Common Errors S

SACRED/SCARED

This is one of those silly typos which your spelling checker won't
catch: gods are sacred, the damned in Hell are scared.

SACRELIGIOUS/SACRILEGIOUS

Doing something sacrilegious involves committing sacrilege. Don't let
the related word "religious" trick you into misspelling the word as
"sacreligious."

SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX/SAFE DEPOSIT BOX

Those who prefer "safe deposit box" feel that the box in question is a
container for the safe deposit of goods; it is not a box in which to
deposit your safety. But manufacturers and dealers in this kind of safe
are split in their usage. Just be aware that some people feel that
"safety deposit" is an error whereas no one is likely to look down on
you for saying "safe deposit box."

SAIL/SALE/SELL

These simple and familiar words are surprisingly often confused in
writing. You sail a boat which has a sail of canvas. You sell your old
fondue pot at a yard sale.

SALSA SAUCE/SALSA

"Salsa" is Spanish for "sauce," so "salsa sauce" is redundant. Here in
the US, where people now spend more on salsa than on ketchup (or
catsup, if you prefer), few people are unaware that it's a sauce. Anyone
so sheltered as not to be aware of that fact will need a fuller
explanation: "chopped tomatoes, onions, chilies and cilantro."

SAME DIFFERENCE

This is a jokey, deliberately illogical slang expression that doesn't
belong in formal writing.

SARCASTIC/IRONIC

Not all ironic comments are sarcastic. Sarcasm is meant to mock or
wound. Irony can be amusing without being maliciously aimed at hurting
anyone.

SATELLITE

Originally a satellite was a follower. Astronomers applied the term to
smaller bodies orbiting about planets, like our moon. Then we began
launching artificial satellites. Since few people were familiar with the
term in its technical meaning, the adjective "artificial" was quickly
dropped in popular usage. So far so bad. Then television began to be
broadcast via satellite. Much if not all television now wends its way
through a satellite at some point, but in the popular imagination only
broadcasts received at the viewing site via a dish antenna aimed at a
satellite qualify to be called "satellite television." Thus we see motel
signs boasting:

AIR CONDITIONING * SATELLITE

People say things like "the fight's going to be shown on satellite." The
word has become a pathetic fragment of its former self. The
technologically literate speaker will avoid these slovenly
abbreviations.

*At least motels have not yet adopted the automobile industry's
truncation of "air conditioning" to "air."

SAW/SEEN

In standard English, it's "I've seen" not "I've saw." The helping verb
"have" (abbreviated here to "'ve") requires "seen." In the simple past
(no helping verb), the expression is "I saw," not "I seen." "I've seen a
lot of ugly cars, but when I saw that old beat-up Rambler I couldn't
believe my eyes."

SAY/TELL

You say "Hello, Mr. Chips" to the teacher, and then tell him about what
you did last summer. You can't "tell that" except in expressions like
"go tell that to your old girlfriend."

SCEPTIC/SKEPTIC

Believe it or not, the British spellings are "sceptic" and "scepticism";
the American spellings are "skeptic" and "skepticism."

SCHIZOPHRENIC

In popular usage, "schizophrenic" (and the more slangy and now dated
"schizoid") indicates "split between two attitudes." This drives people
with training in psychiatry crazy. "Schizo-" does indeed mean "split,"
but it is used here to mean "split off from reality." Someone with a
Jekyll-and-Hyde personality is suffering from "multiple personality
disorder" (or, more recently, "dissociative identity disorder"), not
"schizophrenia."


SCI-FI

"Sci-fi," the widely used abbreviation for "science fiction," is
objectionable to most professional science fiction writers, scholars,
and many fans. Some of them scornfully designate alien monster movies
and other trivial entertainments "sci-fi" (which they pronounce
"skiffy") to distinguish them from true science fiction. The preferred
abbreviation in these circles is "SF." The problem with this
abbreviation is that to the general public "SF" means "San Francisco."
"The Sci-Fi Channel" has exacerbated the conflict over this term. If you
are a reporter approaching a science fiction writer or expert you
immediately mark yourself as an outsider by using the term "sci-fi."

SCONE/SCONCE

If you fling a jam-covered biscuit at the wall and it sticks, the result
may be a "wall scone"; but if you are describing a wall-mounted light
fixture, the word you want is "sconce."

SCOTCH/SCOTS

Scottish people generally refer to themselves as "Scots" or "Scottish"
rather than "Scotch."

SCOTCH FREE/SCOT FREE

Getting away with something "scot free" has nothing to do with the Scots
(or Scotch). The scot was a medieval tax; if you evaded paying it you
got off scot free. Some people wrongly suppose this phrase alludes to
Dred Scott, the American slave who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom.
The phrase is "scot free": no H, one T.

SEA CHANGE

In Shakespeare's "Tempest," Ariel deceitfully sings to Ferdinand:

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.

This rich language has so captivated the ears of generations of writers
that they feel compelled to describe as "sea changes" not only
alterations that are "rich and strange," but, less appropriately, those
that are simply large or sudden. Always popular, this cliche has
recently become so pervasive as to make "sea" an almost inextricable
companion to "change," whatever its meaning. In its original context, it
meant nothing more complex than "a change caused by the sea." Since the
phrase is almost always improperly used and is greatly over-used, it has
suffered a swamp change into something dull and tiresome. Avoid the
phrase; otherwise you will irritate those who know it and puzzle those
who do not.

SEAM/SEEM

"Seem" is the verb, "seam" the noun. Use "seam" only for things like the
line produced when two pieces of cloth are sewn together or a thread of
coal in a geological formation.

SECOND OF ALL/SECOND

"First of all" makes sense when you want to emphasize the primacy of the
first item in a series, but it should not be followed by "second of
all," where the expression serves no such function. And "secondly" is an
adverbial form that makes no sense at all in enumeration (neither does
"firstly"). As you go through your list, say simply "second," "third,"
"fourth," etc.

SEGWAY/SEGUE

When you shift to a new topic or activity, you segue. Many people
unfamiliar with the unusual Italian spelling of the word misspell it as
"segway." This error is being encouraged by the deliberately punning
name used by the manufacturers of the Segway Human Transporter.

SELECT/SELECTED

"Select" means "special, chosen because of its outstanding qualities."
If you are writing an ad for a furniture store offering low prices on
some of its recliners, call them "selected recliners," not "select
recliners," unless they are truly outstanding and not just leftovers
you're trying to move out of the store.

SELF-WORTH/SELF-ESTEEM

To say that a person has a low sense of self-worth makes sense, though
it's inelegant; but people commonly truncate the phrase, saying instead,
"He has low self-worth." This would literally mean that he isn't worth
much rather than that he has a low opinion of himself. "Self-esteem"
sounds much more literate.

SENSE/SINCE

"Sense" is a verb meaning "feel" ("I sense you near me") or a noun
meaning "intelligence" ("have some common sense!"). Don't use it when
you need the adverb "since" ("since you went away," "since you're up
anyway, would you please let the cat out?")

SENSUAL/SENSUOUS

"Sensual" usually relates to physical desires and experiences, and often
means "sexy." But "sensuous" is more often used for esthetic pleasures,
like "sensuous music." The two words do overlap a good deal. The leather
seats in your new car may be sensuous; but if they turn you on, they
might be sensual. "Sensual" often has a slightly racy or even judgmental
tone lacking in "sensuous."

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

There are actually many fine uses for sentence fragments. Here's a brief
scene from an imaginary Greek tragedy composed entirely of fragments:

Menelaus: Aha! Helen! Helen (startled): Beloved husband! Menelaus: Slut!
Paris (entering, seeing Menelaus): Oops. 'Bye. Menelaus: Not so fast!
(stabs Paris). Paris: Arrggh!

Some people get into trouble by breaking a perfectly good sentence in
two: "We did some research in newspapers. Like the National Inquirer."
The second phrase belongs in the same sentence with the first, not
dangling off on its own.

A more common kind of troublesome fragment is a would-be sentence
introduced by a word or phrase that suggests it's part of some other
sentence: "By picking up the garbage the fraternity had strewn around
the street the weekend before got the group a favorable story in the
paper." Just lop off "by" to convert this into a proper complete
sentence.

SERGEANT OF ARMS/SERGEANT AT ARMS

The officer charged with maintaining order in a meeting is the "sergeant
at arms," not "of arms."

