Confusable words : Part 2

11) ANXIOUS/EAGER

Most people use "anxious" interchangeably with "eager," but its original meaning had to do
with worrying, being full of anxiety. Perfectly correct phrases like, "anxious to please"
obscure the nervous tension implicit in this word and lead people to say less correct things
like "I'm anxious for Christmas morning to come so I can open my presents." Traditionalists
frown on anxiety-free anxiousness. Say instead you are eager for or looking forward to a
happy event.

12) APPRAISE/APPRISE
When you estimate the value of something, you appraise it. When you inform people of a
situation, you apprise them of it.

13)ASOCIAL/ANTISOCIAL
Someone who doesn't enjoy socializing at parties might be described as either "asocial" or
"antisocial"; but "asocial" is too mild a term to describe someone who commits an antisocial
act like planting a bomb. "Asocial" suggests indifference to or separation from society,
whereas "anti-social" more often suggests active hostility toward society.

14)ASSURE/ENSURE/INSURE
To "assure" a person of something is to make him or her confident of it. According to
Associated Press style, to "ensure" that something happens is to make certain that it does,
and to "insure" is to issue an insurance policy. Other authorities, however, consider "ensure"
and "insure" interchangeable. To please conservatives, make the distinction. However, it is
worth noting that in older usage these spellings were not clearly distinguished.
European "life assurance" companies take the position that all policy-holders are mortal and
someone will definitely collect, thus assuring heirs of some income. American companies
tend to go with "insurance" for coverage of life as well as of fire, theft, etc.

15)AURAL/ORAL
"Aural" has to do with things you hear, "oral" with things you say, or relating to your mouth.

16)AVENGE/REVENGE
When you try to get vengeance for people who've been wronged, you want to avenge them.
You can also avenge a wrong itself: "He avenged the murder by taking vengeance on the
killer." Substituting "revenge" for "avenge" in such contexts is very common, but frowned on
by some people. They feel that if you seek revenge in the pursuit of justice you want to
avenge wrongs; not revenge them.

17)AVOCATION/VOCATION
Your avocation is just your hobby; don't mix it up with your job: your vocation.

18)AWHILE/A WHILE
When "awhile" is spelled as a single word, it is an adverb meaning "for a time" ("stay awhile");
but when "while" is the object of a prepositional phrase, like "Lend me your monkey wrench
for a while" the "while" must be separated from the "a." (But if the preposition "for" were
lacking in this sentence, "awhile" could be used in this way: "Lend me your monkey wrench
awhile.")

19)BACKWARD/BACKWARDS
As an adverb, either word will do: "put the shirt on backward" or "put the shirt on
backwards." However, as an adjective, only "backward" will do: "a backward glance." When
in doubt, use "backward."

20)BEMUSE/AMUSE
When you bemuse someone, you confuse them, and not necessarily in an entertaining way.
Don't confuse this word with "amuse."

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SC - Confusable words Part-3

21) BENEFACTOR/BENEFICIARY

Benefactors give benefits; beneficiaries receive them. We expect to hear of generous
benefactors and grateful beneficiaries.

22) BESIDE/BESIDES
"Besides" can mean "in addition to" as in "besides the puppy chow, Spot scarfed up the filet
mignon I was going to serve for dinner." "Beside," in contrast, usually means "next to." "I sat
beside Cheryl all evening, but she kept talking to Jerry instead." Using "beside" for "besides,"
won't usually get you in trouble; but using "besides" when you mean "next to" will.

23) COMPLEMENT/COMPLIMENT
"compliment": nice things said about someone ("She paid me the compliment of admiring
the way I shined my shoes."). "Complement," much less common, has a number of meanings
associated with matching or completing. Complements supplement each other, each adding
something the others lack, so we can say that "Alice's love for entertaining and Mike's love
for washing dishes complement each other." Remember, if you're not making nice to
someone, the word is "complement."

24) CONSCIENCE, CONSCIOUS, CONSCIOUSNESS
Your conscience makes you feel guilty when you do bad things, but your consciousness is
your awareness. If you are awake, you are conscious. Although it is possible to speak of your
"conscious mind," you can't use "conscious" all by itself to mean "consciousness."

25) COUNCIL/COUNSEL/CONSUL
The first two words are pronounced the same but have distinct meanings. An official group
that deliberates, like the Council on Foreign Relations, is a "council"; all the rest are
"counsels": your lawyer, advice, etc. A consul is a local representative of a foreign
government.

