A Word, Please: 10 words that may astound or annoy you

By June Casagrande

May 6, 2016 4:59 PM PT

Are you the person friends turn to when they need a resume proofread or a grammar bet settled? Do you still beam with pride at having won your third-grade spelling bee? Then you’re probably right.

In my experience, people who think they’re word savvy usually are. But the English language, like life, grades on a curve. So just because you’re the only person you know who can use “whom” doesn’t mean you’ve mastered every nook and cranny of our unbelievably tough language.

For certain words, expert use can elude even word-smart types like you. So here are 10 words you don’t know as well as you thought you did.

Peruse. People often use peruse to mean “skim” or “browse,” as in “Peruse the shops along Main Street.” Technically, that’s fine. But proper types and word nerds alike might be interested to know that this is actually the opposite of the word’s main definition: “peruse. 1. to examine in detail, scrutinize. 2. to read carefully or thoroughly; study.” Only in its third definition does Webster’s New World College Dictionary allow anything like “skim”: “3. to read in a casual or leisurely way.”

Irregardless. If you’re thinking about “peruse” and concluding that there’s nothing wrong with choosing one of the dictionary’s more permissive definitions, you’re right. But this means that you must also accept that — to the horror of every self-respecting word nerd — “irregardless” is a legitimate word. (Please direct all outrage to the publishers of Webster’s and not to me.)

Multimillion. The rules for hyphenation say that most prefixes can be attached directly to another word without a hyphen. So, contrary to popular practice, there’s no need to hyphenate this term. When you want to add it to “dollar” and use that compound to modify a noun, the hyphen should go here: a multimillion-dollar deal.

Forgo. Want to eschew something? To do without it? To pass it up? There’s no E in that forgo. If you spell it “forego,” you’re actually using an obscure word that means “to go before.”

Rein. If you want to rein in your spending, imagine pulling back on a horse’s reins. Don’t use “reign,” which means to rule like a king and which is the correct form in the expression “reign supreme.”

Like. Proponents of the most proper English have as much right to be formal as others do to speak informally. But thinking that “like” can’t mean “such as” — a common misperception among this set — isn’t about proper vs. casual. It’s simply not true. There’s no error in “I enjoy activities like biking, hiking and swimming.”

Judgment. It makes perfect sense that this word would have an E after the G. So it might offend logical minds that, in American English, it doesn’t. But if those logical minds are aiming for letter-perfect prose, this word should contain just one E.

Theater. In my years of editing lifestyle- and calendar-type articles, I’ve encountered countless people who like the idea that a theater is a place where you see a movie and the theatre is about live performances. Lovely thought, but nope. In American English, the preferred spelling is theater regardless of which kind you mean.

Accouterment. I get it: Sometimes you just feel so fancy that you’ll leap at the chance to use this word. But when the opportunity arises, you might find it interesting to note that, while accoutrement is an accepted spelling, accouterment, with the E before the R, is preferred.

Enormity. Next time you’re tempted to use this word, reach for a dictionary first. Chances are, you were about to use it to refer to the enormous size of something. And that is acceptable. But anyone who takes pride in being super-word-smart might find it interesting to know that its main definition is “great wickedness” or “a monstrous act.”

JUNE CASAGRANDE is the author of “The Best Punctuation Book, Period.” She can be reached at JuneTCN@aol.com.