Tag Archives: confusing words

Hanged vs. hung

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

Hang in the present tense is not too difficult to use (except when it comes to idioms). To put simply, hang means “to suspend.” We hang mistletoe and stockings at Christmas. We hang pictures on the wall. We hang (our … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, grammar | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Rain, reign, rein

Posted on May 5, 2012 by

Lesson: learning the difference between rain, reign, and rein Here is another set of words that sound the same, but their different meanings often lead to confusion in written language because they are spelled differently. Let’s look at their definitions … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, grammar, semantics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

-ization station

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

lesson: learning the meaning of the suffix –ization Realization. Industrialization. Immobilization. We use words ending in the suffix -ization so frequently that many native English speakers might not know what –ization even means and how adding it changes the meaning … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, copy editing | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

elicit vs. illicit

Posted on March 30, 2012 by

Lesson: learning the difference between elicit and illicit elicit: to draw forth or bring out —Merriam-Webster illicit: not permitted —Merriam-Webster Here is yet another pair of words that sounds a lot alike but has different meanings. Let’s take a look … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, semantics | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A dis- and a mis-

Posted on March 27, 2012 by

Lesson: learning more about the prefixes mis- and dis- mis-: 1. badly, wrongly; unfavorably; in a suspicious manner 2. bad, wrong 3. opposite or lack of 4. not —Merriam-Webster dis-: 1. do the opposite of; deprive of (a specified quality, … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, semantics | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Allude verses elude

Posted on March 16, 2012 by

allude: to make indirect reference —Merriam-Webster elude: 1) to avoid adroitly; evade 2) to escape the understanding, perception, or grasp of —Merriam-Webster Here are two words that give people troubles. They look similar. They sound similar. But they have very … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, grammar, semantics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Murder, fluther, cluster, and peep: fun collective nouns for animals

Posted on March 2, 2012 by

I learned yesterday from a twitter friend that one of the collective nouns for jellyfish is fluther. Isn’t that a wonderful word? That got me thinking about all of the interesting group names for animals. A wake of buzzards. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Empathy versus sympathy

Posted on February 20, 2012 by

Lesson: learning the difference between empathy and sympathy empathy: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, grammar, semantics | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Confusing words: peek, peak, pique

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

Here’s another set of troublesome words: peek, peak, and pique. To make things more difficult, peek and peak can be both nouns and verbs. (Pique can also be a noun and verb, but since pique as a verb is much … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, grammar | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Business jargon to avoid (so you don’t sound like a douche)

Posted on January 24, 2012 by

There’s English, and then there’s business English—that jumble of jargon and overly complicated words that serve no purpose other than to confuse your corporate minions. Last week we discussed utilize, which is a fancy and pointless way to say use—excuse … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, semantics | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments