Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (3332)	8/16/1999 2:17:00 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4711

The tendency of English today is to lose the nuances of words. Infer and imply get used interchangably. Less and fewer, lie and lay, motor and engine, and many others are losing their distinctive meanings. I, for one, believe that precision in language is worth fighting for, and I know you do, too. Each time a word is changed in a way which loses distinctiveness, our ability as a people to think precisely is diminished.<i/> You might want to add which/that to the list of "interchangeable" words. It's my personal favorite. Less/fewer used to be at the top of my list; I stuffed the Safeway suggestion boxes until they changed their check-out signs to read "10 items or fewer." I hope you don't mind my jumping in like this. I tried to look back on the thread to see if which/that had already been covered. Unfortunately, the search feature isn't very helpful in the case of such common words. Karen