# 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:** 45
**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 26, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/884 "2024-03-26T16:46:54Z")
**spay** : (v.) to neuter a female animal by removing its ovaries (past tense: _spayed_) **spade** : (n.) a tool for digging; (v.) to use such a tool ---
**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 30, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/885 "2024-03-30T18:20:22Z")
**Collision** : In the strictest sense of the word, an event in which two moving objects strike each other. **Allision** : an instance of a moving ship striking a ship or object that is stationary. The latter term came to light after the recent incident in which a container ship allided with the FS Key Bridge in Baltimore. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/886 "2024-03-30T22:39:21Z")
**brail** : a kind of small rope **Braille** : blind French guy ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/887 "2024-03-31T21:33:45Z")
“A bullet-riddled body was found in a crime-ridden neighborhood.” Because of these two descriptions’ proximity, the poor victim has had eggcorn added to injury with “bullet-ridden.” The neighborhood has been carried away by crime. The victim has been permeated with multiple holes. Or worse, “bullet-riven,” when the gunfire cut him into pieces. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/888 "2024-04-03T13:19:46Z")
**python** : snake **Pythoness** : oracle ---
**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 3, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/889 "2024-04-03T15:27:55Z")
**Formerly** : In the past (but not anymore). “The artist formerly known as Prince.” **Formally** : In accordance with established rules/procedures, and/or done through official channels. “You need to formally request a meeting.” ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/890 "2024-04-03T23:34:57Z")
Python - a programming language ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2024, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/891 "2024-04-04T12:44:56Z")
**lumpen** : like a lump **lumped** : formed into a lump ---
**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 4, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/892 "2024-04-04T13:38:48Z")
**Oatmeal** : A delicious and healthy breakfast cereal made from oats **Oakmeal** : Ground up acorns. Less delicious and toxic if not cooked properly. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2024, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/893 "2024-04-05T11:31:43Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **lumpen** : like a lump I have to accept that that’s how it’s used in English now, but I suspect it was a back-formation from Marx and Engels _Lumpenproletariat_ (the poorest of the poor) from German lumpen=rags. “Lumpish” would be more English. ---
**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 5, 2024, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/894 "2024-04-05T12:50:25Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > I have to accept that that’s how it’s used in English now, but I suspect it was a back-formation from Marx and Engels _Lumpenproletariat_ (the poorest of the poor) from German lumpen=rags. “Lumpish” would be more English. The dictionary doesn’t even include @DPRK’s usage; the official definitions only relate to their use in Marxism: > **[Definition of LUMPEN](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lumpen)** > > of or relating to dispossessed and uprooted individuals cut off from the economic and social class with which they might normally be identified; plebeian… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/895 "2024-04-05T13:05:20Z")
Wiktionary **lumpen** is 1. Of or relating to social outcasts / Of or relating to the lumpenproletariat / Plebeian; 2. Lump-like; 3. [verb] To make or become like lumps; make or become lumpy I chose sense 2 for my example because that is what I had encountered “in the wild”. It’s possible the originators of sense 2 were themselves confused given the existence of the German word Lumpen, but I do not know. It did strike me as unusual when I read it, and Webster/OED do not mention Sense 2. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2024, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/896 "2024-04-05T13:24:39Z")
My mistake in German - not 'rags" but “rogues” or “rascals” - the (semi-criminal) poor. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2024, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/897 "2024-04-05T13:34:20Z")
Yeah, I’ve only heard the word in the Marxist sense. Why use “lumpen” when “lumpy” is perfectly good and much more typical, in my experience. Is there a slightly different sense? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/898 "2024-04-05T13:43:49Z")
I thought Lumpen (in German) _did_ mean rags and shreds? A “Lump” could be a rascal or cad. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2024, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/899 "2024-04-05T13:51:32Z")
Ref “lumpen” There are certainly many English words that use “en” to adjectify a noun. “Golden” being the obvious one. So “lumpen” as “lumpy” or “made of lumps” isn’t crazy talk violating all the “rules” (hah!) of English. I’ve never encountered it before the discussion here, but were someone to use it, I’d have gotten the idea immediately. To me it feels sort of archaic, like it would fit right in a Grimm’s fairy tale or a modern story set in a similar mood and tone. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/900 "2024-04-07T17:35:31Z")
**might** : force, power - e.g. “they fought with all their might” (also past tense and present subjunctive of “may”) **mite** : a small quantity or entity, as in minuscule bed mites, or the biblical “widow’s mite” ---
**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 7, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/901 "2024-04-07T17:40:17Z")
**Mite** : Mate in Australian. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/902 "2024-04-09T13:27:25Z")
Discovered another one: **current** : happening in the present; or a flow of fluid or electricity **currant** : an edible berry, often used for jam ---
**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:** [April 9, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/903 "2024-04-09T15:35:08Z")
**exodus** : a departure by a large crowd **exitus** : (rare) a death, a fatality A local news source ran an article about traffic from the “mass exitus” after the eclipse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=46)