hanged/hung HANGED/HUNG Originally these words were pretty much interchangeable, but “hanged” eventually came to be used pretty exclusively to mean “executed by hanging.” Does nervousness about the existence of an indelicate adjectival form of the word prompt people to avoid the correct word in such sentences as “Lady Wrothley saw to it that her ancestors’ portraits were properly hung"? Nevertheless, “hung” is correct except when capital punishment is being imposed. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hanged.html03/09/2005 15:38:14 hanging indents HANGING INDENTS Bibliographies are normally written using hanging indents, where the first line extends out to the left- hand margin, but the rest of the entry is indented. Twain, Mark. Mark Twain at the Buffalo Express: Articles and Sketches by America’s Favorite Humorist, edited by Joseph B. McCullough and Janice McIntire-Strasburg (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2000). These are extremely easy to create on a word processor, but many people have never mastered the technique. Normally the left-hand margin marker at the top of the page consists of two small arrows. Drag the top one to the right to make a normal indent, the bottom one to create a hanging indent. In most programs, you have to hold down the Shift key while dragging the bottom marker to leave the top part behind. Don’t get into the habit of substituting a carriage return and a tab or spaces to create hanging indents because when your work is transferred to a different computer the result may look quite different—and wrong. To create a paragraph with an overhang indent in HTML code as in the example above, use the the following code: <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent: 5in"> List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hanging.html03/09/2005 15:38:14 hardly HARDLY When Bill says “I can’t hardly bend over with this backache,” he means he can hardly bend over, and that’s what he should say. Similarly, when Jane says “you can feed the cat without hardly bending over” she means "almost without bending over." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hardly.html03/09/2005 15:38:14 hardly never HARDLY NEVER HARDLY EVER The expression is “hardly ever." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hardlynever.html03/09/2005 15:38:15 hardy/hearty HARDY/HEARTY These two words overlap somewhat, but usually the word you want is "hearty.” The standard expressions are “a hearty appetite,” “a hearty meal,” a “hearty handshake,” “a hearty welcome,” and “hearty applause." "Hardy” turns up in “hale and hardy,” but should not be substituted for "hearty” in the other expressions. “Party hearty” and “party hardy” are both common renderings of a common youth saying, but the first makes more sense. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hardy.html03/09/2005 15:38:15 HIV virus HIV VIRUS “HIV” stands for “human immunodeficiency virus,” so adding the word “virus” to the acronym creates a redundancy. “HIV” is the name of the organism that is the cause of AIDS, not a name for the disease itself. A person may be HIV-positive (a test shows the person to be infected with the virus) without having yet developed AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). HIV is the cause, AIDS the result. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hiv.html03/09/2005 15:38:15 he don’t HE DON’T HE DOESN’T In formal English, “don’t” is not used in the third person singular. “I don’t like avocado ice cream” is correct, and so is “they don’t have their passports yet “ and “they don’t have the sense to come in out of the rain”; but “he don’t have no money,” though common in certain dialects, is nonstandard on two counts: it should be “he doesn’t” and “any money.” The same is true of other forms: “she don’t” and “it don’t” should be “she doesn’t” and “it doesn’t." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/he_don't.html03/09/2005 15:38:15 heading HEADING/BOUND If you’re reporting on traffic conditions, it’s redundant to say "heading northbound on I-5.” it’s either “heading north” or "northbound." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/heading.html03/09/2005 15:38:16 hear/here HEAR/HERE If you find yourself writing sentences like “I know I left my wallet hear!” you should note that “hear” has the word “ear” buried in it and let that remind you that it refers only to hearing and is always a verb (except when you are giving the British cheer “Hear! Hear!” ). “I left my wallet here” is the correct expression. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hear.html03/09/2005 15:38:16 hearing-impaired HEARING-IMPAIRED DEAF "Hearing-impaired” is not an all-purpose substitute for “deaf” since it strongly implies some residual ability to hear. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hearing.html03/09/2005 15:38:16 [...]... but the vowels are seldom switched, perhaps because we see it printed on so many forms along with “age” and “weight." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/heighth.html03/09/2005 15: 38: 16 . file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hardly.html03/09/2005 15: 38: 14 hardly never HARDLY NEVER HARDLY EVER The expression is “hardly ever." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hardlynever.html03/09/2005 15: 38: 15 hardy/hearty HARDY/HEARTY These. 5in"> List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hanging.html03/09/2005 15: 38: 14 hardly HARDLY When Bill says “I can’t hardly bend over with this backache,” he means he can. imposed. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/hanged.html03/09/2005 15: 38: 14 hanging indents HANGING INDENTS Bibliographies are normally written using hanging indents,