Feeling left out? Accept vs. except

Opposites might attract, but you shouldn’t mix them up. Alas, that’s what occurs all too often with accept and except.

Accept means to receive or believe, as in Residents of New York City accept the fact that often they will meet people who do not fluently speak English.

Except means to exclude, as with Residents of Los Angeles would snarkily say Southern California includes all coastal areas from Malibu south – except for San Diego.

Here’s an easy memory trick for these two words: We accept things with an A grade but exclude them like we would our EX.