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Cultural English Lessons (603)

Topics: Generations in the United States; blockbuster movies; pronouncing “a”; honeymoon; to outsource; cut to the chase

Topics: New Year’s Resolutions; best sellers; “Oh, my goodness!”; dead weight, dead right, and dead broke

Topics: Famous Americans: Queen Latifah; Smoking bans; at this point; trade-off; driveway versus parkway

Topics: Filming in LA, Howard Stern, Worst Dressed Americans, Lolita, New Macs, Dove or Pigeon?, Color Bracelets, "Do you get it?"

Topics: New Software, Brunch, Oprah's Book Club, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, How to End a Letter or Email, Can vs. Can't

Topics: Healthcare in the United States; Johnny Cash; as if; to get (one’s) ya-yas; to put an animal to sleep

Topics: Television in the US, Spelling Bees in Schools, Policy versus Politics, Pronunciation in Minnesota

Topics today: Charles Dickens, Night, Dr. Phil, Sundance Film Festival, Donald Trump, Very vs. Really, Pretty vs. Quite

Topics: The American educational system; Sweet 16; effect versus to affect; to feel; maybe versus perhaps

Topics: Super Bowl parties; widow versus widower; advocate; trust me; buddy; mud; I bet; gonna; speaking of which; to pass away

Topics: Three Strikes, Groundhog Day, Lost and CSI, Regards and Cheers, Amazing versus Awesome, "On the heels of..."

Topics: Stealing art, Religions in the US, "Walk the Line," I've had versus I had had, Jump across the pond, "She's a complete knockout!"

Topics: Spam, Valentine's Day, the Winter Olympics, "In terms of," Must vs. have vs. got to, Possessives, To raise vs. to rise

Topics: Spelling words, Popular baby names in the US, Britney Spears and Seatbelts, "Don't get mad, get even!", To spoil someone, To undertake, Compared to or with?, How to end an email

Topics: Wasting time at work, California's reputation, Carpet in the US, Call signs, Yet vs. Still

Topics: Taking a survey, Special bonus podcast "Secrets to Improving Your English," Housing prices in the US, To have vs. To be and the past participle.

Topics: Nicknames and shortened names, 'To kill two birds with one stone' and 'The early bird gets the worm,' May vs. Can, Using do + verb, "Suite," and to wash down.

Topics: Mardi Gras, Getty Villa, Have to v. got to v. going to have to, Hype, "No brainer," Would in the past tense

Topics: The Oscars, Pimps, "Down to the wire," "And so forth," and I or It?

Topics: Feeling under the weather, Common abbreviations, Using initials, Now vs. right now

Topics: Minnesota, Interjections, Would rather, rather than, and rather prefer, "smoking gun"

Topics: Bob Dylan, More interjections, in vs. into, indeed, "mail-in rebate," on time vs. in time, administer vs. manage vs. administrate

Topics: St. Patrick's Day, British versus American English, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," Going to vs. will, "Pod"

Topics: Smoking Bans, British and American English II, they and he, wage vs. salary, blue vs. white collar, now vs. right now

Topics: Spring Break, Movie Ratings in the US, "Stay tuned," Frightened vs. Afraid, Customer vs. Consumer

Topics: Political parties in the US, How to begin an email, Even vs. odd, Unless, "Six feet under"

Topics: State of Illinois; British versus American English; just versus only; to decide versus to make up one’s mind; "in the eye of the beholder"; behind versus beyond, MIA; for my part versus on my part; pronouncing sheep, ship, feet, and fit

Topics: Easter bunny, Income Tax Day, immigration protests in the US, actually, zero vs. nil, to be on your last legs, third straight time, despite versus in spite of.

Topics: New movie by Spike Lee, Ice Age, how Americans buy groceries, "Catch 22," can vs. to be able to, no longer, period vs. bottom line, "freak on a leash"

Topics: News on the Internet; opinion polls and the environment; to think of versus to think about (something); think tank; close of business

Topics: “American Idol”; Phoenix, Arizona; to ace out; content; delayed"

Topics: Rich Dad Poor Dad, how the US government works, sneak previews, this/that/these/those, "so to speak," by all means, to begin with, under a spell, down to earth

Topics: High school musicals, what a woman looks for in a man, to drive your point home, to call the shots, pilot TV shows, to be debt-ridden, to be in charge, on behalf of

Topics: News anchors, public school curriculum, Mark Twain, dictionary vs. thesaurus, shortened words (rehab, lab, mag, celeb), "apparent suicide," feature presentation

Topics: The Da Vinci Code, how Americans pay for retirement, “I could use one,” to hang out, care for vs. care about, tag vs. label, allow vs. permit vs. let, to take the Fifth

Topics: Popular words in the US media, People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, to make a spectacle of yourself, to go berserk, basically, "I'm whooped," doozy, fault vs. defect vs. error, David versus Goliath

Topics: Mothers Day and Fathers Day, Seattle, TV show “24,” should be going vs. should go, spur of the moment, slam dunk, relatively vs. extremely vs. tremendously, angry vs. mad vs. upset, off-the-shelf

Topics: Newsmagazines, AMBER Alert, reading a map, “Get out of here!”, followed by, “Excuse me” vs. “I’m sorry,” to have something on someone, to teeter on the brink

Topics: Country music, July 4th celebrations, clever vs. smart, you formal vs. informal, college vs. high school, to ride vs. to drive, “Tell me about it!”, to throw in the towel

Topics: John McCain, Little League sports, how to pronounce years and hours, using “some” plus a number, to hock, larger than life, to cheat on someone, I might say vs. I can say

Topics: How to tip in the U.S., famous American museums, pronouncing “a,” comfortable vs. convenient, “I used to” vs. “I use to,” of course

Topics: Online dating, Pulitzer Prize winners, sitting duck, pronouncing cheap vs. chip and thank vs. tank, to cross your fingers

Topics: Obesity, greeting people in the United States, terrific, finally vs. eventually

Topics: United States Postal Service, summer camp, whereas vs. but, RSVP (again), to be unable to make heads or tails of something

Topics: Graceland and Elvis, Boston, to have a leg up on someone, flat out, seeing eye dogs, to trip up

Topics: Business cards in the US, nationalities in English, dry-eyed, killer app

Topics: Retirement communities, American superstitions, fling vs. throw vs. toss

Topics: After school activities, ethnic neighborhoods in Los Angeles, nude vs. naked vs. bare, anything but

Topics: Labor Day, charitable organizations in the U.S., safety vs. security, clutch vs. grip vs. grab

Topics: Baseball and related expressions, “gangsta,” compromise versus commitment

Topics: Famous Americans – Stevie Wonder; Indian summer, to cut to the chase, to jaywalk, current vs. present, to prove someone

Wills and estates, “No big!”, primordial soup, trouble vs. problem vs. issue vs. situation, answer vs. response vs. reply, though, device vs. gadget vs. gizmo vs. contraption

Elections in the U.S., to prove someone wrong, effect vs. affect, to wait on someone vs. to wait for someone, big vs. large, I’m fine vs. I’m good vs. I’m well

Topics: Houston, who Americans trust, to get off one’s soapbox, layover vs. transfer, blond vs. blonde

Topics: Genealogy, Bill Cosby, to get down on your knees vs. to get down on one knee

Topics: Day of the Dead, Desperate Housewives, work vs. job. vs. occupation, older vs. elder

Topics: Woodstock Music Festival, Affirmative Action, hands-on vs. hand-off, to struggle, how to ask for a taxi, May I vs. Can I, to carpool

Topics: Table manners in the U.S., Washington, D.C., easygoing, down to earth, to put someone in harm’s way, to take a shot at someone, inquiry

Topics: Police in the US, The Simpsons, It’s going down, qwerty, can’t help but, stolen glance, witchcraft

Topics: Bestselling books in the U.S., Thanksgiving traditions, to figure out, pronouncing can vs. can’t

Topics: How to work in the United States, interracial dating and marriage, to lean on someone’s shoulder, pronouncing math expressions, rather

Topics: New York City, abbreviations after a name (Ph.D., MD, RN, DDS, Esq.), say vs. talk vs. speak vs. tell, towel vs. napkin, what to say when you’re shopping

Topics: Dates for dogs, “Me, too!”, Something 101, I’m game, to hover over, travel vs. trip vs. journey, up to vs. until, “Word up!”

Topics: “There you go!” vs. “There you are!”, estimate vs. determine, bump vs. dip, opposite vs. in front of, mudslinging, shade vs. shadow, assure vs. ensure vs. insure, definitely vs. exactly

Topics: Native rate of speech, to preach to the choir, common sense, “though” at the end of a sentence, possess vs. own, allow you to vs. allows you to, pronouncing “twenty” and “ninety,” picking a suitor, a make-out scene

Topics: Ask an American: College Life in the US, all but, specialty vs. speciality, to cut someone off, Don’t be a…, moonshine, to cut someone off

Topics: In the News: pretexting, “stay the course,” The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, “if that’s anything to go by,” color vs. hue, contribute vs. attribute, “the die is cast”

Topics: Ask an American: Raising a large family, criteria vs. standard, through vs. throughout, to call it quits

Topics: Studying abroad in college, Americans and gun control, come and eat vs. come to eat, in spite of vs. despite

Topics: Current Movies: Stomp the Yard and Dreamgirls, vibe, sick vs. ill. vs. cold, to hold someone’s hand vs. to hold onto someone

Topics: How to ruin your computer, how much things cost in the US, secret vs. confidential vs. private, cliché vs. touché

Topics: In the News: The Nobel Effect, dangerous bicycle helmets; to talk someone out of something vs. to have it out with someone; I’ll wait for you vs. I’ll be waiting for you; mixture

Topics: Philadelphia, jury duty, canary in a coal mine, rule of thumb

Topics: Ask an American: Being a single woman in the US, obviously vs. apparently, sorrow, to delay vs. to postpone vs. to defer

Topics: American Songs - Sound of Silence, Good for you! and Good for him!, realize vs. recognize vs. notice, farther vs. further

Topics: Scientology, Wikipedia, establishment figures, to not have a clue, at that time, Pardon my French!, Right on!

Topics: American houses, what Americans think they need, using “the” before a country’s name, either vs. neither

Topics: Daylight Saving Time, March Madness, to solve vs. to resolve, She smells good vs. She smells well

Topics: Ask an American - Working, quote vs. offer, Something’s Gotta Give

Topics: Google Book Search, Clint Eastwood, village vs. neighborhood, to retrieve vs. to recover, cooking vs. cuisine

Topics: Earth Day, Dr. Seuss books, pronouncing sin, sing, hit, heat, and hate; about six o’clock versus around six o’clock; What I wouldn’t give versus What I would give; I couldn’t care less versus I could care less

Topics: US advertising in other countries; Habitat for Humanity; bad-tempered vs. short-tempered; no pun intended; to be raining cats and dogs

Topics: Ask an American - International students in the U.S. don’t versus doesn’t; ain’t; you singular versus you plural

Topics: Homelessness in the U.S.; prenups and postnups; “Smith’s the name, oil’s the game”; to weep versus to cry, to see someone smile

Topics: U.S. Census, Driving While Texting, as well as versus as long as, change versus alter versus modify versus transform

Topics: Famous Americans: Frank Gehry, Memorial Day, odd one out, as good as it gets. film versus movie

Topics: Trouble with my car, Ask an American: Home Schooling, breakthrough versus to break through, to ride shotgun

Topics: Yellowstone National Park, summer jobs for teenagers, I’ll be in later versus I’ll be in late, loudly versus aloud versus loud, pronouncing lounge, lunch, and launch

Topics: Airport X-ray machines, Guinness Book of World Records, to be under siege, to run like butter, girlfriends, to trade up

Topics: State and county fairs, Stan Lee and Spider-Man, Miss versus Mrs. versu Ms., to be in bloom, in order to

Topics: Ask an American: Interpreters, pronouncing years and punctuation marks, school leavers and drop outs

Topics: Fourth of July, Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, Schoolhouse Rock, will versus shall, to come off

Topics: American cities: Las Vegas, Google and privacy on the Internet, red tape, to catch lightening in a bottle, pronouncing ordinal numbers

Topics: Famous Americans - Katie Couric, Payday loans, pronouncing listen, stepbrother versus half-brother, godmothers and godfathers

Topics: Ask an American: Getting into an MBA program, to spell out something, about to break, breakdown, conscience versus conscious

Topics: How to become a doctor, how much Americans earn, using from, between, and during, fire versus arson, town hall meetings

Topics: Atlanta; Famous Americans: Michael Moore; to have versus to have got, singular versus plural verbs with percentages, sort of versus kind of

Topics: McJobs; Robert’s Rules of Order; in for a dime, in for a dollar; a police officer’s beat, could versus would, center versus centre

Ask an American: Losing weight in America; 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, to be (someone’s) man through and through, doggone, to see one’s share of (something), to say (something) 10 times fast

Topics: Traveling in the U.S., gimmick versus trick, to call ‘em like you see ‘em, spite versus respite, in demand versus on demand

Topics: American cities: Honolulu, fantasy sports camps, to freeze a bra, coupon versus voucher, illicit versus illegal

Topics: the Pledge of Allegiance, tomato as fruit versus vegetable, to be raised versus to grow up, buy versus purchase, to take the bull by the horns, can versus may versus could when asking for permission

Topics: Ask an American: Raising children, one of those, reply versus answer, customer versus purchaser

Topics: American cities: Nashville, Grand Ole Opry; school fund-raisers, to hold on to your hat, to be put inside, a blow-by-blow account

Topics: Why Americans don’t use the metric system, how to dress in Los Angeles versus New York, yutz, to go back to square one, what to call your cousin’s son, I’m done with you

Topics: American folklore: Bigfoot; Who’s on First?, to tear apart, Cliff Notes, to fall out of love

Topics: Ask an American: Socially Responsible Companies, case study, to be at sea, to knock (someone’s) socks off, to take one’s time

Topics: Route 66, playground games for children, on time versus in time, counting seconds using Mississippi, to knock yourself out

Topics: Cities: Tucson, Arizona (Interview with Dr. Lucy Tse), Harper’s Index, to get a kick out of (something), to commute, to not stand for (something), “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”

Topics: How to become a teacher in the U.S., steps in ordering food in a restaurant, to walk the walk and talk the talk, constraint versus restraint, monkey business, on a regular basis

Topics: Famous Americans: Yo Yo Ma; Popular books in the U.S., pronouncing contractions, to figure out versus it figures, there will be no versus there will not be, if you will

Topics: Ask an American: Roswell, New Mexico; holiday versus vacation, arbitrator versus referee versus umpire, Ay, caramba!

Topics: Gallaudet University, U.S. call signs for radio and TV stations, outfit versus gear versus equipment, pronouncing law and low, so versus very

Topics: Cities: Boston; vanity license plates, to make a difference versus to make the difference, lame, devil’s advocate

Topics: Professional wrestling, National Geographic, would-be versus wannabe, be my guest, why not?

Topics: Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, progress versus process, would in the past tense, to be on the chunky side

Topics: Ask an American: Business travel in the U.S.; bang for your buck, original versus initial, the longest word in English

Topics: How to become the president of the United States, tailgating parties, seize versus arrest versus detain, pronouncing “the,” expressions for showing sympathy

Topics: Cities: Anchorage, Alaska; John Henry; you might as well, to hit the ground running, the “café” in English Café, what goes around comes around, breaking news

Topics: Men and “dumb blondes,” the Rotary Club, grade versus score, how do I get to versus where do I find, my friend versus a friend of mine

Topics: Convenience stores, eating and drinking noises, colleague versus associate versus fellow, to sign in versus to sign off versus to sign on versus to sign up

Topics: Ask an American: Endangered languages;rednecks, dictionary versus thesaurus

Topics: Charles Schultz and Peanuts, how to become a police officer, you and I versus you and me, yippikaiye, to call dibs

Topics: Cities: New Orleans9-1-1 emergency services, his or her, you don’t need to know versus you need not know, incident versus accident

Topics: Celebrity chefs, Americans and personal space, generic versus general, expressing height in feet and meters, prophecy versus prediction

Topics: Famous Americans: Grandma Moses;GED Tests, since versus from, is to do (something), calligraphy versus penmanship

Topics: Ask an American: Starving Artist; as a matter of fact, process versus procedure, to haggle

Topics: American cities: Portland, Oregon; Take Me Out to the Ballgame; ocean versus sea, ability versus capability

Topics: Norman Vincent Peale, Japanese internment camps, straightforward, to tap into, made by versus made of versus made in

Topics: becoming a lawyer in the U.S., famous lines from American movies, proper versus appropriate

Topics: The FBI; Reader’s Digest; consent versus assent, concord versus accord, the long and the short of it

Topics: Ask an American: Working as an actor in Los Angeles,? nevertheless versus despite versus even though, to screw up

Topics: dishonest political strategies; the Black Dahlia; treatment versus therapy; ending intimate letters and emails; you’re entitled to your opinion

Topics: American Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald; cigarette and alcohol advertising; pronouncing -ed, someone’s John Hancock

Topics: Types of vocational education in the U.S.; American Cities: Miami; to have a monkey on (one’s) back; to administer; to execute; to be off

Topics: The Betty Ford Center; poker; to be short on time versus time is running out, past year versus last year, supervisor versus manager

Topics: Ask an American: Bluegrass music; résumé versus curriculum vitae, the number 0 versus the letter O, one over the other

Topics: Monster truck shows and races; blue jeans and Levi Strauss, to be up against the wall, liability versus responsibility, pronouncing “either”

Topics: Native American reservations/Trail of Tears; retirement communities, the possessive “s,” to be subject to, to be subjected to, hedge trimming

Topics: New York Theater District/Broadway shows; Barbie dolls/G.I. Joe; I don’t have versus I have no, in the street versus on the street, identifying yourself on the phone

Topics: Classic children’s television: Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood; American Cities: Washington, D.C.; mix, combine, stir, and beat; stock photography

Topics: Ask an American: Getting Old;brethren versus brothers, would versus used to, I can’t wait anymore versus I can’t wait any longer

Topics: Harley Davidson; Famous Americans: Jesse Jackson; because versus since, yikes, speaking of which

Topics: Saturday Night Live; Howard Stern and shock jocks; using “to” in who, what, where, when, why questions; state of the art; ways to say “good job!”

