Monday, January 12, 2015

plain/plane: Common Errors in English Usage Entry for Monday, January 12, 2015

plain/plane
Both of these words have to do with flatness. A flat prairie is a plain, and you use a plane to smooth flat a piece of wood.

“Plain” is also an adjective which can describe things that are ordinary, simple, or unattractive.

But whether you go the airport to catch a plane or meditate to achieve a higher plane of consciousness, the meanings that have to do with things high up are spelled “plane.”


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This is the ten-year anniversary of the Common Errors in English Usage calendar. To celebrate, we are bringing back some of our favorite interesting, funny, but sometimes merely silly entries through the years before going on hiatus in 2016.

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