Nathan Exposed » Wednesday Words: Triple Feature!

This week’s feature is a threesome! Talk about filthy…

Mis typed:

The first comes from Cory. Last week, he was annoyed by a woman who wrote “mis typed” in an e-mail. It contradicts what she said about mistyping. It’s about as bad as people who say they mispelled something, when they actually misspelled something.

“Mis” is used to explain an error. If you misunderstand, it means you failed to understand. But “mis” is not a separate word. It goes along with whatever word comes after it. What about using a dash? That’s something I can’t seem to find a straight answer on. I’ve checked several online sources, and there doesn’t seem to be a solid rule. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

Went missing:

The next item comes from Mikell. He pointed out the way news media uses the term about people who “went missing”. I’m glad he brought that up because the use of “went” is actually a weak point for me too. I use it incorrectly myself, and it seems to be accepted in the English language, but it’s wrong.

I hope I’m explaining this in the way Mikell intended. If someone “went missing”, isn’t that past tense? After all, the person is still missing. Instead, wouldn’t you say “This person has been missing since last week”?

After all:

Finally, the third word is something I just caught myself - the word “afterall”. I use it all the time - it’s part of my vocabulary. While doing a spell check on this post, I realized that “afterall” is not accepted as a real word in any online dictionary. It’s supposed to be “after all”. Rats! I don’t think anyone has ever caught that either. Well, I will work on it in the future. I guess it’s still better than people who use the word “definately”! Argh!

Wed, Sep 13, 2006 @ 7:57 pm | Filed in Wednesday Words | Permalink

5 Comments

Actually, it comes up all the time with all the crime in the Orlando area. “The child sometime last week…” The child did not CHOOSE to walk out of town, or view of the parent(s).

A child might be DISCOVERED missing by his/her parents, but he never “went missing”.

Of course, I tend to be, you know, comma happy, so, maybe I shouldn’t, you know, comment on their, you know, English and Grammar.

Posted by Mikell on Wed, Sep 13, 2006 @ 8:54 pm

crap. HTML can be a bitch. Let me rephrase:

Actually, it comes up all the time with all the crime in the Orlando area. “The child “went missing” sometime last week…”

Carry on.

Posted by Mikell on Wed, Sep 13, 2006 @ 8:56 pm

It’s about as bad as people who say they mispelled something, when they actually misspelled something.

That’s why it’s so important to learn the concept of affixes, gentlemen.

If you misunderstand, it means you failed to understand

Actually, I’m fairly certain that “to misunderstand” means “to understand incorrectly.” You understand, just not in the right way.

the way news media uses the term about people who “went missing”

Isn’t that a British expression? I’ve never heard it used, outside BBC America and James Bond movies.

Posted by zooplah on Thu, Sep 14, 2006 @ 9:57 am

I disagree with Mikell about “went missing”… and I think it’s actually the right term… if someone “went missing” three days ago, it IS in the past tense, because it happened three days ago… if that person is still missing, that’s a whole different ballgame, but the fact stands that they entered the state of being “missing” three days in the past…

Have I mentioned I love Wednesday Words?

And I so have to hold my hand up for “definately”… and it’s only been recently that I realised that I was spelling it wrong… *blush*

Posted by yaniboy on Thu, Sep 14, 2006 @ 7:20 pm

I think I misunderstood what Mikell was saying anyway, so the error is on me. He was saying that (especially in his area) news casts said children “went missing” as if they had a choice. You know, like if you “went to school” or “went on a walk”.

Thanks, I’m glad you love Wednesday Words… definitely! haha

Posted by Nathan on Thu, Sep 14, 2006 @ 8:07 pm