Topics: Advanced Placement courses and tests; Legos/Legoland and Hot Wheels; might versus maybe; judgment call; no-brainer

Topics: Famous Americans: Annie Leibovitz; home shopping cable channels and celebrity product lines; come versus go; via versus through

Topics: Ask an American: Drive-in Theatersto wind (someone) up, you don’t say, how about you versus what about you

Topics: American Cities: San Francisco/Bay Area; the ACLU; using ‘back’ to refer to the past; failure versus error versus mistake

Topics: U.S. zoning laws; how to become a TV or movie screenwriter; unless versus if, in versus at for locations, persecute versus prosecute

Topics:Famous Americans: Great Jazz Artists Josephine Baker and Ella Fitzgerald; the Amish; to be honest versus as a matter of fact; why don’t you versus let’s

Topics: D.B. Cooper; the Underground Railroad; extend versus expand; God forbid; brown-bag lunch

Topics: Ask an American: Tattoosto cover up (something), talk versus say versus speak, pronouncing certain consonants in the middle of words

Topics: American Cities: Chicago; The Star-Spangled Banner; just versus only versus mere; to kick butt

Topics: Famous Americans: Amy Tan; Americans with Disabilities Act; to take convincing, full-fledged, dude

Topics: The CIA; how to become a court interpreter and/or an interpreter for the U.N.; haunting versus haunted; completion versus completeness; to take (somebody) on

Topics: The Chinese Exclusion Act; Library of Congress and the public library system; I thought versus I think; anyway versus however; to make (someone) earn (something)

Topics: Ask an American: childhood obesity; besides vs. furthermore vs. moreover; wink-wink; thrill

Topics: American Cities: Salt Lake City; university admissions; within versus inside versus interior; so much for; to want out

Topics: Famous Americans: William Randolph Hearst; what to call people from the top five cities/states in the U.S.; please as the magic word; using an apostrophe (‘) for possessive cases, remember versus remind

Topics: Cook-offs and bake-offs; public health codes; a software evangelist; to look forward to; sandwich versus hamburger

Topics: Registering to vote and efforts to get out the vote; the G.I. Bill; growl, groan, and mutter; personnel and other collective nouns; to be fond of

Topics: Ask an American: cults; can versus could; will versus would; freedom versus liberty

Topics: Make-a-Wish Foundation; American Cities: Key West and the Florida Keys; must versus ought to versus need to; nuts and bolts; to buy (something)

Topics: Naming Rights; Famous Americans: Cesar Chavez; Why Americans have middle names; future perfect tense; American versus U.S. as an adjective

Topics: U.S. Mint; how auctions work; cache versus cash; listen to versus listen for

Topics: Brown v. Board of Education; yearbooks in American schools; indeed; none of them is/are; down to the wire

Topics: Ask an American: underage drinking; to chalk (something) up to; fluke; quite; ain’t; domino effect and chain reaction

Topics: American Cities: Detroit; wills, living wills, and advance healthcare directives; solution and solve vs. resolution and resolve; family vs. household

Topics: Alternative energy; Monticello; criticize versus chastise versus chasten; please inform versus please be informed; to denominate

Topics: Famous Americans: Weird Al Yankovic; Alcoholics Anonymous; figure out versus realize; kind of; noun + --ee and --er

Topics: America's Most Wanted; buying a first home; similar to but distinct from; on the side; a fair extent

Topics: Ask an American: forecasting the future; offhand; off the top of one’s head; out with the old, in with the new; using “more” versus “-er” to form the comparative

Topics: Famous Americans: Barack Obama; presidential inaugurations; common versus ordinary versus normal; darling and dear; full-fledged

Topics: The song Amazing Grace; specialty cable/satellite channels; to slay, to kill, to murder, to slaughter; I love it versus I’m loving it; dollar versus buck

Topics: Appalachia; family arrangements in the U.S.; pain, ache, and sore; diehard; fruitcake

Topics: The Innocence Project; Craigslist; percent versus percentage; the “in” crowd/place; to swear in

Topics: Ask an American: living in a tiny home; volume versus issue versus version

Topics: Famous Americans: Sacagawea; NASCAR racing; to take its toll (on someone); you are/is; whatever versus whatsoever

Topics: Anti-miscegenation laws; Silicon Valley and the Research Triangle; freeway, highway, and expressway; to sport; dosey doe

Topics: Medical/dental tourism; warehouse club stores; yell versus shout; to be depended on; to last; kind versus kindly

Topics: American Cities (Territories): American Samoa; how to become a pilot in the U.S.; objective versus subjective, to be flanked by, power versus empowerment; to delegate versus to defer

Topics: Ask an American: corruption in U.S. politics; have to versus must; what about versus how about; worthy versus necessary

Topics: Famous Americans: Langston Hughes; childcare options in the U.S.; to totally own(ed) (someone); bad news

Topics: Native American casinos; YouTube; impact versus influence, created in/on/by; so far versus to date

Topics: Taxes Americans pay; wedding/baby showers and gift registries; leverage, to dig, to guess versus to think versus to believe

Topics: American Cities: San Diego; tabloid press and U.S. libel/slander laws; under (someone’s) thumb; precision versus accuracy; coming to you from

Topics: Ask an American: student exchange programs; begs the question; face value; at the time versus then

Topics: Regulating monopolies and antitrust laws; American songs: Happy Birthday; whilst versus while; to blow away (something); using “do” for emphasis

Topics: Famous Americans: Helen Keller; The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing; opposable thumbs; due to versus because of; the prefix “Mc”

Topics: The U.S. Supreme Court; microloans/microcredit; less than (X) days versus up to (X) days; mainstream account; words ending in –ic versus –ical

Topics: American Cities: Dallas; conservative Christian/fundamentalist universities; to wear (someone) out; shrink; already

Topics: Ask an American: private gun ownership; north of; compulsory versus mandatory versus obligatory; mayday

Topics: Classic comic strips with a political/social commentary bent; child protection laws; uncalled for; state versus status; as though

Topics: Author/artist royalties & ASCAP; house swapping; hop in versus pop in versus drop in; compound nouns

Topics: Famous Americans: Orville and Wilbur Wright; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; each day versus every day versus everyday; split infinitives; to spare (someone) (something)

Topics: American Cities: Indianapolis; Malcolm Gladwell and his books; to brush up on versus to polish up; to come off; a matter of

Topics: Ask an American: segregation; paradise lost; to go off; trip versus journey versus voyage versus travel

Topics: The Secret Service; tween culture; on versus upon; exclamations “My God” and “Jesus Christ”; evidence versus proof

Topics: The Rocky Horror Picture Show; civil disobedience; night versus evening; starring; force versus enforce versus reinforce

Topics: The White House; noises made by animals, humans, and machines; document versus documentation; to have to do with; gawd-awfully (god-awfully)

Topics: Famous Americans: Flannery O’Connor; 60 Minutes; well-(something); red and blue states

Topics: Ask an American: civility; sour versus tart; (something) is king; thorough versus comprehensive

Topics: The Red Cross; Casablanca; to estimate versus to evaluate versus to appreciate; to let (someone/something) be; aim versus goal

Topics: Fraternities and sororities; the foster care and adoption system; scholarship versus grant; commie

Topics: Alcatraz; The Simpsons; using negation with an infinitive; heaven versus heavens; kind of versus sort of versus type of

Topics: NASA; Famous Americans: Jackie Robinson; conference versus meeting versus session; second to none; narrative versus story

Topics: Ask an American: Nursing; responsible versus accountable; -wise; to double back

Topics: Beauty pageants and controversies; the National Weather Service; like versus same as; how do you do?; what’s up; have a good one

Topics: The Golden Age of Hollywood and the studio system; the busing controversy of the 1970s; as well versus also versus too; to take into account; “why” as an interjection

Topics: American Cities (Territories): Puerto Rico; People Who Work for Celebrities; cooperation versus collaboration; instance versus instantaneous versus instant; pronouncing won’t and want

Topics: U.S. government reparations; TV home shopping networks/shows; neither do I versus so do I versus either I; to talk with versus to talk to; to put the cart before the horse (to put the horse before the cart)

Topics: Ask an American: Bartering; waiting versus awaiting; use of the infinitive; answering “yes” to a negative question

Topics: Famous Americans: Janis Joplin; compulsory education and truancy laws; to bask; to brace; to palm off; to follow one’s hunch(es)

Topics: Psychological pricing; daytime soap operas; target versus objective versus purpose; the silent “b”: slumber versus plumber; there, there

Topics: American Cities: Houston; how to become a police officer; incredible versus unbelievable; to rule the roost; to sort out

Topics: Steroid use and other doping in professional sports; The Juilliard School; shell-shocked; way to go; be good

Topics: Ask an American: sleep and weight gain; to slip through (one's) fingers; drink versus beverage; individually versus separately versus independently

Topics: Explaining TV show names; Mount McKinley and mountaineering; highest versus tallest; CEO versus CFO versus CIO

Topics: The medical marijuana controversy; Famous Americans: Woody Allen; sky versus skies; meltdown and crack down; less is more/more is less; pronunciations of live

Topics: Disneyland; government property seizures and auctions; state; on the prowl; pronouncing the vowel “i” and the vowel combinations “ee” and “ea”; time after time

Topics: Ask an American: Watching TV on the Internet; to search versus to look for versus to seek; pushing up daisies; do you have any idea?

Topics: The Mormon/LDS Church; school lunches; using “in” or “on” with body parts; fall off versus fall down; a dollar down and a dollar a week

Topics: Social networking; government-run lotteries; the use of “on” with the days of the week; to travel in/by; individual versus personal

Topics: Hip Hop Culture; The New York Stock Exchange; effectiveness versus efficiency; jilted; hence versus thus

Topics: Gay Rights Issues: Gay Marriage and “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”; Famous Americans: Oprah Winfrey; sneak preview; instead of versus rather than; a lot versus lots

Topics: Ask an American: The meaning of work; apart from versus in terms of; off the cuff; also versus as well

Topics: Vampires; The Second City (comedy group); to sway versus to persuade versus to convince; get a life!; to ramp up

Topics: Patriotic songs; Carnegie Hall; grande versus venti (at Starbucks); troop versus troops; (something) is ghostwritten

Topics: American Cities: Milwaukee; Neighborhood Watch/Citizen’s Arrest; to look versus to look like; not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin; pretty + (adjective)

Topics: Woodstock; Walter Reed Army Medical Center; a lot versus a load of; indicate versus signify; Hispanic versus Spanish

Topics: Ask an American: social media and job searches; go ahead, make my day; years old versus year old

Topics: The Godfather; Graceland and Elvis; to hinder versus to hamper versus to impede; the hunt is on; quick and dirty tips

Topics: Apollo Theater; Famous Americans: Susan B. Anthony; to talk down to; to bail on; had better versus would rather Words:

Topics: Classic game shows; the sister cities program; beyond a reasonable doubt; infinite versus permanent versus eternal; forward versus forwards

Topics: Types of prisons and the parole system; American cities: Austin; using prepositions with the days of the week; for the world to owe (one) something; late/early morning, afternoon, and evening

Topics: Ask an American: The Cherokee Language; regard versus consider; remember versus memorize; knock on wood

Topics: Famous Americans: Tyler Perry; NASA; to think on (one’s) feet; plural for iPod Touch and other proper nouns; recognition versus acknowledgement

Topics: Yosemite National Park; PETA and animal rights; to rebuild versus to reshape; to mind your P’s and Q’s; tag questions

Topics: The CIA; The Wizard of Oz; deliverable; stress versus pressure; “you had me at ‘hello’”

Topics: DUIs and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers; Famous Americans: Martha Stewart; traffic versus transit; at all versus not at all; describing someone who works from home

Topics: Ask an American: The Princess and the Frog; pronouncing “address”; to cut the bull/ bullsh*t; outspoken versus vocal

Topics: Preventing Violence in Schools Post Columbine; American Territories: U.S. Virgin Islands; although versus even though; lite; rate versus rank

Topics: Famous TV Animals; Niagara Falls; closed caption versus subtitle; meanwhile versus meantime; using the colon (:)

Topics: Ellis Island; The Rat Pack; lots of versus a lot of; sleep versus asleep, wake versus awake, rise versus arise; alpha male

Topics: The Grand Canyon; Famous Americans: Georgia O’Keefe; shanty versus apartment versus tenement; alert the media; now what?

Topics: Ask an American: Father Damien and leprosy; bring versus take; And you?; trustworthy versus honest

Topics: Psycho and Alfred Hitchcock; The Gettysburg Address; to get the most out of versus to take advantage of; who versus whom; status quo

Topics: Area 51 and Roswell; American Cities: Baltimore; that versus which; right away versus straightaway

Topics: Hate Crime Legislation; State Fairs; shop versus store versus department store; relative to versus related to; Down Under

Topics: Comic-Con; Famous Americans: Houdini; I just versus I have just; suit versus match versus fit; levity

Topics: Ask an American: Obsolete; regarding versus concerning versus as for; can't be bothered; How you doing?

Topics: Famous Authors: Raymond Chandler; the Pony Express; to be involved in versus to be involved with; to make sense; hard on its heels

Topics: Chinatown; famous songs: “Home on the Range”; that way versus in that way versus in such a way; neither here nor there; suffer versus suffer from

Topics: Famous Americans: Scott Joplin; American Cities: Memphis; picture versus image versus photo; a versus an

Topics: Famous Authors: Laura Ingalls Wilder; college secret societies; no one versus nobody versus anybody; Do you feel as though...?; rent versus lease

Topics: Ask an American: Chocolate; dispute versus disagreement versus conflict; using “times” in comparing amounts; use of infinitive “to” phrases as adjective, adverb, or noun

Topics: Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus; New York Fashion Week; predict versus forecast; foretell versus remind versus recall; polite phrases used before meals

Topics: Singing in the Rain; the Federal Reserve; among versus between; of no use

Topics: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Famous Songs: Oh! Susanna; whichever versus whatever; tar-and-feather; mutually exclusive

Topics: Famous Americans: Evel Knievel; Colonial Williamsburg; to devote versus to dedicate; the title “Dr.”; between now and then

Topics: Yelp; Book Review: The Road; advocate versus lawyer versus attorney; any; salmon and count/mass nouns

Topics: Famous authors: Maya Angelou; Universal Studios; wise versus savvy versus clever; delicatessen; to end up versus to wind up

Topics: American Cities: Albuquerque; Survivor Reality TV Show; yet; differentiation versus distinction; so near and yet so far

Topics: On the Waterfront; Famous Songs: “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”; bet versus wager versus gamble; U.S. versus U.S.A.; can’t help (doing something)

Topics: The Extension Courses System; Famous Americans: Lizzie Borden; Boston accent/dialect and the Boston Brahmin; to speak out of turn

Topics: Ask an American: minority doctors; if I were; I wish I were; near versus close; to hold (something) against (someone)

Topics: Video-game violence; ROTC; should have done versus should have to do; just versus only; to learn as (one) goes

Topics: Famous Authors: Stephen King; Traffic School; cost versus charge versus fee; in a New York minute; couple

Topics: Minimum wage; cyber crime; I will want to versus I would want to; except for; conversely

Topics: Famous Americans: Eleanor Roosevelt; Renaissance fairs; admit versus confess; mix versus blend; chick flick

Topics: Ask an American: Latinos in Higher Education; per se; it pays to (be)

Topics: Famous Songs: God Bless America and Kate Smith; The American Girl Dolls; provided that versus as long as; “g” as in “gansta”; to suck

Topics: It's a Wonderful Life; Cape Cod; backward versus backwards; to agree with versus to agree to versus to agree on; howdy

Topics: Famous Authors: Emily Dickinson; the Lindbergh kidnapping; sure versus of course versus certainly; either; Imma be

Topics: American Presidents: George Washington; SeaWorld; power versus force; The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds; How bad can it get?

Topics: Ask an American: Commuting; start versus begin versus start off versus start on; a place to live versus a place to live in; might-have-been

Topics: Famous Americans: John Dewey; the X Games; phrases used to talk about people’s jobs; for the lack of; be that as it may

Topics: The English-Only Movement; Famous Songs: “The Yellow Rose of Texas”; kinda; to drink the Kool-Aid

Topics: Famous Authors: Harriet Beecher Stowe; Death Valley National Park; idiom versus slang; a chunk of rural wilderness; the rest of (something)

Topics: American Presidents: Richard Nixon; off-the-grid; on-the-spot

Topics: Ask an American: Sleep-deprived teenagers; to buy versus to purchase versus to acquire; to burn the candle at both ends; Let’s versus shall we? versus why don’t we?

Topics: The Graduate; Patty Hearst; embarrassed versus ashamed versus awkward; people versus persons; talk to the hand

Topics: The FBI; Famous Americans: Margaret Mead; shall versus should versus supposed to; beneath versus underneath; fo’ shizzle my nizzle

Topics: John Audubon and the Audubon Society; Famous Songs: “On Top of Old Smokey”; sign versus signal; figure out versus find out; to beat a dead horse

Topics: American Presidents: Thomas Jefferson; celebrity roasts; to splash versus to spray versus to sprinkle; hearing; to be of

Topics: Ask an American: Louisville Slugger; globe versus sphere versus orb; on/by horseback; to hit one’s funny bone; to stub one’s toe

Topics: Famous Authors: Edgar Allen Poe; women’s colleges; business versus commerce versus trade; thank goodness; to be keen on

Topics: Prohibition; Famous Americans: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.; I’m sorry versus I apologize; green thumb; elbow grease; to be screwed

Topics: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Joshua Tree National Park; to the extent that versus in light of versus in the face of; I’m going versus I’m going to; adverb placement - accidentally

Topics: Charles Manson and the Tate murders; air marshals; to reach versus to arrive; to go off; to be out of (one’s) league

Topics: Ask an American: Artists as ambassadors; log versus timber versus lumber; to bump into

Topics: Buffalo Soldiers; Famous Songs: Oh My Darling, Clementine; to be concerned about/in/with; to erase versus to delete; “how do you say...” for written English

Topics: Famous Americans: Al Capone; The U.S. Military Academy at West Point; to crash versus to shatter versus to smash; how about you? versus what about you?; bite me

Topics: American Presidents: Abraham Lincoln; to rise versus to raise versus to arise; rather than versus prefer; to tender (one’s) resignation

Topics: Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey; Bozo the Clown; kind of versus so-so versus more or less; firm versus company; to get + participle

Topics: Ask an American: driving while texting; ground versus soil versus land; as such; pupil versus people

Topics: The Lewis and Clark Expedition; Famous Authors: Anne Rice; to generate versus to create versus to make; a tad off target; run-on sentence

Topics: Famous Americans: Jesse Owens; National Science Foundation; plea versus appeal versus petition; somewhat versus somehow; Is that all?

Topics: McCarthyism and the House Committee on Un-American Activities; Famous Songs: Dixie; to overrate versus to overestimate; that versus so; the stakes are too high

Topics: American Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt; The Folk Tales of Uncle Remus; drug versus pill versus tablet; pronouncing ½; engagement versus commitment

Topics: Ask an American: The value of church services; outbreak versus break out; to pull off versus to pull over versus to pull in; to act silly

Topics: Famous Americans: Thomas Edison; Liberia; symposium versus workshop versus seminar; to account for; “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”

Topics: Jaws; The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Star, and the Medal of Honor; to go in versus to go into versus to get in versus to get into; overwhelming; off-kilter

Topics: American Presidents: Bill Clinton; Louisiana Voodoo; articulation versus enunciation versus pronunciation; to start versus commence; I believe you versus I believe in you

Topics: Famous Songs: I’ve Been Working on the Railroad; Burning Man; irony versus sarcasm versus satire; agreement versus contract; to fall for (someone) versus to fall for (something)

Topics: Ask an American: Health effects of city living; how do you say versus what do you call; résumé

Topics: Famous Americans: Booker T. Washington; things Americans believe are lucky; horribly versus terribly versus awfully; full tuition reimbursement; carbon copy

Topics: Famous Authors: Herman Melville; the Ku Klux Klan; to locate versus to position versus to localize; to keep on your toes; to roll with the punches; to suffer from versus to die of/from

Topics: Movie - West Side Story; Uncle Sam; “ship” and other suffixes; grab a spoon/fork; to take the big game down

Topics: Famous Americans: Clara Barton; The California Gold Rush; problem versus issue versus concern; cordless versus wireless; brothers and sisters

Topics: Ask an American: Concussions Affect U.S. Teen Athletes; customer versus client; overwhelming; exciting; discussion on/about

Topics: Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters; The National Geographic Society; shade versus shadow; rarely versus seldom; every cloud has a silver lining

Topics: Salem Witch Trials; National Endowment for the Arts; in fact versus as a matter of fact; even versus even though; to look at

Topics: Famous Songs: “Kumbaya”; Crater Lake National Park; free time versus spare time; at the end versus in the end; booking versus reservation

Topics: American Presidents: John F. Kennedy; Great Britain versus Britain versus England versus United Kingdom; who versus which versus that; hot shot

Topics: Ask an American: Libraries Using Ad Campaigns to Improve Image and Funding; making introductions; stack versus stock

Topics: Movie: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Detroit and the Rust Belt; to knead versus to mash; the infinitive versus gerund form of a verb (to look for versus looking for); bona fide Words:

Topics: Famous Americans: Warren Buffet; The Chicken Soup book series; few versus little; only so many; to be due

Topics: Famous Americans: T.S. Eliot; log and log in/log on; explanation versus interpretation; pronouncing consonant clusters

Topics: American Cities: Columbus, Ohio; Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII; limit versus limitation; for X person to undercut set targets; to sponge off (someone)

Topics: Ask an American: National Jukebox; using "to" with to give and to send; a dime a dozen; complimenting doctors and nurses

Topics: No-Tuition Colleges; the Sacco-Vanzetti Trial; crazy versus mad versus psycho versus mentally ill; using –ed words as adjectives; lo and behold

Topics: American Presidents: John Adams; the Boy/Girl Scouts; What time is it? versus What is the time?; to rock; for all intents and purposes

Topics: Stephen Foster and his songs; “ish” suffix; California casual; “If it be your will”

Topics: Movie: Bonnie and Clyde; Community Supported Agriculture (CSA); to cut (someone) loose versus to set (someone) free versus unrestrained; adjectives versus “who” phrases; words used to describe computer touch screens

Topics: Ask an American: U.S. Families Adjust to Life Overseas; outpatient; to gulp versus to gobble; swell

Topics: Famous Americans: Lucille Ball; The Great Depression; hermit versus loner versus introvert; other than versus rather than; Et tu, Brute?

