Untouchable – English editing.

In writing especially, not . . . because can give rise to serious ambiguities. Consider these sentences: I didn’t go because I was ill. I didn’t go, because I was ill. The problem seldom occurs in speaking. The first version, without a pause after go, suggests that I did go (to the doctor’s, for instance), […]

Militate derives from militis, one of the forms of the Latin noun meaning soldier or fighting man. If something militates against you, it fights against you, i.e., works to your disadvantage. Thus, your timidity may militate against your keeping your friends. (Militate is always followed by the preposition against and, like obviate, never takes a […]