# 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:** 44
**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:** [March 9, 2024, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/864 "2024-03-09T19:19:55Z")
Interesting. There are several examples of word pairs that aren’t related etymologically, but it sure seems like they should be. English “day” and Spanish “día” is an example. Also “guitar” and “sitar.” ---
**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:** [March 9, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/865 "2024-03-09T19:45:34Z")
Also “miniature” and “minimum”. The source of “miniature” had nothing to do with the idea of being small; the OED says > Italian _miniatura_ originally denoted the painting of small images to decorate the initial letters of chapters in manuscripts (compare the use of post-classical Latin miniare in the sense ‘to rubricate’). As these images were necessarily small, the term came to be used for small portraits, probably reinforced by an association by folk etymology with (ultimately classical Latin) min- in minore [minor _adj._](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/minor_adj?tab=meaning_and_use#37012045), etc., which has probably also affected the development of the extended senses in English and in other languages. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/866 "2024-03-09T19:50:32Z")
Huh. Also English “much” and Spanish “mucho” (well, you have to go back to Proto-Indo-European to “m-“ words that have a vague sense of “big”… but it’s a coincidence they look so similar). /hijack (subject deserves its own thread) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/867 "2024-03-09T19:54:09Z")
emulate: to imitate, behave in a similar manner, especially in an aspirational sense simulate: to resemble, to mimic; or, to produce an effect that resembles or mimics a particular phenomenon As in, “I will emulate the noted ecologist Thomas Ray by writing a new version of his Tierra computer software to simulate evolutionary and ecological development.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/868 "2024-03-09T19:55:42Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > **pimple** : a small skin infection. > **pimpernel** : a type of flower. > > When I saw the book [The Scarlet Pimpernel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pimpernel) I wondered why anyone would read a whole book about a pimple. And here I was thinking it was the scarlet pumpernickel. (I wish I was fully kidding.) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/869 "2024-03-09T19:57:01Z")
differ: to be different; or, to express an opposing opinion defer: to be deferential, to yield to somebody else’s superior position or authority (Yesterday I learned for the first time that some people pronounce those the same, as in “defer”. Huh.) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/870 "2024-03-09T19:58:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And here I was thinking it was the scarlet pumpernickel. (I wish I was fully kidding.) You and [Daffy Duck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pumpernickel) both. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/871 "2024-03-09T20:27:10Z")
Ah ha ! _That_ must be where I know it from! ---
**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:** [March 9, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/872 "2024-03-09T21:34:33Z")
In the world of medicine, people often confuse these drug effects: Side Effects: effects observed during therapeutic doses of a drug. They can be harmful, or non-harmful. Good or bad. Adverse Effects: undesired harmful effects or effects leading to undesired outcomes, from therapeutic doses, _or_ overdosage. Always bad. Contraindications: specific situations where a drug should not be prescribed. Patient condition, allergies, or drug interactions can have an effect. Always potentially bad. Context matters. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/873 "2024-03-12T10:26:47Z")
**moreish** / **morish** : that makes one desire more **moorish** : boggy, swampy, inhabiting a moor **Moorish** : pertaining to the Moors ---
**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 12, 2024, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/874 "2024-03-12T13:54:42Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **Moorish** : pertaining to the Moors Not to be confused with the [Moops](https://seinfeld.fandom.com/wiki/Moops). ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/875 "2024-03-12T14:21:10Z")
2 posts were split to a new topic: [Troll posts March 12, 2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troll-posts-april-12-2024/998755) ---
**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:** [March 12, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/876 "2024-03-12T20:50:54Z")
@What_Exit: I almost hate to mention it, but April is next month. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/877 "2024-03-12T20:56:04Z")
Thanks, fixed. ---
**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:** [March 24, 2024, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/878 "2024-03-24T09:55:50Z")
People occasionally use **crescendo** : a growing, increasing or ascending of the volume of sound, particularly music; or, metaphorically, of tension or emotion, when they mean **climax** : what a crescendo is often building towards: a resolution or completion of an issue or question, usually highly dramatic. Case in point from my newspaper today: _One might have assumed from the millions of words devoted to the end of the world during the 1990s that the noise about it would reach a millennial crescendo, but instead it has grown and grown._ (That’s what a crescendo does, chum). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/879 "2024-03-24T13:07:23Z")
**theocracy** : rule by a god or by a state religion **theocrasy** : mingling of deities or divine attributes ---
**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:** [March 25, 2024, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/880 "2024-03-25T10:18:33Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **theocrasy** : mingling of deities or divine attributes Is this the same thing as syncretism? > **[Syncretism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncretism)** > > Syncretism (/ˈsɪŋkrətɪzəm, ˈsɪn-/) is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths. While syncretism in art and culture is sometimes likened to eclecticism, in the realm of religion, it specifically denotes a more integrated merging Th... ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/881 "2024-03-25T12:48:00Z")
I think theocrasy, for example identifying Dedun with Osiris, is a type of religious syncretism, but syncretism refers, more generally, to blending together different beliefs and schools of thought. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/882 "2024-03-25T15:55:39Z")
**autocracy** : rule by one person **autarky** : national economic self-sufficiency with no foreign trade **autarchy** : (1) synonym of _autocracy_; (2) synonym of _autarky_ ---
**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:** [March 25, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/883 "2024-03-25T16:24:11Z")
Nuclear vs. thermonuclear weapons. Nuclear = A-bomb (fission). Fueled by uranium-235 (235U) or plutonium-239 (239Pu). Thermonuclear (a second-generation nuclear weapon) = H-bomb (fission + fusion). Fueled by heavy isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium). While “nuclear” weapons include both atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs, only H-bombs are thermonuclear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=43) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=45)