A Post “in Regards to” Misused Vocabulary

If the title of this post made you cringe, this article from Ragan’s PR Daily will likely induce physical illness. It is an exploration of everyday words that are all too often used incorrectly—including the term “everyday”. Additional verbal blunders include:

• Regards vs. Regarding. As you can likely tell from the title above, this one is a particular pet peeve of mine! People commonly say “in regards to”. In reality, the only time there should be an “s” on the back of this word is when you’re sending warm regards to your grandmother.

• Lead vs. Led. Prior to reading this article, this one admittedly stumped me on occasion! I think the use of “lead” always threw me off. A leader leads. Once the leading is complete, he led. Not to be confused with the lead found in paint. They certainly don’t make it easy on us!

• Flush Out vs. Flesh Out. A personal favorite of mine that isn’t featured in the PR Daily article, people commonly us the term “flush out” when referring to an idea or a concept. What they’re really looking for is “flesh out”, which, according to Webster, means to give something substance or make it more complete. You may flush out the truth from your sister who took your favorite pair of jeans, but I’d advise against fleshing her out.

Well, that’s it for today’s vocab lesson! Are there any vocabulary faux pas that give you pause?