What Do You Want

What Do YouWant?

Good Grammar, or Good Taste?

Remember the “Winston Tastes Good Like A Cigarette Should”commercial? An English teacher responded that the commercial should say “…As A Cigarette Should.” Winston responded with “What Do YouWant? Good Grammar, or Good Taste?”

Commonly Misused Words and Phrases

And . . .

Synonyms,Homonyms, Antonyms, and Number Expansions

Words that sound alike(homonyms):

Accept, Except:

Accept is a verb meaning “to receive.” Except is usually a preposition meaning “excluding.” I will accept all the packages except that one. Except is also a verb meaning “to exclude.” Please except that item from the list.

Affect, Effect:

Affect is usually a verb meaning “to influence.” Effect isusually a noun meaning “result.” The drug did not affect the disease,and it had several adverse side effects. Effect can also be averb meaning “to bring about.” Only the president can effect such adramatic change.

Allusion, Illusion:

An Allusion is an indirect reference. An illusion is a misconception or false impression. Did you catch my allusion to Shakespeare? Mirrors give the room an illusion of depth.

Altar/alter

An altar is a table or stand upon which religious ceremonies are performed.

Alter means "to change":Sally, have you altered your hair color?

Desert/dessert

A desert is a dry, sandy place. You place the accent on the first syllable (say"DEH-zert"). It is also an old-style word for "something that is deserved." Nowadays the second meaning only surfaces in the phrase"just deserts." That's just as in "fair," not just as in"only." Whew, this gets more and more confusing, eh?

Note: When“desert” is used as a verb, it means “to leave empty or alone” or “to abandon.”

Dessert is the sweet stuff yougenerally eat after a meal. You accent the second syllable (say"deh-ZERT").

Capital, Capitol:

Capital refers to a city, capitol to a building where lawmakers meet. Capital also refers to wealth or resources. The capitol has undergone extensive renovations. The residents of the state capital protested the development plans.

Climactic, Climatic:

Climactic is derived from climax, the point of greatest intensity in a series or progression of events. Climatic is derived from climate; it refers to meteorological conditions. The climactic period in the dinosaurs’ reign was reached just before severe climatic conditions brought on the ice age.

Elicit, Illicit:

Elicit is a verb meaning “to bring out” or “to evoke.” Illicit is an adjective meaning “unlawful.” The reporter was unable to elicit information from the police about illicit drug traffic.

Emigrate from, Immigrate to:

Emigrate means “to leave one country or region to settle in another.” In 1900, my grandfather emigrated from Russia. Immigrate means “to enter another country and reside there.” Many Mexicans immigrate to the U.S. to find work.

Hints: Emigrate begins with the letter “E”, as does Exit. When you emigrate, you exit a country. Immigrate begins with the letter “I”, as does In. When you immigrate, you go into a country

Farther/further

Both these words mean "more far. "Farther refers to physical distance: that is, more far in terms that can be measured in inches (or centimeters if you prefer metric). Further refers to more abstract differences: for example, the difference between two people's points of view.

Hawaii is farther from New York than from Dallas.

Tom's explanation of what happened is further from the truth than Bill's.

Good/well

Simply put, "well" is an adverb, whereas "good" is an adjective. To illustrate, let's take an easier example: happy is an adjective; happily is the corresponding adverb.

Sally smiled happily.

Sally's smile was happy.

Conan fights well.

Conan's fighting is good.

In the majority of cases, the adverb/adjective pair is easy to understand because, as with happy/happily, they are similar. Well/good confuses us because the two words are so different.

Lose/Loose – Some people just can’t grasp the idea that these two words are totally different – LOSE means “to be unsuccessful in retaining possession of” or “to be deprived of,” whereas LOOSE means “not fastened, restrained, or contained”

Principle, Principal:

Principal is a noun meaning “the head of a school or an organization” or “a sum of money.” Principle is a noun meaning “a basic truth or law.” The principal taught us many important life principles.

