30/4/2008

The Mouthpiece

Back to school thanks to the power of the web

A BASIC understanding of the English language is pretty much essential for getting anywhere in this country - and many other countries, come to that - but a chance encounter with a unique website made the linguist in me shudder with embarrassment.

Common Errors in English clinically lists the most common mistakes people make day after day in attempting to master our beautiful language, and it will surely make cringeworthy reading for any self-respecting wordsmith.

I stumbled upon the site after reading the word lackadaisical in a news story and, suspecting a typo, immediately googling said word.

(Note to self: Use the word ‘googling’ more often.)

I discovered to my horror that the word is pronounced lacksadaisical but spelt without the first ‘s’, leading me to wonder what other words or phrases I have unknowingly been butchering for the whole of my life.

What I discovered might come as a surprise to some; many others will probably just roll their eyes at my grammatical ignorance.

For example, when applying for a job, if my prospective employers had paid attention to the heading of my Curriculum Vitae, they would have noticed that "unless you are going to claim credit for accomplishments in previous incarnations, you should refer to your 'vita', not your 'vitae' - a situation which would cause utter confusion in our particular newsroom.

When Samuel L. Jackson was pleading for antivenom to save the world in Snakes on a Plane, he would have been better asking for antivenin.

And when those sweet little orphan crooks in Oliver! sing “It’s cheap at half the price”, little did they know they were making no sense - cheap at twice the price is apparently preferable.

It’s enough to make old Billy Shakespeare turn in his grave.

There are some absolute gems among the extensive list - whoever thought technology was spelt techknowledgy should be given a medal right away - but overall the site serves as a worrying sign that things ain’t what they used to be like.

Read more of Sam's blogs here.

First printed in: Surrey Advertiser Online