I've often been told that I'm too picky when it comes to spelling and grammar.

Friday 28 September 2012

Tenants of Faith?

I read online recently about someone who was "ridiculed for following the tenants of her faith." I immediately started wondering what a tenant of faith was, and imagined someone renting a room in a church or temple. However, how could one follow a person who rented a room in a place of worship? and why would you be ridiculed for doing so? That makes no sense. Obviously, they didn't mean tenants.


ten·ant   [ten-uhnt]
noun

  1. a person or group that rents and occupies land, a house, an office, or the like, from another for a period of time; lessee.
  2. Law . a person who holds or possesses for a time lands, tenements, or personalty of another, usually for rent.
  3. an occupant or inhabitant of any place.


They meant tenets.


ten·et   [ten-it; Brit. also tee-nit]
noun
any opinion, principle, doctrine, dogma, etc., especially one held as true by members of a profession, group, or movement.

Doesn't anyone proofread anything anymore?

Thursday 20 September 2012

Diffusing the Situation

Which of the following sentences is correct?

  1. The bomb squad diffused the bomb.
  2. The bomb squad defused the bomb.

If you chose number 2, you are correct. The following is dictionary.com's definitions of the two words:

defuse:

verb (used with object)

  1. to remove the fuze from (a bomb, mine, etc.).
  2. to make less dangerous, tense, or embarrassing: to defuse a potentially ugly situation.


diffuse:

verb (used with object)

  1. to pour out and spread, as a fluid.
  2. to spread or scatter widely or thinly; disseminate.
  3. Physics . to spread by diffusion.


You see that you cannot diffuse a situation. At all. Ever. Please don't write/say that you or someone else did that.

PS: I do not approve of spelling 'fuse' with a zed as above: "fuze." It just looks stupid.