Category Archive: English Language Usage

This is a fine example of what linguists call “popular etymology.” People don’t understand the origins of a word or expression and make one up based on what seems logical to them. “Beck” is just an old, shortened version of “beckon.” If you are at people’s beck and call it means they can summon you whenever they want: either by gesture (beck) or speech (call).

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“My birthday requests are as follows.” This standard phrase doesn’t change number when the items to follow grow from one to many. It’s never correct to say “as follow.”

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“Discussed” is the past tense of the verb “discuss.” Don’t substitute for it the noun “disgust” in such sentences as “The couple’s wedding plans were thoroughly discussed.”

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Tic refers to (1) a habitual spasmodic muscle movement, and (2) a recurrent trait or quirk. The word is only a noun.

Tick is both a noun and a verb. Its definitions include (1) a clicking sound, (2) a second or a moment, (3) a mark used to check off an item, and (4) a bloodsucking arachnid or louselike insect. Tick is also the correct spelling in the phrasal verb tick off, meaning (1) to anger, or (2) to check off (a list).

You may have to worry about Lyme disease if you get a bite from a tick on your face, but that spasm in your left cheek whenever the teacher calls on you is a facial tic.

If you need writing or editing assistance with the very confusing English language rules, Contact the professionals at Writing It Right For You. We’re here to help because “It Matters How You Say It”!

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soar or sore? Do not confuse the spelling of soar and sore, which sound similar.

Soar is chiefly used as a verb, meaning “increase rapidly” or “fly or rise high in the air”: The plane soared into the clouds.Prices are soaring.

Sore is an adjective meaning “painful” (as in a sore finger) or a noun meaning “a painful skin infection or wound” (as in open sores on his arms and legs).

If you need writing or editing assistance with the very confusing English language rules, Contact the professionals at Writing It Right For You. We’re here to help because “It Matters How You Say It”!

Visit Common Errors in English for more tips like this.