Common Errors in English Usage SECOND EDITION Paul Brians Professor Emeritus of English, Washington State University WILLIAM, JAMES & Co.Dedication For my wife, Paula Elliot. Her sharp editorial eye, sense of style and support have helped make this book what it is. Publisher Jim Leiy Gamee_leisy@wmaseo.com) Acquistion Editor Bill Hoffman, Production Editors “Tom Sumner Stephanie Welch in the USA, [Names of all products herein are used for identification purposes only and are trademarks andiot registred trademarks of thei respective owners, William, James & Co. makes no claim of ownership or corporate aszociation with the products of companies that own them, ©2009 William, James & Co, No part of thie book may be reproduced, etored in retrieval system, cransmited, oF ttansctibed, in any form or by any means—elee tronic, mechanical, telepathic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be ad- essed as follows: Rights and Permissions William, James & Co. 8536 SW St. Helens Drive, Suite D Wilsonville, Oregon 97070 Library of Congress Caraloging-in-Publication data is available from she publisherContents recess Foreword by Mignon Fogarty, ‘rammat Girl” Introduction Common Errors in English Usage: Alphabetical Listing Category Listings Commonly Confused Expressions Of Foreign Origin Grammar, Spelling & Style Homonyms Commonly Misspelled Mangled Expressions Inexact Words & Phrases Pronunciation Problem Prepositions Redundancies Commonly Misused Expressions American English vs. British English Misheard Expressions 259 259 264 266 268 270 276 280 282 284 285 286 290 290