Tip & Quote of the Week: "Allude & Elude"

“Never affirm, always allude: 

allusions are made to test the spirit and probe the heart.” 

― Umberto Eco, 

author of "The Island of the Day Before"

Again, similarities in look and sound are to blame for this usual mix-up. But these words meanings couldn't be more different.

allude

verb [intrans.] ( allude to)

• suggest or call attention to indirectly; hint at: 

she had a way of alluding to Jean but never saying her name.

• mention without discussing at length: 

we will allude briefly to the main points.

• (of an artist or a work of art) recall (an earlier work or style) 

in such a way as to suggest a relationship with it: 

the photographs allude to Italian Baroque painting.

elude

verb [trans.]

• evade or escape from (a danger, enemy, or pursuer), 

typically in a skillful or cunning way: 

he managed to elude his pursuers by escaping into an alley.

• (of an idea or fact) fail to be grasped or remembered by (someone): 

the logic of this eluded most people.

• (of an achievement, or something desired or pursued) 

fail to be attained by (someone): 

sleep still eluded her.

• avoid compliance with or subjection to (a law, demand, or penalty).

Picture found here.

Picture found here.

The verbs allude and elude sound very similar, and this is why they are sometimes confused.

Allude: 'To allude' means 'to refer to indirectly'. The verbs 'to allude' and 'to mention' are close in meaning, but 'to allude' is less direct. It can be translated as 'to hint at' or 'to offer an indication about'.

Examples:

• This Chinese saying alludes to nature's power: "A spark can start a fire that burns the entire prairie." (The saying does not mention nature's power, but it offers a clue about nature's power. The saying alludes to nature's power.)

• "Forewarned is forearmed" alludes to the importance of being in control. (offers an indication about the importance of being in control)

• The judge did not mention his previous crimes specifically, but he alluded to them in his summary. (hinted at previous crimes)

Picture found here.

Elude: 'To elude' means 'to avoid', 'to evade' or 'to escape from'. *Remember that the word elude starts with the same letter as escape.

Examples:

• Correct:

• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid try to elude capture. (try to avoid capture)

• Wrong:

• Peter Beardsley used to allude defenders with his trademark foot shuffle. (avoid defenders / should be 'elude')

Also, there is a test located here.

Picture found here.

Also, here are two other words that can be confused with allude and elude:

• To delude is to lead into error or misjudgment. We delude ourselves if we think allusions are all we need to communicate clearly. “Darmok and Jalad" is meaningless, for example, if the story isn’t in your shared lexicon. The wise are not deluded into simplistic understandings.

• To illude is to trick or deceive, often in a mocking way, as with an illusion. An elaborate plan to illude them regarding the true identity of the blackmailer resulted in a madcap romp through the mansion and the eventual death of the villain.

Sources:

- #1 - http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/allude_elude.htm

- #2 - http://www.copyediting.com/lude-word-tricks-allude-delude-elude-illude

- #3 - http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/allusion?auto_login_attempted=true

Tip & Quote of the Week: "Assent & Ascent"

As with most commonly misspelled words, assent and ascent sound remarkably alike and you only have to change one letter to get the other word, but they have two completely different meanings.

assent

noun 

1 - the expression of approval or agreement: 

a loud murmur of assent | he nodded assent. 

- official agreement or sanction: 

the governor has power to withhold his assent from a bill.

verb [intrans.]

2 - express approval or agreement, typically officially: 

Roosevelt assented to the agreement | 

[with direct speech ] “Guest house, then,” Frank assented cheerfully.

ascent 

noun 

1 - a climb or walk to the summit of a mountain or hill: 

the first ascent of the Matterhorn | the routes of ascent can be retraced. 

- an upward slope or path: 

the ascent grew steeper. 

2 - [in sing. ] an instance of rising through the air: 

the first balloon ascent was in 1783. 

• [in sing. ] a rise to an important position or a higher level: 

his ascent to power.

Assent and ascent are two more words with the same sound but different meanings. When you agree with an idea, you assent to it. When you climb a mountain, you ascend it. When you assent to an ascent, that means you’re willing to go mountain climbing.

Assenting to something means giving your approval, at least reluctantly. Sometimes people give a mere mental assent to an idea, without having any deep feelings about it. That’s why assent has a fairly mild connotation, similar to acquiesce, unlike similar, stronger words such as affirm or avow.

An ascent is an upward motion, or the path you take to move upwards. It can also be used technically to describe the steepness or grade of a road: “this road has an ascent of 5 degrees.” Assent doesn’t always mean a physical climb – the path to sainthood can be as difficult an ascent as the path up Mt. Everest.

As you think about assent and ascent, if you have trouble remembering which is which, you can think about their antonyms. (If you have trouble remembering what an antonym is, it’s a word that means the opposite of another word – a sort of “anti-word.”). The opposite of ascent (to go up) is descent (to go down). The opposite of assent (to approve) is dissent (to disapprove).

