wash WASH In my mother’s Oklahoma dialect, “wash” was pronounced “warsh,” and I was embarrassed to discover in school that the inclusion of the superfluous “R” sound was considered ignorant. This has made me all the more sensitive now that I live in Washington to the mispronunciation “Warshington.” Some people tell you that after you “warsh” you should “wrench” (“rinse” ). List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/wash.html03/09/2005 15:40:25 way WAY FAR, MUCH MORE Young people frequently use phrases like “way better” to mean “far better” or “very much better.” In formal writing, it would be gauche to say that Impressionism is “way more popular” than Cubism instead of “much more popular.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/way.html03/09/2005 15:40:25 ways WAYS WAY In some dialects it’s common to say “you’ve got a ways to go before you’ve saved enough to buy a Miata,” but in standard English it’s “a way to go.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/ways.html03/09/2005 15:40:25 weather/wether/whether WEATHER/WETHER/WHETHER The climate is made up of “weather”; whether it is nice out depends on whether it is raining or not. A wether is just a castrated sheep. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/weather.html03/09/2005 15:40:25 weather forecast calls for WEATHER FORECAST CALLS FOR WEATHER FORECAST PREDICTS Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare: Henry IV, Part 1 Newspeople constantly joke that the weather service is to blame for the weather, so we shouldn’t be surprised when they tell us that the forecast “calls for” rain when what they mean is that it “predicts” rain. Remember, wherever you live, the weather is uncalled for. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/callsfor.html03/09/2005 15:40:26 Wensday WENSDAY WEDNESDAY Wednesday was named after the Nordic god “Woden” (or “Wotan”). Almost no one pronounces this word’s middle syllable distinctly, but it’s important to remember the correct spelling in writing. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/wensday.html03/09/2005 15:40:26 went WENT GONE The past participle of “go” is “gone” so it’s not “I should have went to the party” but “I should have gone to the party." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/went.html03/09/2005 15:40:26 were/where WERE/WHERE Sloppy typists frequently leave the H out of “where.” Spelling checkers do not catch this sort of error, of course, so look for it as you proofread. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/were_where.html03/09/2005 15:40:27 wet your appetite WET YOUR APPETITE WHET YOUR APPETITE It is natural to think that something mouth-watering “wets your appetite,” but actually the expression is “whet your appetite"— sharpen your appetite, as a whetstone sharpens a knife. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/wet.html03/09/2005 15:40:27 what WHAT THAT In some dialects it is common to substitute “what” for “that,” as in "You should dance with him what brung you.” This is not standard usage. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/what.html03/09/2005 15:40:27