When I’m writing for Picayune, I frequently have another window open in my browser on webster.com. I love to use the site to assist me on spelling, definitions and synonyms. As a speaker of the American dialect of English, I defer to Webster not the stuffy Oxford.
The other day I stumbled upon a great Top 10 of theirs, The Top 10 Commonly Confused Words. I took a shot at it. I calculated that I would get a score of five at best. Much to my surprise, I got eight and I was vindicated on one usage someone claimed I’ve been wrong about for a decade. The two I was wrong about didn’t bother me much since one was obscure and the other has plagued me for 20 years (it was never an issue until I started working for GDW).
In the near future, I really want to take a refresher course at ACC on grammar and punctuation. Then maybe the equivalent of English 101/Composition. Anything to punch up or improve my writing, namely in the speed department.