12 Deadly Grammatical Errors Startups Must Avoid

The Dirty Dozen

1. Its or It's: Its is possessive, but it's is a contraction of "it is."

2. Then or than: Than is used in comparisons; then is often used for time. For some reason, the phrase "more then" keeps cropping up in online communications - and it's more than a little annoying.

3. Loose or lose: Loose means that something isn't tight, while lose means that something has been lost. Admittedly, there's some room for confusion. Lose is a verb, loose is an adjective, but you can let loose of something and wind up losing it.

4. Unique: There's no problem with using unique on its own. The problem is using modifiers with unique, as in "we have the most unique product in this category" or "this is a really unique website." Since "unique" means something is singular, it can't be "most" or "pretty" unique. In fact, you can't qualify it at all.

5. In my personal opinion: If it's your opinion, it's personal. The qualifier "personal" is redundant. This one is so often used, though, that it can be hard to avoid.

6. You're or your: Another possessive that causes confusion, "your" is possessive while "you're" is a contraction of "you are."

7. Literally: Don't use literally when you really mean figuratively. Literally should be used to mean "in reality," not as an intensifier.

8. Pique, peek or peak: This one crops up all too often when folks use peek or peak to mean pique. Someone might want a peek at your press release or product, if their interest has been piqued. Choose wisely for peak impact.

9. Flush out an idea: Generally, you want to flesh out an idea, though it might be flushed if it's particularly bad.

10. Affect or Effect: It's not entirely surprising that these are mixed up often, given their similar spellings and meanings. Affect is a verb, and effect is a noun. You can affect something, which might have an effect.

11. Compliment and complement: A compliment is praise, while complement means that two (or more) things work well together. When two companies form a partnership, the product offerings may complement each other while the CEOs will probably compliment their partners and themselves on a wise deal.

To further confuse things, because English is a cruel and unforgiving language, there's complimentary and complementary. Complimentary can mean that something is related to a compliment, or it can mean something given freely - as in "a complimentary" breakfast. Complementary is an adjective which is similar in meaning to complement.

12. Capitol and capital: You can raise capital in the state capital, but you should only use capitol to refer to buildings that house the legislatures.

via readwriteweb.com

Good list

Today's Money Quote

"Money poisons you when you've got it, and starves you when you haven't."

D. H. LAWRENCE, Lady Chatterley's Lover

Translation:
Greed is a terrible beast. It visits us when success comes.

On the flip side, being broke is a beast all in itself. It will drain your energy and spirit if you let it.

At the end of the day, get money, but stay humble. Don't fall victim to the success trap. But don't starve either.

Today's Money Quote

P149

"Life is a game. Money is how we keep score."

TED TURNER, attributed, The Quotable Billionaire

Translation:
Success means many things to different people; there are those who do not place value in financial rewards and that is fine.

In fact, money should not be your end goal. However, the higher the score you rack up, the more access you have to people, places, things and otherwise.

If you're going to play the game anyway, you might as well try to win