Week 1
I proofread a lot of scripts. Some mistakes I find drive me batty. And if they drive me batty, odds are they’ll do the same to other readers (i.e. gatekeepers).
None irk me more than this pet peeve, but I’ve already written about that one. So for the next four weeks, I’ll be highlighting other common mistake pet peeves that you should do your level best to avoid.
First up:
hone in or home in?
I see (and hear) this mistake all the time (Josh Gates, the likable host of the TV show Expedition Unknown, is a serial offender).
The correct expression is “home in” — with an M.
Saying “hone in” is just plain wrong.
Hone, however, is a legitimate word, but it should be only used in the context of sharpening or refining something, and never with “in” following it. For example, you can hone your skills.
Everyone’s heard of homing pigeons, right? They home in to their location, like a missile or someone searching for something.
So when you get confused as to which word to use, remember those homing pigeons and home in on the right expression. You definitely want to hone your writing before submitting your script.
What are your writing pet peeves?
