The Words You're Probably Misusing

Once, in a psychotherapist's doctoral dissertation I was editing, I saw the word energize confused with enervate, and they have opposite meanings. Energize means to give energy to, to rouse into activity; while enervate means to deprive of force, to weaken. In a consultation with a schizophrenic patient it might be very important to get those words right.

I started making a list of the misused words in my clients' papers, mostly because they amused me. Then I started noticing word confusion everywhere: newspapers, TV newscasts, magazines, textbooks, novels and, most frequently, in advertising. I added them to my list, too. After awhile, I noticed I had hundreds of word sets and realized that with a little more research, I could write a book on this subject. And that is how Abused, Confused & Misused Words was born.

In the following frames I'll show you other examples of word abusage that is, sadly, much too common. Something simply must be done about this.

Please help me spread the word. . .the correct word, that is.