Common Mistakes

Common mistakes
That everybody makes
The kind that make grammarians say
"Give me a break!"

(Misusing nonplussed)
When you say you are nonplussed
You're saying that you are confused
You are not saying you are calm
Although that's how the word's misused

(Confusing antidote and anecdote)
If you're bitten by a snake
An antidote is what you take
An anecdote's the tale you tell
Later, after you get well

(Ir-re-gard-less)
I don't care what you have heard
Irregardless is not a word
Lose the I-R at the start
And say regardless, you'll sound smart!

(Misspelling alter)
Altar spelled with an a
Describes a place where you can pray
While alter with an e means 'change'
The English language sure is strange!

Common mistakes
That everybody makes
The kind that make grammarians say
"Give me a break!"

by Tom Meltzer ©The Princeton Review