Topics: The Scopes Trial; American Cities: Aspen and Vail, Colorado; The City of New York versus New York City; verge versus brink; to compliment versus to complement

Topics: American Presidents: Jimmy Carter; The Lost Ship of the Desert Legend; phrases used to ask for status updates; to start off for; likely versus probable

Topics: American Authors: Toni Morrison; Homeboy/Homegirl Industries and Father Greg Boyle; screw versus bolt versus nut; to kidnap versus to abduct; to sharpen (one’s) axe

Topics: Ask an American: Online money management; don’t worry versus don’t bother; not only; to move/get past a feeling; pronouncing wool versus wall

Topics: Famous Americans: Michael Jordan; the Quakers; tag questions; the derivation of “okay”; to learn versus to study

Topics: Movie - Star Wars; the Security and Exchange Commission; shame versus pity; reading numbers aloud; to be left cold

Topics: Grand Teton National Park; Famous Songs: "She'll be Coming 'Round the Mountain"; congratulations versus thanks versus kudos; literally; to take the time

Topics: Spy trials of the 40s/50s - Alger Hiss & Julius and Ethel Rosenberg; Johnny Appleseed; feeling versus emotion; expression versus term; drop dead

Topics: Ask an American - Self-publishing; intrinsic versus native versus innate versus congenital; recently versus currently; soccer

Topics: Famous Authors - Stan and Jan Berenstain and the Berenstain Bears; getting married; to stand for versus to refer to (as); the past simple and the present perfect tenses; especially

Topics: Famous Americans - Ansel Adams; Ben & Jerry's; to find out versus to figure out versus to seek; “too” constructions; dummy versus idiot

Topics: American Presidents - Herbert Hoover; knock-knock jokes; awful versus terrible versus terrific; initials in nicknames; that ship has sailed

Topics: Rodney King Trial and the 1992 Riots; Dick Tracy detective stories; third world; from versus out of; to pull (oneself) together versus to get a hold of (oneself)

Topics: Ask an American - Historic court case on gender equal rights; incident versus accident; to throw good money after bad; adding shm- before another word

Topics: Movie - Apocalypse Now; getting your child into a private school, K-12; relating to versus related to; down with (the king); to qualify

Topics: Famous Americans - Mary Tyler Moore; Famous Songs: “Dem Bones”; to straighten up versus to straighten out; (you’re) tripping; to get/fall into the groove

Topics: American Playwrights - Tennessee Williams; how to become a real estate agent; thief versus burglar versus robber versus mugger; to sell someone a bill of goods; to hold up one’s end of a bargain; momentum

Topics: Famous Americans - Magic Johnson; the role of ham radio operators in the U.S.; understanding versus knowledge versus acquaintance; below the waist and below the belt; earth to (someone)

Topics: Ask an American: Innovation; pain versus sorrow versus woe; manhood; to be over someone versus to be all over someone

Topics: American Authors - Erle Stanley Gardner and the Perry Mason TV Series; Boys & Girls Clubs of America; who versus which versus that; It ain’t over till the fat lady sings; to go/be all in

Topics: American Presidents - Ulysses S. Grant; James Beard and the James Beard Foundation Awards; limit versus border versus confine; sound; life-affirming

Topics: Migrant Farming in the U.S.; American Cities: Palm Springs, CA; patronizing versus condescending; to right every wrong; to belong to versus to belong with

Topics: Famous Americans - Thelonious Monk; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps); pen name; tingling versus stabbing versus burning; gringo

Topics: Ask an American - Rural doctors; let’s start versus let’s get started; continuously versus continually; chaos

Topics: Movies - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial; The MacArthur Fellows Program; important versus significant versus critical; tough; navel-gazing

Topics: The Dred Scott Decision; the zodiac; to snag versus to hitch; in the moment versus at the moment; I’ll tell you something

Topics: American Authors - Ernest Hemingway; the United Nations; you lost versus you’re lost; expert in versus expert on versus expert at; geez

Topic: American Presidents - Martin Van Buren; show business secrets; revenue versus profit versus turnover; limerick; how to address in-laws

Ask an American – The humanities; another versus the other; however versus conversely; to call it/them like/how (one) sees it/them

Topics: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band; the Dust Bowl; suggestion versus hint versus tip versus pointer; increase versus raise; How do you like them apples?

Topics: Movies – Guess Who's Coming to Dinner; Famous songs – The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald; to go on versus to keep on versus to move on; the suffix “ship”; to blow a raspberry

Topics: Leopold and Loeb Trial; Famous Songs: "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"; tunnel versus channel versus canal; right versus privilege; binge

Topics: Famous Americans – Ralph Nader; how to become an astronaut; with reference to versus with regard to versus according to; to confront versus to encounter; “In God We Trust”

Topics: Ask an American – The global economy; insidious versus vile versus despicable; lock and load; fancy versus fanciful

Topics: American Presidents - Harry S. Truman; to handle versus to address versus to deal with versus to cope with; naysayer; hold that thought

Topics: Cigarette advertising and cigarette icons; how local government works; to assist in versus to assist with; calf versus cub; to hold forth

Topics: The O.J. Simpson Trial; to major versus to graduate; to pry; technically versus practically

Topics: Movies - King Kong; Famous Americans - Lance Armstrong; its sounds versus it sounds as if; acting versus pretending; gobbledygook

Topics: Ask an American: Saving the space program; point versus period versus dot; using “no” with a verb; all the same

Topics: American Authors – Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and All the President's Men; Famous Songs – “Over There"; to borrow versus to debit versus to lend versus to loan; using ago with since; ambivalence versus conflict

Topics: American Presidents - Ronald Reagan; using suffixes; to persuade versus to convince; to bring around/round

Topics: Ghost towns of the Wild West; dime novels and pulp magazines; kidding versus joking versus teasing; television show versus television series; phrase

Topics: Movies - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Mount Rushmore; threat versus menace versus peril; using “should” with “have to”; role reversal

Topics: Ask an American - Asian Immigrants; to note versus to notice versus to notify; assessment versus appraisal; to be full of (oneself)

Topics: Famous Americans - Aimee Semple McPherson; Famous songs - "Turkey in the Straw"; marriage versus wedding versus wedlock; otherwise; pronouncing contractions

Topics: The Chicago Seven; American Authors - Horatio Alger; murderer versus killer versus assassin; ...and all; so forth and so on

Topics: Famous Americans - Jimi Hendrix; the melting pot metaphor; U.S. state numbers and nicknames; by any stretch of the imagination; to play it fast and loose

Topics: The Lone Ranger; the Liberty Bell; uprising versus revolution versus rebellion; given; revenge versus vengeance

Topics: Ask an American - The Appeal of Superheroes; property versus propriety versus proprietary; trust versus believe; little does he know; suffocated; to relish

Topics: The Sam Sheppard Trial; Plymouth Rock; to counsel versus to consult; to hit (one/someone) head on; to scare the crap out of (one/someone); a bee in (one’s/someone’s) bonnet

Topics: Redshirting; Mesa Verde National Park; to wrap up; to bother versus to interrupt versus to disturb; blind spot

Topics: Famous Authors - Ray Bradbury; foreign languages taught in U.S. schools; to repair versus to fix versus to mend; to the north versus north of; food versus meal versus repast

Topics: American Presidents - Andrew Jackson; Redwood National Park; safe versus save versus to save; to be implicated in versus to be involved in; one and only

Topics: Ask an American - Participatory Science; to attend versus to take part in versus to participate in versus to join; standalone versus to stand alone; hair of the dog that bit me

Topics: Famous Songs - "Chicken Fat"; Hells Angels; other versus another; through; it’s a given versus it figures

Topics: Famous Americans - Bobby Fischer; Kiss; barely versus scarcely; polite phrases used to refer to death; situation versus circumstance

Topics: The Hatfields and the McCoys; serving in the military to obtain U.S. citizenship; consistent with, in agreement with, coincide with, and identical to; software versus application versus app; to run out of versus to be out of

Topics: Famous Playwrights – August Wilson; low-income housing; to keep in mind versus to bear in mind; goose down blanket and other bedding; beauty is only skin deep

Topics: Ask an American – Undocumented students and college tuition; stop thinking negatively; very; smoking hot

Topics: Movies - The Maltese Falcon; Napa Valley, California and wine country; usage of “bit”; abuse versus assault; to put (someone) in the picture

Topics: Famous Americans - Sandra Day O'Connor; understanding American football; the meanings of “to draw”; out for lunch versus out to lunch; for crying out loud

Topics: Famous Songs - Red River Valley; how recall elections work; to reduce versus to lessen versus to decrease versus to decline; sort/to sort; to intervene versus to interfere

Topics: American Authors - Emily Post; American Cities - Branson, Missouri; either versus both; to do a special on (someone/something) versus to do a segment on (someone/something); to towel off

Topics: Ask an American - Inventing Frozen Foods; prize versus accomplishment versus award versus reward; what the heck?; wholesale

Topics: American Presidents - Dwight D. Eisenhower; path versus route versus track; stuff; anon

Topics: American Movies – The Manchurian Candidate; blue laws; expression versus term versus idiom; What name do you go by?; en masse

Topics: The rise of home shopping; Mammoth Cave National Park; quick versus fast; tremendous versus enormous; basic needs

Topics: The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer; Famous songs: "Little Bunny Foo Foo"; science of versus knowledge of; good versus not bad

Topics: Ask an American – “Battle Hymn of the Republic"; to outweigh versus to be outweighed by; full versus whole versus entire; a lot of versus several

Topics: American Presidents – Warren G. Harding; wet versus muggy versus humid; intense versus intensive; such a

Topics: American Authors - Ayn Rand; Adirondack Park; to get versus to gain versus to obtain; to have (someone) do (something) versus to get (someone) to do (something); giving an apple to a teacher

Topics: Famous Playwrights – David Henry Hwang; patent medicines; to get to versus to have got to; weird versus strange; to thumb a ride

Topics: Movies - Patton; The Eagles; to swear versus to promise versus to vow; nice to come home to; enclosed versus attached

Topics: Ask an American – Bilingual seniors; to keep in store versus to store up versus to reserve in store; which; think about versus think of

Topics: Famous Americans - Nikola Tesla; the Three Stooges; king versus royalty; in an attempt to versus in an effort to; accuracy versus precision

Topics: Famous songs - "Three Blind Mice"; Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park; incoming versus oncoming versus upcoming; featured; to fill in versus to fill out

Topics: Benjamin Spock and The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care; The Florida Everglades; destroying versus destructive; to catch up; to drop off

Topics: Movies - A Clockwork Orange; The Mickey Mouse Club; used car salesman; to snag versus to hitch; Reader’s Digest

Topics: Ask an American - Corruption; cool versus cold; estate versus real estate; off to the races

Topics: Famous Americans – Jane Addams; the “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" counting rhyme; to double down and trickle-down; especially versus specially; dewy

Topics: American Presidents – Gerald Ford; you bet; between versus in between; of many different colors

Topics: American Authors – Rachel Carson; the board game Monopoly; gas guzzler and other car descriptors; money order; way to establish or way to establishing

Topics: Motown Records; Famous Songs – “Mary Had a Little Lamb"; to boycott versus to prohibit; Jane Doe; to catch some z’s

Topics: Ask an American – Harlem Businesses; to imply versus to infer; to put aside versus to set aside; something's got to (gotta) give

Topics: The Pledge of Allegiance; the Grateful Dead; user versus customer versus subscriber; “Old Time Rock and Roll”; hands down

Topics: Famous Americans – Meryl Streep; Badlands National Park; strand versus string; to screw up; to tip the scales

Topics: Movies – Pulp Fiction; the Outer Banks; lot versus batch; business ethics; to eat humble pie

Topics: American Presidents – John Quincy Adams; base versus basis; so far versus so far so good; integral

Topics: Ask an American - Caring for elderly parents; come versus came; several; top-down

Topics - Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique; Taos Pueblos; admist versus among versus between; stuck in reverse; to keep minutes to lose hours

Topics: American Authors – Dorothy Parker; how to become a nurse; athlete versus player; hazard versus risk; to quit versus to call it a day

Topics - Fort Knox United States Bullion Depository; Looney Tunes; job versus career; a while versus awhile; to trash talk

Topics: Movies – Rocky; Famous Americans – Alvin Ailey; the hand of fate; riveting, to charge headlong, oblivious, and the outside world; outgoing versus a people person

Topics: Ask an American – Guardian Angels; blunder versus stumble; oh my God; keep doing what you’re doing

Topics: American Presidents – Lyndon B. Johnson; foreigner, alien, and other terms for people from other countries; provided (that) versus assuming (that); urgency versus emergency

Topics: Movies – The Silence of the Lambs; The Erie Canal; recession versus depression; if you will; all-in-one tax adviser/advisor

Famous Americans – Geronimo; The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race; amiable versus amicable; biases

Topics: American Musicals - Hello, Dolly!; The National Rifle Association; to take a stab at (something) versus to take a chance; if you will; to walk a dog

Topics: Ask an American - Art conservation; bravery versus gallantry; to escape versus to abscond; how to communicate time

Topics: Famous Authors - E.B. White; Name change after marriage; appliance versus utensil; to jibe (with) versus to be at odds with; I’m here versus I’m in here

Topics: Famous Americans - Jim Thorpe; United Code of Military Justice & Common Crimes; pre-paid cell phones; abbreviation versus acronym; a matter of form

Topics: Cajun Culture; The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show; to preserve versus to reserve; yada, yada, yada versus blah, blah, blah; Dear Sir/Madam versus To Whom it May Concern

Topics: American Musicals – My Fair Lady; Chautauquas; to reply versus to comply versus to meet; mild versus tender; to have the munchies

Topics: Ask an American – Firefighter inmates; catastrophe versus calamity versus disaster; can’t hardly wait versus can hardly wait; so that

Topics: Presidential Libraries; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; people versus peoples; officer versus official; to continue versus to carry on

Topics: Famous Americans – Carrie Nation; The Beach Boys; to pump up versus to balloon versus to beef up; historic versus historical; vigilance

Topics: Famous Songs – “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”; Niagara Falls; assessment versus evaluation versus appraisal; sympathy versus empathy; to take (one’s) time and to take a load off

Topics: American President – James Madison; function versus reception versus banquet; worthy versus worth it; all of a sudden versus out of the blue

Topics: Ask an American – Crowdsourcing; inn versus motel versus resort; to captivate versus allure; to leave versus to go away versus to go out

Topics: American Authors – William Faulkner; Soap Box Derbys; to deceive versus to cheat versus to lie; to appreciate; to go green

Topics: Movies – A Streetcar Named Desire; Bryce Canyon National Park; lockout versus walkout versus strike; Sweet Sixteen, Elite Six, and Final Four; to dote on

Topics: Panama Canal; Famous Songs – “Fever”; to squander versus to lavish versus to waste; self-conscious versus self-confident versus self-aware; as tough as they come

Topics: Famous Americans – Typhoid Mary; The National Hot Rod Association; complex versus complicated versus intricate; needle hit the groove; to lampoon; loner; pastime; to clean versus to cleanse

Topics: Ask an American – Saving the oldest photograph; law versus rule versus policy; to stem from versus to be derived from; bring it on; infomercial; hawking; exercise fad

Topics: American Presidents – Woodrow Wilson; junction versus intersection versus interchange; proprietary versus patent; to bluff (one’s) way into a secure area

Topics: American Musicals – Fiddler on the Roof; How to Sue Somebody (How Civil Lawsuits Work); reporter versus journalist versus correspondent; expense versus expenditure versus cost; bottom line; to run (something) by (someone)

Topics: American Authors – J.D. Salinger; Comedy in Print – Mad Magazine and The Onion; scanty versus inadequate versus deficient; inquiry versus investigation versus research; so-called

Topics: Movies – Titanic; The Ford Motor Company and the Model T; holiday versus feast versus celebration; impunity versus retaliation versus notoriety; to think of versus to think about

Topics: Ask an American – La Brea Tar Pits; until versus till/‘til versus by; to restore versus to recover; CCU (coronary care unit)

Topics: Famous Americans – John Philip Sousa; Confidential Magazine and the Criminal Libel Suit of 1957; developer versus programmer versus coder; describing a person with a good character

Topics: Famous Songs – “Que Sera Sera”; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown; demand versus request versus requirement; discrimination versus segregation; a great deal

Topics: American Presidents – William Henry Harrison; fringe benefits versus benefits package versus compensation package; teacher versus professor

Topics: Famous Americans – Charles Schultz and Peanuts; The Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve; to be pleased to versus to be happy to versus it’s (one’s) pleasure to; to sit versus to seat; willy-nilly

Topics: Ask an American – Beards and facial hair; sin versus transgression; totally versus definitely; “I ever go there”

Topics: Lau v. Nichols; vaudeville; finally versus ultimately; trickle versus drizzle; coincidence

Topics: Famous Americans – Amelia Earhart; Prom; ethics versus morals; on the very first day versus on the very day; to warrant and to address

Topics: Movie – The Shawshank Redemption; The Pentagon; to go ahead versus straight ahead; cheesy and quirky; a few quarters short of a buck

Topics: American Presidents – James Monroe; to oppress versus to suppress versus to repress; fruit and vegetables versus fruits and vegetables; file not sent/file not supported

Topics: Ask an American – Offensive mascots; capacity versus capability; to punch in versus to punch out; to put the cat among the pigeons

Topics: Famous Songs – “Mack the Knife”; Monument Valley and the Valley of the Gods; stem versus stalk versus shoot; using one’s middle name as one’s first name; indeed

Topics: Miranda v. Arizona; Famous Americans: Rube Goldberg; to heal versus to cure; to give up versus to give in; no way

Topics: The Scottsboro Boys Trial; The Grammy Awards; so versus too; to bash; to whip the crowd into a frenzy

Topics: American Musicals and Movies - Grease; Workers’ Compensation Laws; whirl versus swirl versus eddy; to be curious versus to wonder; beloved

Topics: The Basics of Basketball; Flea Markets; grass versus herb; delectable versus palatable; be my guest

Topics: Movies - Singin’ in the Rain; Famous Authors – Clare Booth Luce; to exchange versus to change versus to switch; to walk off; margin

Topics: American Presidents – George H. W. Bush; “architects let rip with a wave of ambitious and beautifully crafted buildings”; to keep (someone) out of (one’s) hair; pronouncing dead versus debt

Topics: The Roaring Twenties; The Empire State Building; Indians (Asians) versus Indians (indigenous peoples); to blow up versus to explode; staging ground

Famous Songs – “If I Had a Hammer”; How to Become a Social Worker; to dismantle versus to disassemble; guilt versus blame; to cross the great divide

Ask an American – Being a twin; to revoke versus to nullify versus to rescind; waste; bon voyage

Topics: Movies – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Famous Americans – Babe Didrikson Zaharias; to deliver versus to distribute versus to ship; describing the loss of hair on a man’s head; to ward off

