# 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:** 38
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/744 "2024-01-06T23:30:11Z")
**negatory** : negative, negating **nugatory** : trifling, ineffective, worthless ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/745 "2024-01-07T01:18:39Z")
> [@EnolaStraight](#): > > **Affirm** -I will believe your feelings. > **Confirm** -I will verify your facts. But affirm has much broader usage. Its meaning overlaps with confirm - it can be exactly synonymous confirm, but only with respect to something that is in some sense positive. Affirm can also mean to _assert_ positively, rather than merely confirm or validate. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/746 "2024-01-07T08:59:38Z")
**refute** : = prove something wrong/untrue **rebut** : = deny without proof ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/747 "2024-01-07T14:17:56Z")
Indeed. You want to sound all technical and professional responding to a query? You say, “Affirmative, sir.” ---
**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:** [January 7, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/748 "2024-01-07T15:48:06Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > **rebut** : = deny without proof No, I don’t think this is correct. A rebuttal typically involves an argument or proof as to why something is wrong. > **[Definition of REBUTTAL](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rebuttal)** > > the act of rebutting especially in a legal suit; also : argument or proof that rebuts… See the full definition > **[Rebuttal - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms](https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/rebuttal)** > > When two people debate, one of them makes an argument, and the other follows with a rebuttal, which, plainly put, is the "no, you're wrong and this is why" argument. Unless you’re Homer Simpson. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MnQTDht2ato/hqdefault.jpg "The Simpsons - Ignoramus (Homer's Rebuttal)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnQTDht2ato) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/749 "2024-01-07T15:55:17Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > **refute** : = prove something wrong/untrue > > **rebut** : = deny without proof > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > A rebuttal typically involves an argument or proof as to why something is wrong. These two are very close. I also don’t think a rebuttal _lacks_ proof. It certainly also implies presenting evidence or counterarguments, not just denial. If there’s a subtle difference between the two I think it’s that refute tends to imply _success_ in proving something wrong (perhaps objectively wrong), rebut does not necessarily imply decisive success? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/750 "2024-01-07T18:29:02Z")
Yes, perhaps that’s a more nuanced way of putting it. A rebuttal doesn’t prove conclusively in the way a refutal does. Whenever I hear some politician or corporate bigwig under attack go all huffy and say “I refute that entirely!”, I want to say “Well, go on then”. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/751 "2024-01-07T19:05:55Z")
You don’t say “affirmative,” or some shit like that. You say “no problemo.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/752 "2024-01-07T19:42:12Z")
In any event, I seem to recall that the next step is to as Victor for the vector. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/753 "2024-01-07T21:54:27Z")
**dastard** : a despicable and malicious coward; a dullard **bastard** : one begotten and born out of wedlock; a mongrel; a contemptible man or boy; a fellow or chap ---
**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:** [January 8, 2024, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/754 "2024-01-08T02:38:21Z")
**bustard** - large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They make up the family Otididae. ---
**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:** [January 8, 2024, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/755 "2024-01-08T11:39:30Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **bastard** : one begotten and born out of wedlock; a mongrel; a contemptible man or boy; a fellow or chap This is also a type of file. > **[bastard file - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bastard_file)** ---
**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:** [January 8, 2024, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/756 "2024-01-08T23:59:57Z")
And a sword, [which can be used 1 or 2 handed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_of_swords#Handedness). ---
**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:** [January 12, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/757 "2024-01-12T14:59:21Z")
**disperse** : to scatter, break up, or dissipate. The noun forms are _dispersal_ and _dispersion_ **disburse** : to pay out. The noun form is _disbursement_. Seeds are dispersed and crowds disperse, but money is disbursed from an account to a payee. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/758 "2024-01-12T15:53:31Z")
And the person in charge of disbursing funds at a college is the **bursar** ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/759 "2024-01-12T18:33:25Z")
All coming from the Latin bursa, meaning a purse, but also the source for the bursitis (tennis elbow or housemaid’s knee) that can afflict the sac (or purse) of fluid around an overworked joint. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/760 "2024-01-13T00:30:21Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > the person in charge of disbursing funds at a college is the **bursar** Whereas the **Purser** is the person in charge handling the money on a ship or plane. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/761 "2024-01-13T02:39:05Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > And the person in charge of disbursing funds at a college is the **bursar** I feel like a bursar should burse, not disburse. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/762 "2024-01-14T03:49:15Z")
When I was in college, the Bursar was where you went to hand in your tuition payment. I suspect the Bursar is really “the entire accounting department”, just using archaic terminology because academia is like that. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/763 "2024-01-14T12:39:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suspect the Bursar is really “the entire accounting department”, just using archaic terminology because academia is like that. I’m sure it is sometimes, but at the college I worked at the bursar’s office strictly handled student accounts - tuition payments , refunds, and so on. They might have been _part_ of the accounting department but the people who paid bills and handled payroll were not part of the bursar’s office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=37) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=39)