Thank you, CopyBlogger, for sharing with the world this brilliant lexicon lesson that finally teaches us (read: me) the difference between compliment and complement; historic and historical; who and whom and a host of other commonly misused words.

For the record, I already knew “irregardless” is not a word because Susanna taught me that in college.

Grammar police I ain’t, so I find this post extremely helpful. Now, if they could just teach me – for once and for all – the affect/effect lesson I’d name my first born CopyBlogger. Swear.

Click here to read the complete tutorial. It’s fabulous.

Here’s a sample:

Adverse / Averse

Adverse means unfavorable. Averse means reluctant.

Afterwards

Afterwards is wrong in American English. It???s afterward.

Complement / Compliment

I see this one all the time. Complement is something that adds to or supplements something else. Compliment is something nice someone says about you.

Criteria

Criteria is plural, and the singular form is criterion. If someone tells you they have only one criteria, you can quickly interject and offer that it be they get a clue.

Farther / Further

Farther is talking about a physical distance.

???How much farther is Disney World, Daddy????

Further is talking about an extension of time or degree.

???Take your business further by reading Copyblogger.???

Fewer / Less

If you can count it, use fewer. If you can???t, use less.

???James has less incentive to do what I say.???

???Tony has fewer subscribers since he stopped blogging.???

Historic / Historical

Historic means an important event. Historical means something that happened in the past.

So, you are new to Twitter and wonder where to begin. No worries, as it is with all new and uncharted communications tools there are plenty of blogs ready and willing to tell you exactly what to do. Enter TwiTip, the blog focused solely on helping you making the most of Twitter.

Here’s a sample of two great how-to posts:

10 first steps for beginners – this will walk you through setting up your profile, how not to be an idiot (read: spammer) and how to join in the conversation (this is social media, after all).

10 people beginners should follow – if you want to make the most of Twitter, you’ve got to follow folks; the more you follow, the more followers you get. The more you follow and follow you, the more conversations you have, etc. You can’t expect to get anything out of this communication tool if you don’t communicate …

Now, if you are in PR or Marketing, I suggest you peruse the 50 tweeples to follow list, complied by Sarah Evans. It’s a pretty decent list and should get you started with folks who talk about things you care about AND have a good mastery of Twitter usage.

And don’t forget to follow my favorite Twitter user, Shaq. You can find me here; the hubby here. And the list of all Nashville Twitter users here.

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CAUTION! No matter what you do or how much you use Twitter, please keep in mind that your Twitter account and updates are PUBLIC unless you mark your account as private. Also, if you use your full name on your Twitter accout it will turn up in Google searches of your name.

I take for granted that folks know the power of their digital footprint; clearly they don’t. It’s all on the record folks – so use it wisely.

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