Probably no one will subscribe to all these expressions of preference; some are controversial and are in a state of flux. But everyone who chooses other standards should be aware that he or she is doing so, and that many people who have a taste for "proper" English, logic, harmony, and precision find these usages valuable. Obviously, not all meanings of all words below are dealt with here.

Accept: to receive; except: to exclude.

Across: no letter t at the end of the word, in spelling or pronunciation.

A.D., often without periods, (Anno Domini: in the year of our Lord) precedes a date; B.C. (before Christ) follows a date. B.C.E. (before the common era; same years as B.C.) and C.E. (common era) follow a date. (Since there was no year 0, the third millennium of the era will begin with the arrival of 2001, not 2000.)

Adjective is pronounced as spelled, including the c (as in "eject", not "adjuhtive")

Affect: (as a verb) to influence; (as a noun) feeling; effect: (as a verb) to cause, to produce, to bring about; (as a noun) what is caused, produced.

Aggravate: to intensify, exacerbate; irritate: to annoy.

Allude: to refer to indirectly; elude: to escape.

Allusion: an indirect reference; illusion: an unreal image or false impression.

A lot (two words): many; allot: apportion.

Already: by a given time; not to be confused with all ready, meaning completely ready.

Alright: misspelling of all right.

Alternately: occurring in successive turns, back and forth; alternatively: one or the other.

Alumnus (plural alumni) a male graduate, also collection of male and female graduates; alumna (plural alumnae): a female graduate.

Amend: to put right; emend: to correct.

Among more than two; between two.

Angry: wrathful; mad: insane.

Anxious: worried; eager: keenly desirous.

Anymore is an adverb meaning (negatively) "any longer" and, in some parts of the United States (positively), "nowadays." When in doubt, use two words.

Anytime is an adverb meaning at any time, and should not be used to mean "any time."

Anyway is an adverb meaning "in any way," or "in any case," or "nevertheless."

Anyways: illiterate form of anyway.

At about, redundant for about, in relation to a time.

Averse: reluctant, unwilling; adverse: opposed, contrary, hostile.

A while (two words, while a noun): a period of time; awhile (adverb): for a while.

Ax or axe: not to be confused with ask.

Basis singular, bases plural. Pronunciation "baseze" not to be used for singular.

Believe: In this word i comes before e.

Biannual: twice a year (same as semiannual); biennial: once in two years or lasting two years. Bimonthly: once in two months; semimonthly: twice a month; biweekly: once in two weeks; semiweekly: twice a week. Some older usages differ.

Bring toward the speaker; take away from the speaker. You take money to the supermarket and bring home groceries.

Can: be able to; may: have permission to.

Can't hardly, double negative for can hardly.

Casual: happening by chance, relaxed, informal, unconcerned, not planned; causal: involving a cause, relating to cause and effect.

Cf.: confer (Latin for compare)

Cite: to refer to or to summon; site: (as noun) location, (as verb) to locate or position. Sight: to see.

Climactic: relating to a climax, final and most forceful of a series; climatic: related to climate, weather.

Compare similarities; contrast differences.

Complement completes; compliment congratulates.

Compose: to make up; comprise: to consist of, to contain, to include. The whole comprises the parts. To compose is to put the parts together to form the whole.

Consensus (note fourth letter is not c): general agreement. Do not add "of opinion."

Consul: an official; council: an assembly; counsel: advice or to advise or lawyer or other advisor.

Continual: in steady but not unbroken succession; continuous: without cessation.

Could of: illiterate for could have. Similarly, may of, might of, should of, would of, which should use have, not of.

Couldn't care less: caring nothing about; could care less: confused expression apparently intended to have the same meaning, but literally expressing some concern.

Coupon: no u pronounced (say "coopon").

Criteria, data, media, phenomena, strata are plural: Use criterion, datum, medium, phenomenon, stratum for singular.

Deduction from general to particular; induction from particular to general.

Denote: to indicate, to mean; connote: to suggest, to imply. Home denotes dwelling place, and connotes refuge and rest.

