Some of us are irritated when a grocery checker asks “Do you want any help out with that at all?” “At all” is traditionally used in negative contexts: “Can’t you give me any help at all?” The current pattern of using the phrase in positive offers of help unintentionally suggests aid reluctantly given or minimal in extent. As a way of making yourself sound less polite than you intend, it ranks right up there with “no problem” instead of “you’re welcome.”
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No matter how you use it, the expression “as well” is always two words, despite the fact that many people seem to think it should be spelled “aswell.” Examples: “I don’t like plastic trees as well as real ones for Christmas.” “Now that we’ve opened our stockings, let’s open our other presents as well.”
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Modern astronomers consider astrology an outdated superstition. You’ll embarrass yourself if you use the term “astrology” to label the scientific study of the cosmos. In writing about history, however, you may have occasion to note that ancient astrologers, whose main goal was to peer into the future, incidentally did some sound astronomy as they studied the positions and movements of celestial objects.
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Some people not only spell this word without its second S, they say it that way too. It comes from Greek asteriskos: “little star.” Tisk, tisk, remember the “-isk”; “asterick” is icky.
In countries where the Asterix comics are popular, that spelling gets wrongly used for “asterisk” as well.
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To “assure” a person of something is to make him or her confident of it. According to Associated Press style, to “ensure” that something happens is to make certain that it does, and to “insure” is to issue an insurance policy. Other authorities, however, consider “ensure” and “insure” interchangeable. To please conservatives, make the distinction. However, it is worth noting that in older usage these spellings were not clearly distinguished.
European “life assurance” companies take the position that all policy-holders are mortal and someone will definitely collect, thus assuring heirs of some income. American companies tend to go with “insurance” for coverage of life as well as of fire, theft, etc.
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The misspelling “ascared” is probably influenced by the spelling of the synonym “afraid,” but the standard English word is “scared.”
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It‘s unfortunate that many people mistakenly say and write that it’s “ashamed” that something is so when what they really mean is that it‘s “a shame.”
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“Assent” is a verb meaning “agreement,” “consent.” “Ascent” is a noun meaning “climb.” When you get people to agree with you, you gain their assent. When you climb a mountain, you make an ascent.
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Someone who doesn’t enjoy socializing at parties might be described as either “asocial” or “antisocial,’ but “asocial” is too mild a term to describe someone who commits an antisocial act like planting a bomb. “Asocial” suggests indifference to or separation from society, whereas “antisocial” more often suggests active hostility toward society.
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When used to refer to different elements of or perspectives on a thing or idea, these words are closely related, but not interchangeable. It’s “in all respects,” not “in all aspects.” Similarly, one can say “in some respects” but not “in some aspects.” One says “in this respect,” not “in this aspect.” One looks at all “aspects” of an issue, not at all “respects.”
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