The Right Word
Passed / Past–“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! The simple solution to this problem pair is a little bit of grammar. I saw that eye roll, but, I promise—this is easy. Passed is a verb. It’s the past tense
Horde / Hoard –“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Beware the thundering hordes who hoard like hoarders and have hordes of children who have been horded into summer camps so that hordes of parents are free to manage the hoarding
Dissemble / Disassemble–“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! When you put something together, you assemble it—like a jigsaw puzzle or a Lego kit or a roomful of IKEA furniture. But when it’s time to take it apart and move
Bazaar / Bizarre –“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Another favorite! I discovered long ago that many people have no idea that these are two separate words. It seems that they just latch on to one spelling or the other
Anecdote / Antidote–“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! This is one of my favorites because it sounds so silly when people get it wrong! These two words have nothing to do with each other—except that they share a first
Compliment / Complement–“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Many student writers I know use these words interchangeably and are shocked to learn that there is any difference whatsoever between them. Then they get mad that there is yet one
Lose / Loose–“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Lose /Loose This is a tough one. Writers get this wrong all the time. One o or two? Let’s decide once and for all. To lose means to not win. The
Uninterested / Disinterested: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Uninterested / Disinterested We’d be hard-pressed to find two other words that look so much alike and still are so very different. Writers often use them interchangeably which is trouble. So
Have / Of: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Have / Of What trouble could these simplest of words cause? As it turns out, plenty. This mistake gives me a major headache, so I’m on a campaign to eradicate it
Less / Fewer: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Less / Fewer Can you count it? Can you know that there are fifteen cats at the rescue and only four gerbils? Than you know that there are fewer gerbils than