SERVICE/SERVE

A mechanic services your car and a stallion services a mare; but most of
the time when you want to talk about the goods or services you supply,
the word you want is "serve": "Our firm serves the hotel industry."

SET/SIT

In some dialects people say "come on in and set a spell," but in
standard English the word is "sit." You set down an object or a child
you happen to be carrying; but those seating themselves sit. If you mix
these two up it will not sit well with some people.

SETUP/SET UP

Technical writers sometimes confuse "setup" as a noun ("check the
setup") with the phrase "set up" ("set up the experiment").

SHALL/WILL

"Will" has almost entirely replaced "shall" in American English except
in legal documents and in questions like "Shall we have red wine with
the duck?"

SHEAR/SHEER

You can cut through cloth with a pair of shears, but if the cloth is
translucent it's sheer. People who write about a "shear blouse" do so
out of sheer ignorance.

SHEATH/SHEAF

If you take your knife out of its sheath (case) you can use it to cut a
sheaf (bundle) of wheat to serve as a centerpiece.

SHERBERT/SHERBET

The name for these icy desserts is derived from Turkish/Persian
"sorbet," but the "R" in the first syllable seems to seduce many
speakers into adding one in the second, where it doesn't belong. A
California chain called "Herbert's Sherbets" had me confused on this
point for years when I was growing up.

SHIMMY/SHINNY

You shinny--or shin (climb)--up a tree or pole; but on the dance floor
or in a vibrating vehicle you shimmy (shake).

SHOE-IN/SHOO-IN

A race horse so fast that you can merely shoo it across the finish line
rather than having to urge it on with stronger measures is a "shoo-in":
an easy winner. It is particularly unfortunate when this expression is
misspelled "shoe-in" because to "shoehorn" something in is to squeeze it
in with great difficulty.

SHONE/SHOWN

"Shone" is the past tense of "shine": "long after sunset, the moon still
shone brightly in the sky."

"Shown" is a past tense form of "show": "foreign films are rarely shown
at our local theater."

SHOOK/SHAKEN

Elvis Presley couldn't have very well sung "I'm all shaken up," but that
is the grammatically correct form. "Shook" is the simple past tense of
"shake," and quite correct in sentences like "I shook my piggy bank but
all that came out was a paper clip." But in sentences with a helping
verb, you need "shaken": "The quarterback had shaken the champagne
bottle before emptying it on the coach."

SHRUNK/SHRANK

The simple past tense form of "shrink" is "shrank" and the past
participle is "shrunk"; it should be "Honey, I Shrank the Kids," not
"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." (Thanks a lot, Disney.)

"Honey, I've shrunk the kids" would be standard, and also grammatically
acceptable is "Honey, I've shrunken the kids" (though deplorable from a
child-rearing point of view).

SHUTTER TO THINK/SHUDDER TO THINK

When you are so horrified by a thought that you tremble at it, you
shudder to think it.

SICK/SIC

The command given to a dog, "sic 'em," derives from the word "seek." The
1992 punk rock album titled "Sick 'Em" has helped popularize the common
misspelling of this phrase. Unless you want to tell how you incited your
pit bull to vomit on someone's shoes, don't write "sick 'em" or "sick
the dog."

The standard spelling of the -ing form of the word is "siccing."

In a different context, the Latin word sic ("thus") inserted into a
quotation is an editorial comment calling attention to a misspelling or
other error in the original which you do not want to be blamed for but
are accurately reproducing: "She acted like a real pre-Madonna (sic)."
When commenting on someone else's faulty writing, you really want to
avoid misspelling this word as sick.

Although it's occasionally useful in preventing misunderstanding, "sic"
is usually just a way of being snotty about someone else's mistake,
largely replaced now by "lol." Sometimes it's appropriate to correct the
mistakes in writing you're quoting; and when errors abound, you needn't
mark each one with a "sic"--your readers will notice.

SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS/SIERRA NEVADAS

Sierra is Spanish for "sawtooth mountain range," so knowledgeable
Westerners usually avoid a redundancy by simply referring to "the Sierra
Nevadas" or simply "the Sierras." Transplanted weather forecasters often
get this wrong.

