Since English is by far the most common trade language, someone ought to take appropriate steps to ensure its preservation as a means of concise and accurate communication of precise ideas. Say what you mean, mean what you say, and gently nudge the poor souls who misuse the English language toward a better understanding of the words they choose.
This is one of the most common errors in practice today, including the time I discovered it in a grammer textbook (Well, everyone makes a few mistakes, even in their area of expertise, I guess). The first phrasing means '5,300.52', since the word 'and', when spoken or written in a number, signifies a decimal point. This fact is taught every year in some Algebra courses, and is the reason the amount line on a check is filled "FIVE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED and 52/100 DOLLARS".
The apostrophe is one of the most misunderstood facets of English writing. The apostrophe is only used to show possession or contraction, as in Susie's bike or Let's (let us)go, but not in Its north side, His bike, or other possessive pronouns, though they show possession. It is never used in a plural noun, where it is often incorrectly inserted.
This is a surprisingly common error. People seem to want to call events first to indicate their intention to have more. But the word annual does not have anything to do with intention but with fact. Something is annual only if it takes place each year. This is impossible to determine when the first of such events occurs. Annual should only be used for annual things, such as taxes and longstanding events. In other words, if it didn't happen last year, it's not annual, and if the space isn't reserved for next year (or the occurance equally likely), it's not annual. So the second year, with the third year's arrangements made, is the first time an event can properly be called an annual event.
If you are having an event for the first time, it should be called simply by the event name, not by 'first annual event'.
The most common use of the word capital is in "capital letter", meaning "uppercase letter". Other definitions of capital include money (capital gains, etc.), serious or extreme (capital crime), and the town which is a state or country's seat of government.A capitol is a building or complex of buildings in which a State legislature meets, as well as the building in Washington, D.C., where the Congress of the United States meets. This are the only meaning in common use for the word 'capitol'.
While adding an adjective describing a group to the word may not seem like much, doing so makes the definition accurate, since the target of chauvinism is inherently the opposite group to the adjective which precedes it. A chauvinist could be a sexist, a racist, or an elitist, in that a female chauvinist believes that women are superior to men and a white chauvinist believes that whites are superior to other races.
cracker /n./
One who breaks security on a system. Coined circa. 1985 by hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of 'hacker'.
From The Hacker Dictionary.
"Real" is an adjective. "Really" is an adverb. Real denotes authenticity, and it modifies only nouns or gerunds: "The real president" "A real accounting". Really denotes accuracy, not depth or thoroughness: "Are you really leaving?"
Then is used for discussing time or location. Than is used in comparisons.
They're is only a contraction for they are or they were (though the latter use is to be discouraged). Their can only be used as the possessive form of they, and modifies a noun or a gerund: "I liked their explanation." "We appreciated their going to the store for us." There is a common word, and it can be used in several ways. It can be an adverb ("Stay there."), a pronoun ("There must be another exit."), an adjective (as an intensifier: "that person there"), or as a noun ("Go from there.").
Note: Using there as an adjective should be avoided, as it is a status marker in some circles.
This is such a simple thing that it is surprising how often this error occurs. The verb try must generally be followed by a verb in the infinitive form, as in to run, to sing, to play, to dance, to attend.
When used with the word and, try has its effect closed, meaning that the sentence denotes something undefined (or previously defined) was tried, and that the verb following and was completed regardless of the results of the attempt to do the undefined or predefined action, as though the sentence actually read, "I'm going to try that and attend the dance whether or not I succeed in what I try."
Unless there are two unrelated actions indicated, the only verbs that should follow the words try and are succeed or fail. For all actions in question that will be tried, use to.
