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W
- wend/wind: to wend is to direct one's path; to wind is to encircle or to coil
- wharf/pier/dock: wharf is any ship landing place; pier is technically a platform built into a waterway, but is generally understood as the same as wharf; narrowly, the noun dock is the portion of water used for tethering ships, in general usage it is interchangeable with pier and wharf
- while: except in time sense, best to replace with “although” or “whereas”
- who/whom: who is a nominative pronoun used as the subject of a finite verb (He is the one who picked up today’s lunch tab) or a predicate nominative following a linking verb (that’s who); whom is an objective pronoun that is either the object of a verb or of a preposition (She knew everything about the child whom I met; the teacher to whom I owe my career). There are two trends: The first is becoming common, yet avoided by careful language users: who is the pronoun of choice when it makes sense; The second needs to stop: those insecure in correct language usage use whom when who is correct
- whoever/whomever: best to replace with “anyone”
- which/that: that is correctly used as a restrictive pronoun concentrating a category or identifying a particular item [it is the house that is blue]; which is correctly nonrestrictive, adding information not needed for identification [it is the third house, which is blue]; which can be used restrictively when preceded by a preposition [it is the bedrock on which our nation was founded]; in common correct nonrestrictive usage, which is best preceded by a comma, parenthesis, or dash; it demonstrates lack of accurate education to claim “which” is “more academic”—an untrue campus legend
- worth/cost/price/value: worth is something's relationship to a potential buyer’s need or wish; cost is what is paid for it; price is what a seller asks for it; value is comparison to a recognized criterion
- wrack/rack: to wrack is to annihilate (as a noun, wrack is a wreck); to rack is to stretch or torture beyond one’s ability to withstand the process
- wrong/wrongful: wrong means immoral or unlawful; wrongful means either unjust or unfair or having no legal merit
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