Some object to the familiar abbreviation "Sierras," but this form, like
"Rockies" and "Smokies" is too well established to be considered
erroneous.

SIGNALED OUT/SINGLED OUT

When a single individual is separated out from a larger group, usually
by being especially noticed or treated differently, that individual is
being "singled out." This expression has nothing to do with signalling.

SILICON/SILICONE

Silicon is a chemical element, the basic stuff of which microchips are
made. Sand is largely silicon. Silicones are plastics and other
materials containing silicon, the most commonly discussed example being
silicone breast implants. Less used by the general public is "silica":
an oxide of silicon.

SIMPLISTIC

"Simplistic" means "overly simple," and is always used negatively. Don't
substitute it when you just mean to say "simple" or even "very simple."

SINGLE QUOTATION MARKS

In standard American writing, the only use for single quotation marks is
to designate a quotation within a quotation. Students are exposed by
Penguin Books and other publishers to the British practice of using
single quotes for normal quotations and become confused. Some strange
folkloric process has convinced many people that while entire sentences
and long phrases are surrounded by conventional double quotation marks,
single words and short phrases take single quotation marks. "Wrong," I
insist.

SISTER-IN-LAWS/SISTERS-IN-LAW

Your spouse's female siblings are not your sister-in-laws, but your
sisters-in-law. The same pattern applies to brothers-in-law,
fathers-in-law, and mothers-in-law.

SKIDDISH/SKITTISH

If you nervously avoid something you are not "skiddish" about it; the
word is "skittish."

SLIGHT OF HAND/SLEIGHT OF HAND

"Sleight" is an old word meaning "cleverness, skill," and the proper
expression is "sleight of hand." it's easy to understand why it's
confused with "slight" since the two words are pronounced in exactly the
same way.

SLOG IT OUT/SLUG IT OUT

Slogging is a slow, messy business, typically tramping through sticky
mud or metaphorically struggling with other difficult tasks. You might
slog through a pile of receipts to do your taxes. If you are engaged in
a fierce battle with an adversary, however, you slug it out, like boxers
slugging each other. There is no such expression as "slog it out."

SLOW GIN/SLOE GIN

A small European plum named a "sloe" is used to flavor the liqueur
called "sloe gin." You should probably sip it slowly, but that has
nothing to do with its name.

SLUFF OFF/SLOUGH OFF

You use a loofah to slough off dead skin.

SNUCK/SNEAKED

In American English "snuck" has become increasingly common as the past
tense of "sneak." This is one of many cases in which people's humorously
self-conscious use of dialect has influenced others to adopt it as
standard and it is now often seen even in sophisticated writing in the
US But it is safer to use the traditional form: "sneaked."

SOMETIME/SOME TIME

"Let's get together sometime." When you use the one-word form, it
suggests some indefinite time in the future. "Some time" is not wrong in
this sort of context, but it is required when being more specific:
"Choose some time that fits in your schedule." "Some" is an adjective
here modifying "time." The same pattern applies to "someday" (vague) and
"some day" (specific).

SO/VERY

Originally people said things like "I was so delighted with the wrapping
that I couldn't bring myself to open the package." But then they began
to lazily say "You made me so happy," no longer explaining just how
happy that was. This pattern of using "so" as a simple intensifier
meaning "very" is now standard in casual speech, but is out of place in
formal writing, where "very" or another intensifier works better.
Without vocal emphasis, the "so" conveys little in print.

SO FUN/SO MUCH FUN

Strictly a young person's usage: "That party was so fun!" If you don't
want to be perceived as a gum-chewing airhead, say "so much fun."

SOAR/SORE

By far the more common word is "sore" which refers to aches, pains and
wounds: sore feet, sore backs, sores on your skin. The more unusual word
used to describe the act of gliding through the air or swooping up
toward the heavens is spelled "soar." This second word is often used
metaphorically: eagles, spirits, and prices can all soar. If you know
your parts of speech, just keep in mind that "soar" is always a verb,
and "sore" can be either a noun ("running sore") or an adjective ("sore
loser") but never a verb. In archaic English "sore" could also be an
adverb meaning "sorely" or "severely": "they were sore afraid."

