# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/101 "2014-05-29T00:09:19Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > 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. **Temporal distinctions** **Sometimes:** Occasionally or infrequently but repeatably, with a frequency pattern that is not predictable (or the speaker has not bothered to analyze/predict it. _Sometimes I sneeze and see rainbows._ **Some time:** At any time, the exact specifics of which are unimportant for this conversation. _Feel free to come by for coffee some time._ **Sometime:** Non-grammatical poor substitute for either of the above. Either append the S or insert a space, but clarify your intended meaning. **Anytime** (future): In all instances. _Anytime at all, a ya gotta do is call. And I’ll be there._ [See also Every Time, below.] **Any time** (past): Corresponding to each occurrence. _Any time we ran that light, we got ticketed by Sheriff Wickerton._ \*\*Any time \*\*(future): At some unspecified non-restricted time (usually the future). _Feel free to drop by any time._ \*\*(At) Any time \*\*(past): [Less frequently used for the past.] At some unknown time. _I could have shot you at any time, but I decided to be nice._ **Every time:** Corresponding to each occurrence (c.f. Any time). _Every time I think of you my heart starts pounding faster._ **Everytime:** non-grammatical poor substitute for the above phrases. —G! And, y’know, rowrrbazzle, maybe that horse thief was hung – but we’ll feel free to flout that fact since he’s dead now.😃 ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/102 "2014-05-29T00:36:21Z")
> [@cococ173](#): > > Lend is a verb. Loan is a noun. You lend someone money. That money is a loan. [I disagree](http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/loan-is-a-verb/) ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/103 "2014-05-29T03:38:31Z")
Tax **return** : The form you fill out in order to calculate your taxes. Tax **refund** : The money you get back if you paid in too much. Yes, it is being returned to you, but it is not your “tax return.” See above. If I see one more person talking about how they will spend their tax return, I may have to cut a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![cococ173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@cococ173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cococ173)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/104 "2014-05-29T03:53:12Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > [I disagree](http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/loan-is-a-verb/) I sort of stand corrected, but not by a blog cite. However, I know people who frown upon the use of loan for lend. My biggest language pet peeve- and I have even heard this in TV shows: safety deposit box. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/105 "2014-05-29T08:12:31Z")
Over 100 posts so far, and nobody’s mentioned **desert** vs **dessert** yet! (Too obvious?) I don’t even know for sure which is which, without looking it up. What about **prosecute** and **persecute**? They seem awfully similar in meaning. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/106 "2014-05-29T08:48:13Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Over 100 posts so far, and nobody’s mentioned **desert** vs **dessert** yet! (Too obvious?) I don’t even know for sure which is which, without looking it up. > > What about **prosecute** and **persecute**? They seem awfully similar in meaning. Yes, though **prescribe** and **proscribe** are near-opposites sometimes confused (that is, “proscribed” is sometimes used when “prescribed” is meant). The mnemonic I was taught regarding desert/dessert was that you want two helpings of dessert while one desert is plenty. Also “dessert stressed” is a more useful palindrome if dessert means “yummy after-dinner course” than if it means “place where cacti live and people die”. However, “just deSERTS” is the correct phrase, because the sense of “desert” here is “that which is deserved” I came here to cite diffuse/defuse, but was beaten to it. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/107 "2014-05-29T10:05:08Z")
> [@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 I learned years ago that it was: Stalactites hang from the Ceiling Stalagmites grow up from the ground ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/108 "2014-05-29T13:31:19Z")
> [@cococ173](#): > > I sort of stand corrected, but not by a blog cite. However, I know people who frown upon the use of loan for lend. > > My biggest language pet peeve- and I have even heard this in TV shows: safety deposit box. Explain? I see nothing wrong with that term. Maybe you use something different south of the border? Even our feds use the term [http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/bdgt/2013/qa11-eng.html](http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/bdgt/2013/qa11-eng.html) ---
**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 29, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/109 "2014-05-29T15:21:55Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Explain? I see nothing wrong with that term. Maybe you use something different south of the border? Even our feds use the term [http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/bdgt/2013/qa11-eng.html](http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/bdgt/2013/qa11-eng.html) Everyone says it, but the original term was “safe-deposit box.” Something that bugs me, but which is a losing battle, is saying someone is “legally blind without his glasses.” You can’t be legally bling without glasses, because legal blindness takes wearing glasses into account. Legal blindness is 20/200 vision in the better eye with the best possible correction\*. There are plenty of people with 20/200 vision who correct to near-normal, and some people who correct to 20/20, and they are not legally blind. I have even heard optometrists use the term, though, in an effort to impress upon parents or teachers how important it is that a child wears his glasses ALL THE TIME. Sometimes teachers will remove a child’s glasses for recess or gym, because they don’t realize how poorly the child sees without them now that slim lens technology exists. It used to be you could identify the kid who needed to keep his glasses on no matter what, because they were 1/4" thick. Anyway, sometimes I point out that you can’t, technically, be legally blind without glasses if you aren’t legally blind with them, only the hear “But my kid’s optometrist said…” So I don’t do it, except on places like this. Along the lines of “safe-deposit box,” the original term was “vicious circle,” but everyone says “vicious cycle” now. There’s nothing grammatically questionable about “vicious cycle,” though. \*Or a restricted field 20 degrees or less. ---
**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 29, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/110 "2014-05-29T15:27:59Z")
Come to think of it, it’s possible that “Safe-Deposit Box” was a brand name, and when some other company came up with a similar product, and needed a generic name, that’s when “safety deposit box” appeared. There’s a research project for someone. ---
