Spellcheck is your fair weather friend. It doesn’t catch everything, and it can’t be relied upon when it counts. You can hang out with it for as far as it goes, but don’t depend on it when your life (or career) depends on proper spelling.
I’ve seen the words and phrases below misused frequently in queries and in manuscripts. I strongly recommend that all writers remain aware of spellcheck’s limitations and do a special check for the following sneaky words (and others like them) when you’re going back over your writing.
- “bated breath” — “baited” is common but incorrect. It should be bated.
- bath / bathe — Bath is the noun, bathe is the verb. You take a bath, but you don’t bath in the tub.
- blond/e — Blond/e is a gendered word, as I’ve mentioned here before, so both are correct and both are incorrect, depending on context. “Blond” is male, and “blonde” is female.
- breath / breathe — Breath is the noun. Breathe is the verb.
- canvas / canvass — The first is the fabric. The second is not.
- discreet / discrete — If you’re writing about prudence and judicious behavior, you probably want the former.
- lightning / lightening — I see many writers use the second when they mean the first.
- loath / loathe — The first is a strong reluctance to do something. The second is a verb that means “to despise”.
- lose / loose — Nothing will bring a pained cringe to an editor or English teacher the way switching these two words will. Please don’t try it.
- past / passed — Second only to lose / loose
- rein/reign, including “free rein”. Like “bated breath”, this phrase has been spelled and justified both ways so many times that it’s left a lot of uncertainty as to its correct use. However, “free rein” is a figurative expression based in equestrian origin, and meaning “to give a person freedom of authority, as one would loosen the reins on a horse”, so “rein” it is.
- viscous / vicious — An accidental slip between these two words can create sentences that are confusing at worst, unintentially humorous at best… but never impressive in a good way.
Sorry, but I just found this post (linked from your “Last-Glance Editing Checklist”).
Personally, I would add another pair of words to this list: “it’s” and “its.” I contantly find these two words either interchanged or just simply used incorrectly in many of the manuscripts that I review.
“It’s” is a conjunction meaning “it is” — “It is going to rain.” “It’s going to rain.” Or past tense: “it has” — “It has been a long day.” “It’s been a long day.”
“Its” is a possessive form and denotes ownership. “San Francisco is famous for its fine dining.”
Anyhow, just my two cents worth. Thanks for a the great post.
Cheers,
Marty Halpern
Its/it’s/its’ drives me nuts, too. I guess I mentally place it in the “grammar mistakes” category along with lay/lie and who/whom rather than in the “common misspellings” category.
Truthfully, though, it does fit both!