By Anne J. Fotheringham
Today’s technology offers writers and editors a range of electronic tools to assist them in the creation of correctly written texts. I find, however, that many writers ignore the most basic tool of all – the dictionary.
When I began as a reporter/editor at The Canadian Press, I was taught “when in doubt, look it up.” It is a good rule for writers. Otherwise misused and misspelled words can change the intent of your written communications.
A case in point: A magazine article about conservation efforts for swans advocated the development of more accessible “breading” grounds. Due to a misspelled word, a serious article about helping the swans survive, ended up sounding if the author was suggesting the birds should be breaded and, one presumes, deep fried.
Misused or misspelled words can confuse the reader, or worse, send publishers and magazine editors into gales of laughter. Unless you are writing comedy and the word misuse is deliberate, this is not a good thing. It is a pity to send out a manuscript with such errors in it when there is a solution at hand – the dictionary.
Thomas Elliot Berry, author of The Most Common Mistakes in English Usage, devotes the first 30 pages of his book to a chapter on “Commonly Confused Words” and another on “Words Commonly Misused.” In the first chapter, Berry emphasizes that “speakers and writers use these words incorrectly because they have not learned their precise meaning.”
Some words are confused because they are synonyms (they sound alike but don’t mean the same thing). Does an artist use a palette or a pallet? Is your heroine a wanton or a wonton? Others words have similar spellings but different meanings. Do we raise or rear our children?
Another form of confused words is called malapropism – using words that sound similar, but have vastly different meanings. The term comes from the name of a character in Richard Sheridan’s 1775 play, The Rivals. In the play, Mrs. Malaprop uses similarly sounding words in the wrong context for comedic effect. Unfortunately many writers do it because they don’t know which word is which because they don’t look them up.
For example, in one published article about a senior, the author said the man would live for many more years because he came from a family blessed with “longlevity.” I guess laughter really is good for you.
In an online report about railway pensioners making a video, the reporter wrote that the men wanted to “relieve” their memories of the steam era. Silly me, I thought they wanted to relive them.
We think of the dictionary as that hefty tome we hauled down off the shelf in school, inwardly groaning at the thought of flipping through its many pages. Today, dictionaries are available online. Writing software usually includes a dictionary function. For example, in MS Word, you can right click on a word, select the “Look Up” function and select the dictionary option. It is fast and easy. So there is really no excuse for using the incorrect word.
So dust off this tried and true writing tool and look up those words you aren’t sure about. You will improve the clarity of your writing and your readers will be able to enjoy your work without scratching their heads in confusion or laughing so hard they forget what the article or story was all about.
