satellite SATELLITE Originally a satellite was a follower. Astronomers applied the term to smaller bodies orbiting about planets, like our moon. Then we began launching artificial satellites. Since few people were familiar with the term in its technical meaning, the adjective “artificial” was quickly dropped in popular usage. So far so bad. Then television began to be broadcast via satellite. Much if not all television now wends its way through a satellite at some point, but in the popular imagination only broadcasts received at the viewing site via a dish antenna aimed at a satellite qualify to be called “satellite television.” Thus we see motel signs boasting: AIR CONDITIONING,* SATELLITE People say things like “the fight” s going to be shown on satellite.” The word has become a pathetic fragment of its former self. The technologically literate speaker will avoid these slovenly abbreviations. *At least motels have not yet adopted the automobile industry” s truncation of “air conditioning” to “air." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/satellite.html03/09/2005 15:39:53 say/tell SAY/TELL You say “Hello, Mr. Chips” to the teacher, and then tell him about what you did last summer. You can’t “tell that” except in expressions like "go tell that to your old girlfriend." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/say.html03/09/2005 15:39:53 schizophrenic SCHIZOPHRENIC In popular usage, “schizophrenic” (and the more slangy and now dated “schizoid") indicates “split between two attitudes.” This drives people with training in psychiatry crazy. “Schizo-” does indeed mean “split,” but it is used here to mean “split off from reality.” Someone with a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality is suffering from “multiple personality disorder” (or, more recently “dissociative identity disorder” ), not “schizophrenia." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/schizophrenic.html03/09/2005 15:39:54 sci fi SCI-FI SCIENCE FICTION, SF “Sci-fi,” the widely used abbreviation for “science fiction,” is objectionable to most professional science fiction writers, scholars, and many fans. Some of them scornfully designate alien monster movies and other trivial entertainments “sci-fi” (which they pronounce “skiffy") to distinguish them from true science fiction. The preferred abbreviation in these circles is “SF.” The problem with this abbreviation is that to the general public “SF” means “San Francisco.” “The Sci-Fi Channel” has exacerbated the conflict over this term. If you are a reporter approaching a science fiction writer or expert you immediately mark yourself as an outsider by using the term “sci-fi." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/scfi.html03/09/2005 15:39:54 sea change SEA CHANGE In Shakespeare’s Tempest, Ariel deceitfully sings to Ferdinand: Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. This rich language has so captivated the ears of generations of writers that they feel compelled to describe as “sea changes” not only alterations that are “rich and strange,” but, less appropriately, those that are simply large or sudden. Always popular, this cliché has recently become so pervasive as to make “sea” an almost inextricable companion to “change,” whatever its meaning. In its original context, it meant nothing more complex than “a change caused by the sea.” Since the phrase is almost always improperly used and is greatly over-used, it has suffered a swamp change into something dull and tiresome. Avoid the phrase; otherwise you will irritate those who know it and puzzle those who do not. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/sea.html03/09/2005 15:39:54 seam/seem SEAM/SEEM "Seem” is the verb, “seam” the noun. Use “seam” only for things like the line produced when two pieces of cloth are sewn together or a thread of coal in a geological formation. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/seam.html03/09/2005 15:39:54 second of all SECOND OF ALL SECOND “First of all” makes sense when you want to emphasize the primacy of the first item in a series, but it should not be followed by “second of all,” where the expression serves no such function. And “secondly” is an adverbial form that makes no sense at all in enumeration (neither does “firstly” ). As you go through your list, say simply “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/second.html03/09/2005 15:39:55 saw/seen SAW/SEEN In standard English, it’s “I” ve seen” not “I” ve saw.” The helping verb "have” (abbreviated here to “” ve” ) requires “seen.” In the simple past (no helping verb), the expression is “I saw,” not “I seen.” “I” ve seen a lot of ugly cars, but when I saw that old beat-up Rambler I couldn’t believe my eyes." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/seen.html03/09/2005 15:39:55 select/selected SELECT/SELECTED “Select” means “special, chosen because of its outstanding qualities.” If you are writing an ad for a furniture store offering low prices on some of its recliners, call them “selected recliners,” not “select recliners,” unless they are truly outstanding and not just leftovers you’re trying to move out of the store. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/select.html03/09/2005 15:39:55 self-worth SELF-WORTH SELF-ESTEEM To say that a person has a low sense of self-worth makes sense, though it’s inelegant; but people commonly truncate the phrase, saying instead, “He has low self-worth.” This would literally mean that he isn’t worth much rather than that he has a low opinion of himself. “Self-esteem” sounds much more literate. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/self.html03/09/2005 15:39:55 [...]... use it when you need the adverb “since” ("since you went away,” “since you’re up anyway, would you please let the cat out?” ) List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/sense.html03/ 09/ 2005 15: 39: 55 . “air." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/satellite.html03/ 09/ 2005 15: 39: 53 say/tell SAY/TELL You say “Hello, Mr. Chips” to the teacher, and then tell him about. girlfriend." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/say.html03/ 09/ 2005 15: 39: 53 schizophrenic SCHIZOPHRENIC In popular usage, “schizophrenic” (and the more slangy and. “schizophrenia." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/schizophrenic.html03/ 09/ 2005 15: 39: 54 sci fi SCI-FI SCIENCE FICTION, SF “Sci-fi,” the widely used abbreviation for “science