Can you weather this whether or no?

Which of the following sentences is correct?

1. I asked him weather or not he could help.
2. The weather report forecasts rain for today.
3. Weather or not I take an umbrella, I expect the whether shall be the same.
4. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry.

If you need a hint, two are correct and two are incorrect.

If you chose 2 and 4, you win! Sorry, I have no prizes. You just get the satisfaction of knowing how smart you are.

Definitions from Dictionary.com:

weath·er

  [weth-er]

noun

1.

the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc.

2.

a strong wind or storm or strong winds and storms collectively: We've had some real weather thisspring.

3.

a weathercast: The radio announcer will read the weather right after the commercial.

4.

Usually, weathers. changes or vicissitudes in one's lot or fortunes: She remained a good friend in allweathers.

verb (used with object)

5.

to expose to the weather; dry, season, or otherwise affect by exposure to the air or atmosphere: toweather lumber before marketing it.

6.

to discolor, disintegrate, or affect injuriously, as by the effects of weather: These crumbling stoneshave been weathered by the centuries.

7.

to bear up against and come safely through (a storm, danger, trouble, etc.): to weather a severeillness.

8.

Nautical . (of a ship, mariner, etc.) to pass or sail to the windward of: to weather a cape.

9.

Architecture . to cause to slope, so as to shed water.

wheth·er

  [hweth-er, weth-]

conjunction

1.

(used to introduce the first of two or more alternatives, and sometimes repeated before the secondor later alternative, usually with the correlative or  ): It matters little whether we go or stay. Whether wego or whether we stay, the result is the same.

2.

(used to introduce a single alternative, the other being implied or understood, or some clause orelement not involving alternatives): See whether or not she has come. I doubt whether we can do anybetter.

3.

Archaic. (used to introduce a question presenting alternatives, usually with the correlative or  ).

pronoun Archaic.

4.

which or whichever (of two)?

Idioms

5.

whether or no, under whatever circumstances; regardless: He threatens to go whether or no.

While the two words sound exactly the same when spoken, they have very different meanings, and should not be mixed up when writing as this will cause much confusion.

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?

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.

Stop. Don't Add That 'E'

There's a trend lately online to add extra 'e's to the ends of words. I've noticed this with the exclamation 'aw' and the short-form of 'influenza' -- 'flu.' A lot of people are writing 'awe' when they mean 'aw' and 'flue' when they mean 'flu.' This changes the meaning of your sentence completely.

'Awe' means "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God; in awe of great political figures."(from dictionary.com)

'Flue' means "a passage or duct for smoke in a chimney or any duct or passage for air, gas, or the like."(from dictionary.com)

Another, even more annoying trend I've seen is when a word has a silent 'e' at the end, and the typist adds several more of them. For example, instead of saying "I love you," s/he says "I loveeeeeeeeeee you." How is one supposed to pronounce this? The only way I can think to do so would be "LUV- EE" with the 'ee' sound stretched out. This sounds as stupid as it looks. Please don't do this.