Picture found here.

"My spelling is Wobbly. 

It's good spelling but it Wobbles, 

and the letters get in the wrong places."

-- A. A. Milne

Ascent is a noun.  It is the act or process of rising or progressing upward.

Ex. The plane began its ascent to 10,000 feet.

Assent also functions as a noun.  However, it means agreement, accord, or acceptance.

Ex. He gave his assent to his daughter’s engagement.

Assent may also function as a verb. It is the act of agreeing with a suggestion or idea.

Ex. President Johnson assented to the proposal
to cut government spending.

Picture found here.

QUIZ

Test your understanding of the correct use of ascent and assent by answering the following sentences:

1. I’ll make my (ascent, assent) to the top of the cliff to see where the smoke is coming from.

2. Rockets must make their (ascent, assent) at an angle to stay on correct trajectory.

3. We must first have the (ascent, assent) of our parents to go to Vegas together.

4. I need the school’s (ascent, assent) to test out of the class.

5. When the rollercoaster made a steep (ascent, assent), David became scared.

6. Sara's father must (ascent, assent) to her move.

Picture found here.

Answers (No cheating.)

1. I make my ascent to the top of the cliff to see where the smoke is coming from.

2. Rockets must make their ascent at an angle to stay on correct trajectory.

3. We must first have the assent of our parents to go to Vegas together.

4. I need the school’s assent to test out of the class.

5. When the rollercoaster made a steep ascent, David became scared.

6. Sara's father must assent to her move.

Sources:

- #1 - http://www.etni.org.il/quotes/spelling.htm

- #2 - http://www.dailywritingtips.com/will-you-assent-to-the-ascent/

- #3 - http://www.uhv.edu/ac/newsletters/writing/grammartip2005.

07.19.htm

"Another Earth" Movie Review

"Another Earth" movie poster.

"On the night of the discovery of a duplicate planet in the solar system, an ambitious young student (Brit Marling) and an accomplished composer (William Mapother) cross paths in a tragic accident." (Link below.)

This was certainly a very interesting film. I would never have been able to come up with something like that. Another whole planet with my exact likeness on it, perhaps with a completely different life than mine.... almost too much for me to understand. Very exciting that Brit Marling, who starred in it and did a great job, also cowrote it with the director, Mike Cahill.

I thought it was beautifully filmed and the music was wonderful. There is even a scene where an actor plays a saw (the kind you use to cut wood) like an instrument which I have never seen before nor heard before.

I would've liked to have seen more science geek stuff like tides and gravity effected by the proximity of the earth being so close to another earth but that wasn't really the story here and I can understand why they would want to skip that.

"Another Earth" movie poster featuring Brit Marling.

I don't want to talk about the ending except to say that it is bittersweet and surprising. I very much enjoyed watching this film and hope there is more like it.

Favorite Lines:

Richard Berendzen: In the grand history of the cosmos, more than thirteen thousand million years old, our Earth is replicated elsewhere. But maybe there is another way of seeing this world. If any small variation arises-they look this way, you look that way-suddenly maybe everything changes and now you begin to wonder, what else is different? Well, one might say that you have an exact mirror image that is suddenly shattered and there's a new reality. And therein lies the opportunity and the mystery. What else? What new? What now?

Rhoda Williams: When early explorers first set out West across the Atlantic, most people thought the world was flat. Most people thought if you sailed far enough West, you would drop off a plane into nothing. Those vessels sailing out into the unknown, they weren't carrying noblemen or aristocrats, artists or merchants. They were crewed by people living on the edge of life: the madmen, orphans, ex-convicts, outcasts like myself. As a felon, I'm an unlikely candidate for most things. But perhaps not for this. Perhaps I am the most likely.

Beautiful image from the movie "Another Earth".

Rhoda Williams: You know that story of the Russian cosmonaut? So, the cosmonaut, He's the first man ever to go into space. Right? The Russians beat the Americans. So he goes up in this big spaceship, but the only habitable part of it's very small. So the cosmonaut's in there, and he's got this portal window, and he's looking out of it, and he sees the curvature of the Earth for the first time. I mean, the first man to ever look at the planet he's from. And he's lost in that moment. And all of a sudden this strange ticking... Begins coming out of the dashboard. Rips out the control panel, right? Takes out his tools. Trying to find the sound, trying to stop the sound. But he can't find it. He can't stop it. It keeps going. Few hours into this, begins to feel like torture. A few days go by with this sound, and he knows that this small sound... will break him. He'll lose his mind. What's he gonna do? He's up in space, alone, in a space closet. He's got 25 days left to go... with this sound. So the cosmonaut decides... the only way to save his sanity... is to fall in love with this sound. So he closes his eyes... and he goes into his imagination, and then he opens them. He doesn't hear ticking anymore. He hears music. And he spends the rest of the voyage sailing through space in total bliss... and peace.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1549572/.