Vocabulary general 4 ppt
Bạn đang xem bản rút gọn của tài liệu. Xem và tải ngay bản đầy đủ của tài liệu tại đây (61.52 KB, 11 trang )
suppose to
SUPPOSE TO
SUPPOSED TO
Because the D and the T are blended into a single consonant when this phrase is pronounced, many writers are unaware that the D is even present and
omit it in writing. You’re supposed to get this one right if you want to earn the respect of your readers. See also “use to."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/suppose.html03/09/2005 15:40:05
surfing the Internet
SURFING THE INTERNET
“Channel-surfing” developed as an ironic term to denote the very unathletic activity of randomly
changing channels on a television set with a remote control. Its only similarity to surfboarding on real
surf has to do with the esthetic of “going with the flow.” The Internet could be a fearsomely difficult
place to navigate until the World Wide Web was invented; casual clicking on Web links was
naturally quickly compared to channel-surfing, so the expression “surfing the Web” was a natural
extension of the earlier expression. But the Web is only one aspect of the Internet, and you label
yourself as terminally uncool if you say “surfing the Internet.” (Cool people say “Net” anyway.) It
makes no sense to refer to targeted, purposeful searches for information as “surfing”; for that reason I
call my classes on Internet research techniques “scuba-diving the Internet."
However, Jean Armour Polly, who claims to have originated the phrase “surfing the Internet” in
1992, maintains that she intended it to have exactly the connotations it now has. See
her page on the
history of the term.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/surfing.html03/09/2005 15:40:05
take a different tact
TAKE A DIFFERENT TACT
TAKE A DIFFERENT TACK
This expression has nothing to do with tactfulness and everything to do with sailing, in which it is a direction taken as one tacks—abruptly turns—a boat.
To “take a different tack” is to try another approach.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/tact.html03/09/2005 15:40:05
taken back/taken aback
TAKEN BACK/TAKEN ABACK
When you’re startled by something, you’re taken aback by it. When you’re reminded of something
from your past, you’re taken back to that time.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/taken.html03/09/2005 15:40:05
taught/taut
TAUGHT/TAUT
Students are taught, ropes are pulled taut.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/taught.html03/09/2005 15:40:06
taunt/taut
TAUNT/TAUT/TOUT
I am told that medical personnel often mistakenly refer to a patient” s abdomen as “taunt” rather than
the correct “taut.” “Taunt” (“tease” or “mock” ) can be a verb or noun, but never an adjective. “Taut”
means “tight, distended,” and is always an adjective.
Don’t confuse “taunt” with “tout,” which means “promote,” as in “Senator Bilgewater has been
touted as Presidential candidate.” You tout somebody you admire and taunt someone that you don’t.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/taunt.html03/09/2005 15:40:06
tenant/tenet
TENANT/TENET
These two words come from the same Latin root, tenere, meaning “to hold” but they have very
different meanings. “Tenet” is the rarer of the two, meaning a belief that a person holds: “Avoiding
pork is a tenet of the Muslim faith.” In contrast, the person leasing an apartment from you is your
tenant. (She holds the lease.)
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/tenant.html03/09/2005 15:40:06
tender
TENDER HOOKS
TENTERHOOKS
A “tenter” is a canvas-stretcher, and to be “on tenterhooks” means to be as tense with anticipation as a canvas stretched on one.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/tender.html03/09/2005 15:40:06
tentative
TENTATIVE
Often all-too-tentatively pronounced “tennative.” Sound all three “T” s."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/tentative.html03/09/2005 15:40:07
than/then
THAN/THEN
When comparing one thing with another you may find that one is more appealing “than” another.
“Than” is the word you want when doing comparisons. But if you are talking about time, choose
“then“: “First you separate the eggs; then you beat the whites.” Alexis is smarter than I, not “then I."
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/than.html03/09/2005 15:40:07
that/which
THAT/WHICH
I must confess that I do not myself observe the distinction between “that” and “which.” Furthermore,
there is little evidence that this distinction is or has ever been regularly made in past centuries by
careful writers of English. However, a small but impassioned group of authorities has urged the
distinction; so here is the information you will need to pacify them.
If you are defining something by distinguishing it from a larger class of which it is a member, use
“that”: “I chose the lettuce that had the fewest wilted leaves.” When the general class is not being
limited or defined in some way, then “which” is appropriate: “He made an iceberg Caesar salad,
which didn’t taste quite right.” Note that “which” is normally preceded by a comma, but “that” is not.
Comments on this issue by Jack Lynch.
List of errors
file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/which.html03/09/2005 15:40:07
