# 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:** 52
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1024 "2025-08-05T13:40:13Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > In stats, the mean has to include all outliers, but an average might include only those things two or fewer standard deviations from the mode-- in other words, a mean that excludes outliers. I’ve never heard of “average” defined as looking at “at all determiners of _typical_ value, partly by excluding outliers.” Every definition of “average” I can find is the roughly the same as the one I was taught - the most common number referred to as an average is the arithmetic mean , but “average” may also refer to the median, mode, or to a different mean other that the arithmetic mean ( including the _trimmed mean_, which I think is what you mean by “excluding outliers.”) so that “average” completely on its own doesn’t really mean much. Certain numbers have conventions associated with them - an “average” of a person’s grades is always a mean, not a median or a mode but a reference to the average house price might be either the mean or the median. Of course, there other definitions of average that have nothing to do with numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1025 "2025-08-05T13:48:00Z")
Probably already in the thread, but another current thread reminds me of it: Prostate: A gland found in men that produces seminal fluid and very often swells or gets cancerous in old age. Prostrate: Lying on the floor, often as a gesture of submission. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1026 "2025-08-05T15:43:55Z")
Although not strictly correct, I often take a rough and ready definition of “mean” as “half the values are above this number and half are below it”. In some situations this gives you a better picture of what’s going on than average. The average income in a country consisting of one multi-billionaire and a million impoverished peasants would be misleading for example. I also find interesting the concept of _geometric_ mean: the nth root of **N** values multiplied together. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2025, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1027 "2025-08-05T16:28:11Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I often take a rough and ready definition of “mean” as “half the values are above this number and half are below it” That is the median, not the mean. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1028 "2025-08-05T16:31:23Z")
@doreen’s explanation matches my own experience. There are different kinds of means (the arithmetic mean, the geometric mean, the harmonic mean) that are calculated different ways and used in different contexts. If not modified, “mean” almost always refers to the arithmetic mean, which is the one where you add all the values together and divide by how many there are. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1029 "2025-08-05T20:19:54Z")
I guess what I meant was that “mean” is a mathematical term. “Average” is legitimately a synonym for “typical,” and people who correct its use as such on the grounds that “average” has a mathematical meaning, and can’t be used colloquially, are simply wrong. This is how it came up recently, and prompted me to post. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1030 "2025-08-05T20:58:11Z")
In a technical context, “average” usually means “mean”, and “mean”, without any qualifiers, always means the arithmetic mean (though it can also have qualifiers, such as “geometric mean”). In a casual context, people don’t use “mean”, “median”, or “mode”, and “average” can mean any of a variety of measures of central tendency, or can also mean “reasonably close to the typical value” (like “We’re all average height”, even if we’re not all exactly the same height). I’ve even seen statements like “You can’t specify an average human body temperature, because it varies considerably”: That one, at least, I would correct, even in a casual context, because “it can vary” is the whole reason why you’d be talking about an average in the first place. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1031 "2025-08-05T23:56:53Z")
Obstreperous - difficult in a behavioral sense Obstinate - stubborn Obtuse - slow on the uptake, perhaps deliberately appearing to be so ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1032 "2025-08-06T10:25:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “You can’t specify an average human body temperature, because it varies considerably”: That one, at least, I would correct, even in a casual context, because “it can vary” is the whole reason why you’d be talking about an average in the first place. Well, yes, that is just wrong. I might correct that too, unless my boss said it. “Average” is the perfect word whether you intend “mathematical mean,” or “typical.” Even something that varies can have a typical value. Not to mention that “considerably” is not the adjective I’d choose for a range that goes from about 96.5F to 100F. The situation I witnessed was someone (whose knowledge and use of English is superior to the general) being dressed down by someone still in college for using “average” in common parlance to mean something not mathematically calculated, in order to avoid using the word “normal” with a group who would _ **not** _ like hearing the kind of people being referred to, as “normal.” ---
**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:** [August 6, 2025, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1033 "2025-08-06T11:22:28Z")
Supination vs. Pronation Supinate = to turn upward or face-up (e.g., palm facing up) Pronate = to turn downward or face-down (e.g., palm facing down) I get some famous names mixed up sometimes (I blame my not-so-spring-chicken-ness): J.Lo vs. J.Law – For years, I thought they were the same person. I figured Jennifer Lawrence also had a music career. My daughters love busting me on this. Yesterday, after watching **Silver Linings Playbook** (great flick, by the way), I said, _“J.Lo was really good in that”_—and got called an old fogie on the spot. Bill Paxton vs. Bill Pullman – One faced aliens in Independence Day, the other faced a twister. Anderson Cooper ↔ Cooper Anderson – Sounds like a law firm either way. And Bradley Cooper (another “Cooper”) was also in **Silver Linings Playbook**. Gah! Too many Seths – Seth MacFarlane, Seth Rogen, Seth Green… Hollywood’s got a whole Seth shelf, and I keep knocking it over. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1034 "2025-08-15T12:52:04Z")
**to speak one’s piece** (not _peace_): to state one’s opinion **to hold [or keep] one’s peace** (not _piece_): to refrain from stating one’s opinion I almost never use either phrase in writing because I can never remember which one calls for “piece” and which for “peace,” and I don’t want to have to look it up. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1035 "2025-08-15T14:03:06Z")
As long as we are on phrases, how about **begging the question** versus **raising the question**? Those do not mean the same thing at all. In particular, begging the question assumes the initial thing. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1036 "2025-08-15T14:09:12Z")
tough – difficult tuff – a type of volcanic rock toff – an upper-class person ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1037 "2025-08-15T14:13:43Z")
Maybe. As was recently said in the lay/lie thread: “if everyone is doing it, they’re not wrong.” IMO “begging the question” as a technical buzzphrase for “assuming the conclusion” has been thoroughly destroyed by common mis-use turning into common use. If you (any you) want to mean “assuming the conclusion”, then _say_ “assuming the conclusion”. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1038 "2025-08-15T14:15:06Z")
A couple of dogs- 2 canines A couple dogs- 2 people have sex in public. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1039 "2025-08-15T16:19:21Z")
**verbal** : expressed in words **oral** : expressed in spoken words Traditionally, a verbal agreement is one that is explicit and expressed in words, whether written or spoken, as opposed to an tacit or implicit agreement. An oral agreement is one that is explicit and expressed in spoken but not written words, as opposed to a written agreement. There seems to be a trend of accepting _verbal_ to mean _oral_, but I’m old enough to remember when [Judge Wapner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wapner) used to absolutely demolish people for mixing the terms up. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1040 "2025-08-15T16:21:25Z")
Isn’t **oral** more broadly anything to do with the mouth? ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1041 "2025-08-15T16:25:04Z")
Well, yes, but I was writing about the particular context of agreements and contracts. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1042 "2025-08-15T16:39:59Z")
Also confusing proper usage of **oral** is the homophone **aural** which means “related to hearing” rather than “related to speaking”. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1043 "2025-08-15T23:46:57Z")
**Optic** - relating to the eyes **Otic** - relating to the ears [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=51) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=53)