# Words that are not the same but get interchanged **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944 "2017-06-02T17:05:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/101 "2017-06-06T12:06:35Z")
Saw [this coffee mug yesterday,](http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/262/398/637.png) gave me a good laugh. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/102 "2017-06-06T13:26:07Z")
Tenet/Tenant. I just think many people don’t know of the word “tenet” at all, and just substitute a known homophone. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/103 "2017-06-06T15:05:22Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Saw [this coffee mug yesterday,](http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/262/398/637.png) gave me a good laugh. If you know how /where to buy one, please post the details. That’s fucking awesome. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/104 "2017-06-06T15:27:33Z")
would of, could of, should of, versus would’ve, could’ve, should’ve ---
**Author:** ![CheaderHeddar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CheaderHeddar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheaderHeddar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/105 "2017-06-06T15:57:17Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > “Damp” means to reduce or mitigate. . No. it ALSO means moist. [http://www.dictionary.com/browse/damp](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/damp) **slightly wet;** \*moist: \* _damp weather;_ **a damp towel.** ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/106 "2017-06-06T16:14:21Z")
> [@CheaderHeddar](#): > > No. it ALSO means moist. > > [http://www.dictionary.com/browse/damp](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/damp) > **slightly wet;** \*moist: \* > _damp weather;_ **a damp towel.** **Machine Elf** was comparing the two verbs _damp_ and _dampen_. The adjective _damp_ didn’t enter into it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/107 "2017-06-07T08:42:36Z")
Apparently some people think that “way” in the expression “way too (whatever)” is an abbreviation of “away”. Maybe it is, but by now I’d say most of us don’t remember it. **LSLGuy** , [you owe me a mug](https://www.amazon.com/Funny-Mug-Grammar-Expletive-Inspirational/dp/B0110RCLQ2/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_236_bs_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EH4W9Q1MGEFT97HQH8N9) 😉 You can see other pretties from the same brand [here](https://www.amazon.com/A-Mug-To-Keep-TM/b/ref=w_bl_hsx_s_ki_web_12725407011?ie=UTF8&node=12725407011&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=A+Mug+To+Keep+TM). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/108 "2017-06-07T11:29:30Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > would of, could of, should of, versus would’ve, could’ve, should’ve Works in only one direction only, I think. Do people actually ever say “would’ve” when they meant to say “would of”? Are there realistic examples of saying “would of” (and meaning it) in a sentence? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/109 "2017-06-07T11:50:49Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Works in only one direction only, I think. > > Do people actually ever say “would’ve” when they meant to say “would of”? > > Are there realistic examples of saying “would of” (and meaning it) in a sentence? “would of” is commonly (and incorrectly) used when “would have” is the correct choice. The only way I can think of to correctly use “would of” is if the “of” is part of “of course.” Thus: **“it would of course be wrong to use ‘would of’ when one means ‘would have.’”** And like you, I’ve never seen someone use “would have” when they should have used “would of”. ---
**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 7, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/110 "2017-06-07T14:19:35Z")
The “would of” one is tricky, because it only shows up in writing, not in speech (or at least, isn’t recognizable as such in speech). The incorrect “would of” is pronounced identically with the correct “would’ve”, which would’ve course be the origin of the mistake. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/111 "2017-06-07T16:05:23Z")
Cavalry and Calvary. Lightning is zappy electricity from the clouds. Lightening is to partially unburden or the opposite of darkening. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/112 "2017-06-07T16:12:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …which would’ve course be the origin of the mistake. Nicely done. From the Bard: > [@](#): > > …And by the necessary form of this > King Richard might create a perfect guess > That great Northumberland, then false to him, > Would’ve that seed grow to a greater falseness; > [@](#): > > …Well, I perceive he was a wise fellow, and had good discretion, that, being bid to ask what he would’ve the king, desired he might know none of his secrets: I’m joking with the above slightly edited quotes, of course. But another instance of “would of” in _All’s Well That Ends Well_ has me slightly puzzled: > [@](#): > > Well, thou hast a son shall take this disgrace off > me; scurvy, old, filthy, scurvy lord! Well, I must > be patient; there is no fettering of