Unless the point actually is silent...

When I was active in a Toastmasters Club, I would sketch notes whenever I got ideas for possible speech topics. Today I ran across one such document, entitled, “Things People Say Wrong.” It lists a dozen or so words and phrases that are often used incorrectly. I didn't give a  speech about it, but I never pass up an opportunity to complain about the way people talk. Here are a few I jotted down:

“[Some sound] rose to a crescendo.” Wrong. Crescendo means gradually getting louder – the crescendo is the rising, not the resulting final decibel level.

“A myriad of things.” In correct usage, myriad is an adjective, not a noun, and fundamentally (and etymologically) it means “countless,” and you wouldn’t say, “a countless of things,” would you? No, just myriad things is all you need to say.

“Different than.” No, it should be different from, because different is the adjectival form of the verb to differ, and you don’t say, “They differ than each other,” do you? No, you say, “They differ from each other;” therefore, you should say one thing is different from another.

“The reason he fell is because he was drunk.”  No. Reasons are not because. Either, “The reason he fell is that he was drunk,” or “He fell because he was drunk,” but  never, the reason is because.  Reasons are not because of anything. Reasons just are.

The best way to learn correct usage and meanings of words and phrases (not to mention learning new ones) is to read a great deal of well-written prose. I think people do not do anywhere near enough of that these days.

I know a fellow who habitually says, “It’s a mute point.”  I know that if he saw the word moot in print and noted it spelling, he wouldn’t think it rhymed with cute. On the other hand, he’s the same guy who said, “I am anxious to bring this project to frutation."

Maybe people should read a lot of well-written prose with a dictionary at their elbow.