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Fatal vs Ghastly and Other Wrongly Used Words

Some wrongly used words at a glance

Our topic for this week has been drawn from words we use almost everyday. Ironically, as simple as these words may seem, some people often use them wrongly either in their daily conversation or writing. Sometimes the user may actually have the correct meaning of such words in mind, but will either use a wrong one or spell it in a way that gives it an entirely different meaning. Let's consider the following word pairs:

1. Fatal and Ghastly: Most people think that when there is a road crash leading to severe injuries and destruction of vehicles, it is fatal! The word 'fatal' is a derivative from the noun 'fate' which means 'destiny', 'an inevitable outcome', etc. Thus, an accident is described as 'fatal' when it resulted in death (or fatality). In other words, when an accident is very shocking or horrible and results in severe injuries and destruction without any death, it is not 'fatal'; it is 'ghastly'. 

2. Former and Formal: Former is used to express what someone or something was in the past. We can talk about former governor, former secretary, etc. Formal, on the other hand, is used to describe any activity that follows a set of established form, custom or rule. Thus, we can have formal approach, formal recognition, etc. Note that there is nothing like formal governor or formal secretary.

3. Borrow and Lend: We use these words everyday, but we often use them wrongly. If you are the one giving out an item, you are the lender while the person receiving is the borrower. Therefore, to lend is to give while to borrow is to receive. So, instead of saying, "Borrow me your pen", we should rather say, "Lend me your pen". More examples: 

Mike: Don't lend him your car next time. 

Jack: Who says I want to borrow your car?

We hope you can spot the difference in the two now!

4. Chaff and Shaft: Chaff is the seed coverings and other debris separated from the seed after sieving, while shaft is a bar in a machine which holds or turns other parts that move or spin. In other words, the particles you remove after sieving a grain is not 'shaft' but 'chaff'. A shaft, on the other hand, is a part of a machine. Can you now see the difference? With the explanations, we are trusting that you will not use the word 'shaft' again when you actually mean to say 'chaff'.

5. Later and Latter: Later is used when we want to refer to a time in the future. For example, the man promised to visit later (at a time other than now). Latter means "coming or happening near the end of a process, activity, series, life, etc." For example: the latter stages, in their latter days, etc. One synonym for latter is 'latest' while the antonym is 'earliest', etc.


We hope you will find this post helpful.

We welcome your comments, observations and suggestions on the blog.

Best regards.

From the Grammarstar team.

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