Commonly Confused Word Pairs: Free rein, two

April 3, 2008: Issue 233

When someone has discretion to make decisions, she has free rein—not free reign. The allusion is to horses, not to kings or queens.

Contest: Last week we asked you to devise an *NSYNC-style acronym for your department. Our favorite came from Sharon Lein, who used the first letters of the last names of business office employees (Kim O’Brien-Wollett, Sharon Lein, Jan Crabb, Gabrielle Renslow, Kathleen Armentrout, Susan Bade, and Cindy Slobaszewski) to create OL CRABS. Prizes go to everyone in the department.

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