The Grammar Nazi, Part One: Obligate vs. Oblige

[Still struggling to work with a busted hand, but I just happened across an old text file of notes I maintained to help keep some writing rules straight in my head by getting them out of my head.]

It's easy to confuse "Obligate" and "Oblige" -- the former sounds like yet another word afflicted with an unnecessary "ate" suffix to sound more official.

"Obligate" is a term of commitment, and "Oblige" is a term of appreciation. The easiest way to recognize the difference is to imagine a cowboy saying "Much obligated, ma'am."

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