# Let's list often confused terms **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2011, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762 "2011-08-15T06:03:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/41 "2011-08-16T14:45:03Z")
Literally vs. figuratively. People often use “literally” very liberally. “I literally shit my pants when I heard that!” means that you actually and factually evacuated your bowels into your pants. Subjective vs. objective. You would much prefer that an objective jury preside over your embezzlement trial than a subjective one. Trust me. Conscious vs. conscience. When you are conscious, you are awake and aware of your surroundings. When you have a conscience, you are able to distinguish between right and wrong either morally or ethically. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/42 "2011-08-16T14:54:10Z")
Rappelling and repelling. Rappelling involves the use of fixed ropes to descend a vertical surface. Repelling indicates something causing distaste or aversion. When I instructed people in technical rock climbing I often had to correct them and explain that I would teach them the former and decide if they were the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/43 "2011-08-16T15:05:29Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > Lay/lie = oh, what’s the use with trying to sort out this pair? It’s a lost cause. Yes, I think that battle is just about lost. Still doesn’t stop me grinding my teeth when I see people talking about “laying on the couch”, though. Probably a bit unfair, because you’d be hard pushed to invent a more confusing double usage that the two forms of “lay”. Another one that may be approaching lost cause status is “infer”, when what they mean is “imply”. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/44 "2011-08-16T15:15:37Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > A bottle of water CAN be “organic” even though H2O has no C. No, it can’t. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/45 "2011-08-16T15:42:06Z")
I am completely nonplussed by this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/46 "2011-08-16T15:48:57Z")
Me / Myself Bugs the fuck out of myself, it does. ETA: Oh, and of course your and you’re. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/47 "2011-08-16T16:10:33Z")
Came back to add: healthy and healthful. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/48 "2011-08-16T16:20:50Z")
Ooooo! Compliment and complement: I bet most people don’t even know there are two separate words here. Compliment - An expression of praise, admiration, or congratulation. Complement - Something that completes, makes up a whole, or brings to perfection. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/49 "2011-08-16T16:32:48Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Ooooo! Compliment and complement: I bet most people don’t even know there are two separate words here. > > Compliment - An expression of praise, admiration, or congratulation. > > Complement - Something that completes, makes up a whole, or brings to perfection. Back when I was administrating a small private college teaching medicinal herbalism and massage therapy, we had one of those huge information boards printed up so I could go to college/career days and health fairs and pimp the school. You see where this is going, right? We all missed it - the writer, the copy editor, the layout person, the printer… I spent the day trying to make the best of it. “Hey there! I love your shoes! Don’t you feel better now? That’s complimentary medicine. If you’d like to learn more about COMPLEMENTARY medicine, have a brochure.” :smack: (Although I think you’re right, probably no one would have noticed. I did, though, and it drove me nuts.) I’ve given up on the nauseous/nauseated distinction. I think that’s a “language is always changing” thing, not a true error anymore. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/50 "2011-08-16T16:33:12Z")
I think the deal with _rediculous_ is that some people actually pronounce that first syllable as if it rhymed with _me_. This is particularly common when the word is emphasized. One I encounter a lot is the difference between _lack_ and _like_. “I like one more state quarter to having the full set.” At least in places where they are pronounced the same, it makes sense, like with _sit_ and _set_. But for _like_ to mean _lack_ still drives me crazy. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/51 "2011-08-16T16:46:57Z")
