Browse Definitions :

Underlying and underlining — two different words, completely different meanings

Writing for Business

Which is correct?
Debating climate change with steadfast contrarians is pointless because their ___________ beliefs are not based on scientific data.
a. underlining
b. underlying


Answer: b.

Explanation:
Underlying refers to something that lies beneath — the beliefs that underlie an argument, a motive that underlies an action, an issue that underlies a problem.

Underlining is something you do to make something stand out. File this one under eggcorn, I guess — another one that people hear and fail to realize is a separate word. Online, there do seem to be a number of people searching for “what does underlining problem mean.” No wonder they don’t understand.

Here’s Paul Brians’ explanation:

You can stress points by underlining them, but it’s “underlying” in expressions like “underlying story,” “underlying motive,” and “underlying principle.”

Follow me on Twitter @tao_of_grammar

Dig Deeper on Writing for Business

Networking
Security
CIO
  • innovation management

    Innovation management involves the process of managing an organization's innovation procedure, starting at the initial stage of ...

  • radical innovation

    Radical innovation is an invention that destroys or supplants an existing business model.

  • process mining

    Process mining is a technique that interprets logs from enterprise applications -- like customer resource management (CRM) and ...

HRSoftware
  • employee resource group (ERG)

    An employee resource group is a workplace club or more formally realized affinity group organized around a shared interest or ...

  • employee training and development

    Employee training and development is a set of activities and programs designed to enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities of ...

  • employee sentiment analysis

    Employee sentiment analysis is the use of natural language processing and other AI techniques to automatically analyze employee ...

Customer Experience
  • customer profiling

    Customer profiling is the detailed and systematic process of constructing a clear portrait of a company's ideal customer by ...

  • customer insight (consumer insight)

    Customer insight, also known as consumer insight, is the understanding and interpretation of customer data, behaviors and ...

  • buyer persona

    A buyer persona is a composite representation of a specific type of customer in a market segment.

Close