Anyone else notice a trend?

[Larry W. Chavis]

Maybe you all have, and I'm just slow, but it really annoys me to read an article, or hear a newscast, or read a story where ordinary words are misused. My three most annoying examples are - flaunt for flout, as in "He flaunts the law," when what is meant is "He flouts the law."

Then there's "diffuse" for "defuse" ("He diffused the bomb;" interesting way to get one through a wall, I guess).

And, finally, on a story about a revolutionary war hero, the, ahem!, reporter had the man's family standing around the grave, and referred to them as his "ancestors."

Perhaps I am just too curmudgeonly, but it seems to me that if one's words are going into a public venue, one might take a bit of care to ascertain the proper word.

[Bill Mehlman]

Oldie but a Goodie, apparently with legs: infer/imply

[Maxine Schmidt]

These, along with the misuse of object pronouns and mispronunciation of "nuclear," are some of my pet peeves. I don't know if these errors are getting more common, or if I'm getting crabbier about them. But I agree that people should take more care with language, whether it's in the public eye or not. It's a matter of self-respect.

[Dennis Leppanen]

A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently. --Saint Augustine

[Bill Mehlman]

I thought I was done here until I just read, on another thread, "relatively unique." Ouch.

[Jack Getze]

"Nothing is unique," my first newspaper editor used to say. "Don't ever put that word in your copy again."