26) CREDIBLE/CREDULOUS
"Credible" means "believable" or "trustworthy." It is also used in a more abstract sense,
meaning something like "worthy": "She made a credible lyric soprano." Don't confuse
"credible" with "credulous," a much rarer word which means "gullible." "He was
incredulous" means "he didn't believe it" whereas "he was incredible" means "he was
wonderful" (but use the latter expression only in casual speech).

27) CREVICE/CREVASSE
Crevices are by definition tiny, like that little crevice between your teeth where the popcorn
hulls always get caught. A huge crack in a glacier is given the French spelling: crevasse.

28) CURRANT/CURRENT
"Current" is an adjective having to do with the present time, and can also be a noun naming
a thing that, like time, flows: electrical current, currents of public opinion. "Currant" refers
only to little fruits.

29) DEFUSE/DIFFUSE
You defuse a dangerous situation by treating it like a bomb and removing its fuse; to diffuse,
in contrast, is to spread something out: "Bob's cheap cologne diffused throughout the room,
wrecking the wine-tasting."

30) DEPRECIATE/DEPRECATE
To depreciate something is to actually make it worse, whereas to deprecate something is
simply to speak or think of it in a manner that demonstrates your low opinion of it. People
who make unflattering jokes or comments about themselves are self-deprecating.
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SC - Confusable words Part-4

31) DEVICE/DEVISE
"Device" is a noun. A can-opener is a device. "Devise" is a verb. You can devise a plan for
opening a can with a sharp rock instead. Only in law is "devise" properly used as a noun,
meaning something deeded in a will.

32) DIFFER/VARY
"Vary" can mean "differ," but saying "our opinions vary" makes it sound as if they were
changing all the time when what you really mean is "our opinions differ." Pay attention to
context when choosing one of these words.

33) DISSEMBLE/DISASSEMBLE
People who dissemble are being dishonest, trying to hide what they are really up to. This is
an uncommon word, often misused when "disassemble" is meant. People who disassemble
something take it apart--they are doing the opposite of assembling it.

34) EMIGRATE/IMMIGRATE
To "emigrate" is to leave a country. The E at the beginning of the word is related to the E in
other words having to do with going out, such as "exit." "Immigrate," in contrast, looks as if it
might have something to do with going in, and indeed it does: it means to move into a new
country. The same distinction applies to "emigration" and "immigration." Note the double M
in the second form. A migrant is someone who continually moves about.

35) EMINENT/IMMINENT/IMMANENT
By far the most common of these words is "eminent," meaning "prominent, famous."
"Imminent," in phrases like "facing imminent disaster," means "threatening." It comes from
Latin minere, meaning "to project or overhang." Think of a mine threatening to cave in.
Positive events can also be imminent: they just need to be coming soon. The rarest of the
three is "immanent," used by philosophers to mean "inherent" and by theologians to mean
"present throughout the universe" when referring to God. It comes from Latin "manere,"
"remain." Think of God creating "man" in his own image.
When a government exercises its power over private property it is drawing on its eminent
status in society, so the proper legal phrase is "eminent domain."
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SC - Confusable words Part-6

ENVELOP/ENVELOPE
To wrap something up in a covering is to envelop it (pronounced "enVELLup"). The specific
wrapping you put around a letter is an envelope (pronounced variously, but with the accent
on the first syllable).

ENVIOUS/JEALOUS
Although these are often treated as synonyms, there is a difference. You are envious of what
others have that you lack. Jealousy, on the other hand, involves wanting to hold on to what
you do have. You can be jealous of your boyfriend's attraction to other women, but you're
envious of your boyfriend's CD collection.

EPIC/EPOCH
An "epoch" is a long period of time, like the Pleistocene Epoch. It often gets mixed up with
"epic" in the sense of "large-scale." Something really big has "epic proportions," not "epoch
proportions."

EPIGRAM/EPIGRAPH/EPITAPH/EPITHET
An epigram is a pithy saying, usually humorous. Mark Twain was responsible for many
striking, mostly cynical epigrams, such as "Always do right. That will gratify some of the
people, and astonish the rest."

Unfortunately, he was also responsible for an even more famous one that has been
confusing people ever since: "Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never
shows to anybody." it's true that the moon keeps one side away from the earth, but--if you
don't count the faint glow reflected from the earth--it is not any darker than the side that
faces us. In fact, over time, the side facing us is darkened slightly more often because it is
occasionally eclipsed by the shadow of the earth.

An epigraph is a brief quotation used to introduce a piece of writing or the inscription on a
statue or building.

