Sarah Tebo, web designerTag Archive | grammar | Sarah Tebo, web designer http://sarahtebo.com Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:05:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 I'm entitled to give this post a title http://sarahtebo.com/2008/05/im-entitled-to-give-this-post-a-title/ http://sarahtebo.com/2008/05/im-entitled-to-give-this-post-a-title/#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 21:47:54 +0000 Sarah Tebo http://blog.sarahtebo.com/?p=17 Okay, so here’s a word usage rule that bugs me to no end. And smart people mess this one up all the time. What’s wrong with this sentence? Louisa May Alcott wrote a book entitled “Little Women.”

Correct; the sentence should say the book is titled. Books, movies and plays have titles. I am entitled to read them. This mistake is super common. Even many of my coworkers — professional writers — improperly use entitled all the time.

The dictionary can help clear this up if you often find this confusing:

  • entitled: qualified for by right according to law; “We are all entitled to equal protection under the law.”
  • titled: having or given a name or title; “Many paintings are titled simply ‘Untitled’.”
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