A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
3. Word Choice
New Uses, Common Confusion, and Constraints
THIS chapter treats usage problems that are inherent to individual words or entail a choice between words. It provides guidance on traditional difficulties such as when to use
between instead of among, what the verb decimate means, and whether politics takes a singular or plural verb. It sorts out commonly confused words like founder and flounder or blatant and flagrant. And it assesses new usages, such as the verbs empower and interface, that have some popular appeal but may be seen as trendy or pretentious. Problems involving pronouns and conjunctions are treated under Grammar.
