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Re: Convince vs. Persuade (WAS: Displays versus Appears )

Subject: Re: Convince vs. Persuade (WAS: Displays versus Appears )
From: Cheryl Magadieu <cherylm -at- atg -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 11:48:27 -0500

At 10:37 AM 12/19/00 -0600, Robbie Cooper wrote:

<When I read of someone "convincing" someone else to do something, it sets
off an alarm in me immediately. What good is it to have words with precise
meaning, such as "convince," if we misuse them so badly?>

I couldn't agree with you more, Herman.
For those of you reaching for your dictionary...
While convince and persuade are synonyms...there is a usage distinction:

[snip]

I use the guidelines in the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual (my copy is from 1994):

You may be *convinced that* something or *of* something. You must be *persuaded* to *do* something.

Right: The robbers persuaded him to open the vault.
Wrong: The robbers convinced him to open the vault.

Right: The robbers convinced him that it was the right thing to do.
Wrong: The robbers persuaded him that it was the right thing to do.


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