Common Errors U -- V

UFO

"UFO" stands for "Unidentified Flying Object," so if you're sure that
silvery disk is an alien spacecraft, there's no point in calling it a
"UFO." I love the sign I once saw in a Seattle bookstore labeling the
alien-invasion section: "Incorrectly Identified Flying Objects."

UGLY AMERICAN

The term "ugly American"--used to describe boorish people from the US
insensitive to those in other countries--bothers fans of the 1958 novel
The Ugly American, whose title character was actually sensitive and
thoughtful--he just looked ugly. The popularizers of this phrase hadn't
read the book, and judged its message too quickly by its title.

THE UKRAINE/UKRAINE

Some country names are preceded by an article--like "The United States"
and "La France"--but most are not. Sometimes it depends on what language
you are speaking: in English we call the latter country simply "France"
and "La Republica Argentina" is just "Argentina" although in the
nineteenth century the British often referred to it as "The Argentine."

When the region formerly known as "The Ukraine" split off from the old
Soviet Union, it declared its preference for dropping the article, and
the country is now properly called simply "Ukraine."

UNCHARTERED/UNCHARTED

"Unchartered" means "lacking a charter," and is a word most people have
little use for. "Uncharted" means "unmapped" or "unexplored," so the
expression meaning "to explore a new subject or area" is "enter
uncharted territory." Similarly, it's uncharted regions, waters, and
paths.

UNCONSCIENCE/UNCONSCIOUS

Do people confuse the unconscious with conscience because the stuff
fermenting in one's unconscious is often stuff that bothers one's
conscience? Whatever the cause, there is no such word as "unconscience."
And while we're on the subject, "subconscious" is not used in Freudian
psychology; it implies something that is merely not consciously thought
of, rather than something that is suppressed. The term is, however, used
by Jungians.

UNDER THE GUISE THAT/UNDER THE GUISE OF

Phishing e-mails try to extract valuable information from you so they
can rob you under the guise of protecting your online security. They are
disguising their theft as protection. There are other related phrases,
mostly ending in "that," such as "under the pretext that" and "with the
excuse that"; but "under the guise" requires "of," usually followed by a
gerund ending in "-ing."

UNDER WEIGH/UNDER WAY

The original expression for getting a boat moving has nothing to do with
weighing anchor and is "getting under way," but so many sophisticated
writers get this wrong that you're not likely to get into trouble if you
imitate them.

When "underway" is used elsewhere as an adjective or adverb, by far the
most common spelling is as a single word, as in "our plans are
underway"; though some authorities argue that the adverbial form should
be spelled as two words: "under way."

UNDERESTIMATED

Enthusiastic sportscasters often say of a surprisingly talented team
that "they cannot be underestimated" when what they mean is "they should
not be underestimated."

UNDERLINING/UNDERLYING

You can stress points by underlining them, but it's "underlying" in
expressions like "underlying story," "underlying motive," and
"underlying principle."

UNDERMIND/UNDERMINED

Some people believe in a mystical overmind, but not even they believe in
an "undermind." The word is "undermined." If you dig under a castle wall
to prepare to breach its defenses, you are undermining it, digging a
mine under it. The metaphor applies to all sorts of weakening of
opposing positions, most often in arguments.

UNDO/UNDUE

The verb "undo" is the opposite of "do." You undo your typing errors on
a computer or undo your shoelaces to go wading.

The adjective "undue" is the opposite of "due" and means "unwarranted"
or "improper." It is used in phrases like "undue influence," "undue
burdens," and "undue expense."

UNDOUBTABLY/UNDOUBTEDLY

Doubtless the spelling of "presumably" influences the misspelling
"undoubtably." The word is "undoubtedly." When something is undoubtedly
true, it is undoubted.


UNKEPT/UNKEMPT

"Unkempt" is an old version of "uncombed." The standard expression for a
sloppy-looking person is not "unkept," but "unkempt."

UNPLEASED/DISPLEASED

"Unpleased" is considered archaic; the standard modern word for your
reaction to something you don't like is "displeased.""

However "unpleasing" is still current to describe something that fails
to please: "the arrangement of 'Silent Night' for truck air horns was
unpleasing." But "displeasing" is more common.

UNREST

Journalists often use this mild term to describe all manner of civil
disorders, but it's silly to call mayhem or chaos merely "unrest" when
there are bullets flying about and bodies lying in the streets.

UNTHAW/THAW

"Unthaw" is another illogical negative. Use "thaw."

UNTRACKED/ON TRACK

When things begin running smoothly and successfully, they get "on
track." Some people oddly substitute "untracked" for this expression,
perhaps thinking that to be "tracked" is to be stuck in a rut.

