More Common Errors in English

Cloths vs clothes

Cloth is the stuff you make clothes out of – also known as fabric. In most homes, a cloth is usually something you wipe your dishes with to dry them, or wipe down your car after you’ve washed it. I mean, you could wear them, but that would be nasty.

So if you say your character is wearing cloths, then they’re either wearing dish rags, or they’re wearing an unsewn cloth draped around themselves. Now, most of the time your character will be wearing cloth that has been cut and sewn into a garment, or a set of clothes.

Or better still, they’re just walking around unclothed so you don’t have to make this particular mistake!

Discreet vs discrete

Being discreet is when you will keep someone’s secret, or agree to not mention something. When ordering something from a service that promises discretion, you can expect the item or service to not be delivered in an embarrassing way.

Now, when something is discrete, it’s individually separate and distinct, as in a discrete particle, and unless your character is in a masturbation simulator, they’re not really going to be discrete very often!

A part vs apart

If you’re apart, you’re away from your group, on the outside looking, alone, and either happy about it, or, more likely, dreaming about becoming a part of something.

So if you’re inviting people to be a part of something, don’t say you want them to be apart of something.

Be welcoming, be inclusive, invite people to be a part of your community, and a part of your success. Because asking them to be apart is the opposite!

A lot vs alot

Alot isn’t a word.

It won’t become a word.

It’s not English. Period, full stop, end of story.

The phrase you’re looking for is “a lot.”

And yes, go read the linked article above for more on the mythical creature known as the alot.

You can also check out this article on The Oatmeal while you’re at it.

And I can’t believe I have to mention this one but…

Aloud vs allowed

If you have permission to do something, you’re allowed to do it. If you’re speaking so that people can hear you, you’re speaking aloud.

So you see why being aloud is okay, but being aloud to do something?

Makes no sense.

Makes me want to scream.

Aloud!

That’s all for this edition. Here’s hoping some new gamedevs are paying attention and will avoid these errors!