SOCIAL/SOCIETAL

"Societal" as an adjective has been in existence for a couple of
centuries, but has become widely used only in the recent past. People
who imagine that "social" has too many frivolous connotations of mere
partying often resort to it to make their language more serious and
impressive. It is best used by social scientists and others in referring
to the influence of societies: "societal patterns among the Ibo of
eastern Nigeria." Used in place of "social" in ordinary speech and
writing it sounds pretentious.

SOJOURN/JOURNEY

Although the spelling of this word confuses many people into thinking it
means "journey," a sojourn is actually a temporary stay in one place. If
you're constantly on the move, you're not engaged in a sojourn.

SOLE/SOUL

The bottom of your foot is your sole; your spirit is your soul.

SOMEWHAT OF A/SOMEWHAT, SOMETHING OF A

This error is the result of confusing two perfectly good usages: "She is
somewhat awkward," and "He is something of a klutz." Use one or the
other instead.

SOME WHERE/SOMEWHERE

"Somewhere," like "anywhere" and "nowhere," is always one word.

SOMETIMES NOT ALWAYS/SOMETIMES, NOT ALWAYS

Expressions like "not always," "don't always," and "aren't always"
overlap in meaning with "sometimes," but don't belong in the same phrase
with this word--they're redundant.

"Sometimes I don't always feel like jogging" doesn't make any sense. Say
either "sometimes I don't feel like jogging" or "I don't always feel
like jogging."

SONG/WORK OR COMPOSITION

When you're writing that cultural event report based on last night's
symphony concert, don't call the music performed "songs." Songs are
strictly pieces of music which are sung--by singers. Instrumental
numbers may be called "works," "compositions," or even "pieces." Be
careful, though: a single piece may have several different movements;
and it would be wrong to refer to the Adagio of Beethoven's Moonlight
Sonata as a "piece." It's just a piece of a piece.

See also music/singing.

SOONER/RATHER

"I'd sooner starve than eat what they serve in the cafeteria" is less
formal than "I'd rather starve."


SOONER THAN LATER/SOONER RATHER THAN LATER

The traditional expression "sooner rather than later" is now commonly
abbreviated to the less logical "sooner than later." The shorter form is
very popular, but is more likely to cause raised eyebrows than the
similarly abbreviated expression "long story short."

See "long story short."

SOUP DU JOUR OF THE DAY/SOUP OF THE DAY

"Soupe du jour" (note the "E" on the end of "soupe") means "soup of the
day." If you're going to use French to be pretentious on a menu, it's
important to learn the meaning of the words you're using. Often what is
offered is potage, anyway. Keep it simple, keep it in English, and you
can't go wrong.

SORT AFTER/SOUGHT AFTER

Something popular which many people are searching for is "sought after".
If you are sorting a thing, you've presumably already found it. When
this phrase precedes a noun or noun phrase which it modifies, it has to
be hyphenated: "Action Comics #1 is a much sought-after comic book
because it was the first to feature Superman."

SOUR GRAPES

In a famous fable by Aesop, a fox declared that he didn't care that he
could not reach an attractive bunch of grapes because he imagined they
were probably sour anyway. You express sour grapes when you put down
something you can't get: "winning the lottery is just a big headache
anyway." The phrase is misused in all sorts of ways by people who don't
know the original story and imagine it means something more general like
"bitterness" or "resentment."

SOWCOW/SALCHOW

There's a fancy turning jump in ice skating named after Swedish figure
skater Ulrich Salchow; but every Winter Olympics millions of people
think they hear the commentators saying "sowcow" and that's how they
proceed to misspell it.

SPACES AFTER A PERIOD

In the old days of typewriters using only monospaced fonts in which a
period occupied as much horizontal space as any other letter, it was
standard to double-space after each one to clearly separate out each
sentence from the following one. However, when justified, variable-width
type is set for printing it has always been standard to use only one
space between sentences. Modern computers produce type that is more like
print, and most modern styles call for only one space after a period.
This is especially important if you are preparing a text for publication
which will be laid out from your electronic copy. If you find it
difficult to adopt the one-space pattern, when you are finished writing
you can do a global search-and-replace to find all double spaces and
replace them with single spaces.

SPADED/SPAYED

If you have neutered your dog, you've spayed it; save the spading until
it dies.

