March 4, 2008
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Insure versus Ensure
I found this explanation online:
Insuring is the business of an insurance company, i.e.,
setting aside resources in case of a loss. Ensure means
make sure, as in “Ensure that this is done by
Monday.”The problem is, nobody uses ensure in this way. Everyone just uses “insure” for both cases. And now “Ensure” is a brand for adult diapers… so there’s even less incentive to use ensure. (Update: it’s actually not a brand of adult diapers… it’s a line of nutritional shakes).
Should I just give up, and use insure even when I know ensure is the right word to use? Or should I stand tall and fight back for the forces of good grammar, and use ensure whenever the occasion calls for it?
Comments (56)
Hmm i thought ensure was a shake that people drank when they couldn’t eat food lol
FIght back I say!!
Stand tall, John. Good grammar and proper spelling is desperately needed on the internet.
Haha! *are* desperately needed. Oops!
not everyone uses “insure” for both cases. I’d use ensure if it was the correct way of using it. Oh wells, most Americans can’t spell for crap and have poor grammar skills anyway. Our education system here sucks
.
Fight on!
I use them correctly.
fight for good grammar! fight to the death!
of course! don’t compromise!
ALWAYS use the right word!
No use it.
GOOD GRAMMAR IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT
just like talking in all-caps makes me feel important.
actually…ensure is adult nutrition. not diapers. not yet i don’t think.
NO!!! true xangans use true grammar.
Stand tall, John, and I’ll do the same. “Ensure” should mean more than those shakes; they taste awful, or so my dad always said.
Yes. Always use the right word!
As an English major, I have to say…USE THE CORRECT WORD!!!
The reason why people use insure instead of ensure is because they don’t know the correct spelling and/or definition.
Instead of going with the general consensus of people, do what is right. Together, we can change the world.
You lost me at “I found this explanation online.”
if you say it fast enough in conversation, no one will know the difference. that’s what i do for affect/effect
Don’t make yourself look ignorant. With your new-found knowledge, why not actually use it????
Not everyone uses insure instead of ensure. Some of us care about grammar and proper vocabulary. I would never give in to the “new norm” because the “new norm” is defined by uneducated idiots who write their college application essays in ‘net-speak.
*phew* I use the word “ensure”, too, and I thought it was just an Englishism (Anglicism?), since all the Americans I’ve talked about this with think “insure” is the way to go. Good to know I was right all along!
p.s. I love that you always post these grammar/word questions on here. I like it when people are as anal about this stuff as I am!
Always use ensure when appropriate!
It’s like when people incorrectly mix up disinterested/uninterested or use “all be it” instead of “albeit” or alright instead of all right and so on and so forth. I think the worst one may be “She could of done it” instead of “She could have done it.” That one always ticks me off.
Use “ensure” when applicable. The Grammar Gods will reward you. At the very least, I will rejoice. *smile* Plus, incorrect grammar is linguistic homocide.
use ensure when grammar calls for it.
We gotta fight! (Fight!)
For our right! (Right!)
To eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeensure!
Stand tall and wave proudly the banner of correct grammar and usage. Honestly it is the only way I have learned anything. Xanga has done wonders to teach me stuff that many teachers did not. Still have a lot to learn though.
Use Ensure, but only in the sense associated with adult diapers to confuse your friends.
Stand up for good grammar. Never surrender to stupidity.
what? nobody uses “ensure”? I use it all the time!
Really? I never thought that people used those two words interchangbly. You should always do what’s right John. =)
-ray leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
For what it’s worth, I too use “ensure.”
insure and ensure were vocab words for us in my english class on a list of words from the book 100 words everyone misuses. using the right word is always better i think.
…or you could just say “make sure”…
The whole insure/ensure is a deal breaker for me. You don’t know how many girl’s hearts have been broken because of this. I should just bring this up on the first date and save everyone a lot of trouble.
I assure you that by using ‘ensure’ when you mean “ensure” is the right thing to do. I use it and I don’t give a shit even if it’s a brand of diapers George Dubya uses.
“Insure” is very specific and means precisely what the dictionary defines it as–as in ‘insure’ one’s jewelry, etc.
fyi, Ensure is not adult diapers, it’s a nutrition drink like SlimFast. You’re thinking Depends, which are in fact v. DEPEND-able adult diapers. (Although I wouldn’t know this firsthand.)
I use ensure properly. Don’t ever bend to public grammar massacres. Don’t do it, John.
I do have a problem with affect/effect though. Still drives me nuts.
i think u should yield! y do we need 2 words that sound the same anyway? pretty soon we’ll all b writing like this no matter what u do + i think that’s a good thing!
I always use ensure for its intended use, same goes for insure.
I could have told you they were nutritional shakes.
Very tasty too, if you’re into that sort of thing.
u r cracking me up:)
i knew what ENSURE was… but u got that sorted out so i will not go there…EXCEPT to say that if you pour enough in one endyou could end up with the need to insure the other end does not insure you are not invited places …”…….and he said weeeee weee weee all the way home!!!”LOL
Stick with the correct usage! How will people learn if they never see it presented correctly?
Pls ensure your grammar is correct and proper.
I see this sometimes in contracts and I yank it out!
I still use ensure. To paraphrase my mother: “if everyone else was making stupid grammatical errors, would you make them too?” Um, no, I wouldn’t, mom.
fight on! i use insure and ensure properly.
as a grammar nazi and spelling police and a stickler for typos…
I JUDGE YOU WHEN YOU USE BAD GRAMMAR! (real facebook group)
so.. yah. use correct grammar is all i gots to say about dats!
that’s not true. i can ensure you i don’t mix insure w/ ensure.
stand up for ensure. =)
its a word i rarely use, but i’ll make sure to use it correctly when i do, just for you, John.
stand tall! i am also in your band camp as i strieve, daily, to make the difference between the usage of “insure” and “ensure”. the path between proper is a tedious one with little rewards, but a righteous one.
p/s.: my spelling (on the other hand… figure of speech)? yeah, no contest there. K.O.
wut da heck?! i’m back-tracking on my blog reading….and am just realizing the origins of the previous blog i commented on. you don’t use the word “ensure”?? i use that word all the time………!! and how is it possible to mix it up with “insure” and/or use “insure” instead of “ensure”? they don’t even have the same definition!
you need to stand tall and use proper grammar!! (this is where i should give a sharp wack of the wooden ruler for effect.
) (and that’s “effect,” not “affect”!! 
)
Always talk good English!
And oh yeah, here’s my pet grammar peeve: saying that instead of who. Like, “People that drink Ensure probably don’t really like the stuff.” The word is who! People who drink Ensure probably don’t really like the stuff! Right? Right?!?
what? weird, i’ve always used ‘ensure’ when appropriate. i didn’t even know that ppl used ‘insure’ when referring to making sure. you silly americans.
I get the differences… but that’s thanks to the good old AP Stylebook quizzes my professors stood by… oh… and Grammar Girl
Stand tall! Impeccable grammar is important.
Use the proper word. Maybe some day it will catch on again.
Another misused: there and their.
people still use ensure.
Unless you’re referring to the nutritional product “Ensure” LOL
BRAVO!!! My peeve is affect and effect. They are not interchangeable and it drives me looney when people use one but it is not the right one. ARGH!! I can ensure you that I use them correctly.