Topics: The Jonestown Massacre; Square Dancing; perspective versus prospective versus prospect; scheme versus schema; heart condition

Topics: American Presidents – Grover Cleveland; to understand versus to grab versus to grasp versus to get (it); the suffix –hood; pronouncing words with the first letter “e”

Topics: Famous Americans – James Fenimore Cooper; The Farmer’s Almanac; in favor of versus in (one’s) favor; feat of strength, raw human strength, and to be forced against table’s edge; to multitask

Topics: Famous Americans – John Brown; High School Reunions; phantom versus soul; coast versus shore; plug nickel

Topics: Movies – Amadeus; The Adelsverein; neither and nor: earworm; badass

Topics: Famous Buildings/Structures – The Brooklyn Bridge; The Minimum Wage; to speculate versus to deliberate versus to contemplate; holy moly; down-and-dirty

Topics: How to Become a Dentist; The Guano Island Act; classic versus classical; to be there for (someone) versus to take (someone) there; after full deliberation

Topics: American Presidents – George W. Bush; I beg to differ, Would it kill you to (do something)?, ashes to ashes (dust to dust); worth more than; hodge podge, gazillion, and tons of

Topics: Ask an American – Drought and a new gold rush; vendor versus salesman versus pitcher; to clinch versus to breeze into versus to blow away; pronouncing bird versus beard versus bear

Topics: The American Indian Movement of the 1970s; Famous Buildings – The Sears Tower; inception versus conception versus to beget; to get back; cash on the barrelhead

Topics: Famous Musicals – All That Jazz; Winter Carnivals; irony and metaphor; pronouncing routed and data; hopefully

Topics: American Presidents – James K. Polk; beach versus shore versus coast; concept versus conception

Topics: American Musicals/Movies – The Sound of Music; Public Housing and “The Projects”; to soak versus to immerse versus to dip versus to pickle; so-called versus so to speak

Topics - The Three Mile Island Accident; Famous Buildings: Chrysler Building; quarrel versus argument versus controversy; concerned versus worried; amounted to

Topics: American Authors – Willa Cather; the basics of hockey; oblivious versus forgetfulness; carnivore versus predator; equal versus identical

Topics: American Presidents – William Howard Taft; deprecated versus obsolete versus outdated; to insist versus to persist; to set (one’s) jaw square

Topics: American Movies – Sunset Boulevard; the Borscht Belt and the Chitlin’ Circuit; renumeration/remuneration versus reimbursement versus kickback; to print off (copies) versus to photocopy; nitty-gritty

Topics: Famous Americans – Charles and Ray Eames; The Black Fives Leagues and The Negro Baseball Leagues; inner and outer versus inside and outside; severely versus seriously

Topics: Ask an American – Independent Bookstores; ever since versus ever after; varied versus various; ability versus skill

Topics: The Lenny Bruce Trial; American Cancer Society; to assume versus to guess; turtle versus tortoise

Topics: American Musicals/Movies – The Producers; The Statue of Liberty; sponsored by versus powered by versus encouraged by; putting the crunch back; hoochie

Topics: American Authors – Alex Haley; American Bandstand; continuous versus contiguous; let alone and to kick the bucket; the birds and bees talk

Topics: Famous Americans – Muhammad Ali; The Golden Gate Bridge; valuable versus invaluable; north/south versus northern/southern; common ground and universal experience

Topics: American Presidents – Rutherford B. Hayes; emission versus propagation; he/she don’t; to do (someone’s) bidding

Topics: Movies – Twelve Angry Men; Washington National Cathedral; cool versus awesome; closure and mental loafer; no biggie

Topics: Americans Abroad – The Founding of Liberia; The Gateway Arch; to struggle versus to fight versus to carry on; to churn and burn; hipster doofus

Topics: American Authors – Jack London; Our Gang and The Little Rascals; gruesome versus horrible versus disgusting; son of a gun; to lash out

Topics: Famous Americans – Jim Henson and The Muppets; The Doors; peculiar versus freaky; ambiance versus environment; to wet (one’s) whistle

Topics: Ask an American – Digital music technology; It’s called being nice versus It’s called been nice; to stutter versus to stumble; mean

Topics: American Presidents – James A. Garfield; to resign/draw/abandon match; gorgeous versus magnificent; nail in (someone’s) coffin

Topics: American Movies/Musicals – Mary Poppins; Craigslist; oblivion and to overwhelm; to select versus to elect; wee hours

Topics: Americans Abroad – The Confederados in Brazil; Chaco Canyon National Historical Park; speaking in tongues, folks, porridge, and just right; to ingratiate (oneself) with

Topics: Famous Americans – Elizabeth Blackwell; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; to delay versus to put off versus to procrastinate; during versus while; sheer

Topics: Famous Movies – Raiders of the Lost Ark; Hotel Del Coronado; to forfeit versus to nullify versus to revoke; nonetheless versus nevertheless; to live versus live

Topics: The Massie Trial; concept versus content versus context; whereas versus while; [month]+[date] versus [date] of [month]

Topics: American Presidents – Calvin Coolidge; further versus furthermore versus more; resilience versus resistance; You can say that again.

Topics: American Movies – The Fugitive; The United States Capitol Building; knowable versus scrutable versus tangible; to go through versus to get through; to man up

Topics: Famous Americans – Jonas Salk; The Wanamaker Department Stores; it’s all yours; good for you; fair enough; hyphen versus dash; All of the good, none of the bad

Topics: Ask an American - International work visas; to demonstrate versus to indicate versus to denote; hoot and to not give a hoot; Nice to meet you

Topics: The Leo Franks Trial; on hand versus in hand versus at hand; discrete versus discretion

Topics: American Musicals – Cabaret; The Guggenheim Museum; relation versus relationship; rerun versus syndication; belly of the beast

Topics: American Playwrights – Arthur Miller; Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood; to evoke versus to invoke; fluently versus fluency; pronouncing bought and boat, late and let, and beer and bear

Topics: American Presidents – Benjamin Harrison; to call the shots versus to wear the pants; inquiry versus enquiry; There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

Topics: American Movies – Toy Story; The United States Naval Academy; buddy versus chum versus pal; fee versus pay; Clean clams crammed in clean cans

Topics: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire; Radio City Music Hall and The Rockettes; Satan versus Devil versus demon versus evil; to know best; with regard to

Topics: Famous Americans – The Fox Sisters; Famous Songs – “I’m a Little Teapot”; to lack versus to be short of versus to be shy of versus to be out of; to clean versus to wash; pronouncing “Wh”

Topics: The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre; American Playwrights – David Mamet; to atone versus to make amends versus to do penance; compassion versus empathy; to reckon

Topics: Historically Black Colleges and Universities; Famous Americans – Mary Pickford; to infer versus to deduce versus to derive; to clean out versus to free up; civil disturbance versus civil unrest

Topics: Ask an American - Community policing; perspective versus notion versus viewpoint; to burst out versus to break out versus to explode; "Don’t count every hour in the day. Make every hour in the day count!"

Topics: Movies – Die Hard; American Authors – Emma Lazarus; in front of versus ahead of versus before; as if versus as though versus as for; to take stock

Topics: American Presidents – Franklin Delano Roosevelt; to be trapped versus to be lodged; to keep it together, to keep a stiff upper lip, and as luck would have it; pardon me

Topics: American Authors – Tom Wolfe; Aerosmith; to convince versus to compel; latter versus last; ultimate

Topics: Famous Americans – Henry Gaylord Wilshire; The Flatiron Building; regime versus regimen; to laugh versus laughter; to unveil versus to reveal; to light up

Topics: Famous Americans – Jackson Pollock; American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; to restrain versus to refrain versus to subside; velocity versus quickness; to have been down that road before

Topics: American Playwrights – Eugene O’Neill; The Passenger Pigeon; spare versus slender; Was I wrong!

Topics: American Movies – Frankenstein; Famous Americans – James Brown; to boost versus to foster versus to encourage; funky; right as rain

Topics: American Presidents – Chester A. Arthur; intimate versus personal versus private; particular versus specific versus in particular; I beg your pardon

Topics: Famous Americans – W.C. Fields; The Video Game Pong; trim, quarter- round, and carpenter; to condemn and conscious; transliteration

Topics: Ask an American – Journalism and Technology; liberal arts; second to (the) last; I am hearing you

Topics: Soccer in the United States; Famous Americans – Robert Frost; to suck versus to lick; to leave (someone) to his/her own devices; to cross someone and talking-to

Topics: Movies – The Usual Suspects; Tribal Colleges and Universities; effectiveness versus efficacy; to consider and to differentiate; common responses to “Thank you”

Topics: Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Book Series; Famous Americans – Martha Graham; enterprise versus entrepreneurship versus start- up

Topics: American Presidents – James Buchanan; The Board Game “Monopoly”; here/there you go; expendable versus expandable; the devil’s/Devil’s own

Topics: American Movies – Laurel and Hardy Films; The New York Public Library; to proofread versus to copyedit; no longer versus anymore; wild card

Topics: Famous Americans – Mary Baker Eddy; The Kennedy Space Center; what for? versus for what?; possibility versus opportunity; iron and iron law

Topics: American Presidents – John Tyler; The Hindenburg Disaster; result versus consequence versus outcome; ready versus willing; to keep (someone) in the loop

Topics: Famous Americans – James Whistler; American Songs – “Moon River”; bunglingly versus blunderingly; comparable versus compatible; uppercase, lowercase, and capital letter

Topics: American Movies – American Graffiti; American Presidents – Franklin Pierce; magazine versus journal; straw man argument and cognitive dissonance; several and actually

Topics: Ask an American – Corporate Data Security; consulting versus consultancy; to conduct versus to operate

Topics: American Authors – Walt Whitman; The Supremes; abbreviated versus concise versus succinct; to withdraw versus to retreat; to stretch

Topics: Famous Americans – Daniel Boone; Famous Songs – “Somewhere over the Rainbow”; to distract versus to foil versus to thwart; to reach versus to achieve; pronouncing hare, hear, here, hire, her, hair, heir

Topics: Famous Americans – Sally Ride; American Presidents – Millard Fillmore; rational versus rationale; killing it in the cost per wear category; to requite

Topics: American Movies – Planet of the Apes; American Presidents – Zachary Taylor; to improve versus to boost versus to enhance; to grow on (someone) and (one’s) bark is worse than (one’s) bite; script versus scripted by Dr. Lucy Tse

Topics: Famous Americans – Mae West; Harvey Washington Wiley and The Poison Squad; real versus actual versus true; lunch versus a lunch; to put (one’s) shoulder to the wheel

Topics: Famous Americans – Benjamin Franklin; Lowriders; mentor versus role model versus hero; fake it ‘til you make it; dice roll

Topics: The Jason Bourne Films; American Presidents – Andrew Johnson; to shiver versus to tremble versus to quiver; at- risk student

Topics: The Boston Tea Party; American Authors – Edna St. Vincent Millay; biological parent versus birth parent versus real parent; existing versus existent; That’s going to do it for today

Topics: Famous Americans – Mel Blanc; American Presidents – William McKinley; to fill in versus to complete; telephone phrases used to tell someone you can’t talk now; so long

Topics: Paul Bunyan; American Songs – “You’re the Top”; big versus huge versus massive; at all and show off; to be beside (oneself)

Topics: Famous Americans – Thomas Paine; Classic TV – The Twilight Zone; responsibility versus accountability versus liability; to go haywire versus to go crazy; pronouncing whole, hole, role, and holy

Topics: American Authors – Edith Wharton; American Songs – “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”; to matriculate versus to enroll versus to register; to bid versus to tender; period versus dot

Topics: Musicals – Porgy and Bess; Tupperware; finish versus objective versus destination; to tumble short of (one’s) dreams, to form a habit, and to leave (something alone); to call it a day/night

Topics: Famous Americans – Casey Jones; Classic TV – Happy Days; to try out versus to examine versus to test; dude and buddy; courtesy of

Topics: Movies – Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Famous Americans – Luther George Simjian; to distract versus to detract; in a manner of speaking; thanks a bunch

Topics: American Presidents – Barack Obama; Famous Songs – “Anchors Aweigh”; diffidence versus timidity versus shyness; receipt versus reception; no problem versus not at all versus no big deal

Topics: Famous Americans – Lew Wallace; Classic TV – The Brady Bunch; to prevent versus to hinder versus to forbid; integral versus indispensable; to scare off game

Topics: The Manhattan Project; Famous Songs – “Give My Regards to Broadway”; to propose versus to suggest versus to offer; to disclose versus to uncover versus to divulge; to stick it to (someone)

Topics: American Authors – Louisa May Alcott; Classic TV – Gilligan’s Island; up-to-date versus updated; to work out the kinks and to deserve a pat on the back; to seize the moment

Topics: Apollo 11; Famous Americans – Soapy Smith; certainly versus definitely versus surely; to have a crush on (someone) versus to be in love with (someone); out on a limb

Topics: American Authors – Sylvia Plath; Famous Songs – “Hush, Little Baby”; consciousness versus awareness; distinct versus distinctive; classy dress

Topics: Classic TV/Movies – Star Trek; The Homestead Act; medicine versus medication versus drug; wild card and K9; to lay it on too thick

Topics: Frank Lloyd Wright; prohibited versus forbidden versus not allowed; beforehand versus in advance; spot-on; pronouncing passion and patient, worm and warn

Topics: Movies – The Jazz Singer; The Selective Service System; microaggressions, social justice warrior, and trigger warning; to insulate versus to isolate; pluralizing glass

Topics: The Comstock Lode and the Silver Rush; The Beverly Hillbillies, lesson versus lecture versus seminar; interesting versus interested; I rest my case

Topics: Famous Americans – Alexander Graham Bell; Famous Songs – “At Last”; pluralizing “fish,” all things considered; to talk tech

Topics: The Black Soxs Scandal; Classic TV – The Flintstones; census-designated place versus community versus unincorporated community; to mean well and to bend the rules; pit crew

Topics: American Authors – Mary Roberts Rinehart; Famous Songs – “I’ll be seeing you”; to dispense, wedgie, and on principle; to get on with (something), to get along with (someone), and in a nutshell; semi

Topics: Movies – ¬Ben-Hur; Carlsbad Caverns National Park; duty versus responsibility; Creedence Clearwater Revival

Topics: Famous Americans – Linus Pauling; The Texaco Star Theater and Milton Berle; squalid versus sordid; on my own versus by myself; postseason competition

Topics: American Authors – Gertrude Stein; Famous Songs – “Puff the Magic Dragon”; sport versus workout versus exercise; to come across versus to stumble upon; debaucherous behavior

Topics: Famous Americans – Duke Kahanamoku; The Quiz Shows of the 1950s; terms used for family favorites; when versus what time; based on versus on the basis of

Topics: John Muir and The Sierra Club; The Ma and Pa Kettle Movies; every versus each; Christmas/New Year break at colleges and universities; jinx

Topics: Famous Americans – Shirley Temple Black; Famous Songs – “Taps”; paper versus report; internship versus externship; to march (someone) to front of the class

Topics: Classic TV Shows – The Addams Family; The Hoover Dam; “Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.”; to blow (something) apart; pronouncing “man” and “men”

Topics: Famous Americans – Eli Whitney; The Ziegfeld Follies; ROFL, straight outta, and meme; shack versus shed; to take advantage of versus to seize

Topics: American Authors – Kurt Vonnegut; Famous Songs – “When You Wish Upon a Star”; to knock up versus to knock down versus to knock over versus to knock off; new versus brand new; give and take

Topics: Classic TV & Movies – Mission: Impossible; Famous Americans – Alfred Stieglitz; satisfactory versus satisfying; damaged goods and majorly unfair

Topics: The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 and the creation of the District of Columbia; The Hollywood Sign; next versus upcoming versus future; critical situation versus critical position; steaming

Topics: American Authors – James Baldwin; Famous Songs – “High Hopes”; homeless versus destitute; odd versus odds; “I'm not a has-been. I am a will-be.”

Topics: Famous Americans – Stephen F. Austin; Classic TV – M*A*S*H; disability versus handicap versus impairment; recourse versus resort; to fly in the face of (something)

Topics: Movies – The King and I; The Women Airforce Service Pilots; nation versus sovereign versus kingdom; to obstruct versus to hinder; fire and brimstone

Topics: Movies – The King and I; The Women Airforce Service Pilots; nation versus sovereign versus kingdom; to obstruct versus to hinder; fire and brimstone

Topics: American Authors – Philip K. Dick; on purpose versus deliberately versus intentionally; moderately versus sparingly; understatement of the century

Topics: Famous Americans – Marian Anderson; in a heartbeat versus in a second versus in a moment; old versus stale

Topics: The John Peter Zenger Trial; tone versus hue versus tint versus shade; wherewithal; pronouncing saw, sew, sow, and sue

Topics: Traditional Gospel Music and Thomas A. Dorsey; cliché versus stereotype; chicken versus hen; to nail it

Topics: Andersonville Prison; garbage versus litter versus trash versus rubbish; downtime; pronouncing eight, height, and weight

Topics: Famous Americans – Bob Hope; severe versus serious; bill versus check; pronouncing words with the silent “b”

Topics: American Authors – Truman Capote; to be understaffed versus to be stretched thin versus to be on the brink of; don’t mention it versus you’re welcome versus my pleasure; bees knees

Topics: Famous Americans – Malcolm X; to pack/packing versus to box/boxing versus to wrap/wrapping; rational versus reasonable; to insinuateTopics: Famous Americans – Malcolm X; to pack/packing versus to box/boxing versus to wrap/wrapping; rational versus reasonable; to insinuate

Topics: The Mayflower and the Mayflower Compact; to encompass versus to comprise; edge versus margin; do me right

Topics: The Women Airforce Service Pilots; technically versus typically versus basically; apology versus apologies; to approve versus to approve of

Topics: Famous Americans – Kenny Rogers; Elements of Style; over time; pronouncing “rushing” versus “Russian”

Topics: The Amana Colonies; resolution versus promise; fate versus destiny; saying “oh” or “zero” when reading numbers aloud

Famous Americans – Esther Williams; latest versus recent versus current; to put (something) on (one’s) account; sneak peek

Topics: American Authors – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; area versus zone versus region; to come along; to burn bridges

Topics: The Righteous Brothers – “You’ve Got That Loving Feeling” and “Unchanged Melody;” ingrate, malcontent, and ungrateful; to allow versus to authorize; pronouncing morning versus mourning

Topics: The Black Loyalists of the American Revolution; alert versus alarm versus warning; haze versus mist; pronouncing “advantage” and other “nt” words

Topics: National Lampoon; contest versus competition versus match versus game; (in the) meantime versus meanwhile

Topics: Popular Idioms – “Dutch courage,” “Dutch treat/To go dutch,” and “Dutch uncle”; antique versus vintage; necessary versus needed; to make (one’s) case

Topics: The Bald Eagle and the Great Seal of the United States; to sleep in versus to oversleep; to be (once, twice, etc.) removed; wantonness

Topics: Popular Idioms – “Mexican Standoff” and “Young Turks”; paranormal versus abnormal; tough, tuff, and tough guy; even

Topics: A Fraudulent Auction; term versus semester; to go to church/mosque versus to go to the church/mosque; to coin a phrase

Topics: Questions Answered: The song “Cat’s and the Cradle”; hardly versus rarely; you’re reaching and that’s a stretch; to fix on versus to fixate on; hilarious versus ridiculous, pronouncing death and deaf

Topics: Questions Answered: Whose Line is it Anyway?, to shiver versus to tremble versus to quiver; something versus something else; to bite the bullet; to blow (something) apart; to shy (away) from

Topics: Questions Answered: To head-butt a curb, to thin the herd, and to sound like a blue chip; to mock versus to jeer versus to taunt versus to deride; background versus backdrop; to turn out to be; to be on fire; pronouncing “Is he?” and “Is she?”