**Author:** ![cococ173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@cococ173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cococ173)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/111 "2014-05-29T18:07:18Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Come to think of it, it’s possible that “Safe-Deposit Box” was a brand name, and when some other company came up with a similar product, and needed a generic name, that’s when “safety deposit box” appeared. There’s a research project for someone. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe\_deposit\_box](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_deposit_box) People were hearing Safe de posit and filling in the blanks. Every dictionary site I have seen (all two plus wiki) said incorrect to safety deposit box. ---
**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 29, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/112 "2014-05-29T18:40:54Z")
Thanks for the research. At any rate, “safety deposit” doesn’t make sense, because “safety” is a noun, so unless it is what is being deposited, “safety deposit” doesn’t make sense. “Safety” is so close to “Safely,” though, that it doesn’t sound terribly wrong, because “safely deposit” does make sense. BTW: in regard to hearing things wrong, I submit, “could of\*” for “could have,” “taken for granite,” and “curve your appetite.” Also, “curb your dog,” means “make your dog poop over the curb in the gutter.” A sign (like the one in town) that say “Do not curb your dog here” doesn’t mean “don’t let your dog poop here”; it means “your dog shouldn’t poop in the gutter here,” leaving the dog-walker to assume it’s OK to poop on the grass. While I’m posting, the difference between “farther” and “further” is that “farther” applies to actual geographical differences “the address you want is two blocks farther down the street,” and “further” is figurative: “Before this relationship goes any further, I need to know how you feel about abortion.” Generally, it’s better to use “further” for time, but when time is clearly delineated, and you could plot it on a line, you can use “farther.” “My birthday is farther into the year than yours”-- personally, I’d use “further” for that, but if your teacher marks it in read, you can argue. \*should of, would of, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/113 "2014-05-29T19:00:12Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Thanks for the research. At any rate, “safety deposit” doesn’t make sense, because “safety” is a noun, so unless it is what is being deposited, “safety deposit” doesn’t make sense. I’m dubious about this particular objection. Nouns can be used to modify other nouns (e.g. “safety pin”). (ETA: I’m thinking of “safety” as modifying “deposit box,” not just “deposit.”) ---
**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 29, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/114 "2014-05-29T21:13:49Z")
“Safety box” makes sense, but “deposit” is a verb in “safe(ty) deposit box,” and while you can turn any word into anything just by putting it in a certain place in a sentence, if it’s too novel, it’ll sound weird. To me, modifying a verb with a noun sounds weird, and I don’t hear “safety” as modifying “box.” Anyway, it looks like the earliest usage was, in fact, “safe deposit box.” ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/115 "2014-05-29T22:54:50Z")
> [@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!” You just made that up. Why people can’t just accept that words are synonyms without distinction, I’ll never know. > [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > Use: the art or practice of employing something. > Utilize: turn to practical use or account. > > In general, use “utilize” to indicate you’re using something for other than it’s normal use. You’d use a knife to cut your steak. You’d utilize a fork to cut it. That’s completely invented by the Internet for no good reason. The earliest I can find such a distinction is 2006. Use means to employ something. Utilize means to turn to employment, as in toward some goal. There’s nothing in the definition of either word suggesting anything about the normal use of things. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > “Safety box” makes sense, but “deposit” is a verb in “safe(ty) deposit box,” and while you can turn any word into anything just by putting it in a certain place in a sentence, if it’s too novel, it’ll sound weird. To me, modifying a verb with a noun sounds weird, and I don’t hear “safety” as modifying “box.” > > Anyway, it looks like the earliest usage was, in fact, “safe deposit box.” It’s not that hard, folks. It’s a box deposited in the bank safe. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/116 "2014-05-29T23:39:17Z")
Tip for visiting the UK: A load of (old) bollocks: Nonsense, rubbish e.g. “…but my enduring impression of Hugh Walpole’s Rogue Herries, is that it was load of old bollocks.” _cf_ The bollocks: Very good indeed e.g. “I enjoyed your speech your Excellency, it was the bollocks.” ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/117 "2014-05-30T00:07:23Z")
Oriented: to become familiarized to some process or locale Orientated: to be transformed into something Oriental, like, I don’t know…chopsticks, say The fork was invented in Florence, I think, about 600 years ago. When are Asians going to start using them ? Marco Polo should have brought one along. I’m gonna’ blame him 'cause he can’t defend himself. ---
**Author:** ![Jungian\_Camisole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@Jungian\_Camisole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jungian_Camisole)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/118 "2014-05-30T00:39:12Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Alot: fracture of the skull caused by me beating you over the head with a space bar. No, no, no, no! You must have an alot. > **[The Alot is Better Than You at Everything](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html)** > > As a grammatically conscientious person who frequents internet forums and YouTube, I have found it necessary to develop a few coping mechani... While I’m here, educate me regarding all of the iterations of it’s, its, its’, itses, tits, tater tits\*. \*Tater Tits. You can’t eat just one! ---
**Author:** ![cococ173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@cococ173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cococ173)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/119 "2014-05-30T01:28:04Z")
common good: Oriented: to become familiarized to some process or locale Orientated: to be transformed into something Oriental, like, I don’t know…chopsticks, say I thought so, too, untill I looked it up. Synonyms. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367/120 "2014-05-30T01:31:17Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Tip for visiting the UK: > > A load of (old) bollocks: Nonsense, rubbish > > e.g. “…but my enduring impression of Hugh Walpole’s Rogue Herries, is that it was load of old bollocks.” > > _cf_ > > The bollocks: Very good indeed > > e.g. “I enjoyed your speech your Excellency, it was the bollocks.” Sounds similar to the distinction between something being “shit” and something being “the shit.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-your-fellow-dopers-explain-words-that-are-easily-confused/689367.md?page=7)