UPMOST/UTMOST

"Upmost" can mean "uppermost," referring to something on top. But
usually this word is a mistake for "utmost," meaning "most extreme."
"Utmost" is related to words like "utter," as in "The birthday party was
utter chaos."

UPTO/UP TO

Not upto alot lately? You might use some of your spare time memorizing
the fact that "up to" is a two-word phrase, as is "a lot."

URINE ANALYSIS/URINALYSIS

The technical term for the test you use to kick the druggies off the
team is not "urine analysis" but "urinalysis."

US/WE

ÒWeÓ is a subject form, ÒusÓ an object. We do things; things are done to
or for us.

If this doesnÕt help, you can try a couple of simple tests. If you are
clear about the difference between ÒIÓ and Òme,Ó try making your
sentence singular. ÒWeÓ becomes ÒIÓ in the singular and ÒusÓ becomes
Òme.Ó

ÒOur mothers and us are going shoppingÓ becomes Òmy mother and me are
going shoppingÓÑwhich is wrong. So the sentences should read ÒMy mother
and I are going shoppingÓ and ÒOur mothers and we are going shopping.Ó

But if that doesnÕt seem obvious, try eliminating everything but the
pronoun and the verb: ÒUs are going shoppingÓ should be Òwe are going
shopping.Ó

Test a sentence like Òus girls have sold more calendars than the guysÓ
by reducing it to Òus have sold.Ó This sounds wrong. It should be ÒWe
girls have sold.Ó

But Òthey gave us girls the prizeÓ is correct because Òthey gave us the
prizeÓ is also correct.

USE/USAGE

"Use" and "usage" overlap somewhat, but they are not entirely
synonymous. Many people treat "usage" as if it were just a fancier form
of "use" in phrases like "make usage of," where "make use of" is the
standard expression. As a rule of thumb, if either "use" or "usage"
seems appropriate, go with "use."

USE TO/USED 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. See also "suppose to."

USED TO COULD/USED TO BE ABLE

"I used to could lift a hay-bale with my teeth," says Jeb, meaning "I
used to be able to."

UTILIZE/USE

The best use for "utilize" is to mean "make use of": "Ryan utilized his
laptop in the library mainly as a pillow to rest his head on." In most
contexts, "use" is simpler and clearer. Many readers consider "utilize"
pretentious.


VAGUE REFERENCE

Vague reference is a common problem in sentences where "this," "it,"
"which" or other such words don't refer back to any one specific word or
phrase, but a whole situation. "I hitchhiked back to town, got picked up
by an alien spacecraft and was subjected to humiliating medical
experiments, which is why I didn't get my paper done on time." In
conversation this sort of thing goes unnoticed, but more care needs to
be taken in writing. There are lots of ways to reorganize this sentence
to avoid the vague reference. You could begin the sentence with
"because" and replace "which is why" with "so," for instance.

Sometimes the referent is only understood and not directly expressed at
all: "Changing your oil regularly is important, which is one reason your
engine burned up." The "which" refers to an implied failure to change
oil regularly, but doesn't actually refer back to any of the specific
words used earlier in the sentence.

Sometimes there is no logical referent: "In the book it says that
Shakespeare was in love with some 'dark lady'." This is a casual way of
using "it" that is not acceptable in formal written English. Write
instead "Arthur O. Williams says in The Sonnets that Shakespeare. . . ."

A reference may be ambiguous because it's not clear which of two
referents is meant: "Most women are attracted to guys with a good sense
of humor unless they are into practical jokes." Does "they" refer to
"women" or "guys"? It would be clearer if the sentence said "Most women
are attracted to guys with a good sense of humor, though not usually to
practical jokers."

VAIN/VANE/VEIN

When you have vanity you are conceited: you are vain. "You're so vain
you probably think this song is about you." This spelling can also mean
"futile," as in "All my love's in vain" (fruitless). Note that when
Ecclesiastes says that "all is vanity" it doesn't mean that everything
is conceited, but that everything is pointless.

A vane is a blade designed to move or be moved by gases or liquid, like
a weathervane.

A vein is a slender thread of something, like blood in a body or gold in
a mine. It can also be a line of thought, as in "After describing his
dog's habit of chewing on the sofa, Carlos went on in the same vein for
several minutes."

VARIOUS/SEVERAL

Many people say "she heard from various of the committee members that
they wanted to cancel the next meeting." "Several of the committee
members" would be better.

VARY/VERY

"Vary" means "to change." Don't substitute it for "very" in phrases like
"very nice" or "very happy."

