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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Don't know whether this will fly, but it might be fun to develop a list of words not to be confused. Not malapropisms, though they could be fun, too, but those words that are similar in appearance and different in meaning.
OK. Confused? I'll offer a few sets and see whether y'all can offer some more.
astronomy v. astrology
cosmologist v. cosmetologist
(and, of course) cosmology v. cosmetology
Now I'm not saying that any of us would get these confused, but it's fun to imagine situations in which people have misused one for the other.
Need to get to sleep now to awaken to a very bored reading of a book about brain studies for a class I'm taking.
Brief rest,
Wordwaning
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Good list, Bill, but I was thinking not so much of homonyms, but words that are almost homonyms, but not quite. Words that are definitely pronounced differently and spelled differently, but close enough--say, first cousins once or twice removed in the Homosimilar Family--for the less astute student of language to misuse.
Oh, I just thought of two that get misused all the time:
to hone v. to home in on
I hear "to hone in on" all the time.
Bone sore, That French is just for you, wwh!
Wordwasted
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Joined: Jan 2002
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Posts: 320 |
How about solecism and solipsism? Totally different roots, but easy to confuse.
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Joined: Mar 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
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I remember reading a big article years ago about people whose surnames are
Montgomery and Armstrong
having these two names confused for the other continually, though I don't remember why. I guess we need a Scotch view on this one...Jo?
The Only WO'N!
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
The funniest word confusion I can recall had to do with someone asking a TV news writer if he wrote about the entire speculum (instead of spectrum) of news stories, or just certain types. The mostly female audience roared with laughter - after the cold chills subsided. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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addict
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addict
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for the less astute student of language to misuse.almost completely irrelevant (ah, how quickly I fall into my old habits...) but I was once asked to explain to non-native English speakers WHY there was such a difference in meaning between: He has few ideas. and He has a few ideas.  Help!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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"He has a few ideas" is a gentle understatement meaning "He has several (possibly valuable) ideas".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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A word not to be confused itself. To quote Sean Connery in The Presidio: "Scotch is a drink. A person from Scotland is a Scot."Oops, I know that...'twas late. Certainly, and unabashedly, I stand corrected: ...a Scot's view...sorry, Jo!  The Only WO'N!
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