No Mistakes Grammar, Volume II, Misused Words for Business

Words

Affluent /effluent

Affluent—wealthy, rich, materially successful.

The newly promoted vice president dropped his former friends; he now traveled in affluent circles.

Effluent—An outflow or discharge of liquid waste, as from a sewage system, factory, or nuclear plant. (From dictionary.com: Sludge is the dirt that remains when sewage is cleaned into effluent.)

You may think affluent and effluent are the same—and sometimes they may be—but there is a difference.

🐗 When you think of affluent, think of an abundance of wealth, and when you think of effluent, think of excrement. It’s a crude example, but it works.

Quote: Unfortunately, our affluent society has also been an effluent society. —Hubert H. Humphrey

Allude/elude

Allude means to refer to indirectly, or make an indirect reference.

Elude means to avoid or escape by cleverness, trickery, speed.

The psychiatrist had alluded to the man’s cleverness, but the detective didn’t listen until the man eluded him.

🐗 Try to remember that elude and escape both begin with the letter e.

Quote: If you want something, it will elude you. If you do not want something, you will get ten of it in the mail. —Anna Quindlen

Note: Along with these two words, when they appear as allusion/elusion, we can also add the word illusion to the mix. An illusion is a false perception of reality.

Magicians use illusion to their advantage; in fact, much of their act depends on illusion.

Amused/bemused

Amuse is a verb meaning to entertain, or cause laughter.

Bemuse is a verb meaning to bewilder or confuse someone.

The king was amused when his court was bemused.

🐗 Remember that bemuse means to bewilder, and both start with be.

Appraise/apprise

Appraise is to estimate the price or value of or to assess or make a judgment about. A real-estate appraiser estimates the value of your house. A jeweler might appraise your jewelry collection.

Napoleon was renowned for being able to appraise his enemies with little more than a glance.

Apprise is to give notice or inform.

When they arrested us, the police apprised us of our rights.

🐗 Appraise has the word raise in it. Raise can be closely associated with value or price.

Assure/ensure/insure

These words are frequently found on résumés and in business writing. They have the general meaning of making the outcome of a particular circumstance certain; however, there are distinct differences.

Assure is typically used to assure someone/or some living thing of an outcome. An assurance is similar to a promise.

You might assure your boss that the project will get done on time and under budget.

Ensure is used more for things than people. So, to ensure the project gets done on time, you hire more people and secure additional resources.

Insure, in its pure form, refers to money or insurance.

I insured the project for $10 million dollars in case of accidents.

The easiest way to remember the distinction between these words:

🐗 Assure is used for people. (You can make an "ass" of yourself if you promise your boss something and don’t deliver.) Ensure is used for things. Insure deals with money/insurance.

Boarder/border

Boarder—a person who rents a room or a place to stay (with or without meals).

Boarders were more popular years ago, and people liked it as it helped to pay the bills.

Border—the edge of something, the outer rim.

The border between the United States and Canada is not well protected.

It is a borderless TV.

The Rio Grande forms the border between Texas and Mexico.

🐗 Try to remember that boarders organize things and border contains the word order.

Breach/breech

Breach—an opening or break in something, as in a breach in the castle wall, or to breach something, as in He breached the wall.

Breeches, on the other hand, represents a pair of trousers, as in "He put on his breeches."

🐗 The easy way to remember it is breach is spelled like break and means a break in something.

🐗 Another thing to remember is that breeches is always seen in the plural form. You can’t tell someone to put on their breech.

Canvas/canvass

Canvas is a heavy fabric typically used for sails on ships, tents, backpacks, etc. It might also be used by painters/artists, stretched across wooden frames, and painted, as in an artist’s canvas.

Canvass—To canvass is to conduct a survey or ask questions of a group of people. For example, detectives usually canvass the area after a homicide. You also may see it expressed as They canvassed (politician x’s) supporters to see what they liked.

🐗 Remember that canvas (one s) can refer to one, as in the artist’s canvas, but canvass (two s’s) means talking to many people.

Quote: "If you’re not prepared to accept the results, don’t canvass the voters."

Carat/caret/carrot/karat

Carat—a carat is a measurement (weight) for diamonds, and other precious stones. It is typically thought of being equal to two hundred milligrams.

Caret—a caret is a proofreading symbol (^) primarily used to show where to place more text/pictures, etc.

Carrot—a carrot is a long, orange vegetable that is often found in salads. It is a member of the parsley family. It is often referred to as an enticement for something performed well. A well-known method of motivation or training is the carrot-and-stick method. Entice