Author: Kirk

Think “back” with “re-“.

Commas, Verbs

I have posted to this blog a few times about words that start with the “re-” prefix.

Here are some examples:

  • “return”
  • “respond”
  • “reply”

A common English blunder these days is to add “back” after any of the “re-” verbs.

The reason that it’s a blunder is that the “re-” prefix in these verbs means back.

The other meaning of the “re-” prefix is again or anew.

Unless you know that you are dealing with an again or anew instance, it is safest to avoid putting “back” after a “re-” verb.

“… a long-time friend of myself.”

Common English Blunders, Pronouns

I heard this on a radio program today.

Problem:
The speaker used the wrong pronoun.

Explanation:
The pronoun “myself” can be used properly in two ways:

  1. as an INTENSIVE of “I” or “me”: I repaired the car myself.
  2. REFLEXIVELY in place of “me”: I hit myself when I left the building.

Unfortunately, it is becoming an increasingly common English blunder to put “myself” where it does not belong.

Specifically, “myself” is used improperly — in place of the personal pronouns “I” and “me” — in three ways:

  • as a SUBJECT: Myself was the person who accidentally deleted the file.
  • as an OBJECT: They gave the award to myself.
  • as a COMPLEMENT: Today’s teacher is myself.

Misuse of “myself” has become so common that I hear it almost every day now. These days, even supposedly educated U.S. presidential hopefuls such as Barack Obama are using “myself” where it does not belong.

The solution to the problematic phrase heard on the radio comes from using (instead of “myself”) the pronoun that means something that belongs to me.

Solution:
“… a long-time friend of mine.”

“Loose” vs. “Lose”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders, Verbs, Versus

Many people write “loose” when they mean “lose” instead.

Problem:
The verb “lose” does not look like it would be pronounced with the oo sound, so many people mistakenly choose the “oo” word (“loose”) instead.

Explanation:
As I’ve written in an earlier post, it’s true that “loose” can be used as a verb as well as an adjective.

However, when used as a verb, “loose” does not mean “stops having”; this definition belongs to the verb “lose” instead.

If you look up the origins of these two words, you see that:

  • “lose” — pronounced [looz] — is derived from Old English losian;
  • “loose” — pronounced [loos] — is derived from Middle English los, loos.

Knowing the origins of these two words does not help me to remember the correct spelling. In fact, I don’t know how I keep them straight (no mnemonic comes to mind), but I do.

Solution:
Simply memorize that the verb “lose” is spelled with one ‘o’.