# Homonym confusion **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 7, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379 "2007-09-07T16:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ea\_calendula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Ea\_calendula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ea_calendula)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379/21 "2007-09-07T21:13:47Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] I’ve noticed the same thing for speakers of French. I’d say the single most common mistake I’ve noticed for first-language speakers of French is confusing the participle endings (-é-e-s) and infinitive endings (-er) for regular verbs: \*\*il ne faut pas fumé; _on me l’a raconter_, for example. Second language speakers very rarely make this mistake, presumably because our first exposure to these forms was by conjugating them, so we pick them out by how they fit into the sentence, not by sound. [/QUOTE] Yes. We’ve learned first how to do it correctly, grammatically, and by _seeing_ the words. It must works differently when you learn by hearing. [QUOTE=matt\_mcl] (By contrast, we’re forever making mistakes with gender, which first-language francophones do, but very rarely and usually for certain confusing nouns.) [/QUOTE] Genders are so confusing. I guess you simply have to learn them by rote. My native language has genders, too, and it tends to sound quite off when a non-native speaker gets them wrong. I guess it must feel like that to a German or French person when I try to speak to them in those languages. ---
**Author:** ![illoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a3d4f5/32.png) [@illoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/illoe)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379/22 "2007-09-08T04:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=panamajack] ‘Breaks’ and ‘site’ don’t even pass mustard, since there’s no logic to them. [/QUOTE] OK, I’ll bite. Don’t you mean “muster?” Passing mustard sounds uncomfortable. Another one with vague forgotten military origins is “toe the line,” which loses (OK, looses) all of its evocative power when written as “tow the line.” And once I saw “waifer thin,” which pleased me greatly. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379/23 "2007-09-08T04:14:28Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] Unfortunately, we may see the demise of “just deserts” in our lifetime. [/QUOTE] Since we’re not just talking about homonyms any more, I regret to report that improper usage of “momentarily” will soon become customary and standard. I hear too many supposedly smart people and coporations using it. “Our next customer service rep will be with you momentarily.” ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379/24 "2007-09-08T04:15:30Z")
[QUOTE=illoe] OK, I’ll bite. Don’t you mean “muster?” [/QUOTE] Swish! ---
**Author:** ![illoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a3d4f5/32.png) [@illoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/illoe)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379/25 "2007-09-08T04:20:39Z")
Dang! ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379/26 "2007-09-08T13:28:22Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Cite? 😉 Here are some eggcorns, rather than pure homonyms. Sourcasm for sarcasm. Laxadaisical for lackadaisical. Wimpsical for whimsical. [/QUOTE] I’ll take this one up! In many parts of the UK it’s pronounced lack-s-adaisical. There’s an s in there so it makes perfect sense for people to spell it with an x. It also links back to ‘lax’ which has a related meaning. For my own one: Peaked/piqued. Can’t tell you how many guys who have emailed me and failed to ‘peak’ my interest due to them using the wrong word. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![orinoko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b4bc9f/32.png) [@orinoko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orinoko)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379/27 "2007-09-08T13:44:28Z")
If you think that’s bad, wait till you find a society where homonyms are not only useful, they’re the basis for humor. (Anyone from Osaka?) ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379/28 "2007-09-08T14:09:25Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Vocal chords??? :eek: [/QUOTE] That’s just a few moment of choral homophony. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homonym-confusion/418379.md?page=1)