No “Help” Needed When You Have “Support”

In editing another book, I recently came across a common error. The sentence read in part, “These … were specifically designed to help support our …”

While grammatically correct (and that’s a good thing because an editor has to fix grammatical errors and if there are many, it takes that much longer!), the sentence nonetheless is redundant.

You don’t need help support. They’re synonyms.

One of my dictionary definitions of support is: “assist, help.” Support has a great many definitions, including “uphold,” “advocate,” “back” (as a verb) and “champion.” But they’re synonyms for different definitions of support.

So, decide if you need help or support and go with it.

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

 

Were You “Raised” or “Reared?”

Often enough, I read that a person was born in a particular place and raised  somewhere else. Or, I’ll hear someone say  they were “proudly born and raised in Texas” or some other place. Every once in a while, I will read that an athlete was reared by a single mother.

So, were you raised or reared?

Yes.

Each of the above mentions of “raised” and “reared” is correct. All living things (and inanimate objects) can be raised, but only humans are reared.

So get your rear out there and use the right words!

Until next time!

leebarnathan.com