Six Words Even Educated People Misuse

You may have learned as a child that your vocabulary will show off your education (or lack thereof) to others. "Ain't ain't a word and you ain't supposed to use it," classmates may have chanted in elementary school, suggesting that you should know better than to say something so ignorant.

Nowadays, it's not always easy to determine someone's education by his or her vocabulary. A combination of factors, including increased overall education levels, the common language of popular culture, and the growing acceptance of non-elite language, makes us sound more and more alike. In fact, many words are so often misused that many educated people have adopted them into their language, sometimes even thinking these words make them sound smarter. Consider the following examples:

Unique - "Unique" means "one of a kind," but most people use it in place of the word "unusual," as in "I bought this unique pair of earrings from a shelf with a dozen identical pairs." In addition, because "unique" means "one of a kind," nothing can be more or less unique than anything else. Saying something is "very unique" is senseless. It's like saying someone is "very dead."

Which - Current style rules dictate that "which" be used to introduce nonessential clauses, while "that" introduces essential clauses. For example, saying "Please bring me the evening gown that is in my closet" means that you have more than one evening gown, and the listener needs to know that you want the gown in your closet and not the one in the laundry room. "Please bring me the evening gown, which is in my closet" means that the listener knows exactly which evening gown you mean but doesn't know where it is. Thinking that "which" sounds more impressive or classy than "that," people often use "which" all the time, even when "that" should be used for the meaning they want to convey.

Comprise - This word means both to contain and to be composed of. Whether you say, "Eleven players comprise the football team" or, "The football team comprises eleven players," you never need to use the word "of" (as in "The football team is comprised of eleven players.") In fact, you rarely (if ever) have to say "comprise" at all. "Is composed of," "contains," and other alternatives are simpler and better understood by readers and listeners.

Anxious - Unless you are a particularly nervous person, you shouldn't be "anxious to" do anything you enjoy. If you are looking forward to a future task or event, you should say you are "eager to" do it.

Everyday - Used without a space, this word is an adjective meaning "common" or "ordinary." You might say, "I used my everyday plates for the party instead of my good china." To convey the idea of doing something each day, day after day, the single word should become two words: "every day." So, businesses advertising "Open Everyday" need a good proofreader.

Modern - Because this word describes a specific era in thought and art that many experts consider over, using "modern" to mean "present-day" or "contemporary" can cause some confusion. Dictionaries still define "modern" as "contemporary," so you can get away with using it in this sense some of the time, but before you call a new book or work of art "modern," be sure the thing you are describing conforms to the modernists' way of thinking, rather than that of the postmodernists, or you may sound like a dilettante.

Has this unique article, which contains a list of commonly misused words, helped you sound more educated? Perhaps you will be eager to incorporate your new knowledge into your everyday language. Then again, perhaps postmodern thought will soon declare these distinctions of language meaningless.