MISTAKES AND ERRORS

1) As the linguists said, the difference between a mistake and an error…mistakes if you’re conscious of them and can correct them. They would be errors, however, if you’re not even aware that they are and if they’re pervasive.

And if I’m determined and work hard at it, perhaps there will be a big chance for me/anybody to be a master of formal Standard English: grammar, spelling, idioms, exact word choice or mistakes and errors will be diminished.

2) Age – one of the sources of error…Teaching the older adult confers some challenges, although none are insurmountable. Older adult usually needs more time to learn.
Teaching my older client (56 years old) I always making sure to face him while speaking; clearly, slowly and loudly if necessary, while avoiding shouting.

3) Mistake also could be done by a person who is vague like in 1544 when De Soto first called an animal kind a buffalo; he didn’t know that he was looking at an American bison. Mistake or not, the term buffalo is still in use four centuries later.

LAX = Mistakes

4) Another word that came into English by way of a more celebrated mistake is Indian. When Columbus first reached the New World, he thought he was somewhere in the Indies of Asia. He gave the name West Indies to the group of Caribbean islands which he discovered on his first voyage. He called the inhabitants of these islands Indians. This word is still in use today although it is being replaced in the United States by the more accurate term Native American.

5) Fossilization - At one time in the history of our language, the word sue did mean “to follow”. Now it’s most common meaning is “to seek justice in court”.

Other examples:

OLD MEANING- NEW MEANING
black guard -kitchen servant- scoundrel
boor- farmer- rude person
crafty- skillful- sly
nice- ignorant -pleasing

(sources: OUR LANGUAGE TODAY by: Conlin , Herman and Martin)

So, it would be best to keep reading Time, Newsweek, The Economist, Asia week, Fortune, Asian Wall Street, Journal, Executives Digest, The World Book Dictionary, Newspapers and the Heritage Illustrated Dictionary or other similar reading materials, to get informed of current world events and English usage.