Common English usage misconceptions: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:18, 29 July 2025

Latest revision as of 07:20, 29 July 2025

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:'''a.'''{{Note label|A|a|none}}For example, among the top ten usage "errors" submitted to the BBC was the supposed prohibition against using double negatives.

:'''b.'''{{Note label|B|b|none}}[[The Churchill Centre]] describes a similar version as "An invented phrase put in Churchill's mouth".<ref>[[#Chu11|The Churchill Centre and Museum at the Churchill War Rooms, London 2011]]. (The original text is italicized.)</ref>

:'''c.'''{{Note label|C|c|none}}''Chicago'' elaborates by noting Charles Allen Lloyd's observations on this phenomenon: "Next to the groundless notion that it is incorrect to end an English sentence with a preposition, perhaps the most wide-spread of the many false beliefs about the use of our language is the equally groundless notion that it is incorrect to begin one with "'but"' or "'and'." As in the case of the superstition about the prepositional ending, no textbook supports it, but apparently about half of our teachers of English go out of their way to handicap their pupils by inculcating it. One cannot help wondering whether those who teach such a monstrous doctrine ever read any English themselves."<ref>[[#Llo38|Lloyd 1938]]. p. 19. cited in [[#Chi10|University of Chicago Press 2010]]. p. 257.</ref>

:'''d.'''{{Note label|D|d|none}}These authors are quick to point out, however, that the passive voice is not necessarily ''better''—it's simply a myth that the passive voice is ''wrong''. For example, Brians states that, "it's true that you can make your prose more lively and readable by using the active voice much more often,",<ref name="Brians 2009. p. 169"/> and Fogarty points out that "passive sentences aren't incorrect; it's just that they often aren't the best way to phrase your thoughts".<ref>[[#Fog10a|Fogarty 2010]]. "Active Voice Versus Passive Voice.".</ref>

{{refend}}