Are your "gotcha editors" thumbing their nose when you use the wrong word?
Many of the buyers you write copy for are discerning when it comes to word mix-ups and poor usage. Especially if you're writing to a technical or even slightly sophisticated audience.
So to help you avoid the shame the "gotcha editors" in your audience enjoy dispensing, here are more words commonly confused by marketers writing copy. As in my previous post on words often confused, this list is from the indispensable The Elements of Grammar by Margaret Shertzer.
Here we go:
balance: the difference between the debit and credit side of an account
remainder: the comparatively small part left over
beside: at the side of
besides: in addition to
breath (n.): respiration
breathe (vb.): to inhale and exhale
bring: to convey toward (the speaker)
take: to carry from (the speaker)
cannon: a large gun
canon: a law; a rule
capital: money invested in a business; the seat of government of a state or county
capitol: a building in which a state legislative body meets; the building in which the U.S. Congress meets
censor: a critic; to criticize
censure: to blame
character: sum of qualities that constitute the true individuality of a person
reputation: what others think of a person
client: a person using the services of a lawyer or other professional person
customer: a person who purchases a commodity or service
coarse: rough
course: a direction of going, action, part of a meal
colleague: an associate in a profession or a civil or ecclesiastical office
partner: a member of a partnership, joint owner in business
compare: to bring things together, to note points of difference or similarity (NKB bold)
contrast: to bring things together to note point of difference
continual: frequently recurring; refers to time and implies close succession (continued rains)
continuous: uninterrupted; refers to time and space and implies continuity (continuous heartbeat)
council: an assembly or group for conference
counsel: advice, legal adviser
credible: worthy of acceptance
creditable: praiseworthy
credulous: ready to believe on uncertain evidence
customary: established by custom, conforming to common usage
habitual: according to habit
usual: frequent, ordinary
That's it for now...I'll offer word usage tips on a usual basis, creating a blog post customary to NKB's habitual quest for effective Web writing!
Until next time,
Nick
