The other day, I heard a reporter on NPR use “flaunt” when she meant “flout.”

“Flaunt” means: to show off; to display proudly; to exhibit ostentatiously.

Like:  “It was unseemly of him to flaunt his wealth as he traveled in the poverty-stricken areas of Africa.”

(We’ve all heard the expression, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.”)

“Flout,” on the other hand, means something completely different:  to disregard contemptuously; to ignore a rule, convention or expectation of conduct.

You “flout” the rules, the law, the dress code or a social convention.

You cannot “flaunt” those things.

You might “flaunt” your engagement ring, your figure, your abs, your wardrobe or your wealth.

Like:  “She flouted the middle school’s dress code when she wore the skimpy top.”

Not, “The ambassador flaunted convention when he refused to shake the prime minister’s hand.”

It is, indeed, unfortunate that several online dictionaries have done what an Oxford University Press blog refers to as “thrown in the towel” on this one.  These dictionaries suggest that “flaunt,” since it has been used incorrectly so often, has now come to mean the same as “flout.”  (Granted, it is the second definition of “flaunt.”)

How is it that our reference works give up so easily?

From time to time, I hear someone say, “in lieu of” when the person means “in light of.”

I don’t hear this a lot, but it hit home last night when I was reading my favorite author, and he did it.  It was something like, “We decided that, in lieu of the deterioration of the relationship, it would be best if we stopped seeing so much of each other.”  I sure hope this was an editor’s mistake.

Clearly, what he meant was “in light of.”

“Lieu” is derived from French.  It means, “stead” or “place.”  When used in English with “in,” as in “in lieu of,” it means, “instead of” or “in place of,” or “as a substitute for.”  We see it used mostly in invitations, like, “in lieu of a gift, please make a donation to . . .”  One also sees it in funeral announcements, “in lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the favorite charity of the deceased.”  Occasionally, you see it in other contexts, like, “In lieu of paying his rent, the tenant left the landlord an IOU.”

Nothing all that complicated here.

“In light of,” on the other hand, means “considering,” “based on,” “due to,” or “taking into account.”  You might also say, “since this is the case . . .”

“In light of” is often seen in a sentence with words that refer to “recent events.”  Like, “In light of last night’s primary results, the Senator from Pennsylvania suspended his campaign for the presidency.”  Or, “In light of the weather forecast for the weekend, the company cancelled the picnic.”

Again, this is not a difficult concept.

So, we must ask, how do people mix up these two?

Several blogs I consulted suggest that there is some arrogance or pretention going on when someone uses “in lieu of” when he means “in light of.”  Alas, it is sad when someone looks stupid by trying to look smart.

“In lieu of” is so commonly used correctly, however, that I don’t see anything pretentious about using it to mean “instead of.”

On the local television news today, and on NPR this afternoon, I heard reporters say, in reference to the shooting at an Oakland, California college yesterday, that (I’m paraphrasing):

“The college is reporting that the shooting suspect was a former student of the college.”

Now, keep in mind that the suspect is under arrest and in jail.

Hence, wouldn’t it be correct to say that “he is a former student”?  Or, “he was a student”?

It’s simply incorrect to use was and former in the same sentence like that.