**breath** and **breathe** : When you **breathe** (rhymes with “seethe”; long e as in “keep,” th as in “this”), you take a **breath** (rhymes with “death”; short e as in “bet,” th as in “think”). **loath** and **loathe** : I was loath to bring this up without checking it first, because I loathe being wrong. **loath** (without the e) is an adjective, meaning reluctant or unwilling, and is often used in the phrase “I am loath to…” **loathe** is a verb, meaning to hate or detest. ---
**Author:** ![MacGyverInSeattle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@MacGyverInSeattle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacGyverInSeattle)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/52 "2011-08-16T17:56:59Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Use and utilize: When you use something, you are employing its intended function. When you utilize something, you are repurposing it for a function other than that which it was designed. For example, you use a desk calculator to add two numbers. You _utilize_ a desk calculator to swat a fly. This is the only one I didn’t already know.🙂 > [@Miller](#): > > Bit esoteric, but when software company Pixologic created their 3D rendering software, ZBrush, they needed a term for a new kind of pixel. A regular pixel has an X and Y coordinate, plus a color. Pixologic needed to store all that, plus a Z coordinate for depth. And so they invented: > > The Pixol. > > Say those two terms out loud a few times. Pixel. Pixol. Pixel. Pixol. > > You fuckers couldn’t have come up with something just _slightly_ more original than that? The Pizel 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/53 "2011-08-16T18:36:44Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’ve given up on the nauseous/nauseated distinction. I think that’s a “language is always changing” thing, not a true error anymore. Possibly. But whenever I hear it, I evaluate the person saying it to see if I feel ill. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/54 "2011-08-16T18:38:37Z")
Prostate and Prostrate–too many people talk about “the prostrate gland.” ACCKCKKK between you and me/between you and I–folks think if they are talking formally, or officially, or properly, that you should say “between you and I.” Those are the folks who fell asleep during sentence construction (or never learned sentence construction!) and don’t know what a prepositional phrase is. “Between” is a preposition, and it takes the OBJECTIVE form. The SUBJECT of a sentence takes the SUBJECTIVE form. I’m talking to the wind, I know. Kids just don’t learn actual English structure any more. I bet nobody knows how do diagram a sentence! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/55 "2011-08-16T19:28:24Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > **loath** and **loathe** : I was loath to bring this up without checking it first, because I loathe being wrong. > **loath** (without the e) is an adjective, meaning reluctant or unwilling, and is often used in the phrase “I am loath to…” > **loathe** is a verb, meaning to hate or detest. I did not know that. Ignorance has been fought and bested. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/56 "2011-08-17T03:26:30Z")
**Niggard** or **niggardly** and … um … well, never mind. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DHMO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@DHMO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DHMO)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/57 "2011-08-17T04:32:51Z")
As an amateur grammar Nazi, it seems to me that the world is being overrun by Humpty-Dumptys, as in [Alice Through the Looking-Glass](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty): > [@](#): > > ‘To be sure I was!’ Humpty Dumpty said gaily as she turned it round for him. ‘I thought it looked a little queer. As I was saying, that **seems** to be done right — though I haven’t time to look it over thoroughly just now — and that shows that there are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents —’ > ‘Certainly,’ said Alice. > ‘And only **one** for birthday presents, you know. There’s glory for you!’ > ‘I don’t know what you mean by “glory”,’ Alice said. > Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. ‘Of course you don’t — till I tell you. I meant “there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!”’ > ‘But “glory” doesn’t mean “a nice knock-down argument”,’ Alice objected. > ‘When **I** use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ > ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you **can** make words mean so many different things.’ > ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.’ ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/58 "2011-08-17T04:51:36Z")
I am still waiting for the OP to explain how water can be organic. It can be pure, maybe, or distilled, but grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizer? I prefer the chemical definition of organic anyway. I have always wanted to stop in our local hippie co-op grocery store and ask for organic salt, then whatever form of NaCl they present me with, say “No, no, I want a carbon based salt.” ---
**Author:** ![ecseas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ecseas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecseas)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/59 "2011-08-17T07:51:59Z")
Sore / Soar. ---
**Author:** ![DHMO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@DHMO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DHMO)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762/60 "2011-08-17T14:56:11Z")
If something happens _every day_, it is an _everyday_ occurrence. I cringe when I see professionally-lettered signs with some variant of “Low Prices Everyday!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-list-often-confused-terms/592762.md?page=4)