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Words You’re Using Wrong

And a few that you’re actually using right.

Rachel Wayne
3 min readJul 31, 2018

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Alumni: This is not a singular noun. It wasn’t singular in Latin, and it’s not so now. If you say, “I’m an alumni of Awesome University,” it’s the equivalent of saying, “I’m a men.” If you’re talking about a group of all male, or both male and female, graduates, say “alumni.” If all female, it’s “alumnae.” Otherwise, a male graduate is an alumnus and a female graduate is an alumna. And remember, no matter what word you use, your university really wants all alumni to give give give.

Devious: Often used to mean “evil” or “manipulative,” this word actually means using underhanded tactics to achieve one’s goals. So while an evil or manipulative person might be devious as well, the word does not mean “evil” or “manipulative.” And we all know better than to make moral judgments based on behavior, right?

Hypocritical: Many people confuse this with discrimination or differential treatment. It actually means taking or prohibiting action for others that one would or wouldn’t do themselves, or criticizing others for something that the speaker himself does. A case in point: If an employee is fired from their job after making racist comments on social media, it’s not hypocritical of the manager to fire them but not another employee who didn’t make such comments. It would only be hypocritical…

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Rachel Wayne
Rachel Wayne

Written by Rachel Wayne

Artist/anthropologist/activist writing about art, media, culture, health, science, enterprise, and where they all meet. Join my list: http://eepurl.com/gD53QP

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