# 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:** 17
**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:** [March 29, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/324 "2023-03-29T15:37:02Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **meet:** to make contact with Also, a noun meaning a sports competition, or an old-fashioned adjective meaning fitting and proper. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/325 "2023-03-29T16:32:04Z")
Epidemic: the disease/condition is wide spread across a wide area or across multiple populations Endemic: The disease/condition is concentrated in a specific area or within a specific population. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/326 "2023-03-29T17:15:47Z")
I suppose some people may deserve nothing but hot vast tracts of sand, but I’ve been a good boy and deserve just desserts. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/327 "2023-03-29T17:24:26Z")
Plead or Pled - I see this here a lot - yesterday, in fact. Plead is always pronounced “pleed”. It is not pronounced like pled and it is not the past tense of Plead. The past tense of Plead is Pleaded or Pled. And Pleaded is the preferred form. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/328 "2023-03-29T18:40:31Z")
**opioid** : a substance that is similar to or has effects similar to opium **opiate** : derived from opium ---
**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:** [March 29, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/329 "2023-03-29T22:02:31Z")
Here’s a good list, which includes some that I don’t think have been mentioned yet in this thread: > **[38 Word Usage Mistakes Even Smart People Make](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/503256/38-word-usage-mistakes-even-smart-people-make)** > > Don't let these trip you up. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/330 "2023-03-30T07:52:01Z")
When George Steinbrenner called Hideki Irabu a “pussy toad”, at least one newspaper here in New York, whether from ignorance or lack of faith in its readers, chose to spell it “pus-ie”. Of course, had Steinbrenner chosen “purulent” in the first place the problem might have been avoided. I don’t know how widespread this is, but I recently had to explain that some new quarter-dollar coins feature “Anna May” Wong and not “Anime” Wong. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/331 "2023-04-05T18:33:51Z")
**insensed** : instructed **incensed** : pissed off ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/332 "2023-04-07T18:35:21Z")
Hearty: vigorous, energetic; or genial, cordial Hardy: robust, healthy, able to endure harsh conditions There is some slight overlap in meaning which makes a lot of people confuse these. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/333 "2023-04-07T18:54:35Z")
I was assigned a post in the desert so I decided to desert it. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/334 "2023-04-12T12:41:49Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Tenet vs. tenant 🙄 I keep seeing people get this one wrong. **tenant** = someone who occupies a rental property **tenet** = a principle [not “principal”] or belief ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/335 "2023-04-12T16:26:57Z")
‘Rein’ and ‘reign’. The thing that controls a horse can be confused with the idea of controlling a kingdom. Some people might confuse ‘rain’ with those words but that’s just poor spelling which is probably the most common reason ‘rein’ is written instead of ‘reign’ with it’s tricky useless ‘g’. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/336 "2023-04-12T17:15:55Z")
Only love can make it rain. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/337 "2023-04-12T17:33:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > ‘Rein’ and ‘reign’. The thing that controls a horse can be confused with the idea of controlling a kingdom. Some people might confuse ‘rain’ with those words but that’s just poor spelling which is probably the most common reason ‘rein’ is written instead of ‘reign’ with it’s tricky useless ‘g’. Hey, it isn’t our fault that the ‘g’ is silent in a word originally derived from ‘regnum’. I blame the French, whose chronic hatred of consonants has ruined the entire Latin alphabet. ---
**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:** [April 15, 2023, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/338 "2023-04-15T06:08:42Z")
Stationary: and adjective that means “not moving.” Stationery: items used for writing. This includes but is not limited to pens, ink, and paper. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/339 "2023-04-20T20:18:03Z")
Multiply : increasing a numerical value by adding that value to itself a specified number of times. (as in multiply 2 x 2 = 4) Multiply : the action of propagating some thing by replicating or increasing the number of instances of that thing. (as in multiply the number of animals, plants or problems) (These two definitions are closely related, and pronounced in the same way, at least in my dialect). Multiply- : something which has had the same action performed upon it several times. (as in multiply-amended, multiply-rejected, multiply-augmented, and so on). (This definition has a significantly different pronunciation). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/340 "2023-04-20T20:32:12Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Multiply- : something which has had the same action performed upon it several times. (as in multiply-amended, multiply-rejected, multiply-augmented, and so on). > (This definition has a significantly different pronunciation). It would help if the accepted spelling for that second one was “multipally”. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/341 "2023-04-20T20:34:23Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Multiply : increasing a numerical value by adding that value to itself a specified number of times. (as in multiply 2 x 2 = 4) > Multiply : the action of propagating some thing by replicating or increasing the number of instances of that thing. (as in multiply the number of animals, plants or problems) In non-mathematical contexts, “multiply” does always (?) involve increasing. But mathematically, it need not (which can be a source of confusion when students learn about multiplying fractions). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/342 "2023-04-21T00:05:22Z")
The 90s NBA star Sean Kemp’s moniker “Reign Man” played on this — evoking his team’s rainy locale (Seattle). (Sean is back in the news this week, and not in a good way). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/343 "2023-04-21T00:29:58Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > (Sean is back in the news this week, and not in a good way). Bummer 😒 [and WTF?](https://www.npr.org/2023/04/17/1170342619/shawn-kemp-assault-charge) 🙄 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=18)