Deity: In this word e comes before i.

Differ from (not than): to be unlike; differ with: to disagree.

Don't: A contraction for do not; doesn't: a contraction for does not .

Drawer: noun of two syllables, both of which should be pronounced; draw: primarily a verb of one syllable.

Drownded: illiterate for drowned.

Each, either, everybody, everyone, neither (not one, of two), none (not one, of any number), one, are singular. Use is, (not are), he or she, (not them) with these words. Example: Each is in its place. See AGREEMENT below.

Each other and one another: Some prefer each other for two, and one another for more than two.

Egoism: the philosophy that self-interest is the proper end of moral actions (opposed to altruism, which puts the good of others above that of oneself); egotism: boastfulness, conceit. An egotist need not espouse any philosophy; an egoist may be a self-effacing person.

Ecology: a science dealing with the relations between organisms and their environment; there is no such thing as "the ecology"; what is meant is the environment: surroundings.

Either is followed by or, neither by nor.

Enormity: often used to refer to vastness, enormous size or extent, but better used to refer to the great wickedness of a monstrous or outrageous act.

Etc. (not ect.): Et cetera: and so forth; in common with and everything, seldom a helpful addition.

Eternal can mean timeless (having no duration, being outside of time), everlasting, beginningless and endless, changeless or, broadly, divine; it is better to use one of these terms instead, in order to avoid confusion as to which meaning is intended.

Every day: each day; everyday: daily, common, ordinary.

Existence: sixth letter is e, not a.

Farther, further: Sometimes used interchangeably, but careful usage is as follows: Farther relates to distance in space or time. Further means both moreover and greater in degree or extent.

Feel: When used as an equivalent of believe, conclude, maintain, or think, it implies a position held on unexamined or emotional grounds; if this is not intended, a stronger word is preferable. Feel like that (followed by a statement): redundant for feel that.

Fewer: smaller number of things that can be counted; less: smaller quantity of material in bulk, abstractions, degree, or value.

Figure (as noun): a numerical symbol; number (as noun): a quantity. Sometimes used interchangeably.

Firstly, first of all: It is better to say first, second, etc., and omit the -ly and of all. Similarly, importantly.

For free: Colloquial for free of charge.

Fortuitous means accidental; do not use it for fortunate, although it is recognized as having this meaning, but generally suggesting that it is by chance; avoid the word.

Fun as an adjective is colloquial, as in "It was a fun time."

G: a letter to be pronounced at the end of words ending in -ing, and in length and strength.

Gender traditionally has been considered primarily a property of words, not of people or other living beings. Gender refers to grammatical distinctions of masculine, feminine, and neuter; sex to physiological distinctions. The use of gender for sex was considered jocular. However, gender increasingly is being used as a substitute for sex, but even now careful new usage calls for employing gender primarily in relation to nonphysical aspects of differentiations of sexes, that is, to social and cultural categories. Colleagues in sociology and biology offer the following definitions: Gender: the social, cultural, and psychological aspects that pertain to people's traits and self-identities, and societal roles, norms, and stereotypes having to do with masculine and feminine. This is independent of a person's biological sex. Sex: an inborn category of male or female based on biological characteristics determined during both prenatal life and after birth by chromosomes, hormones, and ensuing anatomical parts.

Good: a judgment of value, not a suitable substitute for well in response to an inquiry about one's health.

Gotten: commonly accepted past participle of get in American English, but not elsewhere, where got prevails; got also is proper in American English.

Graduate (as verb): Most conservatively, an action that a school does to a student; do not say that a student graduates a school, or at least insert from before the school.

Have got is redundant for have.

Hopefully: Do not use for "I hope" or "it is to be hoped."

Hot and cold weather; high and low temperatures.

Human: primarily adjective; human being preferred for noun.

Ibid. (Latin ibidem): In the same place.

Idealism: popularly, orientation in favor of high ideals, sometimes in unrealistic degree; philosophically, the metaphysical position that maintains that only ideas or mind or spirit is basically real.

