from the beginning of time FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME ANYTHING MORE SPECIFIC Stephen Hawking writes about the beginning of time, but few other people do. People who write “from the beginning of time” or “since time began” are usually being lazy. Their grasp of history is vague, so they resort to these broad, sweeping phrases. Almost never is this usage literally accurate: people have not fallen in love since time began, for instance, because people arrived relatively late on the scene in the cosmic scheme of things. When I visited Ferrara several years ago I was interested to see that the whole population of the old city seemed to use bicycles for transportation, cars being banned from the central area. I asked how long this had been the custom and was told “We‘ve ridden bicycles for centuries.” Since the bicycle was invented only in the 1890s, I strongly doubted this (no, Leonardo da Vinci did not invent the bicycle—he just drew a picture of what one might look like—and some people think that picture is a modern forgery). If you really don’t know the appropriate period from which your subject dates, you could substitute a less silly but still vague phrase such as “for many years," or “for centuries”; but it’s better simply to avoid historical statements if you don’t know your history. See “today’s modern society.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/beginning.html03/09/2005 15:38:07 fulsome FULSOME Because its most common use is in the phrase “fulsome praise,” many people suppose that this word means something like “generous” or “whole-hearted.” Actually, it means “disgusting,” and “fulsome praise” is disgustingly exaggerated praise. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/fulsome.html03/09/2005 15:38:07 -fuls/-ful -FULS/-FUL It’s one cupful, but two cupfuls, not “two cupsful.” The same goes for "spoonfuls” and “glassfuls.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/-ful.html03/09/2005 15:38:07 gaff GAFF/GAFFE Gaffe is a French word meaning “embarrassing mistake,” and should not be mixed up with “gaff”: a large hook. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/gaff.html03/09/2005 15:38:08 gamut/gauntlet GAMUT/GAUNTLET To “run a gamut” is to go through the whole scale or spectrum of something. To “run the gauntlet” (also gantlet) is to run between two lines of people who are trying to beat you. And don’t confuse “gamut” with “gambit,” a play in chess, and by extension, a tricky maneuver of any kind. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/gamut.html03/09/2005 15:38:08 gaurd GAURD GUARD Too bad the Elizabethan “guard” won out over the earlier, French-derived spelling “garde” but the word was never spelled “gaurd.” The standard spelling is related to Italian and Spanish “guarda,” pronounced “gwarda.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/gaurd.html03/09/2005 15:38:08 gender GENDER Feminists eager to remove references to sexuality from discussions of females and males which don’t involve mating or reproduction revived an older meaning of “gender” which had come to refer in modern times chiefly to language, as a synonym for “sex” in phrases such as “Our goal is to achieve gender equality.” Americans, always nervous about sex, eagerly embraced this usage, which is now standard. In some scholarly fields, “sex” is used to label biologically determined aspects of maleness and femaleness (reproduction, etc.) while “gender” refers to their socially determined aspects (behavior, attitudes, etc.); but in ordinary speech this distinction is not always maintained. It is disingenuous to pretend that people who use “gender” in the new senses are making an error, just as it is disingenuous to maintain that “Ms.” means “manuscript” (that’s “MS” ). Nevertheless, I must admit I was startled to discover that the tag on my new trousers describes not only their size and color, but their “gender.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/gender.html03/09/2005 15:38:08 Ghandi GHANDI GANDHI Mohandas K. Gandhi’s name has an H after the D, not after the G. Note that “Mahatma” (“great soul”) is an honorific title, not actually part of his birth name. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/Ghandi.html03/09/2005 15:38:09 gibe/jibe/jive GIBE/JIBE/JIVE “Gibe” is a now rare term meaning “to tease.” “Jibe” means “to agree,” but is usually used negatively, as in “the alibis of the two crooks didn’t jibe.” The latter word is often confused with “jive,” which derives from slang which originally meant to treat in a jazzy manner (“Jivin’ the Blues Away”) but also came to be associated with deception (“Don’t give me any of that jive”). List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/gibe.html03/09/2005 15:38:09 gig GIG/JIG “The jig is up” is an old slang expression meaning “the game is over—we’re caught.” A musician’s job is a gig. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/gig.html03/09/2005 15:38:09 [...]...gild GILD/GUILD You gild an object by covering it with gold; you can join an organization like the Theatre Guild List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/gild.html03/09/20 05 15: 38:09 . modern society.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/beginning.html03/09/20 05 15: 38:07 fulsome FULSOME Because its most common use is in the phrase “fulsome praise,” many people. exaggerated praise. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/fulsome.html03/09/20 05 15: 38:07 -fuls/-ful -FULS/-FUL It’s one cupful, but two cupfuls, not “two cupsful.” The same goes. and “glassfuls.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/-ful.html03/09/20 05 15: 38:07 gaff GAFF/GAFFE Gaffe is a French word meaning “embarrassing mistake,” and should not