Talk about showcasing how impossible the English language can be! Thanks to John Philpin for sharing this on one of our mutual BIZCATALYST360° sites in response to something I wrote in my column “All in All.” There are many much shorter versions…
Homophones: Principal and Principle
I was talking on LinkedIn recently with Tom Dietzler, who wondered if I could help with two words — homophones — that he kept getting mixed up. Of course, he’s in great company; a lot of writers confuse these two.…
Morning — Musth
It’s been a few months since my last Tuesday Tricksters post, and I’m not sure why I stopped posting this series. Because each post shows my readers words in English that are easy to misuse (no matter whether English is…
Homophones Lea — Leaf
The homophones lea — leaf are among today’s tricky words. Yes, it’s Tuesday, and that means another edition of the Tuesday Tricksters, words called homophones that sound the same as another one (or nearly so, anyway) but mean something different…
Knead . . . Knob
Here we go again, dear readers! More Tuesday Tricksters (aka homophones) to delight and bedevil us (if we’re not carefully reading what we wrote, that is). These words have the power to make any one of us look bad, so…
Jinks – Karat
Once again here is an edition of Tuesday Tricksters! I keep publishing these because I know how hard it can be to remember all the variations of words that sound alike (or nearly so), but aren’t spelled the same and…
Jalousie — Jibe
Here is the latest installment of Tuesday Tricksters, words (homophones) that sound alike (or nearly so), but mean something different and are spelled differently. Remember that spellcheck will not help you here; if you spell the word correctly, spellcheck won’t…
Pried and Pride
Yes, these words sound alike; they’re homophones, after all! But they mean two different things, and since I recently saw one of them in a post when the other one was meant, I figured we might as well take a…
Compose and Comprise
OK, folks — fasten your seat belts! It’s gonna be a bumpy ride here. I’m about to take away a favorite phrase you may be writing or saying, one you probably have never given any real thought to. You may…
Everyday and Every Day
Who is NOT familiar with this brand? Raise your hand . . . Hmmm. I don’t see many hands up, probably because for a long time, the Martha Stewart Everyday brand was ubiquitous. You couldn’t open a magazine or a…
Lead and Led
English is really tough language. I realize many others may be as well, but I only know this one (and good for all of you who manage more than one!). A while ago I published a post on the most…
Forward & Foreword
I’m amazed at how much I always learn when I write posts about the English language and its various words that are so easy to misuse. These two words were going to be in yesterday’s grouping, but there is too…
Breath, Breathe, Breadth
Good Wednesday morning! It’s the middle of the week, Hump Day, and also time for another edition of Words & Woes. I was reading another blog a few days ago — an excellent one — and the author used breath…
A Lot, Allot, Alot
As you’re reading this — before you see the picture below with the answers — look at the headline again. Do you know which of the three in the headline is not a real word? Hmmm? How did another Wednesday…
Quiz on Lie and Lay
OK, folks – are you ready for a truly tough quiz? The verbs to lie and to lay are probably the most confusing verbs in English, primarily because they borrow from each other. And too many speakers and writers do not know…
Complement / Compliment
Once again, Tuesday’s Tricksters strives to help us remember there are often many ways to write a word that sounds like another. Two I want to focus on this morning, thanks to a comment made by Sarah Elkins a few…
Spell Check: Devil or Angle?
Sharp-eyed readers are already wondering – what the heck? Doesn’t she know she goofed RIGHT IN THE HEADLINE? Yes. I do know that. I did write “angle,” and spell check accepted it. Why not? It’s a perfectly good word, and…
Irregular Plurals Prove a Point
Have you ever heard someone say, “Why doesn’t she just learn to speak English!”? Every time I hear or read that, I’m tempted to ask that person how easy they think it would be to learn another language if they…
The “Meaning” of Words
Have you ever noticed how much humor is rooted in culture and understanding of the local language? A word that means one thing to person A might mean something completely different to person B. An expression that might horrify one…
It’s Time to Master These Two Words!
Dear Readers — Here are two more words in a continuing series of almost homophones — those pesky words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings — that confuse so many of us. Many English words are written…
Money Down the Drain
OK, I know I’m a crank, but my crankiness has a purpose. Right now I’m banging my head against a wall — figuratively, although it may get literal — because I just read the first three paragraphs of a post…