Words that irritate me when people misuse them, part 1

[druidspell]

Okay, so I read a LOT. Sometimes I'm reading things so well-written they'd make you weep with the beauty of their syntax and grammar; sometimes, I'm reading things so mangled and poorly-written that I want to rip my hair out because they've butchered the English language.
Here are a few examples of words that get on my nerves when they're misused:

1. Taut and Taunt and Taught
Taut: adjective, 1. tightly drawn; tense; not slack. 2. emotionally or mentally strained or tense: taut nerves.
Taunt: verb, to reproach in a sarcastic, insulting, or jeering manner; mock.; noun, an insulting gibe or sarcasm; scornful reproach or challenge.
Taught: verb, past and past participle tenses of "teach."

2. Breath and Breathe
Breath: noun, the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
Breathe: verb, to take air, oxygen, etc., into the lungs and expel it; inhale and exhale; respire.

3. Accept and Except
Accept: verb, 1. to take or receive (something offered); receive with approval or favor: to accept a present; to accept a proposal. 2. to agree or consent to; accede to: to accept a treaty; to accept an apology. 3. to respond or answer affirmatively to: to accept an invitation. 4. to undertake the responsibility, duties, honors, etc., of.
Except: preposition, with the exclusion of; excluding; save; but.; conjunction, only; with the exception (usually fol. by that).

4. There and Their and They're
There: adverb, in or at that place (as opposed to here).;
Their: pronoun, a form of the possessive case of "they" used as an attributive adjective, before a noun.
They're: contraction, meaning "They are."

5. Its and It's
Its: pronoun, a form of the possessive case of "it" used as an attributive adjective, before a noun.
It's: contraction, meaning "It is" or "It has."

6. Ect. and Etcetera and And etcetera/ect./etc./...
Ect: Incorrect abbreviation.
Etcetera: Incorrect spelling--Et cetera is two words.
And etcetera/ect./etc./ and so forth: "And" is a part of the phrase "et cetera" (it's what "et" means in Latin); placing "and" before the word or abbreviation (which, fyi, is correctly abbreviated "etc.") is redundant.

Comments

[druidspell.livejournal.com]

Whenever I see people misusing breath/breathe, I want to reach through my computer screen and strangle them, and then explain to their purpling faces "When my hands are around your throat, you cannot breathe. When I let go, you can take a breath."