Conscience, Conscious,
Conscientious. . .
A high school principal meant well.
He wrote a letter to parents pleading for G-rated clothing choices in the
spring sunshine. This is not to criticize modest dress! But he illustrated a
common spelling snafu, for many people, and a highly embarrassing one for a
high school principal, when he wrote:
". . . please be aware and help
develop the social conscientious of appropriate school dress in our
students." (Emphasis added)
He meant "conscience." That's a
noun. He used an adjective that has a related meaning, but is in the wrong
place in that sentence.
So here are the Random House
Dictionary definitions that people like him SHOULD know:
Conscience: (noun) the inner sense
of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward
right action: to follow the dictates of conscience.
Conscious: (adjective) aware of
one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.
Conscientious: (adjective)
controlled by or done according to conscience; scrupulous; a conscientious
judge.
May it stay on your CONSCIENCE to
stay CONSCIOUS of these differences and be CONSCIENTIOUS in applying them!
By Susan Darst Williams • www.GoBigEd.com • Grammar Granny
020 • © 2006