The Sidecar

And Now For A Father's Day Song...

...a classic from Outkast.

 

Seriously, though: a big Happy Father's Day, everyone!

House vs. home: I stand corrected

Continuing the house-related theme...
It's good to have a grammar Nazi in your life.  I like to think of myself as possessing decent, above-average grammar skillz and vocabulary, but my friend Tania is the reigning queen. Last week I was telling her a story about someone not liking older homes (and that's a topic for another time), and she said, "You mean houses." That got us into a grammar discussion.

The only thing related to it that I remembered from elementary school was a teacher saying that "a house is a general dwelling where people live, but when you love it and your family is there, it's 'home'." But in general, that the two are the same thing. I also think that "home" just sounds nicer. Tania said that they're not interchangeable. A house is the dwelling (always a noun and used as such), and "home" is usually an adverb and used in relation to activities done there, such as "going home." But then there's "homework" and "housework"...haha. Her point was that "house" is the accurate word to describe a place where people live.

I had to Google it the next day. As is the case with many words and terms these days, there's a loosening of the old rules and variety of opinions on the subject, such as this and this.

I know this one won't be my last grammar transgression, but I can count on Tania to set me straight. What word have you seen or heard used incorrectly?

-Sue