large LARGE IMPORTANT In colloquial speech it’s perfectly normal to refer to something as a “big problem,” but when people create analogous expressions in writing, the result is awkward. Don’t write “this is a large issue for our firm” when what you mean is “this is an important issue for our firm.” Size and intensity are not synonymous. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/large.html03/09/2005 15:38:42 late/former LATE/FORMER If you want to refer to your former husband, don’t call him your “late husband” unless he’s dead. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/late.html03/09/2005 15:38:42 later/latter LATER/LATTER Except in the expression “latter-day” (modern), the word “latter” usually refers back to the last- mentioned of a set of alternatives. “We gave the kids a choice of a vacation in Paris, Rome, or Disney World. Of course the latter was their choice.” In other contexts not referring back to such a list, the word you want is “later.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/later.html03/09/2005 15:38:42 laundry mat LAUNDRY MAT LAUNDROMAT “Laundromat” was coined in the 1950s by analogy with “automat”—an automated self-service restaurant— to label an automated self-service laundry. People unaware of this history often mistakenly deconstruct the word into “laundry mat” or “laundrymat.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/laundrymat.html03/09/2005 15:38:42 lay/lie LAY/LIE You lay down the book you’ve been reading, but you lie down when you go to bed. In the present tense, if the subject is acting on some other object, it’s “lay.” If the subject is lying down, then it’s “lie.” This distinction is often not made in informal speech, partly because in the past tense the words sound much more alike: “He lay down for a nap,” but “He laid down the law.” If the subject is already at rest, you might “let it lie.” If a helping verb is involved, you need the past participle forms. “Lie” becomes “lain” and “lay” becomes “laid”: “He had just lain down for a nap,” and “His daughter had laid the gerbil on his nose.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/lay.html03/09/2005 15:38:43 leach/leech LEACH/LEECH Water leaches chemicals out of soil or color out of cloth, your brother-in-law leeches off the family by constantly borrowing money to pay his gambling debts (he behaves like a bloodsucking leech). List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/leach.html03/09/2005 15:38:43 lead/led LEAD/LED When you’re hit over the head, the instrument could be a “lead” pipe. But when it’s a verb, “lead” is the present and “led” is the past tense. The problem is that the past tense is pronounced exactly like the above-mentioned plumbing material (“plumb” comes from a word meaning “lead”), so people confuse the two. In a sentence like “She led us to the scene of the crime,” always use the three-letter spelling. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/lead.html03/09/2005 15:38:43 leave LEAVE LET The colloquial use of “leave” to mean “let” in phrases like “leave me be” is not standard. “Leave me alone” is fine, though. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/leave.html03/09/2005 15:38:43 legend LEGEND/MYTH Myths are generally considered to be traditional stories whose importance lies in their significance, like the myth of the Fall in Eden; whereas legends can be merely famous deeds, like the legend of Davy Crockett. In common usage “myth” usually implies fantasy. Enrico Caruso was a legendary tenor, but Hogwarts is a mythical school. Legends may or may not be true. But be cautious about using “myth” to mean “untrue story” in a mythology, theology, or literature class, where teachers can be quite touchy about insisting that the true significance of a myth lies not in its factuality but in its meaning for the culture which produces or adopts it. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/legend.html03/09/2005 15:38:44 lense LENSE LENS Although the variant spelling “lense” is listed in some dictionaries, the standard spelling for those little disks that focus light is “lens.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/lense.html03/09/2005 15:38:44