Topics: Questions Answered: Folk beliefs versus omens versus signs; crook, to lurk, prey, and gullible; corrupt and corrupted; to walk (someone) through (something); rough ride; is all

Topics: Generations in the United States; blockbuster movies; pronouncing “a”; honeymoon; to outsource; cut to the chase

Topics: New Year’s Resolutions; best sellers; “Oh, my goodness!”; dead weight, dead right, and dead broke

Topics: Famous Americans: Queen Latifah; Smoking bans; at this point; trade-off; driveway versus parkway

Topics: Filming in LA, Howard Stern, Worst Dressed Americans, Lolita, New Macs, Dove or Pigeon?, Color Bracelets, "Do you get it?"

Topics: New Software, Brunch, Oprah's Book Club, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, How to End a Letter or Email, Can vs. Can't

Topics: Healthcare in the United States; Johnny Cash; as if; to get (one’s) ya-yas; to put an animal to sleep

Topics: Television in the US, Spelling Bees in Schools, Policy versus Politics, Pronunciation in Minnesota

Topics today: Charles Dickens, Night, Dr. Phil, Sundance Film Festival, Donald Trump, Very vs. Really, Pretty vs. Quite

Topics: The American educational system; Sweet 16; effect versus to affect; to feel; maybe versus perhaps

Topics: Super Bowl parties; widow versus widower; advocate; trust me; buddy; mud; I bet; gonna; speaking of which; to pass away

Topics: Three Strikes, Groundhog Day, Lost and CSI, Regards and Cheers, Amazing versus Awesome, "On the heels of..."

Topics: Stealing art, Religions in the US, "Walk the Line," I've had versus I had had, Jump across the pond, "She's a complete knockout!"

Topics: Spam, Valentine's Day, the Winter Olympics, "In terms of," Must vs. have vs. got to, Possessives, To raise vs. to rise

Topics: Spelling words, Popular baby names in the US, Britney Spears and Seatbelts, "Don't get mad, get even!", To spoil someone, To undertake, Compared to or with?, How to end an email

Topics: Wasting time at work, California's reputation, Carpet in the US, Call signs, Yet vs. Still

Topics: Taking a survey, Special bonus podcast "Secrets to Improving Your English," Housing prices in the US, To have vs. To be and the past participle.

Topics: Nicknames and shortened names, 'To kill two birds with one stone' and 'The early bird gets the worm,' May vs. Can, Using do + verb, "Suite," and to wash down.

Topics: Mardi Gras, Getty Villa, Have to v. got to v. going to have to, Hype, "No brainer," Would in the past tense

Topics: The Oscars, Pimps, "Down to the wire," "And so forth," and I or It?

Topics: Feeling under the weather, Common abbreviations, Using initials, Now vs. right now

Topics: Minnesota, Interjections, Would rather, rather than, and rather prefer, "smoking gun"

Topics: Bob Dylan, More interjections, in vs. into, indeed, "mail-in rebate," on time vs. in time, administer vs. manage vs. administrate

Topics: St. Patrick's Day, British versus American English, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," Going to vs. will, "Pod"

Topics: Smoking Bans, British and American English II, they and he, wage vs. salary, blue vs. white collar, now vs. right now

Topics: Spring Break, Movie Ratings in the US, "Stay tuned," Frightened vs. Afraid, Customer vs. Consumer

Topics: Political parties in the US, How to begin an email, Even vs. odd, Unless, "Six feet under"

Topics: State of Illinois; British versus American English; just versus only; to decide versus to make up one’s mind; "in the eye of the beholder"; behind versus beyond, MIA; for my part versus on my part; pronouncing sheep, ship, feet, and fit

Topics: Easter bunny, Income Tax Day, immigration protests in the US, actually, zero vs. nil, to be on your last legs, third straight time, despite versus in spite of.

Topics: New movie by Spike Lee, Ice Age, how Americans buy groceries, "Catch 22," can vs. to be able to, no longer, period vs. bottom line, "freak on a leash"

Topics: News on the Internet; opinion polls and the environment; to think of versus to think about (something); think tank; close of business

Topics: “American Idol”; Phoenix, Arizona; to ace out; content; delayed"

Topics: Rich Dad Poor Dad, how the US government works, sneak previews, this/that/these/those, "so to speak," by all means, to begin with, under a spell, down to earth

Topics: High school musicals, what a woman looks for in a man, to drive your point home, to call the shots, pilot TV shows, to be debt-ridden, to be in charge, on behalf of

Topics: News anchors, public school curriculum, Mark Twain, dictionary vs. thesaurus, shortened words (rehab, lab, mag, celeb), "apparent suicide," feature presentation

Topics: The Da Vinci Code, how Americans pay for retirement, “I could use one,” to hang out, care for vs. care about, tag vs. label, allow vs. permit vs. let, to take the Fifth

Topics: Popular words in the US media, People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, to make a spectacle of yourself, to go berserk, basically, "I'm whooped," doozy, fault vs. defect vs. error, David versus Goliath

Topics: Mothers Day and Fathers Day, Seattle, TV show “24,” should be going vs. should go, spur of the moment, slam dunk, relatively vs. extremely vs. tremendously, angry vs. mad vs. upset, off-the-shelf

Topics: Newsmagazines, AMBER Alert, reading a map, “Get out of here!”, followed by, “Excuse me” vs. “I’m sorry,” to have something on someone, to teeter on the brink

Topics: Country music, July 4th celebrations, clever vs. smart, you formal vs. informal, college vs. high school, to ride vs. to drive, “Tell me about it!”, to throw in the towel

Topics: John McCain, Little League sports, how to pronounce years and hours, using “some” plus a number, to hock, larger than life, to cheat on someone, I might say vs. I can say

Topics: How to tip in the U.S., famous American museums, pronouncing “a,” comfortable vs. convenient, “I used to” vs. “I use to,” of course

Topics: Online dating, Pulitzer Prize winners, sitting duck, pronouncing cheap vs. chip and thank vs. tank, to cross your fingers

Topics: Obesity, greeting people in the United States, terrific, finally vs. eventually

Topics: United States Postal Service, summer camp, whereas vs. but, RSVP (again), to be unable to make heads or tails of something

Topics: Graceland and Elvis, Boston, to have a leg up on someone, flat out, seeing eye dogs, to trip up

Topics: Business cards in the US, nationalities in English, dry-eyed, killer app

Topics: Retirement communities, American superstitions, fling vs. throw vs. toss

Topics: After school activities, ethnic neighborhoods in Los Angeles, nude vs. naked vs. bare, anything but

Topics: Labor Day, charitable organizations in the U.S., safety vs. security, clutch vs. grip vs. grab

Topics: Baseball and related expressions, “gangsta,” compromise versus commitment

Topics: Famous Americans – Stevie Wonder; Indian summer, to cut to the chase, to jaywalk, current vs. present, to prove someone

Wills and estates, “No big!”, primordial soup, trouble vs. problem vs. issue vs. situation, answer vs. response vs. reply, though, device vs. gadget vs. gizmo vs. contraption

Elections in the U.S., to prove someone wrong, effect vs. affect, to wait on someone vs. to wait for someone, big vs. large, I’m fine vs. I’m good vs. I’m well

Topics: Houston, who Americans trust, to get off one’s soapbox, layover vs. transfer, blond vs. blonde

Topics: Genealogy, Bill Cosby, to get down on your knees vs. to get down on one knee

Topics: Day of the Dead, Desperate Housewives, work vs. job. vs. occupation, older vs. elder

Topics: Woodstock Music Festival, Affirmative Action, hands-on vs. hand-off, to struggle, how to ask for a taxi, May I vs. Can I, to carpool

Topics: Table manners in the U.S., Washington, D.C., easygoing, down to earth, to put someone in harm’s way, to take a shot at someone, inquiry

Topics: Police in the US, The Simpsons, It’s going down, qwerty, can’t help but, stolen glance, witchcraft

Topics: Bestselling books in the U.S., Thanksgiving traditions, to figure out, pronouncing can vs. can’t

Topics: How to work in the United States, interracial dating and marriage, to lean on someone’s shoulder, pronouncing math expressions, rather

Topics: New York City, abbreviations after a name (Ph.D., MD, RN, DDS, Esq.), say vs. talk vs. speak vs. tell, towel vs. napkin, what to say when you’re shopping

Topics: Dates for dogs, “Me, too!”, Something 101, I’m game, to hover over, travel vs. trip vs. journey, up to vs. until, “Word up!”

Topics: “There you go!” vs. “There you are!”, estimate vs. determine, bump vs. dip, opposite vs. in front of, mudslinging, shade vs. shadow, assure vs. ensure vs. insure, definitely vs. exactly

Topics: Native rate of speech, to preach to the choir, common sense, “though” at the end of a sentence, possess vs. own, allow you to vs. allows you to, pronouncing “twenty” and “ninety,” picking a suitor, a make-out scene

Topics: Ask an American: College Life in the US, all but, specialty vs. speciality, to cut someone off, Don’t be a…, moonshine, to cut someone off

Topics: In the News: pretexting, “stay the course,” The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, “if that’s anything to go by,” color vs. hue, contribute vs. attribute, “the die is cast”

Topics: Ask an American: Raising a large family, criteria vs. standard, through vs. throughout, to call it quits

Topics: Studying abroad in college, Americans and gun control, come and eat vs. come to eat, in spite of vs. despite

Topics: Current Movies: Stomp the Yard and Dreamgirls, vibe, sick vs. ill. vs. cold, to hold someone’s hand vs. to hold onto someone

Topics: How to ruin your computer, how much things cost in the US, secret vs. confidential vs. private, cliché vs. touché

Topics: In the News: The Nobel Effect, dangerous bicycle helmets; to talk someone out of something vs. to have it out with someone; I’ll wait for you vs. I’ll be waiting for you; mixture

Topics: Philadelphia, jury duty, canary in a coal mine, rule of thumb

Topics: Ask an American: Being a single woman in the US, obviously vs. apparently, sorrow, to delay vs. to postpone vs. to defer

Topics: American Songs - Sound of Silence, Good for you! and Good for him!, realize vs. recognize vs. notice, farther vs. further

Topics: Scientology, Wikipedia, establishment figures, to not have a clue, at that time, Pardon my French!, Right on!

Topics: American houses, what Americans think they need, using “the” before a country’s name, either vs. neither

Topics: Daylight Saving Time, March Madness, to solve vs. to resolve, She smells good vs. She smells well

Topics: Ask an American - Working, quote vs. offer, Something’s Gotta Give

Topics: Google Book Search, Clint Eastwood, village vs. neighborhood, to retrieve vs. to recover, cooking vs. cuisine

Topics: Earth Day, Dr. Seuss books, pronouncing sin, sing, hit, heat, and hate; about six o’clock versus around six o’clock; What I wouldn’t give versus What I would give; I couldn’t care less versus I could care less

Topics: US advertising in other countries; Habitat for Humanity; bad-tempered vs. short-tempered; no pun intended; to be raining cats and dogs

Topics: Ask an American - International students in the U.S. don’t versus doesn’t; ain’t; you singular versus you plural

Topics: Homelessness in the U.S.; prenups and postnups; “Smith’s the name, oil’s the game”; to weep versus to cry, to see someone smile

Topics: U.S. Census, Driving While Texting, as well as versus as long as, change versus alter versus modify versus transform

Topics: Famous Americans: Frank Gehry, Memorial Day, odd one out, as good as it gets. film versus movie

Topics: Trouble with my car, Ask an American: Home Schooling, breakthrough versus to break through, to ride shotgun

Topics: Yellowstone National Park, summer jobs for teenagers, I’ll be in later versus I’ll be in late, loudly versus aloud versus loud, pronouncing lounge, lunch, and launch

Topics: Airport X-ray machines, Guinness Book of World Records, to be under siege, to run like butter, girlfriends, to trade up

Topics: State and county fairs, Stan Lee and Spider-Man, Miss versus Mrs. versu Ms., to be in bloom, in order to

Topics: Ask an American: Interpreters, pronouncing years and punctuation marks, school leavers and drop outs

Topics: Fourth of July, Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, Schoolhouse Rock, will versus shall, to come off

Topics: American cities: Las Vegas, Google and privacy on the Internet, red tape, to catch lightening in a bottle, pronouncing ordinal numbers

Topics: Famous Americans - Katie Couric, Payday loans, pronouncing listen, stepbrother versus half-brother, godmothers and godfathers

Topics: Ask an American: Getting into an MBA program, to spell out something, about to break, breakdown, conscience versus conscious

Topics: How to become a doctor, how much Americans earn, using from, between, and during, fire versus arson, town hall meetings

Topics: Atlanta; Famous Americans: Michael Moore; to have versus to have got, singular versus plural verbs with percentages, sort of versus kind of

Topics: McJobs; Robert’s Rules of Order; in for a dime, in for a dollar; a police officer’s beat, could versus would, center versus centre

Ask an American: Losing weight in America; 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, to be (someone’s) man through and through, doggone, to see one’s share of (something), to say (something) 10 times fast

Topics: Traveling in the U.S., gimmick versus trick, to call ‘em like you see ‘em, spite versus respite, in demand versus on demand

Topics: American cities: Honolulu, fantasy sports camps, to freeze a bra, coupon versus voucher, illicit versus illegal

Topics: the Pledge of Allegiance, tomato as fruit versus vegetable, to be raised versus to grow up, buy versus purchase, to take the bull by the horns, can versus may versus could when asking for permission

Topics: Ask an American: Raising children, one of those, reply versus answer, customer versus purchaser

Topics: American cities: Nashville, Grand Ole Opry; school fund-raisers, to hold on to your hat, to be put inside, a blow-by-blow account

Topics: Why Americans don’t use the metric system, how to dress in Los Angeles versus New York, yutz, to go back to square one, what to call your cousin’s son, I’m done with you

Topics: American folklore: Bigfoot; Who’s on First?, to tear apart, Cliff Notes, to fall out of love

Topics: Ask an American: Socially Responsible Companies, case study, to be at sea, to knock (someone’s) socks off, to take one’s time

Topics: Route 66, playground games for children, on time versus in time, counting seconds using Mississippi, to knock yourself out

Topics: Cities: Tucson, Arizona (Interview with Dr. Lucy Tse), Harper’s Index, to get a kick out of (something), to commute, to not stand for (something), “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”

Topics: How to become a teacher in the U.S., steps in ordering food in a restaurant, to walk the walk and talk the talk, constraint versus restraint, monkey business, on a regular basis

Topics: Famous Americans: Yo Yo Ma; Popular books in the U.S., pronouncing contractions, to figure out versus it figures, there will be no versus there will not be, if you will

Topics: Ask an American: Roswell, New Mexico; holiday versus vacation, arbitrator versus referee versus umpire, Ay, caramba!

Topics: Gallaudet University, U.S. call signs for radio and TV stations, outfit versus gear versus equipment, pronouncing law and low, so versus very

Topics: Cities: Boston; vanity license plates, to make a difference versus to make the difference, lame, devil’s advocate

Topics: Professional wrestling, National Geographic, would-be versus wannabe, be my guest, why not?

Topics: Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, progress versus process, would in the past tense, to be on the chunky side

Topics: Ask an American: Business travel in the U.S.; bang for your buck, original versus initial, the longest word in English

Topics: How to become the president of the United States, tailgating parties, seize versus arrest versus detain, pronouncing “the,” expressions for showing sympathy

Topics: Cities: Anchorage, Alaska; John Henry; you might as well, to hit the ground running, the “café” in English Café, what goes around comes around, breaking news

Topics: Men and “dumb blondes,” the Rotary Club, grade versus score, how do I get to versus where do I find, my friend versus a friend of mine

Topics: Convenience stores, eating and drinking noises, colleague versus associate versus fellow, to sign in versus to sign off versus to sign on versus to sign up

Topics: Ask an American: Endangered languages;rednecks, dictionary versus thesaurus

Topics: Charles Schultz and Peanuts, how to become a police officer, you and I versus you and me, yippikaiye, to call dibs

Topics: Cities: New Orleans9-1-1 emergency services, his or her, you don’t need to know versus you need not know, incident versus accident

Topics: Celebrity chefs, Americans and personal space, generic versus general, expressing height in feet and meters, prophecy versus prediction

Topics: Famous Americans: Grandma Moses;GED Tests, since versus from, is to do (something), calligraphy versus penmanship

Topics: Ask an American: Starving Artist; as a matter of fact, process versus procedure, to haggle

Topics: American cities: Portland, Oregon; Take Me Out to the Ballgame; ocean versus sea, ability versus capability

Topics: Norman Vincent Peale, Japanese internment camps, straightforward, to tap into, made by versus made of versus made in

Topics: becoming a lawyer in the U.S., famous lines from American movies, proper versus appropriate

Topics: The FBI; Reader’s Digest; consent versus assent, concord versus accord, the long and the short of it

Topics: Ask an American: Working as an actor in Los Angeles,? nevertheless versus despite versus even though, to screw up

Topics: dishonest political strategies; the Black Dahlia; treatment versus therapy; ending intimate letters and emails; you’re entitled to your opinion

Topics: American Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald; cigarette and alcohol advertising; pronouncing -ed, someone’s John Hancock

Topics: Types of vocational education in the U.S.; American Cities: Miami; to have a monkey on (one’s) back; to administer; to execute; to be off

Topics: The Betty Ford Center; poker; to be short on time versus time is running out, past year versus last year, supervisor versus manager

Topics: Ask an American: Bluegrass music; résumé versus curriculum vitae, the number 0 versus the letter O, one over the other

Topics: Monster truck shows and races; blue jeans and Levi Strauss, to be up against the wall, liability versus responsibility, pronouncing “either”

Topics: Native American reservations/Trail of Tears; retirement communities, the possessive “s,” to be subject to, to be subjected to, hedge trimming

Topics: New York Theater District/Broadway shows; Barbie dolls/G.I. Joe; I don’t have versus I have no, in the street versus on the street, identifying yourself on the phone

Topics: Classic children’s television: Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood; American Cities: Washington, D.C.; mix, combine, stir, and beat; stock photography

Topics: Ask an American: Getting Old;brethren versus brothers, would versus used to, I can’t wait anymore versus I can’t wait any longer

Topics: Harley Davidson; Famous Americans: Jesse Jackson; because versus since, yikes, speaking of which

Topics: Saturday Night Live; Howard Stern and shock jocks; using “to” in who, what, where, when, why questions; state of the art; ways to say “good job!”

