I find myself often winging it with “themself/themselves” and it seems to be like themselves is always colloquially correct when there are multiple preceding nouns you’re referring to…
Otherwise if there’s only one antecedent or whatever, its themself
Be gentle haha
Note vs notate. The verb form of note is note. Notate is a back-formation of notation. It refers to writing non-linguistic transcription, like musical notation or dance choreography.
The correct pronunciation of the word often has a silent T. The only reason the T sound remains the the dictionary is due to common use.
I pronounce it both ways. Huh. Did not know that about myself.
But there’s no “correct” pronunciation of any word. Languages change organically.
AIUI, the spoken /t/ in “often” gradually disappeared over the centuries but has more recently made a comeback due to the prevalence of text communication in modern life. And perhaps also due to so many non-native English speakers, who tend to pronounce letters when they see them.
There’s no such thing as “correct” grammar. Different ways of speaking (or writing/typing) can certainly make people view you differently. For instance you might be seen as more or less smart or educated or affluent depending on your way of speaking. But that’s pretty much just stereotypes.
I watched part of an MIT OpenCourseware course on linguistics once. (Very good and recommended, despite the fact that I haven’t finished it.) At one point the professor told the students that “we’ll speak no more about prescriptive linguistics except to mock it.”
Utilize. So many people misuse it that I should probably accept that the definition has changed. Instead of thinking they are a bit dumb.
I’m not sure if I understood the question correctly, but ‘factoid’ is the most commonly misused word that I know of. It’s not a synonym for ‘fact’; it actually means the exact opposite. A factoid is a misconception so widely believed that people take it as a fact. You could even say that the word ‘factoid’ itself has become a factoid.
Example of a factoid: The great wall of China can be seen from space. No it can’t.
Might have been an idea to factoid-check that claim in a dictionary before posting because it’s not really correct.
Factoid (noun)
(1) an insignificant or trivial fact.
(2) something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as fact, devised especially to gain publicity and accepted because of constant repetition.
Factoids are to facts what humanoids are to humans. It does not mean the “exact opposite” at all.
People used to say “proven.” Like, it’s been proven. But now they say it’s been proved. When did this change?
This this
Does it always get a comma? Is it even proper English?
