# 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:** 19
**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:** [May 11, 2023, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/364 "2023-05-11T17:02:25Z")
Either one of the above can be used as a verb meaning to remove from the second one. Thus: Vise - A device to hold objects in place Vice - Immoral or criminal behavior or a device to to hold objects in place ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/365 "2023-05-12T02:27:48Z")
I didn’t think people would confuse these, but after reading a comment on another website, apparently they do: **Erie** : One of the Great Lakes. Also a city in Pennsylvania. **eerie** : That’s the one that means strange and frightening. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2023, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/366 "2023-05-12T02:54:25Z")
**eyrie** : an eagle’s nest ---
**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:** [May 12, 2023, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/367 "2023-05-12T03:47:41Z")
Aerie - An eagle’s nest Airy - Well ventilated like eagle’s nests ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/368 "2023-05-12T05:36:49Z")
People who don’t know the difference between entomology and etymology bug me in ways I can’t put into words. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/369 "2023-05-12T07:58:05Z")
I can see how that would make you feel auntsy, my Ant Milly felt the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/370 "2023-05-12T09:38:38Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > People who don’t know the difference between entomology and etymology bug me in ways I can’t put into words. Obligatory XKCD > **[Wrong Superhero](https://xkcd.com/1012/)** > > Hi! Someone call for me? I'm a superhero who specializes in the study of God's creation of Man in the Book of Genesi-- HOLY SHIT A GIANT BUG! ---
**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 12, 2023, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/371 "2023-05-12T10:58:54Z")
So I assume **entombology** would be the study of burial practices? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/372 "2023-05-13T23:55:18Z")
**carol** : a festive song or dance **carrel** : a partitioned space for study ---
**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 14, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/373 "2023-05-14T17:09:21Z")
**wary** : cautious, suspicious **leery** : cautious, suspicious **weary** : tired, exhausted **leary** : a name, as of actor/comedian Denis Leary or LSD guru Timothy Leary ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/374 "2023-05-15T18:34:58Z")
Prompted by an exchange in the “old fashioned things you’d like to see revived” thread, cable cars and trolleys are not the same thing. Trolley: An electric vehicle that gets its power through a pole that makes contact with an overhead cable. If you want to get really pedantic, _technically_ the word “trolley” refers to that pole, but it’s become shorthand for “trolley streetcar” or “trolley bus”, so that’s how it’s mostly used today. Cable car: A vehicle pulled by a cable under the pavement, invented in San Francisco to deal with the city’s famously steep hills. I’m not sure if any other city has used this mode of transit; I am pretty sure they’re unique to San Francisco. Streetcar: A North American term for a vehicle that runs on rails in the middle of the street, known as a tram in the rest of the English speaking world. I believe this could be considered a general term that would include both trolley streetcars and San Francisco’s cable cars. It _really_ annoys me when people call San Francisco’s cable cars “trolleys”. Although it’s true, San Francisco does have electric trolley streetcars – the historic streetcars that run down Market Street, modern ones that serve other parts of the city, and modern trolley buses. But that’s not the mode of transit most people think of when they think of San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/375 "2023-05-15T20:15:18Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’m not sure if any other city has used this mode of transit; I am pretty sure they’re unique to San Francisco. I was actually wrong about that; [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_car_(railway)#Cities_previously_operating_cable_cars) has a long list of cities that previously operated cable cars. And the article mentions a few cable pulled vehicles that were demonstrated before San Francisco’s cable cars, although I’m still pretty sure San Francisco was the first place where they saw widespread use. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/376 "2023-05-15T21:46:39Z")
There are those pole-and-trolley streetcars, but there are also trolleys as in a low truck without sides or ends (esp. one with flanged wheels for running on a railway) as well as a small table or stand on wheels or castors (cf. supermarket trolley, tea trolley…) and low carts of various kinds; clearly those meanings are going to blend into each other and some people see those cable cars as a type of railway trolley. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/377 "2023-05-16T02:49:41Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Trolley: An electric vehicle that gets its power through a pole that makes contact with an overhead cable. If you want to get really pedantic, _technically_ the word “trolley” refers to that pole, but it’s become shorthand for “trolley streetcar” or “trolley bus”, so that’s how it’s mostly used today. > > Cable car: A vehicle pulled by a cable under the pavement, invented in San Francisco to deal with the city’s famously steep hills. I’m not sure if any other city has used this mode of transit; I am pretty sure they’re unique to San Francisco. > > Streetcar: A North American term for a vehicle that runs on rails in the middle of the street, known as a tram in the rest of the English speaking world. I believe this could be considered a general term that would include both trolley streetcars and San Francisco’s cable cars. Which one of these qualifies as light rail? ---
**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:** [May 16, 2023, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/378 "2023-05-16T04:14:18Z")
In Australia at least, tram = light rail. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/379 "2023-05-16T05:03:42Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Which one of these qualifies as light rail? I not entirely sure what technically counts as light rail, but this is what the American Public Transit Association has to say about it: > …a mode of transit service (also called streetcar, tramway, or trolley) operating passenger rail cars singly (or in short, usually two-car or three-car, trains) on fixed rails in the right-of-way that is often separated from other traffic for part or much of the way. Light rail vehicles are typically driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a [trolley [pole]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_pole) or a [pantograph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph_(rail)); driven by an operator onboard the vehicle; and may have either high platform loading or low-level boarding using steps."[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_rail#cite_note-APTA-def-1) So I guess that means that a tram / streetcar / trolley would be considered light rail. I’m not sure if something like the cable cars in San Francisco would technically qualify as light rail or not. I’m guessing that term didn’t exist when cable cars were widely used. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2023, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/380 "2023-05-16T14:34:32Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Trolley: An electric vehicle that gets its power through a pole that makes contact with an overhead cable. If you want to get really pedantic, _technically_ the word “trolley” refers to that pole, but it’s become shorthand for “trolley streetcar” or “trolley bus”, so that’s how it’s mostly used today. Or ‘trackless trolley’ for the buses. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/381 "2023-05-18T14:16:52Z")
**than** : [a conjunction or preposition] **then** : [an adverb (or adjective or noun)] ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/382 "2023-05-18T15:12:26Z")
want (n.): a desire; or, a lack or deficiency of something wont: a custom or habit won’t: will not It is my wont to correct others’ errors of grammar and usage. It is your want that I stop that already. That I won’t stop is evidence of my want of empathy. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/383 "2023-05-19T22:07:06Z")
Here’s a new one I just saw today: **Whoa** — a command to stop, or an exclamation of excitement or amazement **Woe** — trouble or affliction [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=20)