ABC Radio National

Don't fall out of that boat, we can expect some fallout from last night's interview, and the brothers have had a falling out over their father's will.

The Rhineharts, the Obamas, the Smiths ... no apostrophes please. The Rhineharts' family feud, the Obamas' dog, the Smiths' house ... apostrophe after the S for possessives.

but Middle East

all capitalised

How are you faring? Fine. I'm off to the fair.

fascinated by the goings-on next door ... fascinated by her smile ... the general public are fascinated by disasters (not with)

nothing fazed her. But she was going through a difficult phase

lower case when not part of an official title. So it's 'at state and federal levels...' or 'that's funded by the federal government'.

is capitalised, as in 'full bench (lower case) of the Federal Court

one fell swoop

stinking

a listener has kindly pointed out that 'foetus' is not the correct spelling according to the British Medical Association. That's good enough for us.

fewer people cook at home now they have less time to spend in the kitchen. Fewer than 8 items at this checkout, so we get less congestion in the queue. If you can count individuals, it's fewer; if it's a smaller mass of something, it's less.

but divorcee for both male and female

trademark, so capitalise

a fiery discussion, etc

should be italicised

France's first lady, America's first lady, not 'French first lady' or 'American first lady',

cold war, Vietnam war, WWII and so on

a firsthand account ... I heard about it first hand

mean the same thing, not fireproof. Something that is fireproof is non-flammable.

display, as in 'flaunt your wares' (flout is disregard, as in 'flout the rules')

single-sheet advertising material

stinking

'The population increased sixfold over 200 years' means it was six times larger at the end of 200 years than it was at the beginning. It's a tautology to say 'increased by sixfold'. Manifold means having multiple parts, as in 'it has manifold uses.'

to refrain. Your forebears are your ancestors.

forbid someone to do something, not forbid 'from'. You might prevent someone from doing something, but the prepositions are not interchangeable.

comes at the front of a book, but we move forward

do without. Forego means to go before

Judith Durham is a singer who once sang with The Seekers. She cannot be described as a 'former singer with The Seekers' because she is still a singer today.

'former Iraq veteran' doesn't make sense if you're describing someone still alive. To be a veteran of something means you have past experience which can never change, so 'former' is superfluous here. Likewise, an Olympic gold medallist can never be described as a 'former medallist' unless they've been stripped of their medal for some reason.

before, at a previous time. Formally means in a formal manner.

not formulae

Frances is normally the girl, Francis the boy

A Western Australian port city south of Perth

trademark, so capitalise

'Everyone from trainers, bookies, bar staff and punters are feeling it...' doesn't make sense. If you have a 'from' you need a 'to'. Everyone from trainers and bookies to bar staff and punters ... And 'Everything from city design to modern art to the basic box...' doesn't make sense either. We need two points, from and to. So we can say 'Everything from city design and modern art to the basic box.' We want to throw the stone from one shore to the other, not skip it over the water.

excessive or cloying