Nouns

“The police car was hidden in the medium.”

Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Nouns

I heard this on a radio program yesterday morning.

Problem:
The speaker used the wrong noun to indicate where the police car was hidden.

Explanation:
The DJs on KRBE radio yesterday morning were discussing speeding tickets and how traffic officers like to hide their vehicles to catch speeders.

One of them said something to the effect that “the police car was hidden in the medium.”

At first I wondered whether I had mis-heard what was said, but then the other two DJs started to say “medium” with no hint of sarcasm.

It became sadly clear that the three DJs did not know the correct noun — “median” — for that portion of a street that runs down the middle of it.

I believe that the use of “medium” in place of “median” is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” linguistic hypothesis. It is simpler to say the “um” in “medium” than to say the “an” in “median” for two reasons: the vowel (“u” vs. “a”), and the final consonant (“m” vs. “n”). Try saying each noun, and you’ll feel what I mean.

Solution:
“The police car was hidden in the median.”

“There are a lot of cats here.”

Common English Blunders, Nouns, Number, Plurals

I often hear sentences (mis)constructed in this way.

Problem:
There is a singular/plural mismatch.

Explanation:
The phrase “a lot of cats” is singular, even though “cats” is plural, because “a lot” is singular.

The “are” form of the verb “be” is plural.

So there is a mismatch in number between “are” (plural) and “a lot of cats” (singular).

Solutions:
“There is a lot of cats here.”
or
“There are lots of cats here.”

“Cache” vs. “Cachet”

Common English Blunders, Nouns, Versus

I often hear one of these words spoken with the pronunciation of the other word.

Problem:
The nouns “cache” and “cachet” are not synonyms and should not be pronounced in the same way.

Explanation:
The noun “cache” means a hidden storage space and is pronounced just as “cash” is pronounced. The French verb “cacher” — which means to hide — is the origin of this noun.

The noun “cachet” means an official seal and is pronounced just as “sashay” is pronounced.

The noun “cache” is accurately used in the field of information technology, for example, to refer to a special portion of computer memory, and it’s accurately used in the military to refer to where weapons are hidden by the enemy.

The noun “cachet” is accurately used in the fashion industry, for example, when describing attractive clothing (e.g., “a dress with the cachet of a top designer”).

Speakers most often seem to get into trouble with these two words when they pronounce “cache” in the way that “cachet” should be pronounced.

Solution:
Use “cache” (rhymes with “cash”) when referring to a store of something. Use “cachet” (rhymes with “sashay”) when referring to something that has a recognized endorsement.