NewsBlues mrsbgrammar Page 99
Chapter 2 Word Choice
89
speling does count
ensure/insure
Mrs. B can hear the moans about to leave your lips when she tells
you spelling IS an issue even in TV news.
Not only can a misspelled word trip up the talent on a script or on
"prompter read," it's sticking right out there in supers for everyone to
see.
And that's not all: you never know when a careless misspelling will
come back to haunt you if a script turns up as a legal document or,
for some reason, is published.
The news operation's credibility is at risk when you sideline spelling.
And that little sermon leads Mrs. B to this e-mail from an assignment
editor in Memphis.
"Could you please address the difference between `ensure' (to
guarantee) and `insure' (to place insurance on)?"
Elizabeth Berman
WMC-TV 5
Actually, both words mean "to make guarantee," but only "insure"
may be used to mean "to guarantee payment for loss or damage" (to
place insurance on).
v
All this bubble wrap will ENSURE the CD player arrives in one
piece, but I'm going to INSURE it for 100-dollars anyway.
