Then/Than
When did this one start happening?
When did this one start happening?
- "It's better to do it this way then that way."
- "I'd rather do a phone interview then do a face-to-face interview."
Then? Whaaaaaaaaaaat!? It's than! With an "AN." ... THAN!
Than is usually used for introducing the second part of a comparison, or for introducing exceptions or contrasts.
Then means "at that time" or "afterwards" or "next/subsequently." Occasionally, then is used to mean "in addition to" and it can also be used as a substitute for "in that case" or "therefore"
Than is usually used for introducing the second part of a comparison, or for introducing exceptions or contrasts.
- "John is bigger than Paul."
- "It's preferable to do a phone interview than a face-to-face interview."
- "How did Jim get promoted? He knows less than I do!"
- "He had nothing in his hand baggage other than a PC."
- "They sit and watch rather than participate."
- "The foundations were barely finished than the site was completely abandoned."
Then means "at that time" or "afterwards" or "next/subsequently." Occasionally, then is used to mean "in addition to" and it can also be used as a substitute for "in that case" or "therefore"
- "By then, Joan was at her best."
- "They took the first and then the second set."
- "I earn a decent salary and then there's the bonus and car ..."
- "Listen carefully to me and then there will be nothing to worry about."
- "Well if Robo says it, that must be okay then."
- "So you're still here then?"
- "So that's it then."
- "See you tomorrow then."
Vizzini: "He didn't fall? In-con-ceiv-able!"
Inigo: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
5 comments:
Oh this isn't all, RM!
"Reticent" over the last several years has been used instead of "reluctant", as in "she was reticent to step foot in that establishment".
People say "utAlitarian" instead of "utilitarian", "appErently" instead of "appArently"..etc etc.
Sometimes it's just the tongue doing its own thing, but where words' meanings are mixed up (as in the first example above), I get annoyed.
A big one is now "towing the line". Clearly people have no idea what this phrase means, or they would use the proper "toeing the line" (originally used in prisons where prisoners had to "toe the line" when standing at attention for roll call).
I have noticed "he changed tact" creeping into usage too, rather thAn "he changed tack", which is the correct phrase using "tack" a sailing term.
Etc.....
Ay spik ur lingwoje :-)
We write what we hear, rather than understand what we write, it's the depth of knowledge that is lacking, the distance between what 'I think I know' and reality is widening. We've machines to check our spelling and grammar, so it is assumed we have no responsibility. On a lighter note, language is always evolving, it wasn't like it all started with 10,000 words and that is all you were ever allowed to use, so why not make up new words, it's not illegal, but it is still important to use the existing words in the right context.
I wrote a comment post before this one and I though what if you could count the different words used on a resume, itemise them, what opinion of the writer would you achieve. So I went on a search, as I was sure that somebody would have investigate this before, and found this http://www.wordcounter.com/
The results are quite interesting. That also led me to this site that I thought might be right up your alley http://www.smugopedia.com/ So I am not sure if I wasted an hour or if this was beneficial, but I will ponder this as the day evolves.
I cannot tell you how much I see this mistake in cover letters...even in business presentations occasionally. This is why there should be more classes in business schools that focus on writing. Only recently have business schools started doing this. When I graduated from James Madison University (top 50 business schools in the U.S.) it was just beginning to incorporate more writing assignments in business classes.
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