Five Grammar Issues I Love to Hate

I dislike all five of these terms and will avoid using them when possible. But when they are misused (by myself or others), a little grammar nazi in my head starts to cough and spit.

Common Misspellings

• "Disconscerning" vs. Disconcerting
• "Alot" vs. a lot
• "Could/Would/Should of" vs Could've/Would've/Should've
• "Ecetera" vs et certa

Less vs. Fewer

• When you’re trying to decide between “less” and “fewer” first ask yourself: am I talking about a specific number of things? If you can count it, then use "fewer." If not, then use “less.”  Fore example:
• Less — If you’ve got a big bowl of salad (with an indiscernible or irrelevant number of leaves) and you can’t eat it all, you might ask for “less salad.”
• Fewer — If, however, there is a specific number of tomatoes in the salad and you think there are too many, you would ask for “fewer” tomatoes (or a fewer number of tomatoes).

Nauseous vs. Nauseated

• For hundreds of years, nauseous and nauseating meant the same thing, defined as "causing nausea or disgust." According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, you feel nauseated when you smell a nauseous/nauseating odor.
• But in the middle of the 19th century, the MWD observed that the terms nauseous and nauseated began to be used interchangeably.
• According to Grammarly, most people now accept that "nauseous" is synonymous with "nauseated". Purists (like me) probably ought to stop insisting that people can ONLY feel nauseated. Getitwriteonline condescendingly suggests, if you only have room in your vocabulary for one of the two words, choose "nauseous".
• Usage:
• Note: nauseous is different than noxious, which means harmful or destructive to living beings. Also, disagreeable or obnoxious.
• Both can be used when saying, “I feel ________.” [nauseous, nauseated]
• If you're searching for alternatives to "feeling nauseous", you might consider any one of the following synonyms: anxious, appalled, bilious, blah, brackish, concerned, crummy, diseased, feverish, fidgety, frail green around gills, groggy, grossed out, ill, ill at ease, indisposed, laid-up, nauseated, pale, peaked, pukish, qualmish, queasy (also queazy), queer, queerish, restless, run down, shaky, sick, sickish, seasick, squeamish, under the weather, unwell, upset, vomity, weary, worried.

Juncture vs. Junction

• MWD suggests that if you aren’t sure which one to use, juncture is a good choice because it can refer to both time and space, whereas junction typically only refers to physical meeting places.
• Juncture (time/space)
• Junction (space)
• Usage:
• In highly formal or bureaucratic language, "at this juncture" is often used as a fancy way of saying "now". For example, "I'm unable to ascertain its whereabouts at this juncture."
• “Critical juncture” is redundant. Although not widely observed, all junctures are inherently critical.
• “At this juncture in time” is also redundant. Time is inferred in the context of the sentence. It might be more clear to say, “point in time,” or just "time".

“Regards” vs. “In/With Regard To” vs. “Regarding”

• Grammar Girl explains the differences among these three terms best:
• Regard — The correct phrase is "in/with regard to." “In regards to” is incorrect. You may, indeed, hear the plural—“in regards to”—all the time, but it rarely shows up in edited text such as the kind you find in a Google Books search. The Oxford English Dictionary calls it “regional and nonstandard.” Furthermore, employers will likely correct you if they catch you saying "in regards to".
• Regards — Used when sending greetings or asking someone to pass along your warm or affectionate thoughts to another person. Just sing "give my regards to Broadway" a few times and you'll remember it. And then sing the next line, "remember me to Harold Square" to realize how goofy it all sounds.
• Usage: 
• Many people view these phrases as unnecessary business jargon. Better options, depending on the particular sentence, include concerning, regarding, about, in, and with. Generally speaking, less formal is mo' betta (clearer).
• For example, this sentence is correct:
• “ This letter is in regard to your message dated January 5.” 
• But this sentence is better:
•  “This letter concerns your message dated January 5.”
• And to me, this would be even better: 
• “This letter is about the message you sent January 5.”

Quiz

Choose the better word or phrase.

1. How [disconcerting/disconcerning]! We [could of/could have] avoided [alot/a lot] of pain if we [would of/would've] known earlier.

2. You can have [less/fewer] ingredients, dollars, people, or puppies, but [less/fewer] salt, money, honesty, or love.

3. I feel [nauseous/nauseated].

4. The [nauseating/noxious] gas burned my eyes.

5. It was near the [juncture/junction] of City Road and Old Street.

6. At this [critical junction//juncture] the President must decide whether or not we will go to war.

7. I want to talk to you [in regard to/in regards to] the confetti incident.

8. [Regarding/In regards to] your text message, let’s pretend it never happened.

9. [Send my regard/Send my regards] to your mother.

10. I have one rule [in regard to/with regard to] your driving: Always wear your seat belt.

Answers

1. How [disconcerting]! We [could have] avoided [a lot] of pain if we [would've] known earlier.

2. You can have fewer ingredients, dollars, people, or puppies, but less salt, money, honesty, or love.

3. [Both.] I feel nauseous. I feel nauseated.

4. [Both, depending on the meaning.] The "nauseating gas" means that it causes nausea. The "noxious gas" means it's harmful to living things.

5. It was near the junction of City Road and Old Street.

6. At this juncture, the President must decide whether or not we will go to war.

7. I want to talk to you in regard to (good)/regarding(better)/about (best) the confetti incident.

8. Regarding your text message, let’s pretend it never happened.

9. Send my regards to your mother.

10. I have one rule with regard to ["concerning" would be better] your driving: Always wear your seat belt.