To leave the reader in no doubt as to what you mean, how do you decide on the right choice or words?
I believe my grammar and punctuation has improved through reading Penguin books on, Grammar, Punctuation and Plain English. Also, I believe I have benefited enormously from reading novels. But my Grammar and Punctuation needs much improvement.
The errors I make when I post are due to tiredness, carelessness, and rushing my response to a question. I am sure we are all guilty of that at times.
Do you question the strict dictionary definition or words as you write, or are you confident the reader will understand your meaning?
There are many words in common use which are used incorrectly.
An example is the word, Prejudice. It means to Pre-Judge, but mention the word Prejudice and there are many who automatically assume that it only has racial connotations.
I would be interested to see your examples of the misuse of words.
I used to hate punctuation. Commas were annoying thunderbugs I wanted to blow off the page, paragraph indents were a waste of paper and the dreaded semi-colon had me breaking a sweat as I tried to understand its correct use.
Then my saintly beta readers politely mentioned they felt breathless reading my work, even if it was only in their heads. When one read a sentence back to me with completely the wrong emphasis, which in turn took it into the wrong context, I realised punctuation is like the director sitting in his chair and guiding the actor/reader to the best possible performance. Seeing it in that light I was determined my readers should get my best possible direction and I haven't looked back.
I still think commas are nasty little thunderbugs, though.
Yes, funny indeed, Deborah!
I actually looked some common missed used words:
Breath and Breathe
Bath and Bathe
Cloth and Clothe
Loath and Loathe
Sheath and Sheathe
Deborah, that is an amusing post about the canine-pepper.
The words below have the same meaning, but I would use the first four wherever possible.
Critical, vital, essential, crucial, needed, necessary, indispensable, and important.
The sounds and the force of words determines my choice when I read them aloud.