Frequently Misused and Misspelled Words and Phrases, part 86

I've decided to resume posting bits and pieces of my upcoming book by the same name. No idea when it'll be done. It currently has over 250 entries. I'll have to decide when there are enough to publish.

Allude vs. Refer

Wrong: She kept alluding to the particulars of the annual report.

Right: She kept referring to the particulars of the annual report.

Right: Mr. Kellar frequently alluded to the neighborhood where he grew up.

We refer to something directly or allude to it indirectly. (Sports commentators, for some reason, seem to misuse allude frequently.) Rather than saying a woman has put gained a lot of weight late in her pregnancy, we might allude to this by saying she’s “very pregnant.”

More later.