# Educate Your Fellow Dopers: Explain Words That Are Easily Confused **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 27, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367 "2014-05-27T13:34:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/41 "2014-05-28T00:37:03Z")
On a more local level, if you’re tempted to ask “How’s it like to be back in the states?” “The States”: All 50 United States, which includes the State of Hawaii. “The Mainland”: The 49 states outside of Hawaii, those on the North American mainland. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/42 "2014-05-28T00:39:44Z")
One more fun one I learned last summer, more a genuine confusion over a snarky one: Stalactites have to hang on _tight_ Stalagmites _might_ reach the top ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/43 "2014-05-28T00:42:42Z")
Comestible: Edible Combustible: My wife’s cooking ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/44 "2014-05-28T00:50:33Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > **Cleave** - To cling to > **Cleave** - To break from > > 😉 I suppose there’s also: **splice** : to join together **splice** : to break apart ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/45 "2014-05-28T00:53:15Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > **NO**. Both injuries and fatalities are [casualties](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/casualty). That’s one I find very aggravating because misusing that can completely change the meaning of a casualty count. I was trying to be brief, but you are right, and I knew that. However, I stand by my original statement that “casualty” is a very different thing from “casualness.” If death vs. injury irritates you, wait until you hear someone talk about “someone’s casualty,” to mean their laid-back attitude. While I’m posting, the threshold/tolerance comment on how educated people confuse them reminded me of this one: “negative reinforcement.” I know so many people, in the field of education, who should have studied learning theory, and therefore, ought to know about operant conditioning, misuse this term to mean “positively reinforcing undesirable (aka, ‘negative’) behaviors.” “Negative reinforcement” is removing a noxious stimulus, or setting up a situation where the desired behavior itself allows a noxious stimulus to be avoided. Actively introducing one as a consequence for not producing desired behavior, or producing an undesired one is punishment. Giving something desirable a a reward for producing a desired behavior is “positive reinforcement.” ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/46 "2014-05-28T01:04:03Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > Principal: leader of a school or as an adjective to describe something as primary > Principle: a belief or code Oh good lord, this. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/47 "2014-05-28T01:12:13Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > **New England** = the totality of six states - Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. It is no more and no less than that and never has been. No part of New York state is part of New England nor is any other U.S. state or Canadian province even though parts of some of them may share some characteristics with it. On that note: New York City: Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx & Brooklyn. New York County: Manhattan. New York Greater Metropolitan Area: New York City, Westchester County, Long Island, and the parts of New Jersey and Connecticut served by the New York Metropolitan transportation authority. New York State is the State of New York. Capital is Albany. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/48 "2014-05-28T01:24:45Z")
Continual: without end; goes on forever. May have interruptions, but always starts up again. Continuous: without interruption; may or may not go on forever, but doesn’t break while it’s happening ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/49 "2014-05-28T02:07:53Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > **Enormity** can also be a noun referring to the scale or size of a perceived bad thing. So I can see the confusion. Well, no, although “enormity” is commonly _used_ these days as a noun meaning “hugeness”, a stickler or even a mild prescriptivist (of the sort this thread is for and by) would say that that is an error. The noun formed from “enormous” is “enormousness”. You could (though you probably ought not to) talk about the enormousness of an enormity, but not the enormity of an enormity. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/50 "2014-05-28T02:07:58Z")
Indianapolis 500: a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, IN: the town in which the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is located Indianapolis: the city surrounding Speedway, IN ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/51 "2014-05-28T02:08:39Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Continual: without end; goes on forever. May have interruptions, but always starts up again. > Continuous: without interruption; may or may not go on forever, but doesn’t break while it’s happening There’s a way to express this in American Sign Language that is very clean-cut. I have discovered how many hearing native English speakers don’t know the difference by the fact that they fail to grasp the meanings of the signs, even though they follow a pattern, and have analogies in other ASL verbs. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/52 "2014-05-28T02:10:36Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > > > **Torturous** : in the manner of torture. > > **Tortuous** : twisting and winding. > > And a third one: > **Tortious** : having the nature of a [civil tort](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tort). E.g. “His acts in restraint of trade are so tortious!” **Tortoise** : a land-dwelling shelled reptile. **Taught us** : gave us instruction. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/53 "2014-05-28T02:25:04Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Indianapolis 500: a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway > Speedway, IN: the town in which the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is located > Indianapolis: the city surrounding Speedway, IN Technically, Speedway is more of a suburb; it was a water and utility district created because the city couldn’t handle the occasional huge demands presented by the race track. I think Victory Field, where the local minor league team plays, is powered by Speedway as well, even though it’s just outside of Speedway. Speedway is South of 25th street (we live about a mile North of it). If you address something on the part of Lynhurst Rd. that runs through Speedway as “2525 Lynhurst Rd., Indianapolis, IN,” it will get there. For that matter, if you addressed something on 34th St. served by the Speedway post office, but not technically in Speedway, as “Speedway,” and not Indianapolis, all that matters is that you get the Zip code right. Speedway doesn’t have its own police force, and the voting districts are drawn without regard to the limits of Speedway. People and businesses located there have a different local tax code than the one for Indianapolis, but that’s because they have different utilities. It’s true that Speedway is in the center if Indy, not the edge, which people find confusing, but it was worse when there were brown-outs because the race track drew so much power on Indy 500 day. