# 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:** 58
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1144 "2026-04-16T18:06:51Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **phytology** : study of plants > **machology** : study of fights > > [okay, I kind of made that pair up] Sorta remindes me of this: **Metrology** : the science of physical measurements (distance, temperature, time, mass, etc.) and its applications. **Meteorology** : the study of the Earth’s atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena. I worked in a temperature metrology laboratory after I graduated college. Calibrated temperature sensors. When someone asked what I did, I would respond that I’m a metrologist. They’d always give me a funny look, and ask if I predict the weather. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1145 "2026-04-16T18:17:16Z")
The study of meteors is called Meteoritics, apparently. Although I’m interested in this subject I didn’t know it had such a wonky name. > **[Meteoritics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoritics)** > > Meteoritics\[note 1\] is the science that deals with meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids.\[note 2\] It is closely connected to cosmochemistry, mineralogy and geochemistry. A specialist who studies meteoritics is known as a meteoriticist. > Scientific research in meteoritics includes the collection, identification, and classification of meteorites and the analysis of samples taken from them in a laboratory. Typical analyses include investigation of the minerals that make up the meteorite, their relativ... ---
**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 16, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1146 "2026-04-16T19:15:30Z")
The mention of _metrology_ reminds me of **mensuration** , the branch of mathematics dealing with calculating the lengths, areas, and volumes of geometric figures. And working a problem in mensuration is to **mensurate**. For obvious reasons you can’t use either word in a math class full of twelve-year-old boys. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1147 "2026-04-16T20:07:58Z")
_ **Etymology** _ ultimately comes from the Greek word \*‘etymon’, meaning ‘literal meaning of a word according to its origin’. _ **Entomology** _, from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (_éntomon_), meaning “insect”, and λόγος (_lógos_), meaning “study”, ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1148 "2026-04-16T22:40:47Z")
First mentioned in this thread in [post #33](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/33). Best mentioned in this thread in [post #368](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/368). ---
**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:** [April 17, 2026, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1149 "2026-04-17T01:34:26Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > For obvious reasons you can’t use either word in a math class full of twelve-year-old boys. You might be surprised. In my high school Latin class (in an all-boys school), we were reading a passage out loud involving someone putting away a sword, and nobody reacted at all to the word for “sheath” showing up. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2026, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1150 "2026-04-17T14:49:30Z")
It helps that it’s pronounced “wa-GHEE-nah” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1151 "2026-04-17T19:15:44Z")
I think it’s Catullus they keep out of high-school Latin classes… ---
**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:** [April 17, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1152 "2026-04-17T20:36:16Z")
He’s the one who wrote his lover poetry about how his “sparrow” was dead, right? We absolutely read him. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1153 "2026-04-18T10:06:58Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > First mentioned in this thread in [post #33](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/33). > > Best mentioned in this thread in [post #368](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/368). I didn’t get the alt-text in the XKCD cartoon in post 370 until I looked it up; apparently the study of creation is **etiology** , so that works. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1154 "2026-05-05T16:52:57Z")
There are many compounds that differ in meaning depending on whether they’re written as one word or two or hyphenated. Here’s one that jumped out at me today. In discussing increasing dietary fiber, a web page I was reading says “you have built up to such a high intake overtime” (they meant “over time”). **over time** : gradually; during a period of time **overtime** : (1) hours worked beyond one’s usual working period, or the amount of money earned from working such time (2) extra time added to the end of a sporting event, or the portion of the event played during this time **over-time** : (photography, rare) to provide more than the usual time for some process, especially development, whether accidentally or on purpose for effect ---
**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:** [May 6, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1155 "2026-05-06T00:59:31Z")
Similarly, there’s a difference between **everyday** (pedestrian) and **every day** (daily). ---
**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:** [May 7, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1156 "2026-05-07T22:00:25Z")
Or “unionized” (organized for collective bargaining, as labor), vs. “unionized” (neutral in charge, not turned into plasma). ---
**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:** [May 8, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1157 "2026-05-08T18:27:29Z")
Or “polish” (to make a surface smooth or shiny) vs. “Polish” (related to Poland). ---
**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:** [May 8, 2026, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1158 "2026-05-08T20:55:45Z")
Polish is also both a verb, to make shiny or smooth, and a noun referring to fine abrasive materials that can help that work. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1159 "2026-05-08T21:22:34Z")
prescribe (to order) versus proscribe (to forbid). ---
**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:** [May 8, 2026, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1160 "2026-05-08T21:36:08Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **pedant** : a person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning; a teacher or schoolmaster > **pendant** : something hanging I’m sure there have been many occasions when someone was tempted to turn a pedant into a pendant… . ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1161 "2026-05-08T21:44:14Z")
I’ve seen writers confuse “grizzled” and “grisly”, resulting in them describing some harmless character as “a grisly old man”. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2026, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1162 "2026-05-09T01:19:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or “unionized” (organized for collective bargaining, as labor), vs. “unionized” (neutral in charge, not turned into plasma). > [@markn\_1](#): > > Or “polish” (to make a surface smooth or shiny) vs. “Polish” (related to Poland). You guys have been reading Asimov, right? ---
**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:** [May 9, 2026, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1163 "2026-05-09T01:59:03Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **pedant** : a person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning; a teacher or schoolmaster > **pendant** : something hanging We should call these “Words autocorrect can get confused” – as it did to me last week! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=57) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=59)