VEIL OF TEARS/VALE OF TEARS

The expression "vale of tears" goes back to pious sentiments that
consider life on earth to be a series of sorrows to be left behind when
we go on to a better world in Heaven. It conjures up an image of a
suffering traveler laboring through a valley ("vale") of troubles and
sorrow. "Veil of tears" is poetic sounding, but it's a mistake.

VENDOR

Some writers are turning "vendor" into a verb meaning "to sell," writing
things like, "he was vendoring comic books on eBay." Since "vend" is
already a verb meaning "sell" and "vendor" is normally a noun, this
sounds very odd to many readers.

Other people use forms of the word to mean "to be certified as a vendor":
"Persons wishing to be vendored must complete the appropriate form."
This process is also referred to as "vendorization."

This pattern is probably inspired by the widespread use of "vendor" to
label suppliers on commercial Web sites. Instead of thinking of vendors
as mere merchants, dealers, or sellers, some special quality is being
attributed to them.

None of this is standard English.

VERB TENSE

If the situation being described is an ongoing or current one, the
present tense is needed, even in a past-tense context: "Last week she
admitted that she is really a brunette" (not "was").

Pairs of verbs that go together logically have to be kept in the same
tense. Incorrect: "Patricia described her trip to China and writes that
the Great Wall really impressed her." Since "described" is in the past
tense, and the writing contains her descriptions, "writes" should be
"wrote."

Lots of people get into trouble with sentences that describe a
hypothetical situation in the past: "If he would have packed his own
suitcase, he would have noticed that the cat was in it." That first
"would have" should be a simple "had": "If he had packed his own
suitcase he would have noticed that the cat was in it." Also "The game
would have been more fun if we had [not "would have"] won." This sort of
construction consists of two parts: a hypothetical cause in the past and
its logical effect. The hypothetical cause needs to be put into the past
tense: "had." Only the effect is made conditional: "would have." Note
that in the second example above the effect is referred to before the
cause.

Students summarizing the plot of a play, movie, or novel are often
unfamiliar with the tradition of doing so in the present tense: "Hester
embroiders an " A" on her dress." Think of the events in a piece of
fiction as happening whenever you read them--they exist in an eternal
present even if they are narrated in the past tense. Even those who are
familiar with this pattern get tripped up when they begin to discuss the
historical or biographical context of a work, properly using the past
tense, and forget to shift back to the present when they return to plot
summary. Here's how it's done correctly: "Mark Twain's days on the
Mississippi were long past when he wrote Huckleberry Finn; but Huck's
love for life on the river clearly reflects his youthful experience as a
steamboat pilot." The verb "reflects" is in the present tense. Often the
author's activity in writing is rendered in the present tense as well:
"Twain depicts Pap as a disgusting drunk." What about when you are
comparing events that occur at two different times in the same
narrative? You still have to stick to the present: "Tom puts Jim through
a lot of unnecessary misery before telling him that he is free." Just
remember when you go from English to your history class that you have to
shift back to the past tense for narrating historical events: "Napoleon
lost the battle of Waterloo."

VERBAGE/VERBIAGE

"Verbiage" is an insulting term usually meant to disparage needlessly
wordy prose. Don't use it to mean simply "wording." There is no such
word as "verbage."

VERACIOUS/VORACIOUS

If you are extremely hungry, you may have a "voracious" appetite (think
of the O as an open mouth, ready to devour anything). "Veracious" is an
unusual word meaning "truthful, honest" (think about the E in "verify").
A truthful person has "veracity." "Voracity," meaning "extreme appetite"
is a rare word you are unlikely to have a use for; "voraciousness" is
more common.

VERSE/PLAY AGAINST

Some young people use "verse" as a verb meaning "to play against," as in
"I'll verse you at basketball after school." Computer gamers are
particularly fond of virtual opponents versing each other. Presumably
this bit of slang derives from the word "versus," but it's not standard
English and is likely to confuse outsiders.

VERSES/VERSUS

The "vs." in a law case like "Brown vs. The Board of Education" stands
for Latin versus (meaning "against"). Don't confuse it with the word for
lines of poetry--"verses"--when describing other conflicts, like the
upcoming football game featuring Oakesdale versus Pinewood.

Note that in formal legal contexts the abbreviation is usually just
"v.", as in "Brown v. The Board of Education."

VERY SORT OF, VERY KIND OF

"He's very sort of buffed." Wha . . ? He can't be very buffed and only
sort of buffed at the same time. It's an error to follow the phrase
"very sort of" with an adjective (a quality, such as "rich," "happy,"
"conscientious").