I.e. (id est): that is; e.g. (exempli gratia): for example; such as. Neither should be spoken as a substitute for the English words for which they stand.

Imply: to suggest; infer: to draw a conclusion from what is said; intimate: to suggest by a slight hint; insinuate: to suggest by a slight hint something unpleasant or that one lacks the courage to say directly.

Incident (plural incidents): minor happening; incidence: degree or range of occurrence.

Individual (as noun): Less desirable than person to refer to a human being.

Inside of; outside of: Omit of.

Its: belonging to it; it's: it is, or it has.

Judgment: American spelling of the word has no e in the middle.

Law and saw rhyme with awe, and lore with sore.

Lay (laid, have laid): transitive verb meaning to place down; lie (lay, have lain): intransitive verb meaning to recline.

Life is a noun, live a verb or adjective (in the latter a shortened form of alive).

Like, as, as if: Use like as a preposition, not a conjunction; use as or as if as a conjunction. Examples: It looks as if it would rain. Do as I do. He worked like a horse. Like should not be used as a filler word, as in "something always, like, gets in the way." Nor should one insert other needless and distracting fillers, such as you know, right?, okay?, and everything, and all, see, and get it?.

Loc. cit. (Latin loco citato): in the place cited.

Loose: (as verb) to set free, (as adjective) free, not fastened; lose: to cease having, to mislay.

Materialism: popularly, emphasis on money and worldly goods; philosophically, the metaphysical position that only matter or lifeless energy is basically real.

May: not to be confused with might in past. Do not say "He may have come" when you mean that, had things been otherwise, "he might have come."

Metaphysics, metaphysical: Primarily metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies what anything, physical or nonphysical, must be like in order to be; secondarily metaphysics refers to undertakings that are concerned with the paranormal and/or spiritual healing and betterment of life through mental or spiritual means.

Mysticism, mystical: relating to religious experience of overwhelming love and unity with God; not to be confused with magic, occultism, psychical research, parapsychology, which are related to the extension of awareness and activity to extrasensory realms, in relation to knowledge and control, rather than love. None of these has any necessary connection with Satanism, or Devil worship.

Myth: Although often used to mean lie, falsehood, error, misconception, it is best to reserve myth to refer to extended metaphor for expressing a profound message in the form of a story, which may be considered a little error to tell a big truth.

Nice: A word with so many meanings that it seldom should be used.

None: Shortened form of "not one," so strictly is singular, although often considered plural.

Nother or nuther: Illiterate form of "another" or "other."

Not so, better in negative comparisons than not as. Example: Tom is not so tall as Joe.

Of: not to used in such an expression as "too big of a problem"; say "too big a problem."

One and the same, not one in the same.

Only: Do not use to mean few, as in "it is one of the only . . ."

Op. cit. (Latin opere citato): In the work cited.

Orient and oriented: proper forms of illiterate "orientate" and "orientated."

Ourself: Never use, at least if you are not a monarch. Say ourselves, myself, or yourself.

Pantheism: God is all; panentheism: All is in God.

Perception: basically refers to gaining information through the senses (sense perception), the units of which are percepts, sensations; contrasted with conception, the units of which are concepts. Currently perception often confusingly is used in cases in which conception would be better for referring to broad viewpoints of interpretation or understanding based on any source of information.

Plus: not a good word with which to begin a sentence or clause, as in "we have the time; plus we have the money." Moreover or in addition would be better than plus.

Preventive, better than preventative.

Principal: (as noun) chief person or sum of money, (as

adjective) chief; principle: doctrine or governing rule.

Quite: completely, only colloquially for "to a considerable extent."

Quote (as noun): colloquial for quotation.

Redound: to have an effect, to contribute, to accrue, generally in relation to deeds; rebound: to bounce back.

Regard: Do not add an s when saying "with (or in) regard to."

Regardless: Never use the illiterate irregardless; but irrespective is standard English.

Reverend: title that never should be used as a substitute for minister, nor used without the before it and a first name, initials, or Mr., Miss, Ms, or Dr. after it.

