After Deadline examines questions of grammar, usage and style encountered by writers and editors of The Times.

It is adapted from a weekly newsroom critique overseen by Philip B. Corbett, the deputy news editor who is also in charge of The Times’s style manual. The goal is not to chastise, but to point out recurring problems and suggest solutions.

Since most writers are likely to encounter similar troubles, we think these observations might interest general readers, too.

When Spell-Check Can’t Help

Here’s another collection of sound-alike words that tripped us up — one unfortunately familiar, others novel and surprising. (Thanks to several sharp-eyed colleagues and readers for citations.)

Spell-check is unlikely to help in these cases — careful writing, editing and proofing are the only defense.



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As part of its effort to affirm the F.B.I. as “an intelligence agency as well as a law enforcement agency,’’ the Justice Department completed an overhaul of many of the bureau’s investigative guidelines that will give it freer reign to begin investigations into the possibility of terrorist activity, even in the absence of evidence of wrongdoing.

Make it “freer rein.” The metaphor evokes rider and horse, not monarch and subjects. Our archive shows we’ve had this wrong more than 150 times over the years.

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The conscious psychological motive for this behavior, regardless of its effect, is typically not deterrence but what some psychologists call just-desserts retribution. In a landmark 2002 study, psychologists at Princeton University had more than 1,000 participants evaluate vignettes describing various crimes and misdemeanors, and give sentencing recommendations. The psychologists found that people very carefully tailored their recommended sentences to the details of the infraction, its brutality and the record of the perpetrator.

Unless the punishment involved depriving someone of chocolate cake, we meant “just deserts.” Usually “desert” (in the sense of a very dry place) is accented on the first syllable, while “dessert,” meaning cake after dinner, is accented on the second. But in this phrase, we want yet another word — one that’s spelled like the dry place but pronounced like the cake. It might help, with both spelling and pronunciation, to remember that it’s related to the word “deserve” — “just deserts” means, in essence, the treatment you deserve.

As Hamlet said, “Use every man after his desert, and who should scape whipping?” (Not “after his dessert.” )

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The school, its exterior painted an industrial shade of beige and closed off with rod-iron gates, does not appear out of place in its central Long Beach neighborhood, where bars on windows are part of the architecture.

Never saw this one before. The phrase, of course, is “wrought iron.”

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[Representative John Lewis] charged Mr. McCain and Sarah Palin with “sowing the seeds of hatred and division’’ in their fervently red-meat rallies, not unlike “a governor of the State of Alabama named George Wallace’’ whose race-bating rhetoric, Mr. Lewis noted, contributed to the 1963 bombing of the Birmingham church in which four young girls were killed.

Make it “race-baiting.”

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Senator Ted Stevens’s defense lawyer bore in on the prosecution’s chief witness on Tuesday, portraying him to a jury as someone who betrayed a longtime friend to protect his fortune.

This is an easy one to miss. “To bore” presumably was the verb we had in mind, but the past tense is “bored” — “the lawyer bored in on the witness.” On the other hand, “bore” without the “d” is the past tense of “to bear,” which is not what we meant.

More Words to Watch: Prophecy, Prophesy — Prophesized?

“Prophecy” (the last syllable rhymes with “me”) is a noun meaning a prediction of the future or other inspired utterance. “Prophesy” (last syllable rhymes with “my”) is a verb meaning to make a prophecy.

And “prophesize”? Well, according to most dictionaries, it isn’t a word at all. It may be a misunderstanding stemming from the fact that “prophesies,” the third-person singular of “prophesy,” is pronounced “prof-uh-size.” But the correct form is, “She prophesies that the end is near,” not “she prophesizes.”

Still, the errant version has popped up a couple of times recently:

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Pentecostals believe that the Holy Spirit can touch believers directly through spiritual “gifts’’ like speaking in tongues, divine healings, casting out demons and the ability to prophesize.

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Pure Food and Wine, on Irving Place, presents ceviche sans fish, not to mention cheeses without animal input. (Nuts fill in.) It also has a nominal burger, as does Zen Palate, where the tags hung on appetizers and entrees go so far as to prophesize extra-terrestrial ecstasy: “celestial tofu,’’ “shredded heaven,’’ “eggplant Zentastic.’’

A Fresh New Expression? Not So Much

I must have missed the memo. All of a sudden, the expression “not so much” — in the sense of “no, not really” — seems to be popping up in every other story, and in plenty of headlines as well.

The first time or two, it may have seemed slightly arch and amusing. By appearance No. 3, it felt a little strained. And with the rash of sightings in recent weeks, I think this phrase has earned a good, long rest.

In case you’ve been sleeping, here are just a few recent appearances, including several in headlines and subheadings:

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[Headline]

Fame, Yes; Fortune, Not So Much

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With a pair of rivals taking time away from the fray to swap jokes, it could only be the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York, the white-tie charity roast that has long served as a lighthearted rest stop on the road to the White House. It brought Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama together on Thursday night to dine and trade some jokes — some self-deprecating, some not so much — just one night after a debate so rough that many commentators could finally dust off all those boxing metaphors they had been saving up this year.

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[Subheading, about a Republican senator who’s keeping his distance from McCain]

Kind words for Obama and Kennedy. McCain? Not so much.

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[Headline, on Sarah Silverman’s effort to get Jewish Obama supporters to win over their grandparents in Florida]

Laugh at a Campaign Pitch? Sure. Visit the Grandparents? Not So Much.

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Previously, Saturn’s showrooms were designed to feel like a home’s living room. Comfortable, right? Not so much, says Lara Lee, relationship manager at Jump Associates.

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The crowd roared when Santana ran out to start the inning, chanting his name, and it groaned when Josh Willingham hit a one-out double.

The second out came easily, a strikeout of Dan Uggla. The final one? Not so much. Cody Ross blasted a long fly to left field. …

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Memorable documentaries have been inspired by troubled film productions (“Hearts of Darkness,” “Burden of Dreams”) and uncompleted works (“Lost in La Mancha,” “Tigrero”). But would anyone have been as interested if the subjects were unknowns? “American Movie” aside, not so much.

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