ABC Radio National

we still say 'hard-earned cash', not hard-earnt

when in planetary context: the Earth goes round the Sun. But lower case in why on earth would you say that?

his nagging had no effect whatsoever. Wait for the drug to take effect. But that change will affect a lot of people.

for example ... no punctuation

We have to choose either the pink or the blue. We ended up with neither the pink nor the blue. But be careful of stray 'nor's, as in *'We don't like the pink nor the blue.' It should be 'We don't like the pink or the blue,' or 'we like neither the pink nor the blue.'

eke out a living ... not eek!

means to draw out ... illicit is unlawful

three dots only...and even at the end of a sentence, no closing full stop is needed... Punctuation marks are set in stone and shouldn't be messed with. Some people type two, five, six or more dots, and this kind of free expression has no place on a grown-up website. Note that an ellipsis with one letter space either side indicates missing text in a quotation.

escape, avoid (allude to means to refer to indirectly)

elusive describes something that is hard to catch hold of. Illusive, or illusory, describes something that might cause an illusion or a deception.

no hyphen. But e-book, e-business, e-commerce, e-shares, e-shopping, e-zine

take out errors, edit (amend is to improve)

to leave one country and travel to another where you will live permanently. To immigrate is to arrive in one country from another.

are both used to describe someone who can empathise, but empathic is preferred

not 'the teachers will stop work *on mass'. We still use the French term to mean together, in a large body...

not with or by

does not include Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Use UK or United Kingdom to refer to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as a whole. Great Britain includes only England, Scotland and Wales.

seeking information (inquiry is a more formal investigation into something)

make certain; insure against risk, assure your life

should be used only to name the seizure; a person 'has epilepsy'.

performance-enhancing drug

even-tempered ... equitable is fair or just

not 'equally as good'

fair ... equable means even-tempered

serving as a substitute [Macquarie] not erzats

performance-enhancing drug

trademark, so capitalise

no punctuation and, if spelled out: et cetera

a tribute (elegy is a sad poem)

European Union's official currency. The symbol € can be achieved in MS Word by choosing 'Insert/symbol' from the main menu bar.

lower case because it refers to the currency, not the European Union

I go there every day ... but it is an everyday occurence

tending to evoke feelings or memories of something, so you need to say what. For example, I find a certain type of pipe tobacco evocative of my grandfather.

call forth, inspire ... (invoke is to call upon or appeal to a deity, or the law)

someone who lives outside their native country. An 'ex-patriot' is someone who used to be patriotic but isn't any more—not necessarily the same thing.

expel, expelled, expelling