Nouns

“Allusion” vs. “Delusion” vs. “Illusion”

Common English Blunders, Nouns, Versus

I sometimes see or hear pairs of these words confused.

Problem:
These three nouns are not synonyms.

Explanation:
The noun “allusion” means a casual or incidental mention of or reference to something. The key part of this noun comes from the Latin verb “alludere” (to play with), from “al-” (toward) and “ludere” (to play).

The noun “delusion” means a false opinion or belief. The key part of this noun comes from the Latin verb “deludere” (to mock or deceive), from “de-” (down) and “ludere” (to play).

The noun “illusion” means something that deceives. The key part of this noun comes from the Latin verb “illudere” (to ridicule or mock), from “il-” (in) and “ludere” (to play).

I sometimes see or hear “allusion” and “illusion” used interchangeably (even though they should not be), apparently because the two words sound similar to one another.

I sometimes see or hear “illusion” and “delusion” used interchangeably (even though they should not be), apparently because writers or speakers see “ill”, which looks negative and somewhat like “de”, instead of “il”, which is the actual prefix of “illusion” and is simply a variation of “in”.

Note that one can have a delusion because of an illusion.

Solution:
Use “allusion” when one means reference. Use “delusion” when one means mistaken belief. Use “illusion” when one means deception or magic trick.

“at least 16-years of age”

Adjectives, Hyphens, Nouns

My wife saw this in an email message yesterday.

Problem:
The hyphenation is incorrect.

Explanation:
Here is the phrase as it appeared in the full sentence: “Please ask students who you think would really benefit from this experience and who are at least 16-years of age to complete the information.”

This phrase should not have a hyphen.

When a number modifies a noun (or noun phrase) to tell you how many, there should be no hyphen between the number and the noun (or noun phrase) that the number is modifying.

In the problematic phrase, the number “16” is modifying “years of age” (a noun phrase), so one should not insert a hyphen between them.

I believe that the writer of the email message was distracted by the fact that hyphens are required when one writes something such as “the 16-year-old student”. The reason for this requirement is that “16-year-old” is modifying “student”; the hyphens effectively glue “16” and “year” and “old” together to create a modifier of “student” (the noun).

Solution:
“at least 16 years of age”

“Intent” vs. “Intention”

Adjectives, Nouns, Versus

Something I saw made me investigate these two words.

Problem:
These two words are not quite synonyms but are sometimes used as synonyms.

Explanation:
“Intent” is both a noun and an adjective. “Intention” is only a noun.

“Intent” as an adjective means earnest, steadfast, focused, or concentrated.

“Intent” as a noun is sometimes used as a synonym for “intention”; however, the former is stronger than the latter.

“Intent” as a noun means deliberateness. “Intention” means anticipated outcome.

Solution:
Use “intention” when talking about actions that one proposes to take. Use “intent” when talking about aim or purpose or when you need the adjective.