “both.” Few people will be confused if you say “I gave both of the boys a baseball glove,” meaning “I gave both of the boys baseball gloves” because it is unlikely that two boys would be expected to share one glove; but you risk confusion if you say “I gave both of the boys $50.” It is possible to construe this sentence as meaning that the boys shared the same $50 gift. “I gave each of the boys $50” is clearer.

[Eng. Sameer]

LOL:
The common Internet abbreviation “lol” (for “laughing out loud”) began as an expression of amusement or satirical contempt: “My brother-in-law thought the hollandaise sauce was gravy and poured it all over his mashed potatoes (lol).” It has become much overused, often to indicate mere surprise or emphasis with no suggestion of humor: “The boss just told us we have to redo the budget this afternoon (lol).” And some people drop it into their prose almost at random, like a verbal hiccup. It is no longer considered hip or sophisticated, and you won’t impress or entertain anyone by using it.

Note that this initialism has had two earlier meanings: “Little Old Lady” and “Lots Of Love.”

[Eng. Sameer]

"practice", "practise", "advice", "advise", "licence" and "license"
In response to an earlier version of this section a reader wrote:


You've probably already received email messages about this, maybe
even a lot of them. But in case you haven't I just thought I'd
point out that in the USA the "practise" spelling is never used,
although advice and advise are still distinguished as you describe.
Thanks to this reader for pointing this out: In British English, but not in American English, a distinction is made between "practice" and "practise". In British English (but not in American) it is an error to write "practicing the piano" (should be "practising the piano"), though even the British may be adopting the American custom.

If the distinction is observed, it is easy to remember whether to spell with "c" or "s": The nouns have "c" and the verbs have "s".


Nouns:

"The practice of fortune-telling is no longer prohibited in San Jose."

"The advice of a lawyer rarely comes free."

Verbs:

"To practise law one must be officially approved."

"I advise you to use the vanilla essence sparingly."
But in American English 1. would be "To practice law one must be officially approved."
Note that "advise" and "advice" are pronounced differently (voiced or unvoiced sibilant), whereas "practise" and "practice" are pronounced the same (sibilant unvoiced in both cases). The "spell-as-pronounced" school of thought would thus claim that in the case of "practice" the verb and the noun should be spelt (American: "spelled") the same. Since this means less to remember, it will probably win out.

A reader wrote:

I would add the usage of the words "license" and "licence" to the Common Errors section.
As I understand it these two words used to mean something different, but because
everyone uses them interchangeably, either form can now be used as a noun or verb.
I agree with this. Personally I use "license" both as a noun (".. a license to walk your dog ...") and as a verb ("For a small fee we shall license the use of this wondrous technology ..."), never "licence", but on this point I think one may do as one wishes without incurring opprobrium.

[Eng. Sameer]

"your", "you're", "yaw", "yours" and "yaws"

A Serendipity reader writes:

I just finished reading the 'Common Errors' page on your web site and I
thought I'd add one that I feel should definitely be included.

"Your" and "You're"

How many email messages or newsgroup articles have you seen with phrases
like "you're computer is too slow" or "you don't know what your doing?"
I have even seen some which use both forms, both incorrectly within the
same paragraph or even the same sentence!
Alas, yes. Since these words are all pronounced in a similar way some people have a hard time remembering which to use in what context.


*"Your" is the possessive adjective: "Here is your dinner." (So "her dinner", etc.)

*"You're" is short for "you are": "You're getting warm!" (So "he's" = "he is", etc.)

*"Yaw" is a verb, and is something yachts (and maybe aeroplanes) do, when they're not pitching and so forth.

*"Yours" is short for "something that belongs to you": "This place is yours." (So "mine" = "belongs to me", etc.)

*"Yaws" is a disease
An Australian joke:

Some friends are tossing back some cold ones at the pub, with a newcomer.
During the discussion one of them says, with an expression of concern:


"Eh — 'ear there's been 'nother outbreak'v yaws up north!"

Everyone immediately assumes looks of grave concern, except the newcomer, who, puzzled, asks:

"Eh — what's yaws?"

The others reply:


"Oh — thanks, sport! 'Nother beer f'me!"
"Me too!"
"And me!"

[Eng. Sameer]

"beg the question"
For those who know what "begging the question" really means it is annoying to read statements such as "The gold price went up (down, sideways). This begs the question: Why?" Or "This argument begs several questions. The first is ...".

It is true that arguments, or persons putting arguments forward, are things of which we can say that they beg the question. This is to assert that the argument (or the person) is committing a logical fallacy, namely, assuming what needs to be proved.

E.g., "Did men go to the Moon? Certainly! Why? Because there are photographs of men standing on the lunar surface." The reason given begs the question, because it assumes that the men photographed were actually standing on the surface of the Moon, having previously gone there. To expand this argument, it goes:

Men went to the Moon.
They were photographed there.
Therefore men went to the Moon.
This is not to say that the photographs (allegedly) of men standing on the Moon are not evidence for men having landed on the Moon. Of course they are evidence. But one has to examine evidence critically, and in this case ask: How do we know that the men photographed were actually standing on the lunar surface? (A question we can't pursue here.)

Most cases of begging the question are, of course, not as obvious as in the example given above. They are usually more subtle, and occur when the thing to be proved is surreptitiously introduced in some disguised manner (e.g., as a presupposition of some assertion), then used, perhaps in combination with some related facts, to "prove" itself.

This correct use of "begging the question" has become corrupted by writers who mistakenly believe that the term means suggesting, or giving rise to, or naturally leading on to, a question, confusing "beg" with "suggest" or "give rise to" — which is pretty stupid, since "beg" has only one meaning in English: to request humbly. It makes no sense to beg a question, except perhaps if you are a quiz show contestant, humbly requesting the host to provide you with the next question (because for some reason he has shown reluctance to provide it).