Topics: Advanced Placement courses and tests; Legos/Legoland and Hot Wheels; might versus maybe; judgment call; no-brainer

Topics: Famous Americans: Annie Leibovitz; home shopping cable channels and celebrity product lines; come versus go; via versus through

Topics: Ask an American: Drive-in Theatersto wind (someone) up, you don’t say, how about you versus what about you

Topics: American Cities: San Francisco/Bay Area; the ACLU; using ‘back’ to refer to the past; failure versus error versus mistake

Topics: U.S. zoning laws; how to become a TV or movie screenwriter; unless versus if, in versus at for locations, persecute versus prosecute

Topics:Famous Americans: Great Jazz Artists Josephine Baker and Ella Fitzgerald; the Amish; to be honest versus as a matter of fact; why don’t you versus let’s

Topics: D.B. Cooper; the Underground Railroad; extend versus expand; God forbid; brown-bag lunch

Topics: Ask an American: Tattoosto cover up (something), talk versus say versus speak, pronouncing certain consonants in the middle of words

Topics: American Cities: Chicago; The Star-Spangled Banner; just versus only versus mere; to kick butt

Topics: Famous Americans: Amy Tan; Americans with Disabilities Act; to take convincing, full-fledged, dude

Topics: The CIA; how to become a court interpreter and/or an interpreter for the U.N.; haunting versus haunted; completion versus completeness; to take (somebody) on

Topics: The Chinese Exclusion Act; Library of Congress and the public library system; I thought versus I think; anyway versus however; to make (someone) earn (something)

Topics: Ask an American: childhood obesity; besides vs. furthermore vs. moreover; wink-wink; thrill

Topics: American Cities: Salt Lake City; university admissions; within versus inside versus interior; so much for; to want out

Topics: Famous Americans: William Randolph Hearst; what to call people from the top five cities/states in the U.S.; please as the magic word; using an apostrophe (‘) for possessive cases, remember versus remind

Topics: Cook-offs and bake-offs; public health codes; a software evangelist; to look forward to; sandwich versus hamburger

Topics: Registering to vote and efforts to get out the vote; the G.I. Bill; growl, groan, and mutter; personnel and other collective nouns; to be fond of

Topics: Ask an American: cults; can versus could; will versus would; freedom versus liberty

Topics: Make-a-Wish Foundation; American Cities: Key West and the Florida Keys; must versus ought to versus need to; nuts and bolts; to buy (something)

Topics: Naming Rights; Famous Americans: Cesar Chavez; Why Americans have middle names; future perfect tense; American versus U.S. as an adjective

Topics: U.S. Mint; how auctions work; cache versus cash; listen to versus listen for

Topics: Brown v. Board of Education; yearbooks in American schools; indeed; none of them is/are; down to the wire

Topics: Ask an American: underage drinking; to chalk (something) up to; fluke; quite; ain’t; domino effect and chain reaction

Topics: American Cities: Detroit; wills, living wills, and advance healthcare directives; solution and solve vs. resolution and resolve; family vs. household

Topics: Alternative energy; Monticello; criticize versus chastise versus chasten; please inform versus please be informed; to denominate

Topics: Famous Americans: Weird Al Yankovic; Alcoholics Anonymous; figure out versus realize; kind of; noun + --ee and --er

Topics: America's Most Wanted; buying a first home; similar to but distinct from; on the side; a fair extent

Topics: Ask an American: forecasting the future; offhand; off the top of one’s head; out with the old, in with the new; using “more” versus “-er” to form the comparative

Topics: Famous Americans: Barack Obama; presidential inaugurations; common versus ordinary versus normal; darling and dear; full-fledged

Topics: The song Amazing Grace; specialty cable/satellite channels; to slay, to kill, to murder, to slaughter; I love it versus I’m loving it; dollar versus buck

Topics: Appalachia; family arrangements in the U.S.; pain, ache, and sore; diehard; fruitcake

Topics: The Innocence Project; Craigslist; percent versus percentage; the “in” crowd/place; to swear in

Topics: Ask an American: living in a tiny home; volume versus issue versus version

Topics: Famous Americans: Sacagawea; NASCAR racing; to take its toll (on someone); you are/is; whatever versus whatsoever

Topics: Anti-miscegenation laws; Silicon Valley and the Research Triangle; freeway, highway, and expressway; to sport; dosey doe

Topics: Medical/dental tourism; warehouse club stores; yell versus shout; to be depended on; to last; kind versus kindly

Topics: American Cities (Territories): American Samoa; how to become a pilot in the U.S.; objective versus subjective, to be flanked by, power versus empowerment; to delegate versus to defer

Topics: Ask an American: corruption in U.S. politics; have to versus must; what about versus how about; worthy versus necessary

Topics: Famous Americans: Langston Hughes; childcare options in the U.S.; to totally own(ed) (someone); bad news

Topics: Native American casinos; YouTube; impact versus influence, created in/on/by; so far versus to date

Topics: Taxes Americans pay; wedding/baby showers and gift registries; leverage, to dig, to guess versus to think versus to believe

Topics: American Cities: San Diego; tabloid press and U.S. libel/slander laws; under (someone’s) thumb; precision versus accuracy; coming to you from

Topics: Ask an American: student exchange programs; begs the question; face value; at the time versus then

Topics: Regulating monopolies and antitrust laws; American songs: Happy Birthday; whilst versus while; to blow away (something); using “do” for emphasis

Topics: Famous Americans: Helen Keller; The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing; opposable thumbs; due to versus because of; the prefix “Mc”

Topics: The U.S. Supreme Court; microloans/microcredit; less than (X) days versus up to (X) days; mainstream account; words ending in –ic versus –ical

Topics: American Cities: Dallas; conservative Christian/fundamentalist universities; to wear (someone) out; shrink; already

Topics: Ask an American: private gun ownership; north of; compulsory versus mandatory versus obligatory; mayday

Topics: Classic comic strips with a political/social commentary bent; child protection laws; uncalled for; state versus status; as though

Topics: Author/artist royalties & ASCAP; house swapping; hop in versus pop in versus drop in; compound nouns

Topics: Famous Americans: Orville and Wilbur Wright; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; each day versus every day versus everyday; split infinitives; to spare (someone) (something)

Topics: American Cities: Indianapolis; Malcolm Gladwell and his books; to brush up on versus to polish up; to come off; a matter of

Topics: Ask an American: segregation; paradise lost; to go off; trip versus journey versus voyage versus travel

Topics: The Secret Service; tween culture; on versus upon; exclamations “My God” and “Jesus Christ”; evidence versus proof

Topics: The Rocky Horror Picture Show; civil disobedience; night versus evening; starring; force versus enforce versus reinforce

Topics: The White House; noises made by animals, humans, and machines; document versus documentation; to have to do with; gawd-awfully (god-awfully)

Topics: Famous Americans: Flannery O’Connor; 60 Minutes; well-(something); red and blue states

Topics: Ask an American: civility; sour versus tart; (something) is king; thorough versus comprehensive

Topics: The Red Cross; Casablanca; to estimate versus to evaluate versus to appreciate; to let (someone/something) be; aim versus goal

Topics: Fraternities and sororities; the foster care and adoption system; scholarship versus grant; commie

Topics: Alcatraz; The Simpsons; using negation with an infinitive; heaven versus heavens; kind of versus sort of versus type of

Topics: NASA; Famous Americans: Jackie Robinson; conference versus meeting versus session; second to none; narrative versus story

Topics: Ask an American: Nursing; responsible versus accountable; -wise; to double back

Topics: Beauty pageants and controversies; the National Weather Service; like versus same as; how do you do?; what’s up; have a good one

Topics: The Golden Age of Hollywood and the studio system; the busing controversy of the 1970s; as well versus also versus too; to take into account; “why” as an interjection

Topics: American Cities (Territories): Puerto Rico; People Who Work for Celebrities; cooperation versus collaboration; instance versus instantaneous versus instant; pronouncing won’t and want

Topics: U.S. government reparations; TV home shopping networks/shows; neither do I versus so do I versus either I; to talk with versus to talk to; to put the cart before the horse (to put the horse before the cart)

Topics: Ask an American: Bartering; waiting versus awaiting; use of the infinitive; answering “yes” to a negative question

Topics: Famous Americans: Janis Joplin; compulsory education and truancy laws; to bask; to brace; to palm off; to follow one’s hunch(es)

Topics: Psychological pricing; daytime soap operas; target versus objective versus purpose; the silent “b”: slumber versus plumber; there, there

Topics: American Cities: Houston; how to become a police officer; incredible versus unbelievable; to rule the roost; to sort out

Topics: Steroid use and other doping in professional sports; The Juilliard School; shell-shocked; way to go; be good

Topics: Ask an American: sleep and weight gain; to slip through (one's) fingers; drink versus beverage; individually versus separately versus independently

Topics: Explaining TV show names; Mount McKinley and mountaineering; highest versus tallest; CEO versus CFO versus CIO

Topics: The medical marijuana controversy; Famous Americans: Woody Allen; sky versus skies; meltdown and crack down; less is more/more is less; pronunciations of live

Topics: Disneyland; government property seizures and auctions; state; on the prowl; pronouncing the vowel “i” and the vowel combinations “ee” and “ea”; time after time

Topics: Ask an American: Watching TV on the Internet; to search versus to look for versus to seek; pushing up daisies; do you have any idea?

Topics: The Mormon/LDS Church; school lunches; using “in” or “on” with body parts; fall off versus fall down; a dollar down and a dollar a week

Topics: Social networking; government-run lotteries; the use of “on” with the days of the week; to travel in/by; individual versus personal

Topics: Hip Hop Culture; The New York Stock Exchange; effectiveness versus efficiency; jilted; hence versus thus

Topics: Gay Rights Issues: Gay Marriage and “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”; Famous Americans: Oprah Winfrey; sneak preview; instead of versus rather than; a lot versus lots

Topics: Ask an American: The meaning of work; apart from versus in terms of; off the cuff; also versus as well

Topics: Vampires; The Second City (comedy group); to sway versus to persuade versus to convince; get a life!; to ramp up

Topics: Patriotic songs; Carnegie Hall; grande versus venti (at Starbucks); troop versus troops; (something) is ghostwritten

Topics: American Cities: Milwaukee; Neighborhood Watch/Citizen’s Arrest; to look versus to look like; not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin; pretty + (adjective)

Topics: Woodstock; Walter Reed Army Medical Center; a lot versus a load of; indicate versus signify; Hispanic versus Spanish

Topics: Ask an American: social media and job searches; go ahead, make my day; years old versus year old

Topics: The Godfather; Graceland and Elvis; to hinder versus to hamper versus to impede; the hunt is on; quick and dirty tips

Topics: Apollo Theater; Famous Americans: Susan B. Anthony; to talk down to; to bail on; had better versus would rather Words:

Topics: Classic game shows; the sister cities program; beyond a reasonable doubt; infinite versus permanent versus eternal; forward versus forwards

Topics: Types of prisons and the parole system; American cities: Austin; using prepositions with the days of the week; for the world to owe (one) something; late/early morning, afternoon, and evening

Topics: Ask an American: The Cherokee Language; regard versus consider; remember versus memorize; knock on wood

Topics: Famous Americans: Tyler Perry; NASA; to think on (one’s) feet; plural for iPod Touch and other proper nouns; recognition versus acknowledgement

Topics: Yosemite National Park; PETA and animal rights; to rebuild versus to reshape; to mind your P’s and Q’s; tag questions

Topics: The CIA; The Wizard of Oz; deliverable; stress versus pressure; “you had me at ‘hello’”

Topics: DUIs and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers; Famous Americans: Martha Stewart; traffic versus transit; at all versus not at all; describing someone who works from home

Topics: Ask an American: The Princess and the Frog; pronouncing “address”; to cut the bull/ bullsh*t; outspoken versus vocal

Topics: Preventing Violence in Schools Post Columbine; American Territories: U.S. Virgin Islands; although versus even though; lite; rate versus rank

Topics: Famous TV Animals; Niagara Falls; closed caption versus subtitle; meanwhile versus meantime; using the colon (:)

Topics: Ellis Island; The Rat Pack; lots of versus a lot of; sleep versus asleep, wake versus awake, rise versus arise; alpha male

Topics: The Grand Canyon; Famous Americans: Georgia O’Keefe; shanty versus apartment versus tenement; alert the media; now what?

Topics: Ask an American: Father Damien and leprosy; bring versus take; And you?; trustworthy versus honest

Topics: Psycho and Alfred Hitchcock; The Gettysburg Address; to get the most out of versus to take advantage of; who versus whom; status quo

Topics: Area 51 and Roswell; American Cities: Baltimore; that versus which; right away versus straightaway

Topics: Hate Crime Legislation; State Fairs; shop versus store versus department store; relative to versus related to; Down Under

Topics: Comic-Con; Famous Americans: Houdini; I just versus I have just; suit versus match versus fit; levity

Topics: Ask an American: Obsolete; regarding versus concerning versus as for; can't be bothered; How you doing?

Topics: Famous Authors: Raymond Chandler; the Pony Express; to be involved in versus to be involved with; to make sense; hard on its heels

Topics: Chinatown; famous songs: “Home on the Range”; that way versus in that way versus in such a way; neither here nor there; suffer versus suffer from

Topics: Famous Americans: Scott Joplin; American Cities: Memphis; picture versus image versus photo; a versus an

Topics: Famous Authors: Laura Ingalls Wilder; college secret societies; no one versus nobody versus anybody; Do you feel as though...?; rent versus lease

Topics: Ask an American: Chocolate; dispute versus disagreement versus conflict; using “times” in comparing amounts; use of infinitive “to” phrases as adjective, adverb, or noun

Topics: Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus; New York Fashion Week; predict versus forecast; foretell versus remind versus recall; polite phrases used before meals

Topics: Singing in the Rain; the Federal Reserve; among versus between; of no use

Topics: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Famous Songs: Oh! Susanna; whichever versus whatever; tar-and-feather; mutually exclusive

Topics: Famous Americans: Evel Knievel; Colonial Williamsburg; to devote versus to dedicate; the title “Dr.”; between now and then

Topics: Yelp; Book Review: The Road; advocate versus lawyer versus attorney; any; salmon and count/mass nouns

Topics: Famous authors: Maya Angelou; Universal Studios; wise versus savvy versus clever; delicatessen; to end up versus to wind up

Topics: American Cities: Albuquerque; Survivor Reality TV Show; yet; differentiation versus distinction; so near and yet so far

Topics: On the Waterfront; Famous Songs: “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”; bet versus wager versus gamble; U.S. versus U.S.A.; can’t help (doing something)

Topics: The Extension Courses System; Famous Americans: Lizzie Borden; Boston accent/dialect and the Boston Brahmin; to speak out of turn

Topics: Ask an American: minority doctors; if I were; I wish I were; near versus close; to hold (something) against (someone)

Topics: Video-game violence; ROTC; should have done versus should have to do; just versus only; to learn as (one) goes

Topics: Famous Authors: Stephen King; Traffic School; cost versus charge versus fee; in a New York minute; couple

Topics: Minimum wage; cyber crime; I will want to versus I would want to; except for; conversely

Topics: Famous Americans: Eleanor Roosevelt; Renaissance fairs; admit versus confess; mix versus blend; chick flick

Topics: Ask an American: Latinos in Higher Education; per se; it pays to (be)

Topics: Famous Songs: God Bless America and Kate Smith; The American Girl Dolls; provided that versus as long as; “g” as in “gansta”; to suck

Topics: It's a Wonderful Life; Cape Cod; backward versus backwards; to agree with versus to agree to versus to agree on; howdy

Topics: Famous Authors: Emily Dickinson; the Lindbergh kidnapping; sure versus of course versus certainly; either; Imma be

Topics: American Presidents: George Washington; SeaWorld; power versus force; The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds; How bad can it get?

Topics: Ask an American: Commuting; start versus begin versus start off versus start on; a place to live versus a place to live in; might-have-been

Topics: Famous Americans: John Dewey; the X Games; phrases used to talk about people’s jobs; for the lack of; be that as it may

Topics: The English-Only Movement; Famous Songs: “The Yellow Rose of Texas”; kinda; to drink the Kool-Aid

Topics: Famous Authors: Harriet Beecher Stowe; Death Valley National Park; idiom versus slang; a chunk of rural wilderness; the rest of (something)

Topics: American Presidents: Richard Nixon; off-the-grid; on-the-spot

Topics: Ask an American: Sleep-deprived teenagers; to buy versus to purchase versus to acquire; to burn the candle at both ends; Let’s versus shall we? versus why don’t we?

Topics: The Graduate; Patty Hearst; embarrassed versus ashamed versus awkward; people versus persons; talk to the hand

Topics: The FBI; Famous Americans: Margaret Mead; shall versus should versus supposed to; beneath versus underneath; fo’ shizzle my nizzle

Topics: John Audubon and the Audubon Society; Famous Songs: “On Top of Old Smokey”; sign versus signal; figure out versus find out; to beat a dead horse

Topics: American Presidents: Thomas Jefferson; celebrity roasts; to splash versus to spray versus to sprinkle; hearing; to be of

Topics: Ask an American: Louisville Slugger; globe versus sphere versus orb; on/by horseback; to hit one’s funny bone; to stub one’s toe

Topics: Famous Authors: Edgar Allen Poe; women’s colleges; business versus commerce versus trade; thank goodness; to be keen on

Topics: Prohibition; Famous Americans: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.; I’m sorry versus I apologize; green thumb; elbow grease; to be screwed

Topics: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Joshua Tree National Park; to the extent that versus in light of versus in the face of; I’m going versus I’m going to; adverb placement - accidentally

Topics: Charles Manson and the Tate murders; air marshals; to reach versus to arrive; to go off; to be out of (one’s) league

Topics: Ask an American: Artists as ambassadors; log versus timber versus lumber; to bump into

Topics: Buffalo Soldiers; Famous Songs: Oh My Darling, Clementine; to be concerned about/in/with; to erase versus to delete; “how do you say...” for written English

Topics: Famous Americans: Al Capone; The U.S. Military Academy at West Point; to crash versus to shatter versus to smash; how about you? versus what about you?; bite me

Topics: American Presidents: Abraham Lincoln; to rise versus to raise versus to arise; rather than versus prefer; to tender (one’s) resignation

Topics: Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey; Bozo the Clown; kind of versus so-so versus more or less; firm versus company; to get + participle

Topics: Ask an American: driving while texting; ground versus soil versus land; as such; pupil versus people

Topics: The Lewis and Clark Expedition; Famous Authors: Anne Rice; to generate versus to create versus to make; a tad off target; run-on sentence

Topics: Famous Americans: Jesse Owens; National Science Foundation; plea versus appeal versus petition; somewhat versus somehow; Is that all?

Topics: McCarthyism and the House Committee on Un-American Activities; Famous Songs: Dixie; to overrate versus to overestimate; that versus so; the stakes are too high

Topics: American Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt; The Folk Tales of Uncle Remus; drug versus pill versus tablet; pronouncing ½; engagement versus commitment

Topics: Ask an American: The value of church services; outbreak versus break out; to pull off versus to pull over versus to pull in; to act silly

Topics: Famous Americans: Thomas Edison; Liberia; symposium versus workshop versus seminar; to account for; “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”

Topics: Jaws; The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Star, and the Medal of Honor; to go in versus to go into versus to get in versus to get into; overwhelming; off-kilter

Topics: American Presidents: Bill Clinton; Louisiana Voodoo; articulation versus enunciation versus pronunciation; to start versus commence; I believe you versus I believe in you

Topics: Famous Songs: I’ve Been Working on the Railroad; Burning Man; irony versus sarcasm versus satire; agreement versus contract; to fall for (someone) versus to fall for (something)

Topics: Ask an American: Health effects of city living; how do you say versus what do you call; résumé

Topics: Famous Americans: Booker T. Washington; things Americans believe are lucky; horribly versus terribly versus awfully; full tuition reimbursement; carbon copy

Topics: Famous Authors: Herman Melville; the Ku Klux Klan; to locate versus to position versus to localize; to keep on your toes; to roll with the punches; to suffer from versus to die of/from

Topics: Movie - West Side Story; Uncle Sam; “ship” and other suffixes; grab a spoon/fork; to take the big game down

Topics: Famous Americans: Clara Barton; The California Gold Rush; problem versus issue versus concern; cordless versus wireless; brothers and sisters

Topics: Ask an American: Concussions Affect U.S. Teen Athletes; customer versus client; overwhelming; exciting; discussion on/about

Topics: Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters; The National Geographic Society; shade versus shadow; rarely versus seldom; every cloud has a silver lining

Topics: Salem Witch Trials; National Endowment for the Arts; in fact versus as a matter of fact; even versus even though; to look at

Topics: Famous Songs: “Kumbaya”; Crater Lake National Park; free time versus spare time; at the end versus in the end; booking versus reservation

Topics: American Presidents: John F. Kennedy; Great Britain versus Britain versus England versus United Kingdom; who versus which versus that; hot shot

Topics: Ask an American: Libraries Using Ad Campaigns to Improve Image and Funding; making introductions; stack versus stock

Topics: Movie: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Detroit and the Rust Belt; to knead versus to mash; the infinitive versus gerund form of a verb (to look for versus looking for); bona fide Words:

Topics: Famous Americans: Warren Buffet; The Chicken Soup book series; few versus little; only so many; to be due

Topics: Famous Americans: T.S. Eliot; log and log in/log on; explanation versus interpretation; pronouncing consonant clusters

Topics: American Cities: Columbus, Ohio; Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII; limit versus limitation; for X person to undercut set targets; to sponge off (someone)

Topics: Ask an American: National Jukebox; using "to" with to give and to send; a dime a dozen; complimenting doctors and nurses

Topics: No-Tuition Colleges; the Sacco-Vanzetti Trial; crazy versus mad versus psycho versus mentally ill; using –ed words as adjectives; lo and behold

Topics: American Presidents: John Adams; the Boy/Girl Scouts; What time is it? versus What is the time?; to rock; for all intents and purposes

Topics: Stephen Foster and his songs; “ish” suffix; California casual; “If it be your will”

Topics: Movie: Bonnie and Clyde; Community Supported Agriculture (CSA); to cut (someone) loose versus to set (someone) free versus unrestrained; adjectives versus “who” phrases; words used to describe computer touch screens

Topics: Ask an American: U.S. Families Adjust to Life Overseas; outpatient; to gulp versus to gobble; swell

Topics: Famous Americans: Lucille Ball; The Great Depression; hermit versus loner versus introvert; other than versus rather than; Et tu, Brute?

