‘Cymbal’ and ‘symbol’

July 4, 2016Hannah McCall 3 Comments

Cymbal and symbol are homophones. It tends to be symbol that is used when cymbal would be appropriate rather than the other way round; I suspect that is because symbol is simply more familiar. I also find cymbal is sometimes misspelt as cymbol (I haven’t been able to find any sources that accept cymbol as a legitimate alternative spelling, but I would be interested to hear from anyone who has such a source).

Cymbal

a slightly concave, round brass plate which is struck against another or with a stick to produce a sound

Symbol

a mark, shape, sign, figure or character used as a conventional representation of an object, quantity, function, process or organisation
a thing that stands for or represents something else

My tip: cymbals are used when producing music.

‘Custardy’ and ‘custody’

June 13, 2016Hannah McCall 5 Comments

Sometimes spelling custody as custardy is funny in a surreal way, but most of the time it should be avoided.

Custardy

resembling or having the properties or characteristics of custard

Custody

the act of keeping safe; care or guardianship of someone or something
imprisonment (usually before being tried)

My tip: associate custardy with custard and custody with prison.

It’s fine to use ‘Union Jack’

June 8, 2016October 10, 2016Hannah McCall 2 Comments

Many people insist that a British Union flag may only be referred to as a Union Jack when it is flown on a ship.

This is not the case. It is true that a jack is a small flag used to indicate the nationality of a ship, but the widespread use of Union Jack is legitimate. The Flag Institute explains why:

“From early in its life the Admiralty itself frequently referred to the [Union] flag as the Union Jack, whatever its use, and in 1902 an Admiralty Circular announced that Their Lordships had decided that either name could be used officially. Such use was given Parliamentary approval in 1908 when it was stated that ‘the Union Jack should be regarded as the National flag’.”

The OED states that Union Jack is now the usual term to describe the national flag of the United Kingdom.

It also is worth noting that the Union Jack has a correct way up. The wide white diagonal stripe should be above the red diagonal stripe on the half of the flag that is closest to the flagpole. (This is because the St. Andrew’s Cross takes precedence over the St. Patrick’s Cross.)

Sources:

The Flag Institute
The Oxford English Dictionary Online

‘Waiver’ and ‘waver’

June 6, 2016June 7, 2016Hannah McCall 5 Comments

Waiver and waver are homophones, but they mean very different things. I often find that waiver is used when the writer actually means waver – I presume the mistake is made because the writer has the ay sound in mind.

Waiver

the act or an instance of giving up a claim or right
a document recording the giving up of a claim or right

Waver

to hesitate between possibilities; to be indecisive
to swing from one thing to another
to become unsteady; to falter; to become weaker
to move back and forth or one way and another; to quiver or flicker

My tip: try to associate waiver with the giving up of a claim. It should be fairly easy to remember that waver is the spelling for everything else.

i before e except after c

June 1, 2016June 1, 2016Hannah McCall 2 Comments

I was fairly young when I found that the rule ‘i before e except after c’ sometimes led my spelling astray. I remember being very disappointed that adults had told me something that wasn’t completely true.

It would probably have helped if someone had told me it is spelling advice that only really applies when the combination of i and e is pronounced ee:

believe
ceiling
receive
siege

If the combination of i and e is pronounced ay, the rule does not apply:

beige
neighbour

The rule also does not apply if the combination is pronounced i:

eider
height

Or if the i and the e are pronounced separately:

holier
occupier

There are some words that simply do not obey the rule, and these just have to be learnt:

caffeine
heir
species

The simple and general explanation for the exceptions is that many of those words were formed differently (from two or more parts) or come from another language. I would have been placated by that.

Sources:

Fowler, H. W. and Butterfield, J. (2015) Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
New Hart’s rules: the handbook of style for writers and editors (2014) 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

‘Prescribe’ and ‘proscribe’

May 30, 2016Hannah McCall 10 Comments

Prescribe and proscribe do not mean the same thing. In some circumstances, it may be very important to know exactly which word to use. Most people are probably familiar with prescribe because it is the correct word for ‘to issue a prescription for medicine’.

Prescribe

to recommend or authorise the use of
to state authoritatively or lay down as a rule

Proscribe

to prohibit or forbid
to condemn or denounce; to outlaw or banish

My suggestion for remembering which word to use is to associate prescribe with yes and proscribe with no.

‘Faun’ and ‘fawn’

May 23, 2016Hannah McCall Leave a comment

This post is an excuse to use a cute photo. The delightful creatures you see when walking your dog are fawns; the mythological creatures you read about are fauns.

Fawn

a deer aged under one year
(of a deer) to produce young
a pale brown colour
to give a display of insincere or exaggerated flattery
to try to please someone by a show of extreme friendliness or affection

Faun

a being that is part human and part goat (usually in Roman mythology)

‘Tuba’ and ‘tuber’

May 9, 2016Hannah McCall 3 Comments

Foodies, gardeners and musicians are probably well aware of the difference between a tuba and a tuber.

Tuba

a large, low-pitched brass musical instrument with valves and a broad bell (that typically faces upwards)

Tuber

a fleshy, thickened underground root or stem of a plant
a rounded swelling or protuberance

Accidentally writing about someone ‘playing a tuber’ would be unfortunate. My suggestion is to try to remember that a tuber grows underground.

‘Cf.’ does not mean ‘see’

May 4, 2016October 10, 2016Hannah McCall 5 Comments

The abbreviation cf. means ‘compare’. It is an abbreviation of the Latin word confer. Because cf. is a shortening of a single word, it requires one full point at the end and shouldn’t have a full point between the c and f.

Cf. should be used when you would like the reader to compare one piece of writing with another.

“Ekivrid’s shield … lacked the ‘umbo’, the metal-boss of Waltharius’s. (Cf. lines 772 and 776.)”

– K. J. Leyser, Medieval Germany and its Neighbours. 1982

Books2 There is a widespread tendency to use cf. to mean ‘see’ or ‘see also’. This usage is usually frowned upon (see New Hart’s, The Chicago Manual of Style, and the Penguin Guide to Punctuation).

I recommend using cf. only when you are directing the reader to look at something else in order to make a comparison; you should use see or see also when you are simply inviting them to read something else for more information. If you stick to this distinction, it should be clear to the reader why you have suggested they seek out the other work.

‘Coal’ and ‘kohl’

May 2, 2016Hannah McCall 2 Comments

Coal and kohl are homophones. Coal is sometimes used when the writer actually means kohl, but I have never come across a ‘kohl mine’ or a ‘kohl fire’.

Coal