Business Speak

Happy Friday from your friendly local Writing Center, grammar friends! We've been thinking about easily confused words the last couple weeks, so let's take a moment to think about the confusing words we might use in a professional setting, instead of just what we use on paper. 

"Alot" is not a word--it might be a fictitious animal though...

There's a lovely little group of words that sound like one thing, but are actually something else (or two different words all together). Knowing the difference is important not only to ensure you're saying the word you mean, but also recording the right word (if you are in charge of writing minutes for a meeting). 

Here's a few examples to get you started:

To begin, alot and irregardless are not words. 

A lot is always two words: I move to purchase a lot of jelly beans for the next Easter party. 

Regardless means doing something in spite of differing advice: I'll eat a hundred jelly beans regardless of the potential stomachache. 

Accept v. Except: 

Accept in this context usually means to agree to something: I accept the proposal to buy more jelly beans.

Except means disagreeing with a specific part: I'll agree to the jelly beans, except for the amount. 

Consul, Council, v. Counsel:

Consul is a person elected to a government body: The Alderaan consul was tricked by Darth Vader. 

Council is the government body: The council for Naboo should rethink some of their members.

Counsel means to give advice: I'd offer counsel to Greedo, but Han is still going to shoot first. 

Due to v. Because of:

Due to is an adjective and means that something was caused by something else: The infamous Alderaan "meteor shower" was due to the Death Star being a "fully operational battle station." 

Due to is modifying "infamous Alderaan 'meteor shower,' the noun and subject of the sentence. Adjectives modify nouns, so we use due to here. 

Because of is an adverb and means that something resulted from  something else: The planet was destroyed because of Darth Vader's trickery. 

Because of is modifying "destroyed," the verb. Adverbs modify verbs, so we use because of here.  

Former v. Latter

In a list of two things, Former is the first thing and Latter is the second: ​If we're talking about vacationing on Jakku or the Forest Moon of Endor, I'd rather visit the latter. I'm not a fan of sand. 

And for the finale of this starter list--Motion v. Move

In the political realm, Motion is a noun and refers to the document or subject to be voted on: ​Sally presents the motion to show only the theatrical releases of the original Star Wars movies during the Star Wars Bonanza Festival. 

Move (or Move to) is a verb and means to vote on or come to a conclusion about the motion: I move to show only the theatrical releases. 

If you're voting on the issue, you move to agree or disagree with it. You move the motion. 

If you write or say "Pete motions to show only the digitally enhanced versions," then this technically means that Pete is waving his arms or pointing towards a showing of the digitally enhanced versions of Star Wars. Using motion in this context means physical movement. 

Resources:

Brians, Paul. "Motion/Move." Common Errors in English Usage. Accessed March 4, 2016. http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/motion.html

Gibson, Malcolm D. "Because Of & Due To." Wonderful World of Words. Last modified August 12, 2009. Accessed March 4, 2016. http://web.ku.edu/~edit/because.html. 

Marleau, Robert and Camille Montpetit, editors. "12. The Process of Debate: Moving a Motion." House of Commons Procedure and Practice. Accessed March 4, 2016. http://www.parl.gc.ca/marleaumontpetit/DocumentViewer.aspx?Sec=Ch12&Seq=4&Language=E

Shorr, Brad. "Commonly Confused Business Words and Phrases." Straight North. Last modified August 29, 2010. Accessed March 4, 2016. https://www.straightnorth.com/insights/commonly-confused-business-words-and-phrases/