I have noticed a few recurring language issues that seem to be growing in popularity. Granted, even the best publication houses make mistakes, but the errors I wish to point out are rooted in ignorance, not oversight. Have a look and see if you find yourself propagating these bloopers.

• I vs. Me– This area never makes sense until you learn Spanish. They use "I" correctly all the time. Here are a few examples:
  Wrong:
  • You are better than me.
  • She is older than me.
  • They are all smarter than me.
  Right:
  • You are better than I.
  • She is older than I.
  • They are all smarter than I.

  The way to know when to use "I" is to complete the statement. For example:
  

  • You are better than I am at baseball.
  • You are better than I am at baseball.
  • You are better than I am at baseball.
  See the breakdown? Using "me" usually comes after a preposition:
  
  Wrong:
  • This is really good for Bob and I.
  Right:
  • This is really good for Bob and me.
  Okay, enough about that.
• Infer & Imply– This one will be simple to point out. Note the definitions of each:

  Infer: to derive as a conclusion from facts or premises; guess, surmise.
  Imply: to involve or indicate by inference, association, or necessary consequence rather than by direct statement; to express indirectly.

  Think of it this way. Implications are outbound, inferences are inbound. Implying something sends out information and allows others to process it. Once they receive it, they can draw inferences, or make personal interpretations.

• Per se– Here's another definition we often overlook:

  per se: by, of, or in itself or oneself or themselves; as such; intrinsically.
  It does not mean "so to speak" as so often used.

• Osmosis vs. Diffusion– Everyone makes the joke about how they fell asleep in the library, didn't do the reading, but still aced the test because they "learned everything by osmosis." The line is a little less defined on this one, but allow me to suggest that diffusion may be abstracted to mean the transmission of a higher concentration of data to a lower concentration. Osmosis deals directly with water and semipermeable membranes of living cells. Diffusion is also used with biological substances, but has more abstract connotations. So from now on, say you learned your stuff by diffusion, not osmosis.

I'd like to thank Tim (I'd link to him if he had a website) for instilling these anal detail-focused, literary tendencies in me. Thanks to M-W for the definitions. It has been a thrill to sound like your junior high English teacher for a few minutes. Hasta la pasta.