What follows is an extract from the University Times Manual of Style, compiled by editor Robert Donohoe.
Troublesome Words
Some words are regularly misused. Using the wrong word detracts from your journalism, and prevents you from saying what you really wanted to say.
Here are some words to look out for:
Assassination should be kept for the violent deaths of royalty and seriously prominent members of society, such as political or religious leaders. Everyone else is murdered or killed.
Cohort originally meant the tenth part of a Roman legion, and when statisticians use it, they mean a group with a shared characteristic. Despite recent American usage, it does not mean a group of colleagues, cronies, friends, Romans or countrymen.
Crescendo is a gradual increase culminating in a climax, so it is wrong to say that something rose to a crescendo.The word you want is climax.
Decimate originally meant to kill every tenth person but is now often used to indicate the destruction of a large part of something. Devastate or destroy are just as good.
Disinterested means impartial; uninterested means not interested in.
Draconian is much overused, usually by people with no idea who Draco was. (If asked, say he was an Athenian judge who ruled that the penalty for almost everything should be death.) Try severe or harsh instead.
Electrocution means death by electric shock. As such, it is always fatal.
Execute means to put to death after a legal process. Terrorists or criminals do not execute people, they murder them.
Forensic does not mean scientific. It means belonging to courts of law, so a forensic expert knows a lot about the legal process. Forensic scientists produce evidence that might be useful in court cases. Avoid forensic tests; you probably mean scientific tests.
Immolate is not another word for burn. It means to sacrifice or give up something in exchange for something else.
Ironically does not mean by an odd coincidence. Irony is using words to say the opposite of what they literally mean, and something is ironic if it is the opposite of what might have been expected. It is a subtle concept and is probably best avoided.
Massive is regularly misused. As the word implies, it concerns mass, weight and bulk, not quantity.
Surrogate means substitute, so it is the mother who is a surrogate, not the baby.
Transpire means to come to light or become known, as in, “It transpired that the editor had been to school with his secretary’s brother. It does not mean happen or occur.
Unique has a unique meaning, and it is that there is only one of something (uni as in unicycle, unicorn or unisex). Nothing can be almost unique. You should be saying distinctive or unusual.
