Commonly Misused Words

[LettersFromTatyana]

Actually, according to Merriam-Webster, "leverage" is both a noun and a verb, although I think you tend to hear the verb more in economic contexts (right, Tatyana?).

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leverage

Of course! What would the financial world do without leveraged buyouts (LBOs)? The non-participle form of the verb is used quite a bit in finance, too.

Glad I opened up this thread in a bout of tagline procrastination.

(Barbarians at the Gate, about an LBO to combine Nabisco and RJ Reynolds, was the first non-fiction book I ever read by choice. My nerdiness was apparent even in middle school. Also, should that be "an LBO" or "a LBO"? I get confused when I use abbreviations instead of the words.)

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Labia

The word labia is plural; the singular is labium.

Not a few Lit. authors think otherwise (all emphases added):

She stood and slowly let my cock brush across her labias.

The girls have waited the right amount of time I guess and are each taking a labia in their fingers...

This time it was on how big a labia should be.

We are both overwhelmed by the sweet smell of her juices as we each take a labia in our mouths and flick it with our tongues.

Were he still a fetus that phallus could become either a clitoris or penis and those genital folds either a labia or scrotum.

He bent towards Audrey's crotch and parted her labias with his thumbs...

Ruby's white labias had a slight blush to them...

Some not only think it's singular, they think it has the wrong Latin plural:

He parted her labiae with his fingers...

Her labiae were not visible; there was just a slit.

She rubbed her hand over her friend's pubic mound and down the labiae.

But the real howler is the language lesson:

"You have the most wonderful labia. Did you know that's latin for 'lip'? To be more correct I should use the plural and say 'you have the most wonderful labiae.' First declension, I believe. Labia, labiae, labiam, etc. We can look it up if you want."

This author should've looked it up. It's a second declension noun with plural labia. The singular is labium. Even Merriam-Webster Collegiate, agrees.