This series is published in the tuesday issues of Deccan Chronicle .
Here are a few mistakes people make when they use certain expressions.
One in the same thing : The correct use would be “one and the same thing.” Meaning, identical with each other.
Could care less: The right use would be “couldn’t care less.” This means that you don’t care anymore.
Once and a while: This should be “once in a while,” which means it could happen every once in a time period.
This will wet your appetite: The spelling here should be ‘whet.’ This means it will sharpen or make your appetite keener.
Other misused words are…
Irregardless: There is no such word — regardless is what you should use.
Alright: Should be spelt ‘all right’.
Here are homonyms (words that sound the same but have different meanings) gone wrong…
Their: This is the possessive form of ‘they’.
They’re: means ‘they are’
Other errors:
‘To’ is a preposi- tion, ‘two’ is a number and ‘too’ is an excessive degree.
Similarly, ‘who’s’ is the contraction of who is or who has;
‘whose’ is the possessive form of who;
‘your’ is the possessive form of you and ‘you’ll’ is the contraction for you all;
‘you’re’ is the contraction for you.