Hint:

To recognize the spelling of Principal first think of yourself as a greedy opportunist. You definitely would want to be a “pal” of anyone who is in a position of power or anything to do with money. This principal has “pal” in it.

Than, Then:

Than is a conjunction used in comparisons; then is an adverb denoting time. That pizza is more than I can eat. Tom laughed, and then we recognized him.

Hints: Than is used to compare; both words have the letter “a” in them.

Then tells when; both are spelled the same, except for the first letter.

There, Their, They’re:

There is an adverb specifying place; it is also an expletive.Adverb: Sylvia is lying there unconscious. Expletive: There are two plums left. Their is a possessive pronoun. They’re is a contraction of they are. Fred and Jane finally washed their car. They’re laterthan usual today.

Hints: If you are using there to tell the reader where, both words have h-e-r-e. Here is also a place. If you are using their as a possessive pronoun, you are telling the reader what "they” own. Their has h-e-i-r, which also means heir, as in someone who inherits something. Both words have to do with ownership.

They’re is a contraction of they are. Sound out “they are” in the sentence and see if it works. If it does not, it must be one of the previous versions.

To, Too, Two:

To is a preposition; too is an adverb; two is a number. Too many of your shots slice to the left, but the last two were right on the mark.

Hints: If you are trying to spell out the number, it is always t-w-o. Two has a “w” which is the first letter in “word.” The opposite of word is number.

Too is usually used as also when adding or including some additional information. Whenever you want to include something else, think of it as adding; therefore you also need to add an extra “o.”

Who/Whom

These words are relative pronouns. Use "who" when it is the subject of the sentence, "whom" when it is the object. Here's a very simple rule that should always work: Try replacing the word "who/whom" with "he/him." If "he" is correct, "who" is correct. If "him" is correct, "whom" is correct.

He is my brother.

Who is your brother?

I'm looking at him.

You're looking at whom?

Your, You’re:

Your is a possessive pronoun; you’re is a contraction of you are. You’re going to catch a cold if you don’t wear your coat.

Hints: Sound out you are in the sentence. If it works in the sentence it can be written as you’re. If it sounds awkward, it is probably supposed to be

Your.

EXAMPLE: You’re shoes are muddy. "You are shoes are muddy" does not work, so it should be written as: Your shoes are muddy.

Words that don’t sound alike but confuse us anyway:

Lie, Lay:

Lie is an intransitive verb meaning “to recline or rest on a surface.” Its principal parts are lie, lay, lain. Lay is a transitive verb meaning “to put or place.” Its principal parts are lay, laid.

Hint: Chickens lay eggs. I lie down when I am tired.

Set, Sit:

Set is a transitive verb meaning “to put” or “to place.” Its principal parts are set, set, set. Sit is an intransitive verb meaning “to be seated.” Its principal parts are sit, sat, sat. She set the dough in a warm corner of the kitchen. The cat sat in the warmest part of the room.

Who, Which, That:

Do not use which to refer to persons. Use who instead. That, though generally used to refer to things, may be used to refer to a group or class of people. I just saw a boy who was wearing a yellow banana costume. I have to go to math next, which is my hardest class. Where is the book that I was reading?

Problem phrases:

Supposed to: Do not omit the “d.” Suppose to is incorrect.

Used to: Same as above. Do not write use to.

Toward: There is no “s” at the end of the word.

Anyway: Also has no ending “s.” Anyways is nonstandard.

Couldn’t care less: Be sure to make it negative. (Not I could care less.)

All walks of life: Not woks of life. This phrase does not apply to oriental cooking.

Chest of drawers: Not chester drawers.

For all intents and purposes: Not intensive purposes.

Contractions or Definitions? Which sounds better: “I’ve got ten dollars” or “I have ten dollars?” While “I’ve got” is technically correct, the definition of the contraction is “I have,” which would sound awkward if you said “I have got ten dollars.” It is more concise to say “I have ten dollars,” which means the same, but is more correct.

And etc.

Etc. is short for the Latin et cetera which means literally "and so forth." Therefore, when you say "and etc." you're really saying "and and so forth." This is clearly redundant. Just say "etc" (or preferably "et cetera"). (It may help you to remember that "etc" was once abbreviated &c.)