Rout: disorderly flight or retreat (rhymes with out); route: a road or course traveled (rhymes with boot).

Savings, either singular or plural, but when a single instance of reduction is referred to, saving is preferable. Example: There was a saving (not savings) of ten dollars in the new price. It is daylight saving (not "savings") time.

Simple: not complex; simplistic: overly simple (not to be used as a synonym for simple). Simplist: a person given to simplistic explanations.

Singular: when not applied to words, best reserved for the meaning extraordinary, and not employed when single (meaning one, alone, solitary) will do.

So don't I: an illiterate expression for so do I.

Some time: (noun) some unspecified time; sometime: (adverb) at some unspecified time; (adjective) former; sometimes: at times, on various occasions.

Succinct: (Concise) pronounced "sucksinkt," not "sussinkt."

Temperature (and fever; don't use as synonym) high or low, weather or climate hot or cold.

Tenet: doctrine; tenant: occupant.

That kind; those kinds: Do not mix singular and plural, as in saying, incorrectly, those kind.

That and which: That should be used to introduce a restrictive relative clause and not preceded by a comma. (The house that Jack build has been demolished.) Which should be used in introducing nonrestrictive clauses giving additional information about something already referred to; which is preceded by a comma. (She built a table, which she needed for her kitchen.)

Then: not to be used in place of than in comparisons.

There: in that place; their: belonging to them; they're: they are.

To: toward; too: also or very; two: 2.

Unique has no degrees; no very or slightly unique.

Until: only one l (but till).

Used to: not use to.

Very: most conservatively used only before an adverb, such as much, greatly, deeply, before a past participle. Example: The singing was very much appreciated.

Vulnerable: Do not forget to pronounce the third letter.

United: Do not pronounce it as if it contained a nine.

Where and when generally are not appropriate in definitions, as in "a sonnet is when a poem has fourteen lines" or "to banish is when one is driven out of his (worse yet, their) country."

Whether (generally not requiring, but implying, or not) introduces alternative conditions; if introduces only one condition. Examples: I asked him whether he would go. If it rains, I'll get wet.

Who, whom: Although many have dropped the use of whom, careful usage still calls for employing it as the object of a verb or preposition. Examples: To whom did you give the book? (or, if you do not mind a preposition at the end of a sentence, Whom did you give the book to?). Whom do you like?

Would: often used unnecessarily as an auxiliary to such verbs as hope and say. Ask yourself whether you gain anything desirable by inserting would.

Young applies to people and other beings, not to their ages. Example: He learned it at an early [not young] age. Yet old age is accepted.

Your: belonging to you; you're: you are.

AGREEMENT: NEVER WRITE OR SPEAK OF A PERSON, PLACE, OR THING AS SINGULAR AND THEN REFER TO THAT ENTITY BY A PLURAL PRONOUN, SUCH AS THEM OR THEIR, as in the illiterate "One should know their own mind." Make every verb agree in number with its subject, and make every pronoun agree in number with its antecedent. Examples: Neither [singular] is going. Each [singular] followed his father's occupation. When a person enters college he or she [not they] finds [not find] it different from [not than] high school. A human being should appreciate his [or his or her, or his/her] [not their] friends.

APOSTROPHES are not used in forming PLURALS, except of words and letters referred to as such. Examples: Note the which's and that's. Mind your p's and q's.

CASE (nominative [subjective], possessive, objective): Nouns and pronouns preceding a gerund generally should be in the possessive case. Example: His coming was a surprise. Mary's going to the store was important. Direct and indirect objects of verbs or prepositions should be in the objective case. Example: He gave presents to her (not she) and me (not I).

CITATION BASIC FORMS:

Footnote and endnote order of items:

First reference to a book: Author's name (first name and/or initials first), comma, underlined or italicized title of book, parenthesis, place of publication, colon, publisher, comma, most recent date of publication, parenthesis, comma, p. for page or pp. for pages, page number(s), period. If there are editor's name, edition number, or series title, insert them, in that order, after the book title.