Topics: The Scopes Trial; American Cities: Aspen and Vail, Colorado; The City of New York versus New York City; verge versus brink; to compliment versus to complement

Topics: American Presidents: Jimmy Carter; The Lost Ship of the Desert Legend; phrases used to ask for status updates; to start off for; likely versus probable

Topics: American Authors: Toni Morrison; Homeboy/Homegirl Industries and Father Greg Boyle; screw versus bolt versus nut; to kidnap versus to abduct; to sharpen (one’s) axe

Topics: Ask an American: Online money management; don’t worry versus don’t bother; not only; to move/get past a feeling; pronouncing wool versus wall

Topics: Famous Americans: Michael Jordan; the Quakers; tag questions; the derivation of “okay”; to learn versus to study

Topics: Movie - Star Wars; the Security and Exchange Commission; shame versus pity; reading numbers aloud; to be left cold

Topics: Grand Teton National Park; Famous Songs: "She'll be Coming 'Round the Mountain"; congratulations versus thanks versus kudos; literally; to take the time

Topics: Spy trials of the 40s/50s - Alger Hiss & Julius and Ethel Rosenberg; Johnny Appleseed; feeling versus emotion; expression versus term; drop dead

Topics: Ask an American - Self-publishing; intrinsic versus native versus innate versus congenital; recently versus currently; soccer

Topics: Famous Authors - Stan and Jan Berenstain and the Berenstain Bears; getting married; to stand for versus to refer to (as); the past simple and the present perfect tenses; especially

Topics: Famous Americans - Ansel Adams; Ben & Jerry's; to find out versus to figure out versus to seek; “too” constructions; dummy versus idiot

Topics: American Presidents - Herbert Hoover; knock-knock jokes; awful versus terrible versus terrific; initials in nicknames; that ship has sailed

Topics: Rodney King Trial and the 1992 Riots; Dick Tracy detective stories; third world; from versus out of; to pull (oneself) together versus to get a hold of (oneself)

Topics: Ask an American - Historic court case on gender equal rights; incident versus accident; to throw good money after bad; adding shm- before another word

Topics: Movie - Apocalypse Now; getting your child into a private school, K-12; relating to versus related to; down with (the king); to qualify

Topics: Famous Americans - Mary Tyler Moore; Famous Songs: “Dem Bones”; to straighten up versus to straighten out; (you’re) tripping; to get/fall into the groove

Topics: American Playwrights - Tennessee Williams; how to become a real estate agent; thief versus burglar versus robber versus mugger; to sell someone a bill of goods; to hold up one’s end of a bargain; momentum

Topics: Famous Americans - Magic Johnson; the role of ham radio operators in the U.S.; understanding versus knowledge versus acquaintance; below the waist and below the belt; earth to (someone)

Topics: Ask an American: Innovation; pain versus sorrow versus woe; manhood; to be over someone versus to be all over someone

Topics: American Authors - Erle Stanley Gardner and the Perry Mason TV Series; Boys & Girls Clubs of America; who versus which versus that; It ain’t over till the fat lady sings; to go/be all in

Topics: American Presidents - Ulysses S. Grant; James Beard and the James Beard Foundation Awards; limit versus border versus confine; sound; life-affirming

Topics: Migrant Farming in the U.S.; American Cities: Palm Springs, CA; patronizing versus condescending; to right every wrong; to belong to versus to belong with

Topics: Famous Americans - Thelonious Monk; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps); pen name; tingling versus stabbing versus burning; gringo

Topics: Ask an American - Rural doctors; let’s start versus let’s get started; continuously versus continually; chaos

Topics: Movies - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial; The MacArthur Fellows Program; important versus significant versus critical; tough; navel-gazing

Topics: The Dred Scott Decision; the zodiac; to snag versus to hitch; in the moment versus at the moment; I’ll tell you something

Topics: American Authors - Ernest Hemingway; the United Nations; you lost versus you’re lost; expert in versus expert on versus expert at; geez

Topic: American Presidents - Martin Van Buren; show business secrets; revenue versus profit versus turnover; limerick; how to address in-laws

Ask an American – The humanities; another versus the other; however versus conversely; to call it/them like/how (one) sees it/them

Topics: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band; the Dust Bowl; suggestion versus hint versus tip versus pointer; increase versus raise; How do you like them apples?

Topics: Movies – Guess Who's Coming to Dinner; Famous songs – The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald; to go on versus to keep on versus to move on; the suffix “ship”; to blow a raspberry

Topics: Leopold and Loeb Trial; Famous Songs: "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"; tunnel versus channel versus canal; right versus privilege; binge

Topics: Famous Americans – Ralph Nader; how to become an astronaut; with reference to versus with regard to versus according to; to confront versus to encounter; “In God We Trust”

Topics: Ask an American – The global economy; insidious versus vile versus despicable; lock and load; fancy versus fanciful

Topics: American Presidents - Harry S. Truman; to handle versus to address versus to deal with versus to cope with; naysayer; hold that thought

Topics: Cigarette advertising and cigarette icons; how local government works; to assist in versus to assist with; calf versus cub; to hold forth

Topics: The O.J. Simpson Trial; to major versus to graduate; to pry; technically versus practically

Topics: Movies - King Kong; Famous Americans - Lance Armstrong; its sounds versus it sounds as if; acting versus pretending; gobbledygook

Topics: Ask an American: Saving the space program; point versus period versus dot; using “no” with a verb; all the same

Topics: American Authors – Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and All the President's Men; Famous Songs – “Over There"; to borrow versus to debit versus to lend versus to loan; using ago with since; ambivalence versus conflict

Topics: American Presidents - Ronald Reagan; using suffixes; to persuade versus to convince; to bring around/round

Topics: Ghost towns of the Wild West; dime novels and pulp magazines; kidding versus joking versus teasing; television show versus television series; phrase

Topics: Movies - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Mount Rushmore; threat versus menace versus peril; using “should” with “have to”; role reversal

Topics: Ask an American - Asian Immigrants; to note versus to notice versus to notify; assessment versus appraisal; to be full of (oneself)

Topics: Famous Americans - Aimee Semple McPherson; Famous songs - "Turkey in the Straw"; marriage versus wedding versus wedlock; otherwise; pronouncing contractions

Topics: The Chicago Seven; American Authors - Horatio Alger; murderer versus killer versus assassin; ...and all; so forth and so on

Topics: Famous Americans - Jimi Hendrix; the melting pot metaphor; U.S. state numbers and nicknames; by any stretch of the imagination; to play it fast and loose

Topics: The Lone Ranger; the Liberty Bell; uprising versus revolution versus rebellion; given; revenge versus vengeance

Topics: Ask an American - The Appeal of Superheroes; property versus propriety versus proprietary; trust versus believe; little does he know; suffocated; to relish

Topics: The Sam Sheppard Trial; Plymouth Rock; to counsel versus to consult; to hit (one/someone) head on; to scare the crap out of (one/someone); a bee in (one’s/someone’s) bonnet

Topics: Redshirting; Mesa Verde National Park; to wrap up; to bother versus to interrupt versus to disturb; blind spot

Topics: Famous Authors - Ray Bradbury; foreign languages taught in U.S. schools; to repair versus to fix versus to mend; to the north versus north of; food versus meal versus repast

Topics: American Presidents - Andrew Jackson; Redwood National Park; safe versus save versus to save; to be implicated in versus to be involved in; one and only

Topics: Ask an American - Participatory Science; to attend versus to take part in versus to participate in versus to join; standalone versus to stand alone; hair of the dog that bit me

Topics: Famous Songs - "Chicken Fat"; Hells Angels; other versus another; through; it’s a given versus it figures

Topics: Famous Americans - Bobby Fischer; Kiss; barely versus scarcely; polite phrases used to refer to death; situation versus circumstance

Topics: The Hatfields and the McCoys; serving in the military to obtain U.S. citizenship; consistent with, in agreement with, coincide with, and identical to; software versus application versus app; to run out of versus to be out of

Topics: Famous Playwrights – August Wilson; low-income housing; to keep in mind versus to bear in mind; goose down blanket and other bedding; beauty is only skin deep

Topics: Ask an American – Undocumented students and college tuition; stop thinking negatively; very; smoking hot

Topics: Movies - The Maltese Falcon; Napa Valley, California and wine country; usage of “bit”; abuse versus assault; to put (someone) in the picture

Topics: Famous Americans - Sandra Day O'Connor; understanding American football; the meanings of “to draw”; out for lunch versus out to lunch; for crying out loud

Topics: Famous Songs - Red River Valley; how recall elections work; to reduce versus to lessen versus to decrease versus to decline; sort/to sort; to intervene versus to interfere

Topics: American Authors - Emily Post; American Cities - Branson, Missouri; either versus both; to do a special on (someone/something) versus to do a segment on (someone/something); to towel off

Topics: Ask an American - Inventing Frozen Foods; prize versus accomplishment versus award versus reward; what the heck?; wholesale

Topics: American Presidents - Dwight D. Eisenhower; path versus route versus track; stuff; anon

Topics: American Movies – The Manchurian Candidate; blue laws; expression versus term versus idiom; What name do you go by?; en masse

Topics: The rise of home shopping; Mammoth Cave National Park; quick versus fast; tremendous versus enormous; basic needs

Topics: The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer; Famous songs: "Little Bunny Foo Foo"; science of versus knowledge of; good versus not bad

Topics: Ask an American – “Battle Hymn of the Republic"; to outweigh versus to be outweighed by; full versus whole versus entire; a lot of versus several

Topics: American Presidents – Warren G. Harding; wet versus muggy versus humid; intense versus intensive; such a

Topics: American Authors - Ayn Rand; Adirondack Park; to get versus to gain versus to obtain; to have (someone) do (something) versus to get (someone) to do (something); giving an apple to a teacher

Topics: Famous Playwrights – David Henry Hwang; patent medicines; to get to versus to have got to; weird versus strange; to thumb a ride

Topics: Movies - Patton; The Eagles; to swear versus to promise versus to vow; nice to come home to; enclosed versus attached

Topics: Ask an American – Bilingual seniors; to keep in store versus to store up versus to reserve in store; which; think about versus think of

Topics: Famous Americans - Nikola Tesla; the Three Stooges; king versus royalty; in an attempt to versus in an effort to; accuracy versus precision

Topics: Famous songs - "Three Blind Mice"; Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park; incoming versus oncoming versus upcoming; featured; to fill in versus to fill out

Topics: Benjamin Spock and The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care; The Florida Everglades; destroying versus destructive; to catch up; to drop off

Topics: Movies - A Clockwork Orange; The Mickey Mouse Club; used car salesman; to snag versus to hitch; Reader’s Digest

Topics: Ask an American - Corruption; cool versus cold; estate versus real estate; off to the races

Topics: Famous Americans – Jane Addams; the “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" counting rhyme; to double down and trickle-down; especially versus specially; dewy

Topics: American Presidents – Gerald Ford; you bet; between versus in between; of many different colors

Topics: American Authors – Rachel Carson; the board game Monopoly; gas guzzler and other car descriptors; money order; way to establish or way to establishing

Topics: Motown Records; Famous Songs – “Mary Had a Little Lamb"; to boycott versus to prohibit; Jane Doe; to catch some z’s

Topics: Ask an American – Harlem Businesses; to imply versus to infer; to put aside versus to set aside; something's got to (gotta) give

Topics: The Pledge of Allegiance; the Grateful Dead; user versus customer versus subscriber; “Old Time Rock and Roll”; hands down

Topics: Famous Americans – Meryl Streep; Badlands National Park; strand versus string; to screw up; to tip the scales

Topics: Movies – Pulp Fiction; the Outer Banks; lot versus batch; business ethics; to eat humble pie

Topics: American Presidents – John Quincy Adams; base versus basis; so far versus so far so good; integral

Topics: Ask an American - Caring for elderly parents; come versus came; several; top-down

Topics - Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique; Taos Pueblos; admist versus among versus between; stuck in reverse; to keep minutes to lose hours

Topics: American Authors – Dorothy Parker; how to become a nurse; athlete versus player; hazard versus risk; to quit versus to call it a day

Topics - Fort Knox United States Bullion Depository; Looney Tunes; job versus career; a while versus awhile; to trash talk

Topics: Movies – Rocky; Famous Americans – Alvin Ailey; the hand of fate; riveting, to charge headlong, oblivious, and the outside world; outgoing versus a people person

Topics: Ask an American – Guardian Angels; blunder versus stumble; oh my God; keep doing what you’re doing

Topics: American Presidents – Lyndon B. Johnson; foreigner, alien, and other terms for people from other countries; provided (that) versus assuming (that); urgency versus emergency

Topics: Movies – The Silence of the Lambs; The Erie Canal; recession versus depression; if you will; all-in-one tax adviser/advisor

Famous Americans – Geronimo; The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race; amiable versus amicable; biases

Topics: American Musicals - Hello, Dolly!; The National Rifle Association; to take a stab at (something) versus to take a chance; if you will; to walk a dog

Topics: Ask an American - Art conservation; bravery versus gallantry; to escape versus to abscond; how to communicate time

Topics: Famous Authors - E.B. White; Name change after marriage; appliance versus utensil; to jibe (with) versus to be at odds with; I’m here versus I’m in here

Topics: Famous Americans - Jim Thorpe; United Code of Military Justice & Common Crimes; pre-paid cell phones; abbreviation versus acronym; a matter of form

Topics: Cajun Culture; The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show; to preserve versus to reserve; yada, yada, yada versus blah, blah, blah; Dear Sir/Madam versus To Whom it May Concern

Topics: American Musicals – My Fair Lady; Chautauquas; to reply versus to comply versus to meet; mild versus tender; to have the munchies

Topics: Ask an American – Firefighter inmates; catastrophe versus calamity versus disaster; can’t hardly wait versus can hardly wait; so that

Topics: Presidential Libraries; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; people versus peoples; officer versus official; to continue versus to carry on

Topics: Famous Americans – Carrie Nation; The Beach Boys; to pump up versus to balloon versus to beef up; historic versus historical; vigilance

Topics: Famous Songs – “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”; Niagara Falls; assessment versus evaluation versus appraisal; sympathy versus empathy; to take (one’s) time and to take a load off

Topics: American President – James Madison; function versus reception versus banquet; worthy versus worth it; all of a sudden versus out of the blue

Topics: Ask an American – Crowdsourcing; inn versus motel versus resort; to captivate versus allure; to leave versus to go away versus to go out

Topics: American Authors – William Faulkner; Soap Box Derbys; to deceive versus to cheat versus to lie; to appreciate; to go green

Topics: Movies – A Streetcar Named Desire; Bryce Canyon National Park; lockout versus walkout versus strike; Sweet Sixteen, Elite Six, and Final Four; to dote on

Topics: Panama Canal; Famous Songs – “Fever”; to squander versus to lavish versus to waste; self-conscious versus self-confident versus self-aware; as tough as they come

Topics: Famous Americans – Typhoid Mary; The National Hot Rod Association; complex versus complicated versus intricate; needle hit the groove; to lampoon; loner; pastime; to clean versus to cleanse

Topics: Ask an American – Saving the oldest photograph; law versus rule versus policy; to stem from versus to be derived from; bring it on; infomercial; hawking; exercise fad

Topics: American Presidents – Woodrow Wilson; junction versus intersection versus interchange; proprietary versus patent; to bluff (one’s) way into a secure area

Topics: American Musicals – Fiddler on the Roof; How to Sue Somebody (How Civil Lawsuits Work); reporter versus journalist versus correspondent; expense versus expenditure versus cost; bottom line; to run (something) by (someone)

Topics: American Authors – J.D. Salinger; Comedy in Print – Mad Magazine and The Onion; scanty versus inadequate versus deficient; inquiry versus investigation versus research; so-called

Topics: Movies – Titanic; The Ford Motor Company and the Model T; holiday versus feast versus celebration; impunity versus retaliation versus notoriety; to think of versus to think about

Topics: Ask an American – La Brea Tar Pits; until versus till/‘til versus by; to restore versus to recover; CCU (coronary care unit)

Topics: Famous Americans – John Philip Sousa; Confidential Magazine and the Criminal Libel Suit of 1957; developer versus programmer versus coder; describing a person with a good character

Topics: Famous Songs – “Que Sera Sera”; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown; demand versus request versus requirement; discrimination versus segregation; a great deal

Topics: American Presidents – William Henry Harrison; fringe benefits versus benefits package versus compensation package; teacher versus professor

Topics: Famous Americans – Charles Schultz and Peanuts; The Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve; to be pleased to versus to be happy to versus it’s (one’s) pleasure to; to sit versus to seat; willy-nilly

Topics: Ask an American – Beards and facial hair; sin versus transgression; totally versus definitely; “I ever go there”

Topics: Lau v. Nichols; vaudeville; finally versus ultimately; trickle versus drizzle; coincidence

Topics: Famous Americans – Amelia Earhart; Prom; ethics versus morals; on the very first day versus on the very day; to warrant and to address

Topics: Movie – The Shawshank Redemption; The Pentagon; to go ahead versus straight ahead; cheesy and quirky; a few quarters short of a buck

Topics: American Presidents – James Monroe; to oppress versus to suppress versus to repress; fruit and vegetables versus fruits and vegetables; file not sent/file not supported

Topics: Ask an American – Offensive mascots; capacity versus capability; to punch in versus to punch out; to put the cat among the pigeons

Topics: Famous Songs – “Mack the Knife”; Monument Valley and the Valley of the Gods; stem versus stalk versus shoot; using one’s middle name as one’s first name; indeed

Topics: Miranda v. Arizona; Famous Americans: Rube Goldberg; to heal versus to cure; to give up versus to give in; no way

Topics: The Scottsboro Boys Trial; The Grammy Awards; so versus too; to bash; to whip the crowd into a frenzy

Topics: American Musicals and Movies - Grease; Workers’ Compensation Laws; whirl versus swirl versus eddy; to be curious versus to wonder; beloved

Topics: The Basics of Basketball; Flea Markets; grass versus herb; delectable versus palatable; be my guest

Topics: Movies - Singin’ in the Rain; Famous Authors – Clare Booth Luce; to exchange versus to change versus to switch; to walk off; margin

Topics: American Presidents – George H. W. Bush; “architects let rip with a wave of ambitious and beautifully crafted buildings”; to keep (someone) out of (one’s) hair; pronouncing dead versus debt

Topics: The Roaring Twenties; The Empire State Building; Indians (Asians) versus Indians (indigenous peoples); to blow up versus to explode; staging ground

Famous Songs – “If I Had a Hammer”; How to Become a Social Worker; to dismantle versus to disassemble; guilt versus blame; to cross the great divide

Ask an American – Being a twin; to revoke versus to nullify versus to rescind; waste; bon voyage

Topics: Movies – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Famous Americans – Babe Didrikson Zaharias; to deliver versus to distribute versus to ship; describing the loss of hair on a man’s head; to ward off

Topics: The Jonestown Massacre; Square Dancing; perspective versus prospective versus prospect; scheme versus schema; heart condition

