Lexical Vexations
There are some English words that seem to have been designed just to vex us. These are words that sound similar and often look similar to one another. Sometimes these words have closely related but different meanings and other times their meanings are worlds apart.
I’ve created these Lexical Vexation entries to help you tease apart these tricky sets of words so you can use them with confidence.
Is there a lexical vexation troubling you that you don’t see here? Please feel free to let me know and I’ll create an entry for it.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so happy to hear you found the list helpful. And the very next Lexical Vexation I post will be Coarse vs. Course. Thanks for the suggestion!
What a great list! I found you during a search for Medal vs. Meddle vs. Metal vs. Mettle with my third grader. The Words in the Wild bit was exactly what he needed to crystalize the concept, being a 9 year old boy with a younger sister.
Even as a stay at home mom literally decades past any classroom grammar education, I’m startled to see the errors I see in print and I’m surely not an expert.
Of course you could add coarse to your list as well. ;o)
Thanks for the great suggestions, Kevin. I’ve added Principal vs. Principle, which you can find at http://the-word-blog.com/2012/09/09/principal-vs-principle/, and I’m sure I’ll add your other suggestions down the line. I’ve fixed the broken link to Mantle vs. Mantle, too – thanks for letting me know it was down!
Argh! In trying to undo the change of its to it’s on my iPod, I hit the Publish button before I was finished!
Also, the mantel vs. mantle link is broken.
What about counsellor vs councilor? Principle vs principal? Capital vs Capitol? Just a few more that come to mind. But thanks fore this grate list. It gives me piece of mind that their our websights witch insure that kids are taut to wright they’re words rite!
A couple more thoughts: I think the its vs. it’s issue is almost dead. “It’s” as a possessive form is so pervasive in newspapers and even books that it seems to have just become accepted. For instance, the iPod I am typing on always tries to change. Its
A couple more thoughts: I do think that its vs it’s is a lost cause.
I’m so glad to hear you like these, Colette. You can now find Wait vs. Weight at http://the-word-blog.com/2012/06/16/wait-vs-weight/. Thanks for the suggestion!
Thanks for the vexations! I love this list. Got one today from the boss: Wait vs. Weight. Thanks for the list!
I’m glad your hear you like the blog, Lee. And thanks for your post suggestion – that vexing trio of words most definitely deserves a entry! You can find my post on their vs. there vs. they’re at http://the-word-blog.com/2012/04/29/their-vs-there-vs-theyre/.
Stumbled across this page and LOVE it! I did note that “their,” “there,” and “they’re” are missing. That one drives me nuts, and lately I’ve been seeing a lot of folks inserting apostrophes to somehow make a noun plural (WTH is up with THAT?).
Hi Susan,
Thanks for the terrific suggestion. Its and it’s are a dreadfully vexatious pair. I’ve added this vexation to the blog, and you can now find it at http://the-word-blog.com/2012/01/21/its-vs-its/.
And apologies for my tardy response…all I can say is it’s been a zany couple of months in these parts!
All the best,
Heather
You’ve gotta add its vs it’s. People think it is it’s (something that belongs to it) because the ‘ denotes the possessive … but it is not – it’s is only used for contraction of it is. Its is something belonging to it, just like his and hers, it’s its.
Good one, Heidi. Thanks for the suggestion. You can now find my entry for Role vs. Roll here: http://the-word-blog.com/2011/10/10/role-vs-roll/
Role vs. roll? This one drives me nuts when I see it…
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the suggestion. Discreet vs. Discreet is a good one – I often see these two words confused. I actually did this vexation a little while back, but somehow forgot to add it to the list above. I’ll add it there next, but in the meantime you can find it at this link: http://the-word-blog.com/2009/12/29/discreet-vs-discrete/.
Thanks for reading,
Heather
How about discreet vs discrete?
That’s a great lexical vexation, Elaine. I’ve added an entry for Than vs. Then, which you can find at http://the-word-blog.com/2010/11/01/than-vs-then.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Heather
Please add “Then vs Than”
Then refers to a time element; Than is used in a comparative sense.
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