Bloopers-- Part 2

Hi again! I’m back to blogging now that my novel is in shape to seek a publisher (thanks to formatting expert and occasional typo hunter, Sheila Deeth, and of course, my editor Teri Brown.)

Last month I blogged about common errors I sometimes make or need to be wary of. My reference was “Common Errors in English Usage” by Paul Brians. Now I continue the thread with Brians’s book as a guide:

I made a big booboo in a short story soon to be published in an anthology! I referred to an elderly gentleman with shaggy gray hair as “grizzly.” In my defense, I knew he wasn’t “grisly” (horrible.) But then he wasn’t exactly a grizzly bear either. I hope the book editors have changed the word to “grizzled” (having gray hair) by now.

Another blunder I’m apt to fall into is “just desserts.” This is wrong; correctly, what someone deserves is “just deserts,” spelled like an arid stretch of sand but pronounced like a sweet treat at the end of a meal. Maybe think of the added ‘s’ as extra sugar.

A crazy idea can be commonly described as “hairbrained,” but the original word was “harebrained” (silly as a hare or rabbit.)

If you use the word “infinite” in your writing, you are most likely exaggerating. If you simply mean too numerous to count, use “innumerable.” Brians cautions against “implying infinity when mere billions are involved.” He is often drolly humorous.

New to me is a rule for using “intense” and “intensive.” Brians notes “intense” should be used when describing an internal characteristic, such as “intense study,” “intense effort.” But an outside force can be described as “intensive,” such as “intensive bombing.”

Speaking of intense, Brians delivers a paragraph on “intensifiers”—adverbs often used to emphasize or intensify other adverbs or adjectives: “fantastically beautiful,” “incredibly loud,” “amazingly smart.” Brians’s advice: Use them with caution. Try to find stronger or more precise words to describe your meaning, or use a fresh metaphor as a comparison.

I dare to mention a confusing pair of words: “Affect” and “effect.” One is a verb, the other a noun. “When you affect a situation, you have an effect on it.” But wait! “Affect” with accent on the first syllable is a noun meaning “emotions.” And “effect” can be a verb, in the sense of causing something: “effecting a change.”

Brians concludes, “Hey, nobody ever said English was logical; just memorize it and get on with your life.”