It's all right to say "very sort of" when "very" means "exact,"
"precise," and the phrase is followed by an noun (a thing or person):
"the very sort of pastry I can't resist," "the very sort of boss I can't
stand."

Less common is the equally confused expression "very kind of" as in
"he's very kind of charming when he's trying to impress women."

Of course "very kind of" is fine in appreciative comments where "kind"
is an adjective meaning "generous," "helpful," like "it was very kind of
you to shovel Mrs. Mukherjee's front walk."

VERY UNIQUE/UNIQUE

"Unique" singles out one of a kind. That "un" at the beginning is a form
of "one." A thing is unique (the only one of its kind) or it is not.
Something may be almost unique (there are very few like it), but nothing
is "very unique."

VICIOUS/VISCOUS CIRCLE/CYCLE

The term "vicious circle" was invented by logicians to describe a form
of fallacious circular argument in which each term of the argument draws
on the other: "Democracy is the best form of government because
democratic elections produce the best governments." The phrase has been
extended in popular usage to all kinds of self-exacerbating processes
such as this: poor people often find themselves borrowing money to pay
off their debts, but in the process create even more onerous debts which
in their turn will need to be financed by further borrowing. Sensing
vaguely that such destructive spirals are not closed loops, people have
transmuted "vicious circle" into "vicious cycle." The problem with this
perfectly logical change is that a lot of people know what the original
"correct" phrase was and are likely to scorn users of the new one. They
go beyond scorn to contempt however toward those poor souls who render
the phrase as "viscous cycle." Don't use this expression unless you are
discussing a Harley-Davidson in dire need of an oil change.

VIDEO/FILM

Many of us can remember when portable transistorized radios were
ignorantly called "transistors." We have a tendency to abbreviate the
names of various sorts of electronic technology (see "stereo" and
"satellite"), often in the process confusing the medium with the
content. Video is the electronic reproduction of images, and applies to
broadcast and cable television, prerecorded videocassette recordings
(made on a videocassette recorder, or VCR), and related technologies.
MTV appropriated this broad term for a very narrow meaning: "videotaped
productions of visual material meant to accompany popular music
recordings." This is now what most people mean when they speak of "a
video," unless they are "renting a video," in which case they mean a
videocassette or DVD recording of a film. One also hears people
referring to theatrical films that they happened to have viewed in
videotaped reproduction as "videos." This is simply wrong. A film is a
film (or movie), whether it is projected on a screen from 35 or 70 mm
film or broadcast via the NTSC, SECAM or PAL standard. Orson Welles'
"Citizen Kane" is not now and never will be a "video."

VINEGARETTE/VINAIGRETTE

Naive diners and restaurant workers alike commonly mispronounce the
classic French dressing called "vinaigrette" as if it were
"vinegarette." To be more sophisticated, say "vin-uh-GRETT" (the first
syllable rhymes with "seen").

VINTAGE POINT/VANTAGE POINT

The spot from which you have a good view is a vantage point.

VIRII/VIRUSES

Hackers like to use "virii" as the plural form of "virus," but Latin
scholars object that this invented term does not follow standard
patterns in that language, and that there is already a perfectly good
plural in English: "viruses."

VITAE/VITA

Unless you are going to claim credit for accomplishments in previous
incarnations, you should refer to your "vita," not your "vitae." All
kidding aside, the "ae" in "vitae" supposedly indicates the genitive
rather than the plural; but the derivation of "vita" from "curriculum
vitae" is purely speculative (see the Oxford English Dictionary), and
"vitae" on its own makes no sense grammatically.

"Resume," by the way, is a French word with both "Es" accented, and
literally means "summary." In English one often sees it without the
accents, or with only the second accent, neither of which is a serious
error. But if you're trying to show how multilingual you are, remember
the first accent.

VIOLA/VOILA

A viola is a flower or a musical instrument. The expression which means
"behold!" is "voila." It comes from a French expression literally
meaning "look there!" In French it is spelled with a grave accent over
the A, but when it was adopted into English, it lost its accent. Such
barbarous misspellings as "vwala" are even worse, caused by the
reluctance of English speakers to believe that "OI" can represent the
sound "wah," as it usually does in French.

VOLUMN/VOLUME

There are a few unusual words in English when ending in "MN" in which
the "N" is silent, such as "hymn" and "column," but "volume" is not one
of them.

VOLUMPTUOUS/VOLUPTUOUS

Given the current mania for slim, taut bodies, it is understandable--if
amusing--that some folks should confuse voluptuousness with lumpiness.
In fact, "voluptuous" is derived from Latin "voluptas," which refers to
sensual pleasure and not to shape at all. A voluptuous body is a
luxurious body.