# 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:** 49
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/964 "2024-06-14T05:01:20Z")
**gravity** : weight **gravidity** : pregnancy ---
**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:** [June 14, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/965 "2024-06-14T16:13:02Z")
“Gravity” has taken a long strange road from originally meaning something like importance, seriousness, and ending up being the term for a fundamental force in physics. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/966 "2024-06-14T16:50:57Z")
It does still mean seriousness: the gravity of a decision, a speech, a facial expression. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/967 "2024-06-17T03:23:30Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > The terminology “soft” versus “hard” is counterintuitive. I agree, that’s why I went with voiced and unvoiced, which is exactly the difference between the “th” in “the” and “thin”, and I think it’s how the phonologists term them. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/968 "2024-06-17T08:24:04Z")
**systematic** : methodical; according to a system; treating an object as a system **systemic** : pertaining to a system **ruff** : a circular frill or ruffle; anything formed with plaits or flutings like a frill **rough** : not smooth; uneven ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/969 "2024-06-17T17:03:08Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Here are two that are not similar sounding, but that people get mixed up: prone and supine. Lying prone means on your stomach; supine means on your back. Those are examples of paired words that I always, Always, ALWAYS have to think of in their pairs to remember which is which. Prone / supine. Proximal / distal Medial / lateral Dorsal / ventral Abduct / adduct For each one, I typically easily remember ONE definition, and have to cross-check it against the other to make sure I’m using it right. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/970 "2024-06-18T00:59:12Z")
Along those lines, the prefixes **Hyper** (above or over) and **Hypo** (under or below) … if you are giving a hyperdermic injection, you’re doing it wrong! ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/971 "2024-06-19T04:51:37Z")
**Chile** (sometimes **Chili** in old documents): South American republic **chilli** (also **chili** , **chile** ) capsicum ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/972 "2024-06-22T05:35:48Z")
**use** : to employ, to apply **utilize** : to make use of; to put to use; to make useful ---
**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:** [June 22, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/973 "2024-06-22T15:31:51Z")
And before it became used almost entirely in a negative sense, “exploit” was a synonym for utilize. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2024, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/974 "2024-06-23T01:13:28Z")
I would actually consider those as almost perfect synonyms. Can you give us a sentence whose meaning changes when swapping those two words? ---
**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:** [June 23, 2024, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/975 "2024-06-23T05:47:56Z")
Here’s one I’ve only heard a couple of times, but the most recent was in an old episode of _Frasier_, which rather surprised me: **morose** - sullen, depressed instead of **moronic** - extremely stupid ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/976 "2024-06-23T09:55:00Z")
They are pretty close, but “utilize” seems to have a sense of _making_ or rendering something useful, converting to use, making best use of or improving. The word itself is “rare before 1858” according to my old _OED._ Simple “use” can also mean consuming, wearing, or expending, or becoming accustomed, which is not necessarily implied by “utilize” at all: “Thou… used to the yoke” ; “We are not long in using ourselves to changes in life.” Even “he uses cocaine” is not 100% synonymous with “he utilizes cocaine” [for what? how?] ---
**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:** [June 24, 2024, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/977 "2024-06-24T06:24:57Z")
Here’s one where I think usage may have changed to the point where there isn’t a difference any more, except for me: **persuade** - to reason or argue someone into a belief or course of action, not necessarily easily **convince** - to persuade someone that a belief is true ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/978 "2024-07-03T12:54:09Z")
**machine** : an apparatus/appliance/instrument; an instrument to transmit or modify force; a device or vehicle operated mechanically **mechanism** : a system of mutually adapted parts working together mechanically ---
**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:** [July 3, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/979 "2024-07-03T13:03:32Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **mechanism** : a system of mutually adapted parts working together mechanically When you specify that a ‘mechanism’ is working mechanically it doesn’t mean anything different from ‘machine’. ‘Mechanism’ may be used to describe a non-mechanical system, but if it’s mechanical I think it’s a machine. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/980 "2024-07-03T13:12:44Z")
You are right. People write about, for instance, biological mechanisms or mental mechanisms, which are not machines. The system need not be literally mechanical; it may be analogous. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/981 "2024-07-03T15:28:16Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **mechanism** : a system of mutually adapted parts working together mechanically Perhaps we could say > **mechanism** : a system of mutually adapted parts working together ~~mechanically~~ functionally to accomplish a result that could not be achieved by those same parts not acting in concert. One could cut that off after “functionally”, but that more or less just moves the goal posts to defining what one means by “functional”. Hence my long-winded coda. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/982 "2024-07-03T21:41:19Z")
Interesting to compare “machine” and “engine”: the latter and words related to it have quite a fascinating etymology. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/983 "2024-07-12T22:05:27Z")
I’m still a bit clueless on whether there’s a substantive difference these days between “motor” and “engine”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=48) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=50)