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b782af/32.png) [@Why\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_Child)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/54 "2014-05-28T02:52:25Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > **Nude** : Without clothing, in a situation where the absence of clothing is natural and expected. “Carmella posed for a nude portrait.” > **Naked** : Without clothing, in a situation where the absence of clothing is unexpected. “That family lets their kids run around naked in the front yard!”\ I see the difference in the art usage, but I think “naked” can encompass times when it _is_ expected to be unclothed. I had a faulty smoke detector, (the contacts were set too close together,) and every time I took a shower, the humidity in the air would set it off. When I told my friends the story, “There I was, dripping wet, soap in my eyes, totally naked, and my apartment is on FIRE!!” :eek: Also, I did not go home from a date with my boyfriend and “get nude,” we “got naked!” I don’t know… maybe “naked” is also used for shock value? > [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > \ > I’ve seen people accidentally mix them up and post things like, “When camping, it’s better to bring food then resort to cannibalism.”\ **Hilarious** , I love that!! 🆒 I explain it to the people that need to know as: Use “th **E** n” to tell wh **E** n, a tim **E**. Use “th **A** n” to comp **A** re and contr **A** st. Perhaps they only learn it to shut me up, but they learn it!! 😃 > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Not to mention “loose” and “lose.” Ok, it’s not legal in my state yet, but I’ll admit I smoke a little weed upon occasion. Less now than what I did years ago. The ONLY time I was driven to perform an act of graffiti, I was in a fitting room, and someone had written, “Druggies are loosers!” on the wall. It made me SO mad, I whipped a pen out of my purse, and responded with, “Maybe… but at least we can spell!” 😃 > [@HubZilla](#): > > One more fun one I learned last summer, more a genuine confusion over a snarky one: > > Stalactites have to hang on _tight_ > Stalagmites _might_ reach the top The way I learned it was “Stala **C** tites hang from the **C** eiling, and stala **G** mites grow from the **G** round.” For my own contribution to the thread, I hate **Wendsday**!! I accept the pronunciation, but must it be spelled that way?! NO!! Also, \*\*irregardless \*\*of what you may think, **unthaw** is not a word. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/55 "2014-05-28T03:14:23Z")
**Rain** is water that falls from the sky **Rein** is a line, cord, or strap used for steering a horse **Reign** refers to royalty’s rule over a group or time period. Thus: Raining cats and dogs Rein in your ambitions, or give them free rein and go nuts Reign of terror, or reign over me ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/56 "2014-05-28T03:19:23Z")
> [@Why\_Child](#): > > Ok, it’s not legal in my state yet, but I’ll admit I smoke a little weed upon occasion. Less now than what I did years ago. The ONLY time I was driven to perform an act of graffiti, I was in a fitting room, and someone had written, “Druggies are loosers!” on the wall. It made me SO mad, I whipped a pen out of my purse, and responded with, “Maybe… but at least we can spell!” 😃 I saw some bathroom graffiti where someone had written “Jesus is my savoir!” Someone replied “He’s certainly not your spelling teacher.” I added “Maybe he’s her French teacher, and she’s one of those gnostics we’ve been warned about.” It was the best I could do in a pinch. And I was only 16. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/57 "2014-05-28T03:34:10Z")
Oh, maybe a little OT, but… Sign language: any of the manual languages used by Deaf people. American Sign Language: Sign Language used in the US and Canada, some schools in Mexico, and the foundational language of many sign languages around the world due to the efforts of an American Deaf educator working in the Peace Corps to bring organized Deaf education to other countries. ASL is similar to French Sign Language, and French and US signers are mutually intelligible, with patience, because the first teacher in the US who was himself Deaf was French, and was brought here specifically to teach his methods to Americans interested in educating Deaf children. The children came from all over the US, and brought many different Old American Signs and home signs, which were combined with the French sign of their teachers to create Original American Sign Language. ASL has its own grammar and syntax, and is not a manual representation of English. Signed Exact English: a system for representing English manually, that borrows heavily from ASL. It is one of several, and the most common. It is used educationally, and not as anyone’s daily language, except by some young children whose parents demand that they use it. British Sign Language: the sign language of the UK and some of the former colonies. It is completely unrelated to American Sign Language, and BSE & ASL are not at all mutually intelligible. Universal Sign Language: doesn’t exist. (Although, I think someone did try to make the Esperanto of sign languages, but it never caught on.) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/58 "2014-05-28T05:33:13Z")
flaunt: to display ostentatiously or impudently flout: to treat with contemptuous disregard Hang: to fasten to some elevated point without support from below (synonym: suspend). Past tense: They hung the stockings by the chimney with care. Past participle: The stockings were hung by the chimney with care. Hang: to suspend by the neck until dead. Past tense: They hanged the horse thief. Past participle: The horse thief was hanged. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/59 "2014-05-28T05:40:19Z")
\*\*Horde \*\*: a whole lot of dudes. Generally bent on pillaging, raping, looting, thieving, murdering and raping. \*\*Hoard \*\*: a pile of loot, amassed over a long period of time. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/60 "2014-05-28T05:44:13Z")
Also : **cache** , pronounced “kash” : a hidden stockpile of stuff, prepared for future use **cachet** , pronounced “kashey” : prestige, class. Also a seal (the ring/stamp thing, not the pinniped) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367.md?page=4)