ATM Machine

The letters ATM stand for "Automated Teller Machine." Therefore, when you say "ATM Machine" you're really saying "Automated Teller Machine Machine." This is obviously redundant. Just say "I'm going to the ATM."

I vs. Me

Jane and me are going to town. – INCORRECT

This car belongs to Jane and I. – INCORRECT

"I" is a pronoun that must be the subject, never the object, of a verb. "Me" is a pronoun that must be the object, never the subject. (The same is true for he/him, she/her, we/us, etc.)

As a simple test, try removing Jane from the sentence. You wouldn't say "Me is going to town." You'd say "I am going to town," so say "Jane and I are going to town." You wouldn't say "This car belongs to I," you'd say "This car belongs to me," so say "This car belongs to Jane and me."

Ending a Sentence with a Preposition

Contrary to popular belief, there is no agreement on this one among English professionals. In general, especially if your audience is strict about rules, don't end a sentence with a preposition. Prepositions are little words that indicate position and such: with, at, by, from, etc. In general a preposition should come before ("pre"-position) the noun it modifies. So you should change

“That's the man I must talk to.”

“That's the man to whom I must talk.”  To make it simpler, just say “I must talk to that man.”

Dangling Participles

A participle is a verb-form that ends in -ing. It is called "dangling" when it doesn't agree with its subject.

While walking down the street, a car caught Bob's attention.

The subject of the sentence is "a car," but it is not the car that is doing the walking, therefore the participle "walking" is dangling.

To correct the sentence, write:

While walking down the street, Bob noticed a car.

A car caught Bob's attention as he walked down the street.

Remember that not all words that end in -ing are participles (e.g. thing) and some participles are gerunds depending on context. (A gerund is a participle that is functioning as a noun, e.g. "My favorite activity is sleeping.")

Use of its and it's: Its is a possessive adjective. It means 'belonging to it': Put the parrot back in its cage. It'sis a shortened form of 'it is': It's raining again.

Acronym-- a word (as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging), Laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation), Cop (Constable on Patrol), Police (Protective Organization for Life and Investment in Civil Establishment), or snafu (Situation Normal All Fu**ed Up) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term – Acronym Converter

Antonym-- a word of opposite meaning – eg: the usual antonym of good is bad

Homonym-- one of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning (as the noun quail and the verb quail)

Homograph-- one of two or more words spelled alike but different in meaning or derivation or pronunciation (as the bow of a ship, a bow and arrow)

Homophone-- one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling (as the words to, too, and two)

Synonym-- one of two or more words or expressions of the same language that have the same or nearly the same meaning in some or all senses

Hyponyms-- a word that represents different categories covered by a superordinate

Superordinate-- a generalterm that includes various different words representing narrower categories

Meronyms-- a wordthat names a part of a given word – eg: ‘brim’ and ‘crown’ are meronyms of hat

Holonyms-- a wordthat names the whole of which a given word is a part – eg: hat is a holonym for ‘brim’ and ‘crown’

Hypernyms-- a wordthat is more generic than a given word

. . .and a little fun . ..

Mamanym – southern usage meaning “mama and them” – eg: “I went to seemamanym yesterday.”

M&M – melts in your mouth, not in your hands

e.g.or i.e. ? -- The abbreviatione.g. (from the Latin exempli gratia, 'for sake of an example') indicates thatone or more examples follow of what has been mentioned in general terms: It couldbe cheaper by public transport, e.g. by train or coach. The abbreviation i.e.(from Latin id est, 'that is') indicates that an explanation follows of whathas just been mentioned: Gratuities are discretionary, i.e. you don't have toleave a tip if you don't want to.

