One would find an ‘error’ common if one insisted that one accepted meaning of a word is incorrect:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nauseous
Definition of NAUSEOUS
1
: causing nausea or disgust : nauseating
2
: affected with nausea or disgust
— nau·seous·ly adverb
— nau·seous·ness noun
See nauseous defined for English-language learners »
See nauseous defined for kids »
Usage Discussion of NAUSEOUS
Those who insist that nauseous can properly be used only in sense 1 and that in sense 2 it is an error for nauseated are mistaken. Current evidence shows these facts: nauseous is most frequently used to mean physically affected with nausea, usually after a linking verb such as feel or become; figurative use is quite a bit less frequent. Use of nauseous in sense 1 is much more often figurative than literal, and this use appears to be losing ground to nauseating. Nauseated is used more widely than nauseous in sense 2.
Examples of NAUSEOUS
The smell of gasoline makes me nauseous.
I began to feel nauseous.
Instead what they do is all sit together and feel really bad, and pray. Nobody does anything as nauseous as try to make everybody all pray together or pray aloud or anything, but you can tell what they’re doing. —David Foster Wallace, Rolling Stone, 25 Oct. 2001
As if my life weren’t trying enough,
I have to live on a street named Gough.
I really wouldn’t mind it though,
why not simply pronounce it Gough?
If slow is slough, to rhyme with through,
Couldn’t you pronounce it Gough?
You can lead a horse to the watering trough,
but you can’t make him drink,
And I won’t say Gough!
No doubt someone else has posted this, but it is my pet peeve: “A lot” is two words!
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/alot.html
What kind of publication does this person edit that this is the most common mistake they encounter?
Safire’s Rules For Writers
As adulterated by Sid W Sodnagel
1. Remember to never split an infinitive
2. The passive voice should be avoided.
3. Do not refrain from avoiding to put statements in the negative form.
4. Should you use a positive instead of a double negative? The answer is not no.
5. Subject and verb has to agree.
6. A person should be careful to use a singular pronoun with a singular noun in their writing.
7. Proof read carefully to see if you any words out.
8. Check spelling. I’m series.
9. No incomplete sentences.
10. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
11. A writer must not shift your point of view.
12. A run-on sentence is a sin, don’t commit one.
13. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
14. Place a pronoun as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to its antecedent.
15. Writing carefully, dangling participles will be avoided.
16. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
17. A preposition is generally a terrible word to end a sentence with. However, slavish adherence to this rule will sometimes produce one up with which sophisticated readers will not put.
18. Attempt to avoid gratuitously verbing a noun.
19. Don’t Use Capitalization Indiscriminately.
20. Don’t confuse the spelling of the neuter possessive pronoun with the contraction of “it is.” Its confusing, and the sentence loses it’s impact.
21. If you are going to use a foreign term per say, it is de rigor to spell it correctly. Do so, and—walla!—your writing will improve.
22. Don’t use “like” when you mean “as,” like so many writers do.
23. Avoid hyperbole, and don’t overuse exclamation points. If I’ve told you this once, I’ve told you a million times!!!
24. Eschew obfuscatory stilted modalities of expression.
25. Always pick on the correct idiom.
26. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
27. Avoid colloquial stuff.
28. Lose the pure slang, you suckah!
29. Mixed metaphors are a pain in the ass and should be thrown out the window. However, if you’re going to use one anyway, take that bull by the horns and run with it.
30. Proactively seek out and eliminate unnecessary buzzwords. Make this your special competency and gain share of mind among your peer group.
31. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.
....oh wrong thread sorry!
