So, if you say something is shit (adj), obviously that's a bad thing. But, if it's the shit (n), it's a good thing. Similarly, if something is horrorshow (adj), it's a good thing, but if it's a horrorshow (n), it's a spectacularly bad thing. Now, take this and apply non-native speakers. Mayhem, I tell you.

Assume a noun ( Read more... )

Dominant =/= Dominate
Dominant is an adjective: "She is a dominant individual."
Dominate is a verb: "He dominates the room."
Dominator is a noun, and is the actual gender counterpoint to dominatrix, although you will sound silly as shit if you say it.

So please, internets, stop saying things like, "I will only accept dominate males."

Customer ( Read more... )

So, I've been doing some reading on toponomy, lately, largely because I've got an empire of post-Roman succubi to derive cities and roads for, and I notice this trend to 'oh, we don't know what the name of this place means, but we're sure there's a linguistic root we haven't found yet'. What? No ( Read more... )

Jesus fucking christ, people, 'waive' != 'wave'. Let me make this easy.

wave (v): essentially, to undulate, like the sea. You can wave your hand. You can wave a flag.

waive (v): to forgo, put aside, or relinquish. You can waive your fifth amendment rights.

FFS. It's the first feckin' week of January, and already I'm yelling.

Title: Drink From ( Read more... )

So, I know, you're expecting me to say something about the denigration of women, blah blah. 'Cept I'm really not. I'm going to talk about the history of the word, which may, incidentally, reveal some of my problems with the cultural perception of women in western society ( Read more... )

The word 'nice'? It's an adjective. "He's nice." "She's nice." "That's nice."

I may not be fond of the word's bland texture, overall, but it's got its place. Which is, in case you wondered, as a descriptor for nouns.

The next person I see using 'ask nice' is going to get a very not-nice punch in the teeth. Nice is an adjective. Adjectives ( Read more... )

So, there's a few weird words I keep seeing horribly misused, and I figured I should clear some things up for the handful of folks in the world who are sufficiently well-educated to know the words exist, but not so much as to use them correctly.

1. ought/aught/naught'Ought' is nearly never seen without 'to'. That, however, is not the point. The ( Read more... )

So, yeah, I'm kind of a bag of dicks when it comes to grammar/spelling atrocities. However? I try to keep that to the native speakers of English. If it's your first language, you really don't have an excuse, with the exception of a few folks I know who were pulled out of school at very young ages, for a variety of reasons ( Read more... )

Dear internets:

• 'Populous' is an adjective describing a place with a lot of people. 'Populace' is what you call the residents of a place.
  Ex: "The populace of the populous city cheered as the festival began."
• 'Principles' are those rules you stand firmly by. 'Principals' are those douchebags in charge of public schools, in the 'States.
  Ex: "The ( Read more... )