Just for the sake of what H.L. Mencken liked to call “stirring up the animals,” I will list for you distinctions of usage that I am maintaining and distinctions that I am willing to give up—and think you ought to as well, unless you enjoy wasting your time.
KEEPING
Cache/cachet
Cement/concrete
Flair/flare
Flaunt/flout
Forward/foreword
Imply/infer
Loath/Loathe
Mantel/mantle
Peak/peek/pique
Refute/rebut
Stanch/staunch
Trooper/trouper
(And because I think the people I write for can recognize them)
Amused/bemused
Disinterested/uninterested
Lie/lay
DROPPING
(The ones you’ve been waiting for)
Anxious/eager
Career/careen
Compare to/compare with
Convince/persuade
Due to/because of
Farther/further
Gantlet/gauntlet
Hanged/hung
Healthful/healthy
Lend/loan
Nauseated/nauseous
Over/more than (Nagged AP into dropping this one)
Since/because
I understand that some of you might not recognize some of the distinctions in the latter group, unless you are of a certain age.
