Job Discussion Forums

[elblagskich]

insure - to insure against liabilities

ensure - to make sure

[simon_porter00]

Are you asking us or telling us?

[elblagskich]

telling you

the moderator above seems not to know.

[nocturnalme]

Also spells 'centre' as 'center' and can therefore not be trusted IMHO.

[maniak]

[ratsareeatingmybrain]

take: opposite of to give

bake: to cook in an oven with the addition of oil

[afowles]

But the OP used the word in its own definition. For shame!

[guruengerish]

The spelling and word differences between International and US English often causes problems.

It's fairly common to see 'then' used instead of 'than', and some parts of the US still use the 17th Century olde English word 'drug' as the past tense for dragged.

As most of the world now uses SI for weights and measurements (i.e. the Metric System), I can't see why one non-metric country insists that 100cm is "1 meter" (sic). To me, a meter measures something, be it water, power or speed.

A metre is 1000mm/100cm.

Whenever I see a mention of '100 meters', I have visions of a row of water meters.

[elblagskich]

[guruengerish]

I'm in full agreement with you. Insure and ensure have two totally different meanings, but it seems that in the USA, they use the same word for both.

There are quite a few examples where in the USA they use one word whereas in the UK and Australia, we use two or three.

Example one: The US use 'check' for at least three things. Here, we use the words, check as in 'check this out', cheque for money, tick for marking the box.

Another is flashlight; here a flashlight is attached to a camera. We use a torch with batteries to light up the way.

I have also noticed that often USA folk use 'then' where we'd use 'than'.

i know there's many many more, and talking of dictionaries, yes, there is one to translate from US English to International English.

[spiral78]

Educated Americans use 'ensure' and 'insure' as described by the OP. Ditto 'then' and 'than'.

Uneducated native English speakers everywhere do weird/stupid stuff.

I still have a written receipt for four 'tarrs' I bought for my car way back when. Those guys ain't teachin' English.

[scottie1113]

Yeah, torch/flashlight; lift/elevator; flat/apartment; boot/trunk; bonnet/hood; pavement/sidewalk; nets/drapes;fancy/like, etc. But eventually we all understand one another, I think.

I think my favorite is fags/cigaretts, and I know Australians get a huge kick out of hearing fanny pack.

[Richfilth]

when pavement is sidewalk, isnt pavement asphalt or road-surface concrete also or somesuch? And I have no idea whether fender is the bumper or the wings of the car, or either. Let alone rotors for brake discs; the differences permeate everywhere.

There'll always be language mistakes, but seeing as English is governed by "mob rule", pedanticism and whining aren't going to make any difference to it, so you might as well not get worked up about it.

[spiral78]

I agree. There are lots of differences, and English teachers should be aware of as many as possible.

Just that 'ensure' and 'insure' aren't on the list...nor are 'then' and 'than.'

I also like 'fags' for 'cigarettes.' One could get into serious trouble 'bumming a fag' in New York, for example. And 'fanny' could be seriously embarassing if used in the wrong context

[Scawie]

If you make a mistake in pencil in the US ask to borrow an eraser, not a rubber.