way, ways, weigh

Way is colloquial when used to mean "away": "The mine is away (not way) across the mountain. Equally colloquial and to be avoided in formal writing are "in a bad way," "to come my way" ("to achieve success"), and "act the way he does." In an expression such as "a long ways to town," ways is a dialectal, substandard substitute for way. In nautical terms, the expression should be "under way," not "under weigh." That is, a vessel must weigh (lift) its anchor before it can get "under way." "Ways, the plural of the noun way, is correct in sentences like this: "Many ways were open to him." "The newly christened ship slid down the ways into welcoming water." Except as the name of a committee,"ways and means" is a wordy phrase: ways and means are interchangeable in meaning. The overused expression "in any way, shape, or form" is redundant because these terms are synonymous: reduce six words to three.