Wrong Words

A good dictionary serves not only to check spelling but also to verify the meaning of a word.

An Associated Press (AP) story once told about a man who had inherited a small scenic railroad from his "descendants", who had started it in the nineteenth century. The writer meant "ancestors" but used the wrong word. A government publication also used the wrong word when it reported, "Colonel Kit Carson's military campaign result­ed in the interment of 9,000 Navajo and Apache Indians". "Interment" means burial; the writer probably meant to say "internment", which means detention or confinement.

More common mistakes involve the usage of "it's" and "its", "effect" and "affect", "there" and "their", and "presume" and "assume". Other frequently confused words are listed in the next section. When in doubt, take the time to use the dictionary. It will save you embarrassment later.