# Words one can get confused **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 18, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772 "2022-09-18T20:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/181 "2022-11-08T02:50:08Z")
Loath - reluctant Loathe - hate ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/182 "2022-11-08T12:01:56Z")
Loach - cop šŸ˜ ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/183 "2022-11-09T16:48:13Z")
Elude and allude. To elude is to avoid capture or danger. Fleeing and eluding (from a cop) is something a person does when they donā€™t feel like being arrested today. To allude is to hint or suggest. I may allude to someoneā€™s criminal past in conversation, even if I never explicitly call it out. When you go with the noun forms (elusion and allusion), people also mix these up with illusion, the latter referring to something incorrectly perceived by the senses or cognition, e.g. an optical illusion or the illusion of safety. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/184 "2022-11-10T03:33:58Z")
Every day - daily Everyday - unremarkable ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/185 "2022-11-18T01:34:52Z")
wet (whet?!) oneā€™s whistle ---
**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:** [November 18, 2022, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/186 "2022-11-18T13:09:52Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > we need to talk about ā€œ **rein** ā€ and ā€œ **reign**.ā€ It seems like I canā€™t go a day without seeing something like, ā€œHeā€™s out of control and needs to reign himself in.ā€ Both involve control; but ā€œreignā€ = ā€œruleā€ (like a king or queen), while reins are what you use to control a horse. So if you allow a horse (or, idiomatically, anyone) the freedom to go where/how it wants, you give it **free rein**. ā€œFree reignā€ is a mistake, though itā€™s one that goes back at least as far as 1896: > **['Free Rein' or 'Free Reign'?](https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/usage-free-rein-vs-free-reign)** > > The phrase does not make you king or queen for the day. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/187 "2022-11-18T15:41:41Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Whenever I read (always online) someone stating they are ā€œlearyā€, my brain automatically says, ā€œHi, Timothy!ā€. I didnā€™t realise that Mirriam Webster accepts _leary_ as a ā€˜less common spellingā€™ of _leery_. So it may be correct in some situations. But Iā€™m a bit leery of it. There is another word that might be confused with _leery_; _ **lairy** _, which means loud, drunk, aggressive or conceited. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/188 "2022-11-18T16:50:45Z")
**crapulous** and **crapulent** ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/191 "2022-11-19T02:14:31Z")
Iniquity and inequity. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/192 "2022-11-19T04:24:34Z")
**Purposely** and **purposefully**. He purposely excluded her. She purposefully repeated the steps of the task. I often see the latter used when the former should have been. ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/194 "2022-11-19T14:36:14Z")
The car crashed into the median The ship headed toward the prime meridian ---
**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:** [November 21, 2022, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/195 "2022-11-21T06:42:48Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > GW advanced ā€œnucularā€ proliferation Jimmy Carter, trained in nuclear power plant operation, helped. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2022, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/196 "2022-11-21T06:59:06Z")
invoke: to petition for help or support. to appeal to or cite as authority. evoke (see 1b. sigh.): [Evoke Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evoke) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/197 "2022-11-22T17:27:11Z")
**cue** and **queue** ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/198 "2022-11-23T01:23:46Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > how about: immanent/imminent/immanant Also eminent/emanant (issuing or flowing forth). Spellcheck just taught me that last one. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/199 "2022-11-23T03:38:08Z")
Abject and Object, specifically in context of a kind of lesson. Someone wrote a blog post that they were completely wrong about [What's an Abject Lesson vs. an Object Lesson? - Owlcation](https://owlcation.com/humanities/abject-lesson-vs-object-lesson) and the commenters roasted them. The blog post is even the top hit on Google, and so Iā€™m guessing that idiot writers who just look at the first hit on Google are getting this wrong. I mention this because the accounting daily email I got a few days ago had an article that used in its title ā€œobject lessonā€ when they meant ā€œabject lessonā€. To be clear, there is a such thing as an object lesson. But itā€™s literally a lesson that uses an object to help teach. Itā€™s not the kind of terrible thing that happens that scares you straight and gets you to never make the same mistake again like an abject lesson is. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/200 "2022-11-23T05:07:49Z")
ā€œ_Flushing_ something outā€ vs ā€œ_fleshing_ something outā€ - a senior staff member could not get the difference between the two. She used ā€œflushingā€ something out at nearly every staff meeting when she meant ā€œfleshingā€. I tried gently explaining it one time privately, but she couldnā€™t quite grasp it. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/201 "2022-11-23T08:07:36Z")
**indict:** to accuse of wrongdoing **indite:** to write down ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/202 "2022-11-23T13:23:20Z")
**Yes** : used to give a positive response. **No** : used to give a negative response. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/203 "2022-11-23T18:42:14Z")
**proceed** and **precede** (found in a recent thread) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=11)