First reference to a magazine article: name of author as with book citation, title of article in quotation marks, comma, title of periodical underlined or in italics, comma, volume number (formerly in Roman numerals, but now generally in Arabic, ordinary, ones), parenthesis, date, parenthesis, comma, pages in Arabic numerals (p. or pp. not used), period.

Later references: Use Ibid. for reference to immediately cited page. Use Ibid., comma, p. or pp., page number(s), and period for reference to different pages of the immediately cited work. To refer to the same book after intervening citations, use author's last name, comma, (insert op. cit. followed by a comma here, if desired), p. or pp., page number(s), and period. Ibid. and op. cit. no longer generally are underlined or italicized, although they are in a foreign language, Latin.

Bibliography entries are similar to footnotes, but have the author's last name first and publication data are not enclosed in parentheses.

The above standards relate to the humanities; sciences and law follow other practices of citation.

COMMA SPLICE: Independent clauses should be linked by a semicolon, not a comma, unless used with a conjunction, or the clauses should be separated into more than one sentence.

FIGURES OF SPEECH (TROPES): imaginative, nonliteral, or unusual use of words to add vividness to expression:

Allegory: a sustained metaphor, a narrative in which the characters and actions are veiled representations of meanings implied but not stated, used to present ideas or moral principles.

Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs.

Anticlimax: arrangement of words in descending order of force (see climax).

Antithesis: juxtaposition of contrasting phrases for emphasis.

Chiasmus: an inversion of the second of two parallel structures, as in Coleridge's "Each throat/Was parched, and glazed each eye."

Cliché: overused expressions, sometimes alliterative (with words beginning with the same sound), originally clever. Ex.: "cool as a cucumber."

Climax: arrangement of words so that each one surpasses the preceding one in force or intensity.

Euphemism: substitution of a pleasant word for an unpleasant one. (Euphuism: Elizabethan use of alliteration, antitheses, and elaborate similes based on fabulous natural history. Euphony: harmonious arrangement of words with special reference to pleasing sound, rhythm, and appropriateness of meaning.)

Hyperbole: deliberate overstatement or exaggeration.

Irony: (from the Greek meaning "dissembler," first applied to Socrates, who exposed an opponent's ignorance by pretending to seek instruction or information from him): a covert sarcasm with contradiction of literal and intended meanings.

Litotes: (a form of meiosis) an affirmative is expressed in the negative of its contrary. Example: "not a few" means "many."

Meiosis: understatement; a form of hyperbole that gets its effects by diminishing rather than enlarging the truth.

Metaphor: implied comparison in which one thing is said to be another or a term generally used in connection with one thing is used with another, as in "the ship plows the sea." In the metaphor there is latent a simile, and most similes could be contracted to a metaphor. Metaphor is coming to being used to mean any figurative language.

Onomatopoeia: echoism, formation of word by imitation of the sound of the object to which it refers, as in tinkle, buzz, and chickadee.

Oxymoron: words of opposite meaning linked for pointed meaning.

Personification: attribution of human characteristics to animals, ideas, inanimate objects.

Simile: an explicit comparison of unlike things, generally using as or like.

Synecdoche: use of part for whole, individual for class, material for thing, or reverse of these, as in sail for ship, bread for food.

Syllepsis: use of a word in the same passage to fulfill two syntactical purposes. Ex.: "He lost his coat and his temper."

Zeugma: a form of syllepsis in which a word is applied to two or more nouns when its sense is appropriate only to one or to them in different ways. Ex.: "He took my advice and my wallet."

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS should be avoided. Ask whether the words in question have a subject and predicate and express a complete thought.

SPELLING: "I before E, except after C, or when sounded as A, as in neighbor and weigh." Examples: believe, receive, perceive. Note that deity and deism are exceptions, unless pronounced, as some do, "dayety" and "dayism."

TENSE CONFUSION: If I had known that you were going, I would have wanted to go (not "wanted to have gone," unless you would have wanted already to have gone before the "you" in question went).