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Pop Quiz: Will This Post Peak, Pique or Peek Your Interest?

  
  
  

I saw a status update this morning from a friend on Facebook and in the comments someone linked to what I personally think is an amazing website. 

While I have my occasional struggles with grammar and using the right word at the right time, and I have written about this before, I thought it was a topic worth revisiting.

As John points out here and here and Ali points out here, content is incredibly important. But, the quality of that content is equally important. Whether you are writing an authored article, giving a presentation or working on closing a sales lead, using the right word or phrase at the right time is of the utmost importance.

Below are a few of my favorite slip-ups, and a link to explain the correct usage better than I could. (It also comes in book form so if you know someone who is a real word nerd consider adding this to your holiday shopping list – it’s never too early to get started!). 

And while not on the list of Common Errors in English Usage, here are two of my other favorites: 

Inconceivable and Plethora

So which words/phrases do you mix up?  

 --Jennifer Edgerly

Comments

I used to use assure in place of insure all the time. Didn't want to say insure because that was a promise or guarantee. But then I found out assure is what you do with a person, i.e. assure them things will be ok. Now I use ensure, which basically means we're doing all we can to make sure it goes right.
Posted @ Thursday, July 26, 2012 3:23 PM by Ken Krause
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