#67418
04/27/2002 12:28 AM
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
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
|
|
|
#67419
04/27/2002 12:53 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Here is a URL to Homonym site with a lot that could be borrowed. http://www.cooper.com/alan/homonym.html
|
|
|
#67420
04/27/2002 1:16 AM
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
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
|
|
|
#67421
04/27/2002 1:48 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320 |
How about solecism and solipsism? Totally different roots, but easy to confuse.
|
|
|
#67422
04/27/2002 4:51 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
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!
|
|
|
#67423
04/27/2002 5:23 AM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
|
|
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. 
|
|
|
#67424
04/27/2002 5:46 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
#67425
04/27/2002 12:00 PM
|
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444 |
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!
|
|
|
#67426
04/27/2002 1:12 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
"He has a few ideas" is a gentle understatement meaning "He has several (possibly valuable) ideas".
|
|
|
#67427
04/27/2002 1:51 PM
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
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!
|
|
|
#67428
04/27/2002 3:56 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
excellent vs excrement
stales
|
|
|
#67429
04/27/2002 3:58 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
naturalist vs naturist
stales
|
|
|
#67430
04/27/2002 3:59 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
|
|
|
#67431
04/27/2002 4:07 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Repetition, forgive please.
ferment vs. foment (a quarrel, for instance)
|
|
|
#67432
04/27/2002 11:26 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
WHY there was such a difference in meaning between:
He has few ideas.
and
He has a few ideas.
Mm, I can see the problem explaining that difference in an EFL context! My answer fwiw, Bridget, is that the first version naturally stresses the key word FEW whereas the rhythm of the longer second phrase tends to stress the idEAS - thus the first stresses the lexical item of poverty of ideas, whereas the second stresses the possession of ideas.
I like your old habits btw - exchange them for nun others ;)
|
|
|
#67433
04/28/2002 4:05 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
|
|
|
#67434
04/28/2002 4:39 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
|
|
|
#67435
04/28/2002 11:45 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Well, Stales, I didn't know this one. In checking through numerous references, including a listing of the 1828 MW, it turns out that originally these naturists found all meaning in nature--nature was spirit and provider of all. Then it segued into meaning a person who received health benefits from nature. And now, in the latest edition of AHD, at least, there is only one single meaning and that is the single, bare, wind-whipped, sun-glowing figure of the nudist. The old 1828 meaning has disappeared altogether...
Bare regards,
Wordwrapped
PS: Is there any expression "in his altogether" meaning he's nude? Or have I gotten something mixed up?
|
|
|
#67436
04/29/2002 12:03 AM
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Two words that seem to confuse people in French are:
Podiatre and Pediatre
(podiatrist and pediatrician)
Because both prefexis Pod and Ped CAN refer to feet.
|
|
|
#67437
04/29/2002 12:47 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
#67438
04/29/2002 1:25 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320 |
PS: Is there any expression "in his altogether" meaning he's nude? Or have I gotten something mixed up?
My M-W lists nudity as a definition of altogether.
The phrase, ackchally, is "in the altogether. Makes no difference if it's his or hers.
|
|
|
#67439
04/29/2002 1:39 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477 |
gourmet / gourmand
 I have to admit to botching that one up! Ooops! Although sometimes I *am* a gourmand gourmet! [burp-e]
|
|
|
#67440
04/29/2002 1:41 AM
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
a gourmande gourmet more like Madame Hev
|
|
|
#67441
04/29/2002 5:23 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618 |
Scotch is a drink. A person from Scotland is a Scot.
Jus gis us a cubla more hours and I'll, hic, gis ya the Scotch view.
|
|
|
#67442
04/29/2002 12:33 PM
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
or you could say someone is wearing their birthday suit
funny how these expressions didn't come up when we discussed the differences between naked and nude.. or in the euphamism thread.. quess we don't want to think about it!
|
|
|
#67443
04/29/2002 1:19 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
The difference between r*** and romance is just a question of salesmanship.
|
|
|
#67444
04/29/2002 1:40 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
Cross-threading to lyrics... in the film Hans Christian Andersen (I [heart] Danny Kaye!), the lyrics to The Emperor's New Clothes play on that very theme:
First, when everyone is going along with the emperor:
The King's new clothes are altogether, but altogether, they're altogether,
The most remarkable suit of clothes that I have ever seen!
Then later, after he's been (ahem) exposed:
The King is in the altogether, but altogether, the altogether,
The King he is as naked as the day that he was born
...
It's altogether the very least the King has ever worn!
And back to the topic:
Another one I thought of... sanitorium vs. sanitarium
|
|
|
#67445
04/29/2002 3:05 PM
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
...but all too often are:
wreak/wreck
moot/mute
mitigate/militate
()
|
|
|
#67446
04/29/2002 3:53 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Fiberbabe: I used to work in a TB san.
"Sanitorium" comes from the Latin word "sanare", which means to cure or heal. It took on its special meaning as a place for the treatment of invalids, particularly consumptives, in the late 1800s.
"Sanitarium" comes from the Latin word "sanitas", which means health. Its most common meaning is "health resort." Because of its close etymologic link with the word for "sanity", sanitarium is most easily remembered as the designation for institutions designed to treat mental disorders.
|
|
|
#67447
04/29/2002 3:58 PM
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
bel writes:
Two words that seem to confuse people in French are:
Podiatre and Pediatre
(podiatrist and pediatrician)
We had a case in the UK a short while ago where someone was viciously attacked by self-appointed vigilantes (don't recall if it was fatal - could have been) who thought that a paediatrician was a paedophile.
dxb
|
|
|
#67448
04/29/2002 4:04 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
|
|
|
#67449
04/29/2002 5:18 PM
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 24 |
We once had a receptionist at our office who expressed concern about her pregnant daughter-in-law who was suffering from a "detached placebo."
|
|
|
#67450
04/29/2002 11:01 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872 |
viciously attacked by self-appointed vigilantes (don't recall if it was fatal - could have been) who thought that a paediatrician was a paedophile. - dxb
No wonder dxb, you english keep on confusing your self-appointed vigilantes by putting all those unnecessary 'e',s in your words. Self-appointed vigilantes aren't real smart.
Even here in the educated states some of our best appointed self-appointed vigilantes still think that pedants are pedophiles.
|
|
|
#67451
04/29/2002 11:24 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Please tell me that is an urban legend dxb. I can't imagine anybody was dumb enough to think a paedophile would put up a sign advertising it.
|
|
|
#67452
04/29/2002 11:44 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
#67453
04/30/2002 12:58 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Some of the entries are getting so wild, I'll post an old joke about the guy who asked to be castrated, and the next day learned he should asked to be circumcised.
|
|
|
#67454
04/30/2002 1:02 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
#67455
04/30/2002 4:00 AM
|
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 2
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 2 |
What about thespian and lesbian? In fact, I seem to remember from history class that there was a famous smear campaign in the '30's in which one candidate accused another of being a practicing homo sapiens and having a sister who was a thespian.
Also, as a child I always used to get fetus and thesis confused (What can I say, I grew up in a college town.....)
|
|
|
#67456
04/30/2002 4:05 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
#67457
04/30/2002 5:40 AM
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Um, wasn't the paediatrician in question a woman?
Bingley
Bingley
|
|
|
|
|
