affect. Compare [EFFECT].
against: Never shorten this preposition into again. Such a usage is either dialectical or obsolete; and save in such usage there is no preposition again, or as sometimes spoken by persons careless with their speech agen.
aggravate, exasperate, irritate, provoke: A fever or a misfortune may be aggravated, but not a person. The person is, perhaps, exasperated or provoked. To aggravate, from the Latin aggravo “to make heavy,” is to intensify, and applies only to conditions of fact; provoke, which calls forth anger, and exasperate, which heightens (or roughens) anger already provoked, allude to mental states. A patient may be so irritated that his condition is aggravated. Here to aggravate is to make worse; to irritate is to annoy, provoke.
ago. Compare [SINCE].
agreeable: Do not spell this word agreable. Its component parts are agree plus able; always double the “e” before the “a.” Agreeable is often erroneously used for agreeably in correspondence. In this sense it is a commercial colloquialism, meaning “being in accordance or conformity,” as with some previous action. “Agreeable to your request I have forwarded the goods.” Correctly, this should be rendered “Agreeably with your request, etc.,” meaning “so as to be agreeable.”
agreeably. Compare [AGREEABLE].
aid. Compare [HELP].
ain’t: Avoid as inelegant. In such a phrase as “he ain’t,” it is both vulgar and ungrammatical; “he isn’t” is the preferred form. “The contraction ain’t for isn’t is a vulgarism which ought not to need criticism. Yet ‘’tain’t so’ said an educated preacher once in my hearing. The safe rule respecting contractions is never to use them in public speech. This is the instinct of a perfect taste.” Austin Phelps, English Style, lecture ii. p. 25.
alienate, antagonize: Alienate which means “estrange,” should never be used for antagonize, meaning “contend against” or “bring into opposition.” Thus, you alienate your friend because you antagonize his views.
all. See under [ANY], [WHOLE], and compare [UNIVERSALLY].