SPECIALLY/ESPECIALLY

In most contexts "specially" is more common than "especially," but when
you mean "particularly" "especially" works better: "I am not especially
excited about inheriting my grandmother's neurotic Siamese cat."
"Especial" in the place of "special" is very formal and rather
old-fashioned.

SPECIE/SPECIES

In both the original Latin and in English "species" is the spelling of
both the singular and plural forms. Amphiprion ocellaris is one species
of clownfish. Many species of fish are endangered by overfishing.

Specie is a technical term referring to the physical form of money,
particularly coins.

SPICKET/SPIGOT

A faucet is a "spigot," not a "spicket."

SPICY

"Spicy" has two different meanings: intensely flavored and peppery.
Someone who asks for food that is not spicy intending to avoid only
pepper may get bland, flavorless food instead. It's good to be specific
about what you dislike. South Asian cooks asked to avoid pepper have
been known to omit only seed pepper and use a free hand with chopped
green or red chilies. If you are such a cook, be aware that timid
American diners mean by "pepper" all biting, hot spices and they will
probably not enjoy chili peppers or large amounts of ginger, though they
may love cardamom, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, etc.

When you see the word "chilli" on an Indian menu, the spelling being
used is that of the British.

SPAN/SPUN

Don't say "the demon span her head around." The past tense of "spin" in
this sense is "spun."

SPARE OF THE MOMENT/SPUR OF THE MOMENT

You don't see people wearing spurs much any more, which may explain why
some are vague about the significance of metaphorical spurs. Anything
that prompts you to do something can be a spur to action. We say of
people that are prompted in this way that they are "spurred on" by fear,
ambition, greed, or some other cause.

So a momentary impulse which causes you to act without advance planning
can result in a decision made "on the spur of the moment."

Then there is the expression "spare moment": "Sorry, Honey, when I was
getting the kids ready for school I couldn't spare a moment to clean up
the mess the dog made in the kitchen."

This latter pattern seems to lead some people to mistakenly imagine that
the expression is "on the spare of the moment."

SPIRITUALISM/SPIRITUALITY

The most common meaning of "spiritualism" is belief in the possibility
of communication with the spirits of the dead.

A better term for other religious beliefs and activities is
"spirituality," as in "I'm going to the ashram to explore my
spirituality."

SPOKE/SAID

Novice writers of fictional dialogue sometimes become wary of repeating
"said" too often, resulting in odd constructions like this: "'You've got
gravy on your shirt,' she spoke."

You can speak a language or speak with someone, but you can't speak a
speech.

If you get tired of "said" you could have your characters whisper,
shout, hiss, or grumble; but you shouldn't be afraid of having them
simply say things. It won't bore your readers; they won't even notice.

SPREE

It used to be that a spree was mainly understood as a wild drinking
carouse, with the emphasis on spontaneity and abandon. Then it was used
metaphorically, as in a "shopping spree."

American journalists began to write of "killing sprees" by murderers
recklessly killing people at random ("spree" fits so nicely in
headlines).

But they go too far when they refer to terrorist bombing sprees.
Targeted, purposeful acts like these lack the element of spontaneity and
disorder that characterize a spree. Do they mean perhaps a "spate"?

STAID/STAYED

"Staid" is an adjective often used to label somebody who is rather
stodgy and dull, a stick-in-the mud. But in modern English the past
tense of the verb "stay" is "stayed": "I stayed at the office late
hoping to impress my boss."

STAND/STANCE

When you courageously resist opposing forces, you take--or make--a
stand. The metaphor is a military one, with the defending forces
refusing to flee from the attacker. Your stance, on the other hand, is
just your position--literal or figurative--which may not be particularly
militant. A golfer wanting to improve her drives may adopt a different
stance, or your stance on cojack may be that it doesn't belong on a
gourmet cheese platter; but if you organize a group to force the
neighbors to get rid of the hippo they've tethered in their front yard,
you're taking a stand.

STATES/COUNTRIES

Citizens of the United States, where states are smaller subdivisions of
the country, are sometimes surprised to see "states" referring instead
to foreign countries. Note that the US Department of State deals with
foreign affairs, not those of US states. Clearly distinguish these two
uses of "state" in your writing.

