Q. The terms "drink," "drank" and "drunk" confuse me. Is it "he has drunk too many" or "he has drank (sounds bad) too many"? — Spider Carey, Somers, Conn.

A. As you surmise, "he has drank" sounds bad. That's because the conjugation of the irregular verb "drink" is: drink (present — "I drink milk every day"); drank (past — "I drank milk yesterday"); and "drunk" (past participle — "I have drunk milk many times").

But many people mistakenly use "drank" as the past participle ("I have drank milk many times"). Even professional writers can become intoxicated with this misuse. Bryan Garner's "Modern American Usage" cites these examples from newspaper stories: " . . . employees who might have drank too many toasts"; " . . . [a man] who had drank at the bar earlier"; "The rest of the beer was drank . . ."

Garner suggests we instinctively avoid "drunk" because it's so often used to denote inebriation. So the perfectly legitimate past participle "drunk" has become a "skunked" word, permanently reeking of alcohol.

Nevertheless, you should soberly hold your nose, walk the straight line and say, "I have drunk (not drank) only milk, officer." But then you might be arrested for drunken jiving.

Q. The following sentence appeared in a newspaper article about a production of Verdi's "La Traviata": "Trouble is, Tiffany and Violetta are one in the same." Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought the expression was "one AND the same." — (Miss) Bobbye Clements, Baton Rouge, La.

A. You're right. Tiffany and Violetta" (dubbed "Tiffoletta" by the tabloids) are one and the same, that is, the same person. "One in the same" simply doesn't make sense. But because "and" sounds like "in" when the phrase is spoken, it's a common mistake.

Q. In the following sentence, which is the correct way to pluralize "CD": "He has a collection of hundreds of CDs — or CD's"? — Larry Mathews, Liverpool, N.Y.

A. Initialisms such as CEO, PC and CD are pluralized by adding a lower-case "s," no apostrophe: "CEOs," "PCs" and "CDs." This prevents confusion when these abbreviations are used as possessives: "the CEO's/CEOs' report," "the CD's/CDs' condition."

It's worth noting that, even though a letter in an initialism stands for a plural, as in "WMD" (weapons of mass destruction) and RBI (runs batted in), its plural should still have an "s": "WMDs" and "RBIs" (though many publications do render these plurals as "WMD" and "RBI").

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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