An epitaph is an inscription on a tombstone or some other tribute to a dead person.
In literature, an epithet is a term that replaces or is added to the name of a person, like
"clear-eyed Athena," in which "clear-eyed" is the epithet. You are more likely to encounter
the term in its negative sense, as a term of insult or abuse: "the shoplifter hurled epithets at
the guard who had arrested her."

EPITOMY/EPITOME
Nothing makes you look quite so foolish as spelling a sophisticated word incorrectly. Taken
directly from Latin, where it means "abridgment," "epitome" is now most often used to
designate an extremely representative example of the general class: "Snow White is the
epitome of a Disney cartoon feature." Those who don't misspell this word often
mispronounce it, misled by its spelling, as "EP-i-tohm," but the proper pronunciation is "ee-
PIT-o-mee." The word means "essence," not "climax," so instead of writing "the market had
reached the epitome of frenzied selling at noon," use "peak" or a similar word.
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SC - Confusable words Part-8

FEARFUL/FEARSOME
To be "fearful" is to be afraid. To be "fearsome" is to cause fear in others. Remember that
someone who is fierce is fearsome rather than fearful.

FEINT/FAINT
A feint, whether in chess or on the battlefield, is a maneuver designed to divert the
opponent's attention from the real center of attack. A feint is a daring move. Do not use this
very specialized word in the expression "faint of heart" (or "faint at heart"), which implies
timidity.

FIANCE/FIANCEE
Your fiance is the man you plan to marry; your fiancee is the woman you plan to marry.

FINE TOOTHCOMB/FINE-TOOTH COMB
Brush your teeth, but don't comb them. Although the spelling "fine toothcomb" is common
enough to be listed as a variant in dictionaries, it looks pretty silly to people who prefer the
traditional expression used to describe examining a territory or subject minutely: going over
it with a "fine-tooth comb"--a comb with fine teeth. Some people prefer "fine-toothed comb."

FIREY/FIERY
it's "fire," so why isn't it "firey"? If you listen closely, you hear that "fire" has two distinct
vowel sounds in it: "fi-er." Spelling the adjective "fiery" helps to preserve that double sound.
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SC - Confusable words Part-9

FLOUNDER/FOUNDER
As a verb, "founder" means "to fill with water and sink." It is also used metaphorically of
various kinds of equally catastrophic failures.
In contrast, to flounder is to thrash about in the water (like a flounder), struggling to stay
alive. "Flounder" is also often used metaphorically to indicate various sorts of desperate
struggle. If you're sunk, you've foundered. If you're still struggling, you're floundering.

FOR SALE/ON SALE
If you're selling something, it's for sale; but if you lower the price, it goes on sale.

FOR SELL/FOR SALE
If you have things to sell, they are for sale. Nothing is ever "for sell."

FOR SURE/SURE
In casual speech, when you agree with somebody's statement, you may say "for sure." Your
date says "That was outstanding tiramisu." and you, wanting to show your how in tune you
are, reply "For sure!" You can also use the phrase to mean "for certain," as in "I couldn't tell
for sure that the bench was wet until I sat on it."
But people often substitute this phrase when they should use plain old "sure," as in "I
couldn't be for sure." That should be "I couldn't be sure."

FOREGO/FORGO
The E in "forego" tells you it has to do with going before. It occurs mainly in the expression
"foregone conclusion," a conclusion arrived at in advance. "Forgo" means to abstain from or
do without. "After finishing his steak, he decided to forgo the blueberry cheesecake."
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SC - Confusable words Part-11

FULSOME
Because its most common use is in the phrase "fulsome praise," many people suppose that
this word means something like "generous" or "whole-hearted." Actually, it means
"disgusting," and "fulsome praise" is disgustingly exaggerated praise.

GAFF/GAFFE
"Gaffe" is a French word meaning "embarrassing mistake," and should not be mixed up with
"gaff": a large hook.

GAMUT/GAUNTLET
To "run a gamut" is to go through the whole scale or spectrum of something. To "run the
gauntlet" (also gantlet) is to run between two lines of people who are trying to beat you. And
don't confuse "gamut" with "gambit," a play in chess, and by extension, a tricky maneuver of
any kind.

GANDER/DANDER
When you get really angry you "get your dander up." The derivation of "dander" in this
expression is uncertain, but you can't replace it with "dandruff" or "gander." The only way to
get a gander up is to awaken a male goose.

