Tuesday, December 09, 2008

That's Suite

What's the difference between a suit and suite?

A suit is something that a person or a playing card wears. A suite (always pronounced "sweet") is a set of rooms or or a set of furniture (among other things). Really, look it up in a dictionary.

Will people ever stop saying "bedroom suit"? Probably not. But that doesn't mean we have to surrender to the hoi polloi of English-speaking mediocrity.

So do you have any abuse-of-English pet peeves? Some of mine are as follows (including ones I occasionally commit):
  • suit and suite, mentioned above
  • bumbling the pronunciation of statistics, athlete, dilate, nuclear, sherbet, and zoology as sastistics, athelete, dialate, nucular, sherbert, and zoo-ology.
  • turning the three-syllable word mischievous into a four-syllable word
  • mistaking moot for mute, or tack for tact
  • saying irregardless
  • saying "biased against" or "prejudiced for"
  • stumbling over cavalry and Calvary
  • saying "ATM machine," "HIV virus," "LCD display," etc.

Check out the Inigo Montoya Guide to 27 Commonly Misused Words here.

4 comments:

Jen said...

When people misuse the word "seen".

Anonymous said...

I like to say "probly" or "prolly" instead of probably.

~ Chad

The Lane's said...

personally, I can't stand the following:
chimney. . .no, Santa comes down the CHIMLEY
chest OF drawers. . .NO. . .your clothes are in a chester drawers
idea. . .no, you have an idear
and my favorite. . .You take a SHIRER . . .not a SHOWER!!!

Unknown said...

Having worked in a Urology office for years I have always cringed at getting your "prostrate" checked verses the prostate gland. Apparently urologist are experts at laying face down while praying.