Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3 Volume 9 | Page 24

•As far as means the same as but cannot be used
the same way as as for.
Correct: "As far as the money is concerned ..." /
As for the money ...
•Begs the question means assumes what it
should be proving and does not mean raises the
question.
Correct:"When I asked the dealer why I should
pay more for the German car, he said I would be
getting 'German quality,' but that just begs the
question."
Correct: The unnecessarily complex plot left me
bemused. / The silly comedy amused me.
•Cliché is a noun and is not an adjective.
Correct: "Shakespeare used a lot of cli-
chés."/The plot was so clichéd.
•Credible means believable and does not mean
credulous or gullible.
Correct: His sales pitch was not credible. / The
con man took advantage of credulous people.
•Criteria is the plural, not the singular of crite-
rion.
Correct: These are important criteria.
•Data is a plural count noun not, standardly
speaking, a mass noun.
[Note: "Data is rarely used as a plural today, just
as candelabra and agenda long ago ceased to be
plurals," Pinker writes. "But I still like it."]
Correct: "This datum supports the theory, but
many of the other data refute it."
•Depreciate means to decrease in value and
does not mean to deprecate or to disparage.
Correct: My car has depreciated a lot over the
years. / She deprecated his efforts.
•Dichotomy means two mutually exclusive al-
ternatives and does not mean difference or dis-
crepancy.
Correct: There is a dichotomy between even and
odd numbers. / There is a discrepancy between
what we see and what is really there.
F ALL 2019
•Disinterested means unbiasedand does not
mean uninterested.
Correct: "The dispute should be resolved by a
disinterested judge." / Why are you so uninter-
ested in my story?
•Effect means an influence; to effect means to
put into effect; to affect means either to influ-
ence or to fake.
Correct: They had a big effect on my style. /
The law effected changes at the school. / They
affected my style. / He affected an air of sophis-
tication to impress her parents.
•Enervate means to sap or to weaken and does
not mean to energize.
Correct: That was an enervating rush hour
commute. / That was an energizing cappuccino.
•Enormity means extreme evil and does not
mean enormousness. [Note: It is acceptable to
use it to mean a deplorable enormousness.]
Correct: The enormity of the terrorist bombing
brought bystanders to tears. / The enormousness
of the homework assignment required several
hours of work.
•Flaunt means to show off and does not mean
to flout.
Correct: "She flaunted her abs." / "She flouted
the rules."
•Flounder means to flop around ineffectually
and does not mean to founder or to sink to the
bottom.
Correct: "The indecisive chairman floundered."
/ "The headstrong chairman foundered."
•Fortuitous means coincidental or unplanned
and does not mean fortunate.
Correct: Running into my old friend was fortui-
tous. / It was fortunate that I had a good amount
of savings after losing my job.
•Fulsome means unctuous or excessively or in-
sincerely complimentary and does not mean full
or copious.
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W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE