Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3 Volume 9 | Page 25

Correct: She didn't believe his fulsome love let-
ter. / The bass guitar had a full sound.
•Homogeneous is pronounced as homo-genius
and "homogenous" is not a word but a corrup-
tion of homogenized.
Correct: The population was not homogeneous;
it was a melting pot.
•Hone means to sharpen and does not mean to
home in on or to converge upon.
Correct: She honed her writing skills. / We're
homing in on a solution.
•Hot button means an emotional, divisive con-
troversy and does not mean a hot topic.
Correct: "She tried to stay away from the hot
button of abortion." / Drones are a hot topic in
the tech world.
•Hung means suspended and does not mean
suspended from the neck until dead.
Correct: I hung the picture on my wall. / The
prisoner was hanged.
•Intern (verb) means to detain or to imprison
and does not mean to inter or to bury.
Correct: The rebels were interned in the military
jail. / The king was interred with his jewels.
•Ironic means uncannily incongruent and does
not mean inconvenientor unfortunate.
Correct: "It was ironic that I forgot my textbook
on human memory." / It was unfortunate that I
forgot my textbook the night before the quiz.
•Irregardless is not a word but a portmanteau
of regardlessand irrespective. [Note: Pinker
acknowledges that certain schools of thought
regard "irregardless" as simply non-standard,
but he insists it should not even be granted that.]
Correct: Regardless of how you feel, it's objec-
tively the wrong decision. / Everyone gets a
vote, irrespective of their position.
•Literally means in actual fact and does not
mean figuratively.
F ALL 2019
Correct: I didn't mean for you to literally run
over here. / I'd rather die than listen to another
one of his lectures — figuratively speaking, of
course!
•Luxuriant means abundant or florid and does
not mean luxurious.
Correct: The poet has a luxuriant imagination. /
The car's fine leather seats were luxurious.
•Meretricious means tawdry or offensively in-
sincere and does not mean meritorious.
Correct: We rolled our eyes at the meretricious
speech. / The city applauded the meritorious
mayor.
•Mitigate means to alleviate and does not mean
to militate or to provide reasons for.
Correct: The spray should mitigate the bug
problem. / Their inconceivable differences will
militate against the treaty.
•New Age means spiritualistic, holistic and does
not mean modern, futuristic.
Correct: He is a fan of New Age mindfulness
techniques. / That TV screen is made from a
high-end modern glass.
•Noisome means smelly and does not mean
noisy.
Correct: I covered my nose when I walked past
the noisome dump. / I covered my ears when I
heard the noisy motorcycle speed by.
•Nonplussed means stunned, bewildered and
does not mean bored, unimpressed.
Correct: "The market crash left the experts non-
plussed." / "His market pitch left the investors
unimpressed."
•Opportunism means seizing or exploiting op-
portunities and does not mean creating or pro-
moting opportunities.
Correct: His opportunism brought him to the
head of the company. / The party ran on promot-
ing economic opportunities for the middle class.
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W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE