Do You Have 20/20 Revision? by Rob Kyff on Creators.com

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Do You Have 20/20 Revision?

Can you find 20 errors in the following account of the ongoing battle over English usage?

Commentators on English usage follow one of two general principals. Prescriptivists believe English should adhere to a multitude of discreet rules and find it nerve-wracking when they see a violation of these regulations. They wish there were less errors, and they try to staunch these mistakes. They believe that using proper English carries a certain cache.

Complimenting this straightlaced view are the descriptivists, who believe we should make due with the English spoken by average people. Unlike the prescriptivists, they don't believe the apocalypse is eminent just because someone uses "lay" instead of "lie." The ever-changing nature of English, they say, mitigates against permanent rules for its use. They believe English is always evolving, not stationery, and they laugh at the hew and cry that arises over common usage errors.

Just because someone's usage doesn't gibe with some arbitrary rule, they say, doesn't mean we should hone in on the error and meet out punishment. In their view, even though a usage may be considered a gaff at first, if enough people use it, it becomes standard English.

Nevertheless, they don't believe speakers and writers of English should have free reign to use English in any way they want.

They think people should try and follow standard English, but they except change when it does occur.

Errors and explanations:

1. principles (rules), not principals (primary items)
2. discrete (separate), not discreet (prudent)
3. nerve-racking — rack (to cause suffering), not wrack (to wreck)
4. fewer — "Fewer" is used with countable items, "less" with mass items.
5. stanch (stop the flow of), not staunch (steadfast)
6. cachet (prestige), not cache (store of goods)
7. complementing (completing, matching), not complimenting (praising)
8. straitlaced (tight), not straightlaced (not bending)
9. make do (improvise), not make due (enforce payment)
10. imminent (about to happen), not eminent (prominent)
11. militates (influences), not mitigates (alleviates)
12. stationary (fixed), not stationery (paper)
13. hue (uproar), not hew (shape)
14. jibe (be consistent), not gibe (taunt)
15. home in (focus on), not hone (sharpen)
16. mete (distribute), not meet (encounter)
17. gaffe (blunder), not gaff (a hook)
18. rein (control), not reign (rule)
19. try to, not try
20. accept (go along with), not except (exclude)

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.