# US English: Insure vs Ensure **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2002, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-english-insure-vs-ensure/136753 "2002-11-14T18:18:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-english-insure-vs-ensure/136753/21 "2002-11-18T20:41:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarone \* > I’m not sure whether it is comforting or not to see all these replies saying that “insure” is a monetary guarantee in the US, because I never hear people say “ensure”. I’m a Brit who has lived in the US for six years and I doubt I’ve ever heard an American say “ensure”.\\ I’ve written a ton of process instructions over the years and have used “ensure” about a jillion times. I must have said it aloud at some point, but I can’t remember when or where. For what it is worth, I have had several heated discussions with people who were positive I meant “insure.” ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-english-insure-vs-ensure/136753/22 "2002-11-18T20:52:53Z")
Definitely “ensure”. I can’t stand when people use “insure” in this context. It’s wrong! And I see this mistake made by people who should know better. ---
**Author:** ![ashtayk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@ashtayk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashtayk)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-english-insure-vs-ensure/136753/23 "2002-11-18T22:05:39Z")
I argued long and hard with a friend who told me that the word “TIPS”, as in what you give the waitstaff in a restaurant at the end of a meal, stood for “To Insure Proper Service”. I insisted that the usage of the word insure in this context was not correct. I was a bit confused when I actually saw in a couple of places that Tips was the abovementioned acronym! Can anybody shed any light on this? ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-english-insure-vs-ensure/136753/24 "2002-11-20T17:26:01Z")
How about a rule of thumb for Assure and Ensure? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-english-insure-vs-ensure/136753/25 "2002-11-20T17:49:43Z")
That TIP acronym is nonsense; no one knows exactlywhere the word “tip” for “gratuity” came from, but it’s not an acronym. (I suspect it may come from the obsolete “tippler,” or barkeep). As I said, “those who care about strict usage” restrict “insure” to its financial meaning. While I pay little regard to those who _don’t_ care about strict usage, the fact remains that the majority of Americans use ‘insure’ interchangeably with ‘ensure,’ and any non-American reading the word ‘insure’ would be ill-advised to assume that ‘ensure’ is not meant. Finally, “assure” means “to give assurance.” That is, one _assures_ (promises) a person or organization that something is true or will happen. British usage includes a meaning not unlike that of “insure” (they have ‘assurance’ firms over there), but American usgae is strictly in the “promise” vein. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-english-insure-vs-ensure/136753/26 "2002-11-20T18:02:01Z")
Re: myriad I have a 1970 vintage dictionary here and the first definition for myriad is a noun - either ten thousand or an immense number. The second def is an adjective - innumerable, multitudinous [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-english-insure-vs-ensure/136753.md?page=1)