Posts Tagged ‘Usage in English’

flammable or inflammable? Although inflammable looks like the opposite of flammable, the two words actually have the same meaning, both describing something that is easily set on fire. The in- prefix of inflammable means "into," rather than "not," and the adjective is ultimately derived from the same ... Full story

Got one more interested couple. They look so similar that you need to concentrate on them for atleast 2 seconds to know where they differ. Yes, they differ at 'a' and 'e'. BTW, DUAL: connotated two, twice etc. whereas DUEL: is a formal battle intended to settle a dispute. Click them to see the dictionary meaning. Full story

First of all guess which is right? I too marked the first one as right but that is the wrong version. Did you know this? Me wasn't but as usual Mr. Paul helped me knowing it. I am again be giving you the verbatim of his version i.e "One unusual use of apostrophes is ... Full story

"The traditional distinction between enquire and inquire is that enquire is to be used for general senses of 'ask', while inquire is reserved for uses meaning 'make a formal investigation'. In practice, however, enquire (and enquiry) is more common in British English while inquire (and inquiry) is more common in US English, but otherwise there is little discernible distinction in the way the words are ... Full story

“Compact disc” is spelled with a “C” because that’s how its inventors decided it should be rendered; but a computer hard disk is spelled with a “K” In modern technological contexts, “disks” usually reproduce data magnetically, while “discs” (CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.) reproduce it “optically,” with lasers. Now you know the difference. I don't think I need to thank Paul. Full story