commonly misused English words - M

List of commonly misused English words

This is a list of English words which are commonly misused. It is meant to include only words whose misuse is deprecated by most usage writers, editors, and other professional linguists of Standard English. It is possible that some of the meanings marked non-standard may pass into Standard English in the future, but at this time all of the following Non-standard phrases are likely to be marked as incorrect by English teachers or changed by editors if used in a work submitted for publication. Some of the examples are homonyms or pairs of similarly spelled words which are often confused.

M

• macerate, marinate, and marinade. (From post-classical Latin marina brine, short for classical Latin aqua marina sea water.)^[5] In Standard English, marinade is a noun and not a verb; marinate is the verb. Macerate means "to soften by steeping in a liquid" and in culinary terminology is used for non-protein items, specifically fruit.^[5] The word macerate is also used in science "to soften bone, rock etc. in a liquid".^[5]
  • Standard: The meat will taste better if you marinate it in olive oil before cooking.
  • Standard: Prepare the marinade by mixing vinegar and soy sauce.
  • Non-standard: Marinade the meat in wine for half an hour.
  • Standard: Macerate the fruit in wine for half an hour.
  • Non-standard: Marinate the fruit in wine for half an hour.

• me, myself, and I. In a traditional prescriptive grammar, I is used only as a subject, me is used only as an object, and myself is used only as a reflexive object, that is to say when the subject is "I" and the object would otherwise be "me". Myself is often used incorrectly, often in a form of hypercorrection. Like the other reflexive pronouns, myself should be used only when both the subject and object of the verb are the speaker, or as an emphatic pronoun (intensifier).
  • Standard: Jim and I took the train.
  • Standard: He lent the books to Jim and me.
  • Standard: That is I in the picture. (This is very formal, and seldom found in speech.)
  • Acceptable: That is me in the picture. (This is typical in informal English.)
  • Standard (intensifying): I myself have seen instances of that type.
  • Standard (reflexive): I hurt myself. I did it to myself. I played by myself. I want to enjoy myself.
  • Non-standard: Jim and me went into town.
  • Non-standard: Me and Jim went into town.
  • Non-standard: As for myself, I prefer the red.
  • Non-standard: He is an American like myself.
  • Non-standard: He gave the paper to Jim and myself.
  • Non-standard: My wife and myself do not like the development.
  • Non-standard: 'I wake up/With my eyes shut tight/Hoping tomorrow will never come/For you and I.' (Should be For you and me) (From "You And I, Part II" by Fleetwood Mac)

• mitigate and militate. To mitigate is to make something milder. To militate is to fight or exert pressure for something to happen or not to happen.
  • Standard: The seriousness of your crime was mitigated by the provocation you were under.
  • Standard: Over-protective practices in this factory militate against increased efficiency.
  • Non-standard: Over-protective practices in this factory mitigate against increased efficiency.