When someone says “I’m developing feelings for you,” the message is “I’m falling in love with you.” Feelings for are always positive feelings. In contrast, feelings about something or someone can be either positive or negative: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
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Some governmental style guidelines call for “federal” to be capitalized whenever it refers to a function or part of the federal government of the United States. However, in most contexts it is capitalized only in the titles of agencies like the “Federal Bureau of Investigation” and the “Federal Reserve.” If you are not required to follow governmental guidelines it’s “the federal budget,” “federal courts,” and “federal employees.” Of course, in the titles of publications the word is capitalized like any other noun; and if the source you are quoting capitalizes it, you should preserve the capitalization.
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Few people pronounce the first R in “February” distinctly, so it is not surprising that it is often omitted in spelling. This poor month is short on days; don’t further impoverish it by robbing it of one of its letters.
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To be “fearful” is to be afraid. To be “fearsome” is to cause fear in others. Remember that someone who is fierce is fearsome rather than fearful.
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“Faze” means to embarrass or disturb, but is almost always used in the negative sense, as in “the fact that the overhead projector bulb was burned out didn’t faze her.” “Phase” is a noun or verb having to do with an aspect of something. “He’s just going through a temperamental phase.” “They’re going to phase in the new accounting procedures gradually.” Unfortunately, Star Trek has confused matters by calling its ray pistols phasers. Too bad they aren’t fazers instead.
Indignant Star Trek fans should read my blog entry on the subject.
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A faun is a part-goat, part-human mythological being. The most famous faun in modern literature is Mr. Tumnus in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia novels.
A fawn is a young deer; and to fawn over someone is to show exaggerated affection or admiration for someone, usually to gain some advantage.
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A “fatal” event is a deadly one; a “fateful” one is determined by fate. If there are no casualties left lying at the scene—whether mangled corpses or failed negotiations—the word you are seeking is “fateful.” The latter word also has many positive uses, such as “George fondly remembered that fateful night in which he first met the woman he was to love to his dying day.”
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“Fastly” is an old form that has died out in English. Interest in soccer is growing fast, not “fastly.”
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Some authorities (like the Associated Press) insist on “farther” to refer to physical distance and on “further” to refer to an extent of time or degree, but others treat the two words as interchangeable except for insisting on “further” for “in addition,” and “moreover.” You’ll always be safe in making the distinction; some people get really testy about this.
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The mangled expression “far be it for me” is probably influenced by a similar saying: “it’s not for me to say.” The standard expression is “far be it from me” (may this possibility be far away from me).
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