Topics: American Presidents – Grover Cleveland; to understand versus to grab versus to grasp versus to get (it); the suffix –hood; pronouncing words with the first letter “e”

Topics: Famous Americans – James Fenimore Cooper; The Farmer’s Almanac; in favor of versus in (one’s) favor; feat of strength, raw human strength, and to be forced against table’s edge; to multitask

Topics: Famous Americans – John Brown; High School Reunions; phantom versus soul; coast versus shore; plug nickel

Topics: Movies – Amadeus; The Adelsverein; neither and nor: earworm; badass

Topics: Famous Buildings/Structures – The Brooklyn Bridge; The Minimum Wage; to speculate versus to deliberate versus to contemplate; holy moly; down-and-dirty

Topics: How to Become a Dentist; The Guano Island Act; classic versus classical; to be there for (someone) versus to take (someone) there; after full deliberation

Topics: American Presidents – George W. Bush; I beg to differ, Would it kill you to (do something)?, ashes to ashes (dust to dust); worth more than; hodge podge, gazillion, and tons of

Topics: Ask an American – Drought and a new gold rush; vendor versus salesman versus pitcher; to clinch versus to breeze into versus to blow away; pronouncing bird versus beard versus bear

Topics: The American Indian Movement of the 1970s; Famous Buildings – The Sears Tower; inception versus conception versus to beget; to get back; cash on the barrelhead

Topics: Famous Musicals – All That Jazz; Winter Carnivals; irony and metaphor; pronouncing routed and data; hopefully

Topics: American Presidents – James K. Polk; beach versus shore versus coast; concept versus conception

Topics: American Musicals/Movies – The Sound of Music; Public Housing and “The Projects”; to soak versus to immerse versus to dip versus to pickle; so-called versus so to speak

Topics - The Three Mile Island Accident; Famous Buildings: Chrysler Building; quarrel versus argument versus controversy; concerned versus worried; amounted to

Topics: American Authors – Willa Cather; the basics of hockey; oblivious versus forgetfulness; carnivore versus predator; equal versus identical

Topics: American Presidents – William Howard Taft; deprecated versus obsolete versus outdated; to insist versus to persist; to set (one’s) jaw square

Topics: American Movies – Sunset Boulevard; the Borscht Belt and the Chitlin’ Circuit; renumeration/remuneration versus reimbursement versus kickback; to print off (copies) versus to photocopy; nitty-gritty

Topics: Famous Americans – Charles and Ray Eames; The Black Fives Leagues and The Negro Baseball Leagues; inner and outer versus inside and outside; severely versus seriously

Topics: Ask an American – Independent Bookstores; ever since versus ever after; varied versus various; ability versus skill

Topics: The Lenny Bruce Trial; American Cancer Society; to assume versus to guess; turtle versus tortoise

Topics: American Musicals/Movies – The Producers; The Statue of Liberty; sponsored by versus powered by versus encouraged by; putting the crunch back; hoochie

Topics: American Authors – Alex Haley; American Bandstand; continuous versus contiguous; let alone and to kick the bucket; the birds and bees talk

Topics: Famous Americans – Muhammad Ali; The Golden Gate Bridge; valuable versus invaluable; north/south versus northern/southern; common ground and universal experience

Topics: American Presidents – Rutherford B. Hayes; emission versus propagation; he/she don’t; to do (someone’s) bidding

Topics: Movies – Twelve Angry Men; Washington National Cathedral; cool versus awesome; closure and mental loafer; no biggie

Topics: Americans Abroad – The Founding of Liberia; The Gateway Arch; to struggle versus to fight versus to carry on; to churn and burn; hipster doofus

Topics: American Authors – Jack London; Our Gang and The Little Rascals; gruesome versus horrible versus disgusting; son of a gun; to lash out

Topics: Famous Americans – Jim Henson and The Muppets; The Doors; peculiar versus freaky; ambiance versus environment; to wet (one’s) whistle

Topics: Ask an American – Digital music technology; It’s called being nice versus It’s called been nice; to stutter versus to stumble; mean

Topics: American Presidents – James A. Garfield; to resign/draw/abandon match; gorgeous versus magnificent; nail in (someone’s) coffin

Topics: American Movies/Musicals – Mary Poppins; Craigslist; oblivion and to overwhelm; to select versus to elect; wee hours

Topics: Americans Abroad – The Confederados in Brazil; Chaco Canyon National Historical Park; speaking in tongues, folks, porridge, and just right; to ingratiate (oneself) with

Topics: Famous Americans – Elizabeth Blackwell; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; to delay versus to put off versus to procrastinate; during versus while; sheer

Topics: Famous Movies – Raiders of the Lost Ark; Hotel Del Coronado; to forfeit versus to nullify versus to revoke; nonetheless versus nevertheless; to live versus live

Topics: The Massie Trial; concept versus content versus context; whereas versus while; [month]+[date] versus [date] of [month]

Topics: American Presidents – Calvin Coolidge; further versus furthermore versus more; resilience versus resistance; You can say that again.

Topics: American Movies – The Fugitive; The United States Capitol Building; knowable versus scrutable versus tangible; to go through versus to get through; to man up

Topics: Famous Americans – Jonas Salk; The Wanamaker Department Stores; it’s all yours; good for you; fair enough; hyphen versus dash; All of the good, none of the bad

Topics: Ask an American - International work visas; to demonstrate versus to indicate versus to denote; hoot and to not give a hoot; Nice to meet you

Topics: The Leo Franks Trial; on hand versus in hand versus at hand; discrete versus discretion

Topics: American Musicals – Cabaret; The Guggenheim Museum; relation versus relationship; rerun versus syndication; belly of the beast

Topics: American Playwrights – Arthur Miller; Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood; to evoke versus to invoke; fluently versus fluency; pronouncing bought and boat, late and let, and beer and bear

Topics: American Presidents – Benjamin Harrison; to call the shots versus to wear the pants; inquiry versus enquiry; There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

Topics: American Movies – Toy Story; The United States Naval Academy; buddy versus chum versus pal; fee versus pay; Clean clams crammed in clean cans

Topics: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire; Radio City Music Hall and The Rockettes; Satan versus Devil versus demon versus evil; to know best; with regard to

Topics: Famous Americans – The Fox Sisters; Famous Songs – “I’m a Little Teapot”; to lack versus to be short of versus to be shy of versus to be out of; to clean versus to wash; pronouncing “Wh”

Topics: The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre; American Playwrights – David Mamet; to atone versus to make amends versus to do penance; compassion versus empathy; to reckon

Topics: Historically Black Colleges and Universities; Famous Americans – Mary Pickford; to infer versus to deduce versus to derive; to clean out versus to free up; civil disturbance versus civil unrest

Topics: Ask an American - Community policing; perspective versus notion versus viewpoint; to burst out versus to break out versus to explode; "Don’t count every hour in the day. Make every hour in the day count!"

Topics: Movies – Die Hard; American Authors – Emma Lazarus; in front of versus ahead of versus before; as if versus as though versus as for; to take stock

Topics: American Presidents – Franklin Delano Roosevelt; to be trapped versus to be lodged; to keep it together, to keep a stiff upper lip, and as luck would have it; pardon me

Topics: American Authors – Tom Wolfe; Aerosmith; to convince versus to compel; latter versus last; ultimate

Topics: Famous Americans – Henry Gaylord Wilshire; The Flatiron Building; regime versus regimen; to laugh versus laughter; to unveil versus to reveal; to light up

Topics: Famous Americans – Jackson Pollock; American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; to restrain versus to refrain versus to subside; velocity versus quickness; to have been down that road before

Topics: American Playwrights – Eugene O’Neill; The Passenger Pigeon; spare versus slender; Was I wrong!

Topics: American Movies – Frankenstein; Famous Americans – James Brown; to boost versus to foster versus to encourage; funky; right as rain

Topics: American Presidents – Chester A. Arthur; intimate versus personal versus private; particular versus specific versus in particular; I beg your pardon

Topics: Famous Americans – W.C. Fields; The Video Game Pong; trim, quarter- round, and carpenter; to condemn and conscious; transliteration

Topics: Ask an American – Journalism and Technology; liberal arts; second to (the) last; I am hearing you

Topics: Soccer in the United States; Famous Americans – Robert Frost; to suck versus to lick; to leave (someone) to his/her own devices; to cross someone and talking-to

Topics: Movies – The Usual Suspects; Tribal Colleges and Universities; effectiveness versus efficacy; to consider and to differentiate; common responses to “Thank you”

Topics: Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Book Series; Famous Americans – Martha Graham; enterprise versus entrepreneurship versus start- up

Topics: American Presidents – James Buchanan; The Board Game “Monopoly”; here/there you go; expendable versus expandable; the devil’s/Devil’s own

Topics: American Movies – Laurel and Hardy Films; The New York Public Library; to proofread versus to copyedit; no longer versus anymore; wild card

Topics: Famous Americans – Mary Baker Eddy; The Kennedy Space Center; what for? versus for what?; possibility versus opportunity; iron and iron law

Topics: American Presidents – John Tyler; The Hindenburg Disaster; result versus consequence versus outcome; ready versus willing; to keep (someone) in the loop

Topics: Famous Americans – James Whistler; American Songs – “Moon River”; bunglingly versus blunderingly; comparable versus compatible; uppercase, lowercase, and capital letter

Topics: American Movies – American Graffiti; American Presidents – Franklin Pierce; magazine versus journal; straw man argument and cognitive dissonance; several and actually

Topics: Ask an American – Corporate Data Security; consulting versus consultancy; to conduct versus to operate

Topics: American Authors – Walt Whitman; The Supremes; abbreviated versus concise versus succinct; to withdraw versus to retreat; to stretch

Topics: Famous Americans – Daniel Boone; Famous Songs – “Somewhere over the Rainbow”; to distract versus to foil versus to thwart; to reach versus to achieve; pronouncing hare, hear, here, hire, her, hair, heir

Topics: Famous Americans – Sally Ride; American Presidents – Millard Fillmore; rational versus rationale; killing it in the cost per wear category; to requite

Topics: American Movies – Planet of the Apes; American Presidents – Zachary Taylor; to improve versus to boost versus to enhance; to grow on (someone) and (one’s) bark is worse than (one’s) bite; script versus scripted by Dr. Lucy Tse

Topics: Famous Americans – Mae West; Harvey Washington Wiley and The Poison Squad; real versus actual versus true; lunch versus a lunch; to put (one’s) shoulder to the wheel

Topics: Famous Americans – Benjamin Franklin; Lowriders; mentor versus role model versus hero; fake it ‘til you make it; dice roll

Topics: The Jason Bourne Films; American Presidents – Andrew Johnson; to shiver versus to tremble versus to quiver; at- risk student

Topics: The Boston Tea Party; American Authors – Edna St. Vincent Millay; biological parent versus birth parent versus real parent; existing versus existent; That’s going to do it for today

Topics: Famous Americans – Mel Blanc; American Presidents – William McKinley; to fill in versus to complete; telephone phrases used to tell someone you can’t talk now; so long

Topics: Paul Bunyan; American Songs – “You’re the Top”; big versus huge versus massive; at all and show off; to be beside (oneself)

Topics: Famous Americans – Thomas Paine; Classic TV – The Twilight Zone; responsibility versus accountability versus liability; to go haywire versus to go crazy; pronouncing whole, hole, role, and holy

Topics: American Authors – Edith Wharton; American Songs – “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”; to matriculate versus to enroll versus to register; to bid versus to tender; period versus dot

Topics: Musicals – Porgy and Bess; Tupperware; finish versus objective versus destination; to tumble short of (one’s) dreams, to form a habit, and to leave (something alone); to call it a day/night

Topics: Famous Americans – Casey Jones; Classic TV – Happy Days; to try out versus to examine versus to test; dude and buddy; courtesy of

Topics: Movies – Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Famous Americans – Luther George Simjian; to distract versus to detract; in a manner of speaking; thanks a bunch

Topics: American Presidents – Barack Obama; Famous Songs – “Anchors Aweigh”; diffidence versus timidity versus shyness; receipt versus reception; no problem versus not at all versus no big deal

Topics: Famous Americans – Lew Wallace; Classic TV – The Brady Bunch; to prevent versus to hinder versus to forbid; integral versus indispensable; to scare off game

Topics: The Manhattan Project; Famous Songs – “Give My Regards to Broadway”; to propose versus to suggest versus to offer; to disclose versus to uncover versus to divulge; to stick it to (someone)

Topics: American Authors – Louisa May Alcott; Classic TV – Gilligan’s Island; up-to-date versus updated; to work out the kinks and to deserve a pat on the back; to seize the moment

Topics: Apollo 11; Famous Americans – Soapy Smith; certainly versus definitely versus surely; to have a crush on (someone) versus to be in love with (someone); out on a limb

Topics: American Authors – Sylvia Plath; Famous Songs – “Hush, Little Baby”; consciousness versus awareness; distinct versus distinctive; classy dress

Topics: Classic TV/Movies – Star Trek; The Homestead Act; medicine versus medication versus drug; wild card and K9; to lay it on too thick

Topics: Frank Lloyd Wright; prohibited versus forbidden versus not allowed; beforehand versus in advance; spot-on; pronouncing passion and patient, worm and warn

Topics: Movies – The Jazz Singer; The Selective Service System; microaggressions, social justice warrior, and trigger warning; to insulate versus to isolate; pluralizing glass

Topics: The Comstock Lode and the Silver Rush; The Beverly Hillbillies, lesson versus lecture versus seminar; interesting versus interested; I rest my case

Topics: Famous Americans – Alexander Graham Bell; Famous Songs – “At Last”; pluralizing “fish,” all things considered; to talk tech

Topics: The Black Soxs Scandal; Classic TV – The Flintstones; census-designated place versus community versus unincorporated community; to mean well and to bend the rules; pit crew

Topics: American Authors – Mary Roberts Rinehart; Famous Songs – “I’ll be seeing you”; to dispense, wedgie, and on principle; to get on with (something), to get along with (someone), and in a nutshell; semi

Topics: Movies – ¬Ben-Hur; Carlsbad Caverns National Park; duty versus responsibility; Creedence Clearwater Revival

Topics: Famous Americans – Linus Pauling; The Texaco Star Theater and Milton Berle; squalid versus sordid; on my own versus by myself; postseason competition

Topics: American Authors – Gertrude Stein; Famous Songs – “Puff the Magic Dragon”; sport versus workout versus exercise; to come across versus to stumble upon; debaucherous behavior

Topics: Famous Americans – Duke Kahanamoku; The Quiz Shows of the 1950s; terms used for family favorites; when versus what time; based on versus on the basis of

Topics: John Muir and The Sierra Club; The Ma and Pa Kettle Movies; every versus each; Christmas/New Year break at colleges and universities; jinx

Topics: Famous Americans – Shirley Temple Black; Famous Songs – “Taps”; paper versus report; internship versus externship; to march (someone) to front of the class

Topics: Classic TV Shows – The Addams Family; The Hoover Dam; “Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.”; to blow (something) apart; pronouncing “man” and “men”

Topics: Famous Americans – Eli Whitney; The Ziegfeld Follies; ROFL, straight outta, and meme; shack versus shed; to take advantage of versus to seize

Topics: American Authors – Kurt Vonnegut; Famous Songs – “When You Wish Upon a Star”; to knock up versus to knock down versus to knock over versus to knock off; new versus brand new; give and take

Topics: Classic TV & Movies – Mission: Impossible; Famous Americans – Alfred Stieglitz; satisfactory versus satisfying; damaged goods and majorly unfair

Topics: The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 and the creation of the District of Columbia; The Hollywood Sign; next versus upcoming versus future; critical situation versus critical position; steaming

Topics: American Authors – James Baldwin; Famous Songs – “High Hopes”; homeless versus destitute; odd versus odds; “I'm not a has-been. I am a will-be.”

Topics: Famous Americans – Stephen F. Austin; Classic TV – M*A*S*H; disability versus handicap versus impairment; recourse versus resort; to fly in the face of (something)

Topics: Movies – The King and I; The Women Airforce Service Pilots; nation versus sovereign versus kingdom; to obstruct versus to hinder; fire and brimstone

Topics: Movies – The King and I; The Women Airforce Service Pilots; nation versus sovereign versus kingdom; to obstruct versus to hinder; fire and brimstone

Topics: American Authors – Philip K. Dick; on purpose versus deliberately versus intentionally; moderately versus sparingly; understatement of the century

Topics: Famous Americans – Marian Anderson; in a heartbeat versus in a second versus in a moment; old versus stale

Topics: The John Peter Zenger Trial; tone versus hue versus tint versus shade; wherewithal; pronouncing saw, sew, sow, and sue

Topics: Traditional Gospel Music and Thomas A. Dorsey; cliché versus stereotype; chicken versus hen; to nail it

Topics: Andersonville Prison; garbage versus litter versus trash versus rubbish; downtime; pronouncing eight, height, and weight

Topics: Famous Americans – Bob Hope; severe versus serious; bill versus check; pronouncing words with the silent “b”

Topics: American Authors – Truman Capote; to be understaffed versus to be stretched thin versus to be on the brink of; don’t mention it versus you’re welcome versus my pleasure; bees knees

Topics: Famous Americans – Malcolm X; to pack/packing versus to box/boxing versus to wrap/wrapping; rational versus reasonable; to insinuateTopics: Famous Americans – Malcolm X; to pack/packing versus to box/boxing versus to wrap/wrapping; rational versus reasonable; to insinuate

Topics: The Mayflower and the Mayflower Compact; to encompass versus to comprise; edge versus margin; do me right

Topics: The Women Airforce Service Pilots; technically versus typically versus basically; apology versus apologies; to approve versus to approve of

Topics: Famous Americans – Kenny Rogers; Elements of Style; over time; pronouncing “rushing” versus “Russian”

Topics: The Amana Colonies; resolution versus promise; fate versus destiny; saying “oh” or “zero” when reading numbers aloud

Famous Americans – Esther Williams; latest versus recent versus current; to put (something) on (one’s) account; sneak peek

Topics: American Authors – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; area versus zone versus region; to come along; to burn bridges

Topics: The Righteous Brothers – “You’ve Got That Loving Feeling” and “Unchanged Melody;” ingrate, malcontent, and ungrateful; to allow versus to authorize; pronouncing morning versus mourning

Topics: The Black Loyalists of the American Revolution; alert versus alarm versus warning; haze versus mist; pronouncing “advantage” and other “nt” words

Topics: National Lampoon; contest versus competition versus match versus game; (in the) meantime versus meanwhile

Topics: Popular Idioms – “Dutch courage,” “Dutch treat/To go dutch,” and “Dutch uncle”; antique versus vintage; necessary versus needed; to make (one’s) case

Topics: The Bald Eagle and the Great Seal of the United States; to sleep in versus to oversleep; to be (once, twice, etc.) removed; wantonness

Topics: Popular Idioms – “Mexican Standoff” and “Young Turks”; paranormal versus abnormal; tough, tuff, and tough guy; even

Topics: A Fraudulent Auction; term versus semester; to go to church/mosque versus to go to the church/mosque; to coin a phrase

Topics: Questions Answered: The song “Cat’s and the Cradle”; hardly versus rarely; you’re reaching and that’s a stretch; to fix on versus to fixate on; hilarious versus ridiculous, pronouncing death and deaf

Topics: Questions Answered: Whose Line is it Anyway?, to shiver versus to tremble versus to quiver; something versus something else; to bite the bullet; to blow (something) apart; to shy (away) from

Topics: Questions Answered: To head-butt a curb, to thin the herd, and to sound like a blue chip; to mock versus to jeer versus to taunt versus to deride; background versus backdrop; to turn out to be; to be on fire; pronouncing “Is he?” and “Is she?”

Topics: Questions Answered: Folk beliefs versus omens versus signs; crook, to lurk, prey, and gullible; corrupt and corrupted; to walk (someone) through (something); rough ride; is all