12 Words You’ve Been Using Wrong

Jon Negroni

12 years ago

1. TRAVESTY

I’ve committed this error many times because it’s so easy to confuse the word with tragedy. But travesty has nothing to do with a tragic event. A travesty is an absurdly false representation of something, like a parody.

2. WHO AND WHOM

This is also an easy mistake. We tend to make these words interchangeable because they’re both pronouns, but they’re actually quite different. An easy rule to keep in mind is that who should always be able to replace he, and whom should always replace him.

In other words, you use who when the word is doing the action, and you use whom when the action is being done to the word.

3. ANXIOUS

The word should only be used if you’re uneasy or uncomfortable with what’s about to happen. The word is not interchangeable with excited or eager.

4. PERUSE

Many people believe that peruse means to skim through a book, but it means the opposite. If you’re perusing a book, then you are reading it thoroughly.

5. WHICH AND THAT

This trips a lot of people up. That is a restricting word, and it excludes information. Which adds information that is not essential. For example:

Apples that are ripe are ready to be picked.

That is used because only ripe apples are ready to be picked.

My work week, which ends on Friday, is five days long.

In this case, which is adding more to the sentence. If I used that, then the meaning would change completely.

My work week that ends on Friday is five days long.

Here, I’m saying that only a certain type of work week is five days long.

6. MOOT

The word doesn’t mean that something is pointless or redundant. If you’re saying something is a moot point, then you are saying it is open for discussion and has an uncertain definition.

7. DISCRETE AND DISCREET

Even journalists get this wrong on occasion. Discrete means that something is separate and distinct.

The football team has to work as one crew rather than discrete sections.

Discreet is the word you know as being quiet and secretive.

We kept our plans for the merger discreet in order to prevent a panic.

8. BECAUSE AND SINCE

This is a common mistake that can be difficult to adjust to. You should only use because if it is stating a reason that the reader doesn’t already know. It can go in the beginning of the sentence or the middle.

Since is used if you’re stating a reason the reader should already know, so the word is used to emphasize the explanation. That is why it is incorrect to use this definition of since in the middle of a sentence. It always has to be in the beginning, unless you’re referring to since as a word that denotes time.

Because he’s allergic to pollen, Tom has to take medicine in the spring.
Tom has to take medicine in the spring because he’s allergic to pollen.
Since the school year starts in the fall, students have to wear jackets.
I’ve been nervous about driving ever since my car accident.

9. ENORMITY

People like to equate this word with enormous, but it has its own specific function. Enormity refers to the large size of something that is bad or wrong, like a crime.

The enormity of his wrongdoing was displayed on the news.

10. PRINCIPAL AND PRINCIPLE

These words have pretty different meanings, so it shouldn’t be too hard to keep them straight. Just remember that principal as an adjective means primary or first in line, which makes sense when you compare it to the principal (noun) of a school.

A principle, on the other hand, has to do with laws and beliefs that one holds. An easy way to keep the words separate is to remember that principal is usually an adjective and principle is always a noun.

11. COMPELLED

I don’t know why we get this wrong in the first place. People like to say that they felt compelled to do something, implying that they made this choice of their own volition. Compelled actually means that you were forced to do something or someone obligated you to do something you didn’t want to do.

I suppose this false trend started when people wanted to use the word as hyperbole, but it is still wrong to use it this way.

12. BRING AND TAKE

Last but not least, the difference between bring and take comes down to the direction in which you’re going. If you’re going toward a place, you take something with you. If someone is coming toward you, they are bringing something.

Keep in mind that some of these words have wiggle room, and others may disagree with me (thanks to the ever-evolving dictionary of words). But I hope this has at least opened your mind to the idea that words and their meanings matter, and fully realizing this can help you become an exceptional writer.

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