classical_hero
In whom I trust
One classic example is proscribe and prescribe. Yet their definitions are the exact opposite.
What are similar spelt words that you confuse?
What are similar spelt words that you confuse?
Words you confuse due to similar spelling
- Thread starter classical_hero
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gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
I expect to mistake these two words, except when I have spell-check.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Thaw - Dethaw
Surely the 2nd thing shouldn't even be a word? Yet it somehow is - and doesn't even mean "to freeze". I'm not sure how that happened, but I refuse to admit that this word exists.
Is that similar enough?
How about disinterested and uninterested? They mean different things and I find myself looking it up every once in a while. Close enough?
Surely the 2nd thing shouldn't even be a word? Yet it somehow is - and doesn't even mean "to freeze". I'm not sure how that happened, but I refuse to admit that this word exists.
Is that similar enough?
How about disinterested and uninterested? They mean different things and I find myself looking it up every once in a while. Close enough?
Perfection
The Great Head.
Public and pubic
Christine and Kristine - I keep calling each of them by the wrong spelling in my drug induced throes of passion.
Perfection
The Great Head.
Santa and Satan
Borachio
Way past lunacy
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Refrigerator and Freezer.
A refrigerator is a thermally insulated box with a heat pump pumping heat from the inside to the outside, thus lowering the temperature inside making it a suitable place for storing a range of foods including meats, vegetables, and dairy products.
On the other hand, "freezer a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us".
A refrigerator is a thermally insulated box with a heat pump pumping heat from the inside to the outside, thus lowering the temperature inside making it a suitable place for storing a range of foods including meats, vegetables, and dairy products.
On the other hand, "freezer a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us".
gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
Freezer is where you put the body parts in. Refrigerator is where you put eggs.
GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
Their, There, They're. Different meanings and spelling, yet same phonetic sound.
PhroX
Deity
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Flammable and inflammable. They both mean "can catch fire". I never know which one to use. So I usually go with "flammable" if I want to warn someone that something might catch on fire, and "inflammable" if I want to be confusing.
What's the word for "cannot catch on fire"? Good question. "Fireproof", I suppose, but "inflammable" would make sense. Or maybe "imflammable" or "unflammable".
Another one is "prosecuted" and "persecuted". The first means "charged with something in a court of law", and the second means "prejudiced against". They're both things that you don't want to happen to you, and you could be persecuted by means of being (unjustly) prosecuted. So they're confusing... but not quite interchangeable.
"Proscribe" is a weird one, since it's pretty rare. IIRC it means "to prohibit", but I don't know why you wouldn't just use "forbidden" or "prohibited" or "verboten".
Thankfully the Java compiler usually catches that typo.
That one could be interesting if you say, had a browser plugin that swapped them. Future CFC headlines:
"What did Satan get you for Christmas?"
"Do you believe in the devil/Santa?"
"How old were you when you realized Satan wasn't real?"
"Thoughts on Santaists"
"Did you get your kids' picture taken with Satan?"
What does dethaw mean?
What's the word for "cannot catch on fire"? Good question. "Fireproof", I suppose, but "inflammable" would make sense. Or maybe "imflammable" or "unflammable".
Another one is "prosecuted" and "persecuted". The first means "charged with something in a court of law", and the second means "prejudiced against". They're both things that you don't want to happen to you, and you could be persecuted by means of being (unjustly) prosecuted. So they're confusing... but not quite interchangeable.
"Proscribe" is a weird one, since it's pretty rare. IIRC it means "to prohibit", but I don't know why you wouldn't just use "forbidden" or "prohibited" or "verboten".
Thankfully the Java compiler usually catches that typo.
That one could be interesting if you say, had a browser plugin that swapped them. Future CFC headlines:
"What did Satan get you for Christmas?"
"Do you believe in the devil/Santa?"
"How old were you when you realized Satan wasn't real?"
"Thoughts on Santaists"
"Did you get your kids' picture taken with Satan?"
warpus said:
What does dethaw mean?
onejayhawk
Afflicted with reason
Dr. Suess: The tough coughs as he ploughs the dough.
His first wife convinced him to leave graduate school at Oxford to become a cartoonist.
I like to masticate with thespians.
J
His first wife convinced him to leave graduate school at Oxford to become a cartoonist.
I like to masticate with thespians.
J
SamSniped
DJ Goodboye
I don't get words mixed up as much as letter. Words that could have double consonants in multiple places - like recommend (reccomend), disappear (dissapear), and resurrect (ressurect) - always kill me.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
It's the stupidest thing ever, pretty much as stupid as inflammable:
Verb 1. dethaw - become or cause to become soft or liquid; "The sun melted the ice"; "the ice thawed"; "the ice cream melted"; "The heat melted the wax"; "The giant iceberg dissolved over the years during the global warming phase"; "dethaw the meat"
Synonyms: thaw, unfreeze, unthaw, melt, dissolve
Thanks a lot.. whoever's in charge of English
This. Always this.