When in doubt, buy a Dictionary or Thesaurus or go back to the 5^th Grade

Or click below

Dictionary Thesaurus Translator

Computer Values:

Bit (b): on charge (1 or true) or off charge (0 or false) – short for Binary Digit

Nibble: four bits or ½ byte

Byte (B): eight bits (a character/numberrepresented by a byte)

Kilobyte (2^10):one thousand bytes (KB): 1,024

Megabyte (2^10):one million bytes (MB): 1,048,576

Gigabyte (2^30):one billion bytes (GB): 1,073,741,824

Terabyte (2^40):one trillion bytes (TB): 1,099,511,627,776

Petabyte (2^50):one quadrillion bytes (PB): 1,125,899,906,842,624

Exabyte (2^60):1,000 Petabytes (EB): 1,152,921,504,606,846,976

Zettabyte (2^70):1,000 Exabytes (ZB): 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424

Yottabyte (2^80):1,000 Zettabytes (YB): 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176

Decisecond: one-tenth of a second: 1/10

Centisecond: one-hundredth of a second: 1/100

Millisecond: one-thousandth of a second(ms): 1/1,000

Microsecond: one-millionth of a second(us): 1/1,000,000

Nanosecond: one-billionth of a second (ns):1/1,000,000,000

Picosecond: one-trillionth of a second(ps): 1/1,000,000,000,000

Hertz: cycles per second (Hz)

Kilohertz: thousands of cycles per second(KHz) = 1,000 Hz

Megahertz: millions of cycles per second(MHz) = 1,000 KHz

Gigahertz: billions of cycles per second(GHz) = 1,000 MHz

SI (Système Internationald’ Unitès) Values:

yocto (y) = 10^-24= 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001

zepto (z) = 10^-21= 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.001

atto (a) = 10^-18= 0.000.000.000.000.000.001

femto (f) = 10^-15= 0.000.000.000.000.001

pico (p) = 10^-12= 0.000.000.000.001

nano (n) = 10^-9= 0.000.000.001

micro (µ) = 10^-6= 0.000.001

milli (m) = 10^-3= 0.001

centi (c) = 10^-2= 0.01

deci (d) = 10^-1= 0.1

10⁰ = 1

10¹ = 10 (deca) -- da

10² = 100 (hecto)-- h

10³ = 1,000(kilo) – k (thousand)

10⁶ = 1,000,000 (mega) – M(million)

10⁹ = 1,000,000,000 (giga) – G (billion)

10¹² = 1,000,000,000,000 (tera) – T (trillion)

10¹⁵ = 1,000,000,000,000,000(peta) – P (quadrillion)

10¹⁸ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000(exa) – E (quintillion)

10²¹ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(zeta) – Z (sextillion)

10²⁴ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(yotta) – Y (septillion)

10²⁷ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(octillion)

10³⁰ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(nonillion)

10³³ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(decillion)

10³⁶ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(undecillion)

10³⁹ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(duodecillion)

10⁴² = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(tredecillion)

10⁴⁵ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(quattuordecillion)

10⁴⁸ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(quindecillion)

10⁵¹ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(sexdecillion)

10⁵⁴ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(septendecillion)

10⁵⁷ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(octodecillion)

10⁶⁰ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(novemdecillion)

10⁶³ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(vigintillion)

10⁶⁶= unvigintillion

10⁶⁹= duovigintillion

10⁷²= trevigintillion

10⁷⁵= quattuorvigintillion

10⁷⁸= quinvigintillion

10⁸¹= sexvigintillion

10⁸⁴= septenvigintillion

10⁸⁷= octovigintillion

10⁹⁰= novemvigintillion

10⁹³= trigintillion

10⁹⁶= untrigintillion

10⁹⁹= duotrigintillion

10¹⁰⁰ = googol

10¹⁰²= tretrigintillion

10¹⁰⁵= quattuortrigintillion

10¹⁰⁸= quintrigintillion

10¹¹¹= sextrigintillion

10¹¹⁴= septentrigintillion

10¹¹⁷= octotrigintillion

10¹²⁰= novemtrigintillion

10¹²³= quadragintillion

10¹²⁶= unquadragintillion

10¹²⁹= duoquadrigintillion

10¹³²= trequadragintillion

10¹³⁵= quattuorquadragintillion

10¹³⁸= quinquadragintillion

10¹⁴¹= sexquadragintillion

10¹⁴⁴= septenquadragintillion

10¹⁴⁷= octoquadragintillion

10¹⁵⁰= novemquadragintillion

10¹⁵³= quinquagintillion

10¹⁵⁶= unquinquagintillion

10¹⁵⁹= duoquinquagintillion

10¹⁶²= trequinquagintillion

10¹⁶⁵= quattuorquinquagintillion

10¹⁶⁸= quinquinquagintillion

10¹⁷¹= sexquinquagintillion

10¹⁷⁴= septenquinquagintillion

10¹⁷⁷= octoquinquagintillion

10¹⁸⁰= novemquinquagintillion

10¹⁸³= sexagintillion

10¹⁸⁶= unsexagintillion

10¹⁸⁹= duosexagintillion

10¹⁹²= tresexagintillion

10¹⁹⁵= quattuorsexagintillion

10¹⁹⁸= quinsexagintillion

10²⁰¹= sexsexagintillion

10²⁰⁴= septensexagintillion

10²⁰⁷= octosexagintillion

10²¹⁰= novemsexagintillion

10²¹³= septuagintillion

10²¹⁶= unseptuagintillion

10²¹⁹= duoseptuagintillion

10²²²= treseptuagintillion

10²²⁵= quattuorseptuagintillion

10²²⁸= quinseptuagintillion

10²³¹= sexseptuagintillion

10²³⁴= septenseptuagintillion

10²³⁷= octoseptuagintillion

10²⁴⁰= novemseptuagintillion

10²⁴³= octogintillion

10²⁴⁶= unoctogintillion

10²⁴⁹= duooctogintillion

10²⁵²= treoctogintillion

10²⁵⁵= quattuoroctogintillion

10²⁵⁸= quinoctogintillion

10²⁶¹= sexoctogintillion

10²⁶⁴= septoctogintillion

10²⁶⁷= octooctogintillion

10²⁷⁰= novemoctogintillion

10²⁷³= nonagintillion

10²⁷⁶= unnonagintillion

10²⁷⁹= duononagintillion

10²⁸²= treonagintillion

10²⁸⁵= quattuornonagintillion

10²⁸⁸= quinnonagintillion

10²⁹¹= sexnonagintillion

10²⁹⁴= septennonagintillion

10²⁹⁷= octononagintillion

10³⁰⁰= novemnonagintillion

10³⁰³ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000 (centillionor 1000¹⁰¹)

googol = 1 followed by 100 zeroes or: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

googolplex = 10^{10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000}

*or *

One googolplex can also bewritten as a 1followed by 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 zeroes.

Pi (π):

A number, represented bysaid letter, expressing the ratio of the circumference of a perfect circle toits diameter.

December 6, 2002

Tokyo - Ateam of researchers at a leading national university have set a world record bycalculating the value of pi to 1.2411trillion places, one of the researchers said on Friday.

Pi is the mathematical ratio used to measure the area of circles and itsdecimal points are infinite.

Professor Yasumasa Kanada and nine other researchers at the Information Technology Centre at TokyoUniversity calculated the value for Pi, with a Hitachi supercomputer, for over 400 hours in September, projectteam member Makoto Kudo said.

The new calculation is more than six times the number of places in the recordcurrently recognized by Guinness World Records – 206.158billion places - which Kanada also helped calculatein 1999.

Kanada's team spent five years designing the programused to calculate Pi in the September experiment to test the efficiency of the supercomputer, Kudo said.

The Hitachi supercomputer is capable of two trillion calculations per second, or twice asfast as the one used for the current Guinness record calculation.

[Ed. Note: Isn’t the question “Why?” rather than “How?”]

Pi is used to measure yourhat or cap size.

1. Measure the circumference of your headusually about ¾ " to 1” above eyebrows.

2. Measure snugly to 1/8"for an accurate number.

3. Divide by pi ( 3.1415 ) to find your hat size.

1/8” = .125 inches

1/4" = .250 inches

3/8” = .375 inches

1/2" = .500 inches