# 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:** 55
**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:** [December 2, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1084 "2025-12-02T19:04:34Z")
It’s probably pointless to argue about the distinction any more, but **nark** and **narc** are two different words with different origins and different meanings. A nark (from the Romani word for nose) is a police informant, a civilian who spies on criminals or suspected criminals for the police, regardless of the type of crime. There is also a verb nark, meaning “to act as a police informant.” A narc (clipped form of “narcotics officer”) is a police officer who specializes in investigating drug-related offenses and enforcing drug laws. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1085 "2025-12-02T20:02:26Z")
I can’t say I recall ever seeing the k-version. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1086 "2025-12-02T23:48:09Z")
It’s pretty common in British usage. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1087 "2025-12-03T00:54:54Z")
IMO “nark” is effectively unheard of in US usage. “Narc” as undercover drug agent or civilian blue-nose do-gooder ratting out drug users and sellers to the conventional police is the one and only early 1960s usage. By extension now one can “narc” on anyone for anything to any authority. E.g telling somebody about their spouse’s infidelity you’ve seen. " I narced Bob out to Sue over that hookup with Jane." But IMO now “narc” is becoming quaint. Or I am :). ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1088 "2025-12-03T01:28:18Z")
I leaned it from Shaw’s _Pygmalion_ (a.k.a. _My Fair Lady_ without the songs). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1089 "2025-12-03T08:13:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > By extension now one can “narc” on anyone for anything to any authority. You mean “nark” on anyone 🙂 🙂 ---
**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:** [December 3, 2025, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1090 "2025-12-03T12:36:26Z")
No, I meant “narc”. Now I may be doubling down on demonstrating my own profound ignorance, but “nark” just isn’t a word in my personal flavor of English. Never seen it written, and would never write it. Is it a standard word in UK English? Seemingly yes. In US English? If so I utterly missed the memo. Which would not be the first time. And no, I didn’t Google before writing this post; I’m trying to retain my mental virginity here rather than joining the hivemind of actual US usage, whatever that may be. 😉 Consider it a form of sincerity. Perhaps misplaced sincerity. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1091 "2025-12-03T12:48:20Z")
If “nark” is standard in US English, I’ve missed it too. Never seen it written with that spelling and in my lifetime, the meaning has always been the extended one, where you can narc anyone out to anyone for anything. That would include the police for non-drug crimes but isn’t the same as a “snitch”. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1092 "2025-12-03T13:14:01Z")
Sorry to nitpick, but see bibliophage’s post, about seven posts up. The “informant” meaning may be _broader_ than the “drugs officer” one, but it is not an _extension_ of it. They are two different words (distinct etymologies). In the UK, they are also spelled differently. In the US, they are spelled the same — but are still different words. In the US, they are so conflated now that you might argue they’re the same word, as one’s meaning has influenced the other’s. It’s hard for an American to call a drugs officer a “narc” without, on some level, thinking about their potential to rat out the drugs user or dealer. That’s why one meaning _feels_ like an extension of the other — but historically it isn’t, and their semantic spaces were once distinct. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1093 "2025-12-03T13:57:48Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > The “informant” meaning may be _broader_ than the “drugs officer” one, but it is not an _extension_ of it. The “extended” usage is not that the “informant” meaning is an extension of the “drugs officer” one. It’s that the informant meaning has been extended from what @bibliophage described > [@bibliophage](#): > > A nark (from the Romani word for nose) is a police informant, a civilian who spies on criminals or suspected criminals for the police, regardless of the type of crime. to someone who informs (doesn’t necessarily spy ) someone ( not just police) of someone else’s behavior ( not just crimes ). You could narc me out to the teacher for cheating on a test. “Narc” meaning a narcotics officer is a separate meaning , has a different etymology and may be a different word - but even if you consider them two different words that share both a pronunciation and a meaning ( rather than one word with multiple meanings ) they aren’t confused with each other in US English. It’s not like someone writes or says “narc” but really means “narc” - which is absolutely possible with the different spellings in UK English ---
**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:** [December 3, 2025, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1094 "2025-12-03T14:13:39Z")
Got it! Yes, that is a legit “extension,” for sure. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1095 "2025-12-03T15:09:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Is it a standard word in UK English? Seemingly yes. Not widespread (more common would be “grass”), but understood as criminals’ slang. It certainly features in the New Zealand _Brokenwood_ TV series, where there’s one character who says “I’m no nark” before letting slip some vital fact. There’s also an older usage “Nark it!” meaning something like “Shut up”. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1096 "2026-01-09T06:37:42Z")
I read one just now: Portal Porthole “I believe the eyes are the porthole to the soul”. Oops. It almost works. ---
**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 9, 2026, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1097 "2026-01-09T07:44:06Z")
Which is termed an [Eggcorn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn) ! ---
**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 9, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1098 "2026-01-09T13:41:22Z")
At least the eyes aren’t the pothole to the soul. Usually. Unless I’m skimming. ---
**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 26, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1099 "2026-01-26T15:04:34Z")
Here’s a mistake I made myself. It didn’t sound quite right to me, but it took me a few seconds to realize what my error was. **statuary** (n): statues (i.e., sculptures), collectively **statutory** (adj): relating to statutes (i.e., written laws enacted by a legislature) Unfortunately for the unpaid mannequins of the world, the statuary minimum wage is not a real thing, no matter what I may have said about it in a moment of confusion. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1100 "2026-01-26T15:59:31Z")
Here’s one that I don’t think has been mentioned yet: **portentous** : of or like a portent, ominously prophetic **pretentious** : putting on airs, trying to seem more important or impressive than you actually are Granted, you don’t run across the word “portentous” all that often these days, but it’s worth remembering anyway. ---
**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 26, 2026, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1101 "2026-01-26T17:36:04Z")
**Benzodiazepines aka "Benzos:** A class of depressant drugs; “tranquilizers” **Benzedrine aka “Bennies”:** An amphetamine derivative, a stimulant. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1102 "2026-01-26T20:56:27Z")
A friend of mine is notorious for mixing up her idioms. She always says “flush it out” when she means “flesh it out”. Last week, she told me about someone who was “slow on the uptick”, instead of “slow on the uptake”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1103 "2026-01-26T20:57:14Z")
This one apparently caused some confusion on online dating profiles: **miner** : a person who works in a mine **minor** : underage, not of legal majority [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=54) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=56)