Idioms for today:

1. Red Herring - If something is a distraction from real issues, it's a red herring

2. Salad Days - Happy period of your life

3. Second-guess - If you second-guess someone, you try to predict, what they will do

4. Back to the drawing board - You have to go back to the beginning and start something again

5. Bad hair day - If you are having a bad hair day, things are not going the way you would like 

As most people who studied English as a language, I am passionate about expressing in this language accurately. To this end, let me dedicate a section of this blog to the love of correct usage of language. Every week, I will post few common errors in the usage of the English language that we generally overlook in our daily lives.

For this week, here is the list:

1. The words forbear and forebear are often confused and used interchangeably:

• Forbear means to avoid, hold back, refrain or show self-control. For example:
  - I cannot forbear thinking that you are the best in your profession.
  - She could not forbear declaring her love openly.
  - John could not forbear acting hastily.
  
  Past tense: Forbore | Past participle: Forborne

• Forebear means ancestor. For example:
  - Today we live better than in the troubled times of our forebears.

2. Apostrophes:

• Use 's to show singular possession. Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. For example, Husband's wallet, Manager's House
• Use 's to plural nouns that do not end in s. For example, Children's shoes, women's dresses
• Add only an ' when the plural noun ends in s. For example, Two cities' roads

 

3. Less and Fewer:

• The word - less should be used for a single item, for example, less cheese, less time, less space, less anger.
• The word - fewer should be used when there is more than one item, for example, fewer pieces of cheese, fewer items, fewer mice, fewer mice,