STATIONARY/STATIONERY

When something is standing still, it's stationary. That piece of paper
you write a letter on is stationery. Let the "E" in "stationery" remind
you of "envelope."

STINT/STENT

When the time to work comes, you've got to do your stint; but the
medical device installed to keep an artery open is a "stent." Even
people in the medical profession who should know better often use
"stint" when they mean "stent."

STEREO

"Stereo" refers properly to a means of reproducing sound in two or more
discrete channels to create a solid, apparently three-dimensional sound.
Because in the early days only fanciers of high fidelity (or hi-fi)
equipment could afford stereophonic sound, "stereo" came to be used as a
substitute for "high fidelity," and even "record player." Stereo
equipment (for instance a cheap portable cassette player) is not
necessarily high fidelity equipment. Visual technology creating a sense
of depth by using two different lenses can also use the root "stereo" as
in "stereoscope."

STOMP/STAMP

"Stomp" is colloquial, casual. A professional wrestler stomps his
opponent. In more formal contexts "stamp" is preferred. But you will
probably not be able to stamp out the spread of "stomp."

STRAIGHT/STRAIT

If something is not crooked or curved it's straight.

If it is a narrow passageway beween two bodies of water, it's a strait.
Place names like "Bering Strait" are almost always spelled "strait."

STRAIGHTJACKET/STRAITJACKET

The old word "strait" ("narrow, tight") has survived only as a noun in
geography referring to a narrow body of water ("the Bering Strait") and
in a few adjectival uses such as "straitjacket" (a narrowly confining
garment) and "strait-laced" (literally laced up tightly, but usually
meaning narrow-minded). Its unfamiliarity causes many people to
mistakenly substitute the more common "straight."

STATUE OF LIMITATIONS/STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

What would a statue of limitations look like? A cop stopping traffic?
The Venus de Milo? Her missing arms would definitely limit her ability
to scratch what itches. The legal phrase limiting the period after which
an offense can no longer be prosecuted is the statute (law) of
limitations.

STEEP LEARNING CURVE

The phrase "steep learning curve" to describe a difficult-to-master
skill is mathematical nonsense. If the horizontal axis of the graph
represents time, then the vertical axis is probably supposed to
represent effort expended. If a task begins by being very difficult and
continues being so for a long time, then the curve would begin high
above the zero point on the vertical axis and descend very gradually,
producing a shallow learning curve, not a steep one.

Most people imagine a steep learning curve as describing a sharply
inclined slope beginning at zero; but logically that sort of curve would
describe a task that begins by being very easy and which rapidly becomes
harder and harder--not what people mean. The confusion is caused by
people's tendency to think of the curve as if it were a hill to be
climbed.

An alternative way of understanding this phrase would be to imagine that
the vertical axis represents degree of mastery; but in that case a
difficult task would begin at zero and rise very slowly over time--again
a shallow curve, not a steep one.

The problem is that most people's interpretation begins with the
vertical axis measuring mastery achieved (zero to begin with), but as
they move along the horizontal axis in time they unconsciously switch to
its opposite: remaining mastery needed (a lot, right away). This makes
no sense. The line needs to stand for the same variable along its whole
length to make a sensible chart.

There's little hope of abolishing this ubiquitous bit of pretentious
jargon, but you should avoid using it around mathematically
sophisticated people.

STOCK AND TRADE/STOCK IN TRADE

In this context, "trade" means "business." The items a business trades
in are its stock in trade. Metaphorically, the stuff needed by people to
carry on their activities can also be called their stock in trade:
"Bushy eyebrows, cigars, and quips were Groucho's stock in trade." This
expression has nothing to do with trading stock, as on a stock exchange,
and it should not be transformed into "stock and trade."

STOOD/STAYED

In standard English, "stayed" is the past tense of "stay," and "stood"
is the past tense of "stand." If you speak a dialect which uses "stood"
for the past tense of "stayed" and want to switch to standard usage, try
changing your sentence to the present tense to check: "I stood still"
becomes "I stand still." But "I stood up past midnight" becomes "I stay
up," not "I stand up." So you should say "I stayed up past midnight" and
"I stayed in the best hotel in town."

