CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - November 1, 2009

Here are the corrections and explanations for last week's entries.

Monday

WARRANTEE/WARRANTY

“Warranty”, a noun, is a written assurance that a product or service will be performed.
“I received a one year manufacturer’s warranty for my new television.”

“Warrantee”, a noun, refers to a person to whom a warrant is given.
“I am the warrantee, the one who received a standard guarantee for my new television.”


Tuesday

COMPOSE/COMPRISE

“Compose” is a verb meaning to create a musical work, to create a new writing or to put together.

“Comprise” is a verb meaning to consist of, to be equal to or to contain.
“Those nine symphonies comprise the total musical output of that composer.”


Wednesday

MEDIUM/MEDIAN

“Medium” is a noun referring to a state that is intermediate between extremes, to someone who serves as an intermediary between the living and the dead or to the surrounding environment.
“‘Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.’”

“Median” as an adjective, refers to the middle value of a distribution. As a noun, it refers to the value below which fifty percent of the cases lie.
“In the sequence 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, the median number is 4.”


Thursday

PASSED/PAST

“Passed” is the past participle of the verb “to pass”. “To pass” means to enact laws, to go by something, to succeed in an exam or to run or extend by two points.
“She passed the medical exam with flying colours.”

“Past” is a noun referring to time that has elapsed. As an adjective, it refers to a time earlier than the present time or no longer current.
“The old lady lived and thought in the past and had no use for a computer.”


Friday

DRANK/DRUNK

“Drank” is the past tense of the verb “to drink”.
“They drank themselves into oblivion every weekend.”

“”Drunk” is a noun referring to a chronic drinker. As a verb, “drunk” requires an auxiliary verb or helper.
“ ‘I have drunk many new concoctions lately’, slurred the drunk.”


A GOOD CONCEPT

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Albert Einstein, physicist, 1879 - 1955, said this.


LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Hydra” (proper noun) was a monstrous serpent with nine heads in Greek mythology and when one head was cut off, two more replaced it. As a common noun, “hydra” refers to a monster.
The connotation of “hydra” is any persistent evil arising from many sources and difficult to overcome.
“Hercules slew the Hydra as one of his labours.”
“The hydra of racism is a fearsome pandemic.”

“Rancid” (adj.) means smelling of fermentation or staleness, sour or going bad.

“Dissimulation” (n.) refers to the act of deceiving, misrepresentation or falsehood.

“Stoicism” (n.) is a philosophical system or doctrine indicating an indifference to pain or pleasure or that men should be free from passion or unmoved by joy or grief.
“Stoicism” was a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Greece.
“Stoic”, is the term for a follower of Zeno's philosophy.
“Stoical” is the adjective form.

“Disconcert” (v.) means to cause to be confused, to confuse emotionally, to upset or to discomfit someone.