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Not so well known
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Happy Friday! Our writing quiz is back from summer break this week. And we don't know if we would go so far as to describe it as famous (π), but would you call it infamous? You almost certainly know what "famous" means. But can you pinpoint "infamous"? Here's your shot:
Oh, and we heard from some of you after last week's newsletter with more examples of acronyms-turned-words. One is snafu. Do you know what it stands for? Hit reply and let us know. β€ Team Stylebot
π A tip a weekIf someone forwarded you this email, subscribe here to get one writing tip a week in your inbox. π¬ Get reliable, ethical writing advice at your fingertipsImproving your writing means making better choices every day. Stylebot makes it easy with our Slack, Teams and Google Chrome extensions. Try Stylebot for free today. π About StylebotStylebot helps media professionals save time without sacrificing quality by answering editing questions on Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Chrome. We're on a mission to make editing faster, easier and more fun β¨ Learn more about Stylebot or follow us Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
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Stylebot
Hone your writing skills and never use "hone in" again. Get writing tips, have fun with words and learn something new in a one-minute read each week by signing up for Stylebotβs newsletter.
Well, we failed to wreak havoc with last week's quiz π Despite the fact that the phrase is sometimes written as "wreck havoc," 80% of you got the right answer. "Wreck havoc" is an understandable mistake, because both "wreck" and "havoc" mean "destruction." But, using that logic with the verb "wreck," which means "to damage," "wreck havoc" means to damage destruction. "Wreak," meanwhile, means "to bring about," hence "wreak havoc." You didn't need the bonus points, but some of you replied to...
We don't often think of chairs as being deep. But roots? Absolutely. And therein lies the confusion between "deep-seated" and "deep-seeded." But most of you weren't fooled by last week's quiz β almost 60% of you knew the phrase is "deep-seated." So how did "deep-seeded" get planted (π) in our minds? Well, for starters, the two phrases sound alike. Plus, "seeded" makes sense in this context. It's a classic eggcorn, a misheard phrase that sometimes makes logical sense. Some other eggcorn...
We had a tie in last week's quiz about how to punctuate the term commonly used for carved pumpkins, with 35% of you choosing "jack o'lanterns" and another 35% choosing "jack-o'-lanterns." So who's right? Let's ask Stylebot π It's tedious, but we put the hyphens and an apostrophe in jack-o'-lantern. Another common format is "jack-o-lantern." "Jack o'lantern" is much less common. So who is Jack? And what's he doing with a lantern? Here's where we tell you what carved pumpkins and marsh gas have...