We’re kicking off the New Year with simple tricks and heuristics that are guaranteed to improve your writing and help you develop a sharper sense of style. But, unlike the confusing and sometimes counterintuitive rules of traditional style guides, this series offers a refreshing and relevant take on writing readable texts of all kinds.
Misusing words can prevent others from taking your writing seriously.
Many writers have paused to consider whether they should use “who” or “whom” — a distinction that confuses even the most experienced writers.
The distinction between “who” and “whom” becomes clear, however, when one does this simple exercise:
Take the sentence: She tricked him. Our sentence can be transformed into two distinct questions:
Who tricked him? (which eliminates the word “she”) and,
Whom did she trick? (which eliminates the word “him”).
When trying to decide whether to use “who” or “whom,” you have to determine whether the unknown person is the actor (who tricked him?) or the one being acted upon (whom did she trick?)
When “whom” is used correctly and sparingly, it does not distract the reader at all. But even esteemed writers like William Shakespeare and the language expert William Safire preferred to use “who” in all cases to keep their prose direct and conversational.
“As far as I’m concerned, whom is a word that was invented to make everyone sound like a butler.” - Calvin Trillin
But grammatical mistakes are more obvious when, instead of finding the right word, people use a word that sounds like it. Such a mistake is called a malaprop, and to avoid embarrassment, it is best to avoid malaprops altogether.
For example, if you aren’t interested in something, don’t say that you are “disinterested” (meaning, unbiased.) Instead, say you are “uninterested.”
Likewise, if you’re bored or unimpressed, you’re likely to confuse readers if you write that you are “nonplussed,” meaning stunned or bewildered.
Similarly, it’s important to know the difference between commonly misused words such as:
“phenomenon” (a singular event) versus “phenomena” (multiple events),
“tortuous” (twisting or winding) versus “torturous” (painful),
“proscribe” (to forbid) versus “prescribe” (to recommend), and
“reticent” (shy) versus “reluctant” (unwilling).
If you are ever in any doubt, just consult a dictionary. The time it takes to look up a word is worth it not to embarrass yourself with a malaprop.
Until tomorrow…
Love reading The Writing Desk? Share our newsletters with an aspiring author in your life and give him or her the gift of writing tips and inspiration every day.