GIBE/JIBE/JIVE
"Gibe" is a now rare term meaning "to tease." "Jibe" means "to agree," but is usually used
negatively, as in "the alibis of the two crooks didn't jibe." The latter word is often confused
with "jive," which derives from slang which originally meant to treat in a jazzy manner
("Jivin' the Blues Away") but also came to be associated with deception ("Don't give me any
of that jive").
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SC - Confusable words Part-13

HAIRBRAINED/HAREBRAINED
Although "hairbrained" is common, the original word "harebrained," means "silly as a hare"
(the little rabbit-like creature) and is preferred in writing.

HANGED/HUNG
Originally these words were pretty much interchangeable, but "hanged" eventually came to
be used pretty exclusively to mean "executed by hanging." Does nervousness about the
existence of an indelicate adjectival form of the word prompt people to avoid the correct
word in such sentences as "Lady Wrothley saw to it that her ancestors' portraits were
properly hung"? Nevertheless, "hung" is correct except when capital punishment is being
imposed or someone commits suicide.

HARD/HARDLY
Everybody knows "hard" as an adjective: "Starfleet requires a hard entrance exam." The
problem arises when people needing an adverb try to use the familiar pattern of adding -ly to
create one, writing things like "we worked hardly at completing the test." The adverbial form
of this word is in fact the same as the adjectival form: "hard." So it should be "we worked
hard at completing the test."
In American English "hardly" always means something like "scarcely," as in "we hardly
worked on the test." In British English the word "hardly" is sometimes used to mean "severely,
harshly," as in "Trevor felt himself to have been used hardly [badly treated] by the executive
committee"; but this pattern is unfamiliar to most American readers.

HARDY/HEARTY
These two words overlap somewhat, but usually the word you want is "hearty." The standard
expressions are "a hearty appetite," "a hearty meal," a "hearty handshake," "a hearty
welcome," and "hearty applause."
Something difficult to kill is described as a "hardy perennial," but should not be substituted
for "hearty" in the other expressions. "Party hearty" and "party hardy" are both common
renderings of a common youth saying, but the first makes more sense.
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SC - Confusable words Part-15

HEAVILY/STRONGLY
"Heavily" is not an all-purpose synonym for "strongly." It should be reserved for expressions
in which literal or metaphorical weight or density is implied, like "heavily underlined,"
"heavily influenced," "heavily armed," or "heavily traveled." Not standard are expressions like
"heavily admired" or "heavily characteristic of." People sometimes use "heavily" when they
mean "heartily," as in "heavily praised."

HENCE WHY/HENCE
Shakespeare and the Bible keep alive one meaning of the old word "hence": "away from
here" ("get thee hence"). There's no need to add "from" to the word, though you often see
"from hence" in pretentious writing, and it's not likely to bother many readers.
But another sense of the word "hence" ("therefore") causes more trouble because writers
often add "why" to it: "I got tired of mowing the lawn, hence why I bought the goat." "Hence"
and "why" serve the same function in a sentence like this; use just one or the other, not both:
"hence I bought the goat" or "that's why I bought the goat."

HERBS/SPICES
People not seriously into cooking often mix up herbs and spices. Generally, flavorings made
up of stems, leaves, and flowers are herbs; and those made of bark, roots, and seeds and
dried buds are spices. However saffron, made of flower stamens, is a spice. The British
pronounce the H in "herb" but Americans follow the French in dropping it.

HEROIN/HEROINE
Heroin is a highly addictive opium derivative; the main female character in a narrative is a
heroine.
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SC - Confusable words Part-17

HOW TO/HOW CAN I
You can ask someone how to publish a novel; but when you do, don't write "How to publish
a novel?" Instead ask "How can I publish a novel?" or "How does someone publish a novel?"
If you're in luck, the person you've asked will tell you how to do it. "How to" belongs in
statements, not questions.

HYPOCRITICAL
"Hypocritical" has a narrow, very specific meaning. It describes behavior or speech that is
intended to make one look better or more pious than one really is. It is often wrongly used to
label people who are merely narrow-minded or genuinely pious. Do not confuse this word
with "hypercritical," which describes people who are picky.

HYSTERICAL/HILARIOUS
People say of a bit of humor or a comical situation that it was "hysterical"--shorthand for
"hysterically funny"--meaning "hilarious." But when you speak of a man being "hysterical" it
means he is having a fit of hysteria, and that may not be funny at all.

I/ME/MYSELF
In the old days when people studied traditional grammar, we could simply say, "The first
person singular pronoun is "I" when it's a subject and "me" when it's an object," but now few
people know what that means.
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