The Most Misused Words (REBROADCAST)

Laura Knoy's picture
By Laura Knoy on Thursday, September 1, 2005.
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Lay or lie? Among, amongst, or between? Affect or effect? We're talking with Steve Kleinedler, the author of "100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses". Mr. Kleinedler is also the Senior Editor of the American Heritage Dictionary and author of the recently published book "100 Words Every Word Lover Should Know".

*This show originally aired on 4/15/05*

Great program today! Just a
Submitted by Chloe Holmes on Thu, 09/01/2005 - 10:14.

Great program today! Just a thought on the question of using "may" or "can."

It has always been my understanding that "may" should be used when discussing permission to do something; "can" is more appropriate for the question of feasibility.

For example:
May I borrow your pen?
Can this peg fit in that hole?

Thanks again for a great program!

Chloe Holmes
Keene, NH

Hi Laura, I was very
Submitted by Richard Lord on Thu, 09/01/2005 - 13:05.

Hi Laura,

I was very surprised that your guest didn't have any problem with FDR's "a day that will live in infamy." Days are units of time. They don't have "lives" so they can't live in infamy or anticipation or any other anthropomorphic variant.

In terms of frequency of misuse, I think that the winner must be the substitution of "loose" for "lose" that I see in nearly a third of the emails that I receive.

My other pet peeve is the use of "product" to describe a "service" used frequently by banks. I'm sorry but I do not accept the concept that I have "purchased a product" if I sign a lien on my residence for a home equity loan.

Richard Lord
Durham, NH
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