# 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:** 60
**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:** [June 8, 2026, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1184 "2026-06-08T12:33:21Z")
Even if we had known, you can argue that the charge that moves around in circuits “should” be the positive one, or you can argue that the charge that stays put “should” be the positive one. Franklin didn’t “get it wrong”, because there is no “right”. Likewise with all of the various right-hand-rules. Students are often taken aback when they learn that all coordinate systems must necessarily involve an arbitrary choice that can’t be mathematically defined. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1185 "2026-06-08T17:20:43Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > > [@TruCelt](#): > > > > Leery - cautious, suspicious > > Wary - cautious, susicious > > Weary - very tired, worn out > > Lairy - Br/Aus slang for someone (probably drunk) excitable/aggressive/alarming Leerie - Scots for “lamplighter” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1186 "2026-06-08T21:28:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Just a comment that eventually all coordinate systems have at their foundation an arbitrary privileged direction users simply have to accept and memorize. true true too truuue! ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1187 "2026-06-22T02:54:49Z")
**vitamin** : an organic molecule, or class of molecules, essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolic function. Example: _vitamin A_ **vitamer** : a specific form of a vitamin. Example: _beta-carotene_ ---
**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:** [July 20, 2026, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1188 "2026-07-20T13:58:52Z")
Work to spec: Follow someone else’s detailed instructions in making something. “Spec”, here, means “specifications”. Work on spec: Create something, such as a work of art, that nobody has actually asked for yet, in the hope that you’ll find a buyer after it’s done. “Spec”, here, means “speculation”. ---
**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 20, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1189 "2026-07-20T14:29:14Z")
A timely entry for sure. Thank you! It’s important for someone doing either to be clear which it is. Mistakes about that get expensive fast. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1190 "2026-07-21T20:12:17Z")
**Liquefy** : turn into liquid **Liquidate** : sell investments or property to make them available in the form of money ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1191 "2026-07-21T23:15:10Z")
**surety** : a promise to pay a sum of money in the event that another person fails to fulfill an obligation **insurance** : a means of indemnity against a future occurrence of an uncertain event **assurance** : a contract for the payment of a sum on occasion of a certain event, as loss or death ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1192 "2026-07-26T13:30:38Z")
**snugly** , adv.: in a close-fitting way, with little or no movement ease; as in, _”Dancers’ leotards are designed to fit **snugly**.”_ **snuggly** , adj.: affectionately clinging, conducive to snuggling or embracing; as in, _”My cat was feeling really **snuggly** this evening and wouldn’t get off my lap.”_ This confusion is so ubiquitous that the former spelling is almost extinct in, e.g., sewing patterns and dressmaking blogs. 😕 ---
**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:** [July 26, 2026, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1193 "2026-07-26T14:16:02Z")
Good one ---
**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:** [July 26, 2026, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1194 "2026-07-26T18:54:39Z")
Not really, they are just variants of the same word. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1195 "2026-07-26T19:06:07Z")
“Snugly” is an adverb, formed in the standard adverb way: “snug” + “-ly” is “in a snug manner”. “Snuggly” is an adjective, meaning “pertaining to snuggles”. They’re etymologically connected, to be sure, but they’re different words. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2026, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1196 "2026-07-27T12:11:50Z")
Right. The -le in “snuggle” is a frequentative, making it a different word (and a verb), as different as “hand” vs. “handle,” or “crack” vs. “crackle.” ---
**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:** [July 29, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1197 "2026-07-29T21:58:33Z")
The one that confused the heck out of me is that the North Magnetic Pole of the earth, the one north of Canada, has a south magnetic polarity and vice versa. A compass needle or other permanent magnet has what used to be called a “north-_seeking_ pole” (i.e., the end that tends to point generally toward geographic north at most places near the earth’s surface). The name has been shortened to the “north pole” of the compass needle or other magnet, which I think is unfortunate. Anyway, that reminds me of another confused pair: **magnet** : the sort of whatsit discussed above, with a magnetic field and (unless magnetic monopoles exist) a magnetic dipole moment, and other magnety sorts of properties that make them act in the ways associated with magnets, but the technically correct non-circular definition of which is entirely beyond my powers. **magnate** : a wealthy and powerful business leader ---
**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:** [July 29, 2026, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1198 "2026-07-29T22:27:22Z")
As _Hot Fuzz_ taught us, a specialist in the refrigerator sales business is a fridge magnate . ---
**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:** [July 29, 2026, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1199 "2026-07-29T23:08:18Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > The one that confused the heck out of me is that the North Magnetic Pole of the earth, the one north of Canada, has a south magnetic polarity and vice versa. That’s why I said “it’s that old opposites-attract thing again”. > [@bibliophage](#): > > but the technically correct non-circular definition of which is entirely beyond my powers. Feynman actually had a great bit about that, how most descriptions of magnets are circular. Because most people talk about them in terms of springs, but the forces in springs are, of course, ultimately electromagnetic. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1200 "2026-07-30T00:12:43Z")
**Python** : snake **Pythian** : oracular, Delphic ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1201 "2026-07-30T00:42:16Z")
PieThon - an eating contest. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1202 "2026-07-30T21:29:38Z")
**protege** (or **protégé** ): someone under the protection or instruction of another **prodigal** : (as a noun) a person who is prodigal (adj.: wasteful of money or other goods) **prodigy** : an extremely talented person or a wondrous creature or event. The adjectival form is _prodigious_ (“wondrous” or “extremely large”) **progeny** : one’s offspring and descendants collectively Python/Pythian reminds me of the old **Parthian shot/parting shot** debate. Today, we usually say “parting shot” for an insult delivered at the end of a conversation. Some people swear it’s supposed to be “Parthian shot,” named for the way mounted warriors of the ancient Parthian Empire used to fire arrows backwards while retreating. I have no particular desire to debate the correctness of either form, but I will note when I have occasion to use the phrase, I spell it “parting.” ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772/1203 "2026-07-30T21:48:15Z")
Forgot one. **barley** (“BAR-lee”): a cereal grain used as human or animal food, and in the making of beer, ale, and whiskey **barely** (BARE-lee"): scarcely, hardly [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=59) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-one-can-get-confused/971772.md?page=61)