08-30-2012, 05:57 PM | #16 |
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That's what we were taught in Advanced Grammar at the University of Texas, as well. It was high on the list of words to avoid confusing, if you don't want to risk losing a reader's respect, even though some people say it's ok.
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08-31-2012, 01:43 PM | #17 |
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I deal with content for advertisers and this distinction comes up all the time. Pretty much what everyone has said in the last few posts is dead on.
Assure is for when someone is promising you something or putting your mind at rest: "John Smith assures you that he can find you affordable automobile coverage." Insure is pretty specifically for financial/insurance (hence the term) or other types of directly protective situations: "Insure your car with the John Smith Agency." Ensure is the most general, but is typically used for an implied action (as opposed to assure, which is more verbal/communicative): "I assure you that, to ensure your interests are protected, the best thing to do is see John Smith and insure your automobile." |
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08-31-2012, 04:21 PM | #18 | |
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In my ideal world, an "Advanced Grammar" class would teach people to avoid shibboleths like this, even at the risk of offending some ill-informed pedant. Of course, in my ideal world I'm emperor, too. |
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08-31-2012, 04:27 PM | #19 | |
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08-31-2012, 05:06 PM | #20 |
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Except for the fact that the words largely are synonyms, meaning that it is no less correct to write "We will leave early to ensure that we arrive on time" than to write "We will leave early to insure that we arrive on time." Both are correct (in AmE). Similarly, "Are these the books you're looking for?" and "I want to first point out some issues with this draft" are both correct despite the final preposition and split infinitive.
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08-31-2012, 05:11 PM | #21 | |
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08-31-2012, 05:28 PM | #22 |
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I don't believe that the two are synonyms.
My understanding is that the concept of insure involves the payment of money, while the concept of ensure involves to make certain. |
08-31-2012, 06:26 PM | #23 | ||
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If you are talking about insurance, of course, you need to use "insure." The cite is upthread. |
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08-31-2012, 10:08 PM | #24 | |
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09-01-2012, 12:15 AM | #25 | |
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(This reminds mine of when my brother found dictionary proof that the word "irregardless" is acceptable, lol. Like ei told him, I don't think that's going to protect his reputation, unless he wants to wear the entry on his forehead. ) Last edited by Piper_; 09-01-2012 at 12:17 AM. |
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09-01-2012, 11:35 AM | #26 | |
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The fact that many people (including, unbelievably, dictionary writers) can't be bothered to learn the distinction between "ensure" and "insure" does not make them interchangeable. |
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09-01-2012, 02:09 PM | #27 |
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Dictionary writers aren't in charge of definitions, they just report how words are used. If replacing ensure with insure is common enough, they'll report that in their dictionaries.
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09-01-2012, 04:25 PM | #28 | |
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I think that the majority of people I know use the word "pacific" when they mean "specific". Does that mean it should become an accepted usage and be included in dictionaries? Or should dictionaries point out the correct meaning of the two very different words? |
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09-01-2012, 07:14 PM | #29 |
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Harry, I would love to help with the 'good public domain editions' goal, but am not sure where to start. Do I download from Project Gutenberg and fix them in Sigil? Join the PG distributed proofreaders? Can you share a little more about your work process?
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09-02-2012, 06:46 PM | #30 |
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He assured his wife that to ensure that he didn't lose money, he insured his holiday.
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