ABC Radio National

Mary MacKillop became Australia's first saint on 17 October 2010

the garment, mac for short (Macintosh the computer, Mac for short)

no apostrophe

the main road, a mane of hair

Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's play The Rivals misused words to hilarious effect.

means premeditated harm

singular and plural

the place, La Marseillaise the anthem

field marshal, but Marshall McLuhan

Must have capital M

Maybe the island will be overrun, but the island may be overrun

'medium is the message'

'more with Joe Bloggs and I on Monday... Here 'I' is wrong. It should be me. If in doubt try taking Joe Bloggs out and see how wrong it is.

(Doctors without borders)

singular and plural

not medium strip if you mean that grassy bit in the middle of the road

used to describe the rate of data transfer (download speed) of, for example, internet access technologies such as broadband. Megabits per second can be abbreviated to Mbps

unit of measurement of computer memory, or storage capacity

someone who lives in Melbourne; also Sydneysider, Adelaideian, Perthite, Darwinian, Brisbanite.

A toddler may have a meltdown in the supermarket. A smelter may melt down iron ore.

not momento

meaning autobiographical writing, has no final E (but aide-mémoire, a reminder, does)

both noun and adjective: beggar and begging

online content for which one may be charged. Not 'metred'.

short for microphone. Problems start when transcribing colloquial phrases like 'He was mic'd up' or 'Mic-ing brass instruments is tricky.' Obviously 'miced' and micing' are too much about mice, not mics, so apostrophes and hyphens are needed.

means a body of soldiers (usually civilians rather than professional soldiers) ... an individual from the militia would be a militiaman or militiawoman.

not about

means small or trivial details. So to say, as we did on our site recently, that people are 'connecting and communicating online often in intricate detail about the miniature of their lives' is wrong in so many ways. Tautology and malapropism come to mind.

'education and skills are the pillars that drive the nation's productivity.' Pillars support, they don't drive, so best to leave them out.

According to the social mores of the time... (pronounced 'morrays'). It's a Latin word meaning manners or customs. Not to be confused with the French word moiré, which describes the watered effect seen on some kinds of silky fabric.

either am or pm or morning or afternoon; never both

MP meaning member of parliament applies only in countries with a parliamentary system. There's no such person as a 'Republican MP'.

not MP's. Also CDs, PCs, Mp3s, etc. No apostrophes please.

There are many spellings for the prophet of Islam, but Muhammad is the most widely used. For names of individuals we respect different spellings. It's Muhammad Ali, Mohamed Al-Fayed.

always capitalised, whether used as noun or adjective (as in Muslim Australians or Australian Muslims)

Australian Indigenous community not far from Uluru in the Northern Territory

trademark, so capitalise

official website name is two separate words, both capped

rather than Burma ('also known as Burma' can be included when the name is first used, if considered necessary)

means innumerable, so does not require of. 'We had to cope with myriad health and safety regulations' is correct. Think of how you use many. You wouldn't say *I've got a many of problems, so 'a myriad of...' is equally strange.

'Trudy and myself were both invited' is wrong. 'Trudy and I were both invited' or 'the invitation was for Trudy and me' are both right. 'Reply by email to myself' is wrong. 'Reply by email to me' is right.