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NateHowe's "If you claim to be fluent in English, you should understand and apply these things:"

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This was inspired by the list "100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know." Please create your own and invite me to compare. I hope that each of us will master English more fully through this exercise.

The difference between there, their, and they're.

The difference between two, to, and too.

How to use a semicolon.

The difference between angel and angle.

The difference between sea, see, and the letter C.

Penultimate means second to last, not better than ultimate.

"I before E, except after C" is an incomplete doctrine.

Antidisestablishmentarianism isn't the longest word in the English language, so stop trying to use it.

Cite your sources, or it's plagiarism.

10.

If you are not from Australia, you probably can't do a believable Australian accent.

11.

Inflammable means the same thing as flammable. The antonym is nonflammable.

12.

If you are wondering if street slang makes you sound cool when you use it, it doesn't. If you never wondered, you might be OK.

13.

Saying "um" or "like" to fill time is worse than a few seconds of silence.

14.

There is no such word as "alot."

15.

The difference between it's and its.

16.

It's asterisk, not asterick.

17.

Only say "literally" if you mean it literally.

18.

You stand on a podium. You speak from behind a lectern.

19.

The double "is" is abominable, i.e. "The fact is is that you sound ignorant."

20.

The meaning and proper use of "beg the question."

21.

The difference between your and you're.

22.

Irregardless is not a word.

23.

Good is an adjective. Well is an adverb. Use them as such.

24.

The difference between lay and lie.

25.

The phrase "different than" does not exist. It's "different from."

26.

A scene may be heart-rending, but it is not heart-rendering unless you are in a slaughterhouse or similar animal processing operation.

27.

Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound, not a vowel sound; thus, the phrase "avoid alliteration, always" is not funny. "Avoid assonance, always" is funny.

28.

"Prolly" is not a word. Use "probably," with two Bs.

29.

Excessive use of exclamation points is annoying! Just one is enough, even for the most exciting sentences!!!

30.

You share an anecdote when telling a story, an antidote when saving a victim of poisoning.

31.

Being in the dictionary does not make a word appropriate for widespread use. The newer dictionaries are now including words such as "bootylicious."

32.

"Like" is not a suitable filler between thoughts.

This is NateHowe's list. Only NateHowe can edit it. You can make your own version of this list.

Created by NateHowe on Oct 16, 2006.