As Requested- #4

Topic #4 From Travis (A.K.A. My Hubby): "You could write about how people use the word insure instead of ensure.. "

This post is to ensure that you will not be insuring something you should truly ensure. After years of being with Travis, I just recently discovered one of his biggest pet peeves- people using the the words insure and ensure inappropriately. Let's take a look at good ol' www.Dictionary.com to ensure that we truly understand the meanings of these words:

Insure: "to guarantee against loss or harm."

Ensure: "to secure or guarantee".

As you can see, these words are extremely similar, but they are not the same! The main difference is one simple word: against. When you insure something, you are insuring against some sort of harm (typically, financial harm); however, you cannot ensure against harm... you must simply ensure that something is done. Let's look at some correct examples from www.Dictionary.com:

Ensure:
- This letter will ensure you a hearing.
- Our precautions ensured our safety.
- measures to ensure the success of an undertaking

Insure:
- a company that insures homeowners and businesses
- insured herself against losses; insured his car for theft

Now, if only we could get an insurance policy to insure against the improper use of insure and ensure for people like Travis who want to ensure that they are properly paid for every time they must hear insure and ensure improperly spoken... :D