The popular saying "I shoulda stood in bed" conjures up an amusing
image, but it's not a model for standard usage.

STRESS ON/FEEL STRESS

"Stress on" is commonly misused used to mean "to experience stress" as
in "I'm stressing on the term paper I have to do." Still informal, but
better, is "I'm stressed about. . . ." In a more formal context you
could express the same idea by saying "I'm anxious about. . . ."

It is perfectly fine, however, to say that you place stress on
something, with "stress" being a noun rather than a verb.

STRICKEN/STRUCK

Most of the time the past participle of "strike" is "struck." The
exceptions are that you can be stricken with guilt, a misfortune, a
wound or a disease; and a passage in a document can be stricken out. The
rest of the time, stick with "struck."

STRONG SUITE/STRONG SUIT

"Strong suit" is an expression derived from card-playing, in which
hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades are the suits. When you put your best
foot forward your play your strong suit.

SUBMITTAL/SUBMISSION

"Submittal" is the act of submitting; it should not be used to describe
the thing being submitted, as in "clip a five-dollar bill to your
submittal and it will receive our earliest attention." In almost all
cases "submission" is clearer and more traditional than "submittal."

SUBSTANCE-FREE

An administrator at our university once announced that his goal was a
"substance-free" campus, which I suppose fit in with the fad of the
period for "virtual education." What he really meant was, of course, a
campus free of illegal drugs and alcohol, designated "controlled
substances" in the law. This is a very silly expression, but if he'd
just said "sober and straight" he would have sounded too censorious. How
about "drug- and alcohol-free"?

SUBSTITUTE WITH/SUBSTITUTE FOR

You can substitute pecans for the walnuts in a brownie recipe, but many
people mistakenly say "substitute with" instead, perhaps influenced by
the related expression "replace with." it's always "substitute for."

SUFFER WITH/SUFFER FROM

Although technical medical usage sometimes differs, in normal speech we
say that a person suffers from a disease rather than suffering with it.

SUIT/SUITE

Your bedroom suite consists of the bed, the nightstand, and whatever
other furniture goes with it. Your pajamas would be your bedroom suit.

SULKING/SKULKING

That guy sneaking furtively around the neighborhood is skulking around;
that teenager brooding in his bedroom because he got grounded is
sulking. "Sulking around" is not a traditional phrase.

SUMMARY/SUMMERY

When the weather is warm and summery and you don't feel like spending a
lot of time reading that long report from the restructuring committee,
just read the summary.

SUPED UP/SOUPED UP

The car you've souped up may be super, but it's not "suped up."

SUPERCEDE/SUPERSEDE

"Supersede," meaning to replace, originally meant "to sit higher" than,
from Latin sedere, "to sit." In the 18th century, rich people were often
carried about as they sat in sedan chairs. Don't be misled by the fact
that this word rhymes with words having quite different roots, such as
"intercede."

SUPPOSABLY, SUPPOSINGLY, SUPPOSIVELY/SUPPOSEDLY

"Supposedly" is the standard form. "Supposably" can be used only when
the meaning is "capable of being supposed," and then only in the US
You won't get into trouble if you stick with "supposedly."

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."


SUPREMIST/SUPREMICIST

A neo-Nazi is a white supremacist, not "supremist."

SUSPECT/SUSPICIOUS

If your boss thinks you may have dipped into petty cash to pay your
gambling debts, you may be suspect (or "a suspect"). But if you think
somebody else did it, you are suspicious of them. Confusingly, if the
police suspect you of a crime, you can be described as a "suspicious
person" and if you constantly suspect others of crimes, you can also be
called "suspicious."

But "suspect" is not so flexible. A suspect is a person somebody is
suspicious of, never the person who is doing the suspecting. It never
makes sense to say "I am suspect that. . . ."

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: (http://www.netmom.com/about/surfing_main.htm).

SWAM/SWUM

The regular past tense of "swim" is "swam": "I swam to the island."
However, when the word is preceded by a helping verb, it changes to
"swum": "I've swum to the island every day." The "'ve" stands for
"have," a helping verb.

SYLLABI/SYLLABUS

"Syllabi" is the plural of "syllabus," but you can also say
"syllabuses." Don't call a single course schedule a "syllabi."