COMING TO GRIPS WITH ENGLISH – PART 10

 COMMONLY MISUSED AND CONFUSED WORDS

  English seems to have so many words that sound alike and more words that are frequently confused than any other language.  Many words are easily confused.  Some words sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.  Other words are confusing because they sound almost the same. 

 Users of transcript judge the quality of the transcript and the professional competence of the court reporting officers by the presence or absence of these language conflicts in the transcript.  It is extremely important that when we type these words in the context of court proceedings we get them right the first time, every time.  So, read the examples below and thoroughly familiarize yourself with the meaning of the different words.  

 Commonly Misused Words

 Adapt -       When visiting a foreign country, you must adapt yourself to the customs practised there.

 Adopt -       The Grays plan to adopt several hard-to-place children.

 Accept -     Consent to receive something – I gladly accept the beautiful and thoughtful present.

 Except-      Not including; other than.  All the players were awarded medals except those found to have taken performance enhancing drugs.  

 Excerpt-     Short extract from a piece of music or writing – I tender as an exhibit an excerpt of that large document on financial procedures.

 Accede-     Assent or agree to – We have negotiated our respective positions and I accede to the terms and conditions suggested by the other side in order to settle this matter.

  Exceed-     Be greater in number or size – The police said they had to fine the driver of the car because he continued to exceed the speed limit in that area.

 Concur-      Agree – The submissions made by counsel for the first plaintiff truthfully and clearly represent the views of my client, the second plaintiff and therefore I concur with them. 

 Conquer-    Overcome and take control of by military force – The army general instructed his troops that they were on the battle field to conquer the enemy.

 Concede-   Reluctantly agree.  I do not want to help the other side in their case, but in light of the compelling and convincing facts they have presented I have to concede they are right. 

 Consider-   Give thought to;  deliberate upon.  The Judge said, “I will consider the evidence, weigh it up for and against, and will then give my decision on verdict.”

 Advice        -        Guidance or recommendations offered with regard to future action – Thank you for giving me that wise advice.  It saved me from making a really bad mistake.

 Advise        -        Recommend a (course of action) –Inform about a fact or situation.  I am happy to advise you on the decision you should make in these circumstances;  those words would be my advice to you. 

 Affect         -        Means to influence – I seek by my words and actions to affect the way you behave.

 Effect (n)-   Means result or outcome – As your mother I want my  advice to result in an effect on your behaviour which will be obvious to all by the way you change your habits.

 Effect (v)-   Means to bring about; accomplish – The manager urged his staff to effect the desired outcome so that the organisation would be known as a successful one whose staff were focused on achievement and were results oriented instead of ad hoc and uncoordinated in their approach to their work.

 Cause of action- The injuries suffered by the lady who had been pack raped were the basis of her cause of action against the offenders. 

 Course of action-          The lady victim of the pack rape adopted the course of action of instituting a cause of action in the court in order to get justice.

 Deposed to         -  The deponent of the affidavit deposed to certain facts which then became evidence before the Magistrate.

 Formally-    The Judge formally, officially, discharged the accused on the basis there was not sufficient evidence to convict him.

 Formerly-   The Judge gave the accused an increased sentence because he had previously, that is formerly, been before the court on a similar charge of break, enter and stealing. 

 Principal-    The Principal of the High School laid down the code of behaviour to the students. 

Principle-    The lady of principle said she believes very strongly in the moral principle that people should not steal from one another.

 Thwart-       Frustrate.  The lawyers for the defendants did all in their power including seeking multiple adjournments, introducing irrelevant material and generally delaying the proceedings to thwart the expeditious hearing of the plaintiff’s case.

 Tort-           An injury resulting in a claim for damages.  The tortious act of spraying acid in the boy’s eyes resulting in him being blind was a tort that required compensation for the damages caused to him. 

 Taut-          Tight.  The tug boat moved slowly until the rope between it and the trawler was taut and then applied maximum power to pull the trawler off the sand bank.

 Taught -      The students were taught well by the very committed and conscientious teacher. 

 Thought-    The Judge thought there was more to the circumstances of the case and therefore gave the young man the benefit of the doubt.

Mucking around not marking around – The boys were skylarking, playing, mucking around when the accident happened.

 Open ended contract – no such thing as open handed contract -  The contract had strict stipulations and conditions which prevented it from being open ended.        

 On the one hand ……. on the other hand – As we consider the options available there are those positive ones on the one hand while there are these others on the other hand.  We need to balance them and consider them and come to an informed decision of which is the correct and just decision to make. 

Dispose of not dispose off -  If we can make those orders, your Honour, that will dispose of this matter. 

 License holder (n)        -        meaning holder of a licence – This company owns this hotel and is the license holder of the liquor licence. 

 Licence                -        permit that is issued: ie, driver’s licence – The driver’s licence was cancelled because of his dangerous driving.

 No such phrase as “have being” – You are being kind when you give money to the poor.  You have been kind in the past when you gave money to the poor.