authority. > I’ll beat him, by my life, if I can meet him with > any convenience, an he were double and double a > lord. **I’ll have no more pity of his age than I > would of**–I’ll beat him, an if I could but meet him again. Presumably the punctuation must indicate that a train of thought in the soliloquy is interrupted mid-sentence? I can’t make sense of it otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/113 "2017-06-07T16:16:17Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > lose/loose (I see that one quite often; though not as often as I used to see it) > [@drad\_dog](#): > > That loose/lose thing is weird to me. I have never made that mistake in my life and never saw it until the internet message era. I find that I can forgive the business of “loose” taking over the role of “lose” – envisage a mental link on the user’s part, involving something “breaking loose from”, or “getting loose of”, one. Rather like with “hone in / home in”, as below: > [@eburacum45](#): > > Hmm; the jury’s out on this one, I think. > [Home In vs. Hone In – Meaning and When to Use Them](http://grammarist.com/eggcorns/home-in-hone-in/) “Hone in began as an alteration of home in… there are arguments in its favor. Hone means to sharpen or perfect, and we can think of homing in as a sharpening of focus or a perfecting of one’s trajectory toward a target…extending hone this way, is not a huge leap.” I am perhaps too tolerant of English usage of the wrong-resembling-words kind; but feel that letting it greatly bother one, leads only to getting angry and miserable – without any improvement in people’s language use taking place. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/114 "2017-06-07T16:35:34Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > …I am perhaps too tolerant of English usage of the wrong-resembling-words kind; but feel that letting it greatly bother one, leads only to getting angry and miserable – without any improvement in people’s language use taking place. Actually, I’d say this has been an exceptionally civilized discussion, among threads of the genre! One of the surest ways to generate a huge number of comments is to start a thread along the lines of “What things about language annoy you?” And the anger and vitriol with which language peeves are sometimes expressed can be quite astonishing. I think there’s certainly a lot more to the phenomenon than a noble desire for improvement in language use. An interesting article from Mark Liberman at Language Log: [The Social Psychology of Linguistic Naming and Shaming](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004244.html) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/115 "2017-06-07T16:39:14Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/116 "2017-06-07T17:34:35Z")
…would, of… The comma makes it perfectly plain and common “The maid would, of wood, be made” ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/117 "2017-06-07T17:36:29Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > I find that I can forgive the business of “loose” taking over the role of “lose” – envisage a mental link on the user’s part, involving something “breaking loose from”, or “getting loose of”, one. Rather like with “hone in / home in”, as below: > “Hone in began as an alteration of home in… there are arguments in its favor. Hone means to sharpen or perfect, and we can think of homing in as a sharpening of focus or a perfecting of one’s trajectory toward a target…extending hone this way, is not a huge leap.” > I am perhaps too tolerant of English usage of the wrong-resembling-words kind; but feel that letting it greatly bother one, leads only to getting angry and miserable – without any improvement in people’s language use taking place. Right but this doesn’t explain why they don’t tie it with looser, hard “s” meaning less tight, automatically. It’s chaos I tell you. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/118 "2017-06-07T19:51:33Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > … > But another instance of “would of” in _All’s Well That Ends Well_ has me slightly puzzled: > > > [@](#): > > > > Well, thou hast a son shall take this disgrace off > > me; scurvy, old, filthy, scurvy lord! Well, I must > > be patient; there is no fettering of authority. > > I’ll beat him, by my life, if I can meet him with > > any convenience, an he were double and double a > > lord. **I’ll have no more pity of his age than I > > would of**–I’ll beat him, an if I could but meet him again. > > Presumably the punctuation must indicate that a train of thought in the soliloquy is interrupted mid-sentence? I can’t make sense of it otherwise. That’s sure the way I read it. IOW: “I’ll have no more pity of his age than I would of his weak defensive rolles. I’ll beat him, an if I could meet him again.” But in midsentence the speaker decided to skip the “his weak defensive rolles” part. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/119 "2017-06-08T00:12:09Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > It’s easy to see why, surely. “Moot” is an obscure word. If somebody does not know the word, they may aurally mistake it for the more common “mute”. The meaning “not up for discussion” is very close to “something we keep quiet about”. But doesn’t moot mean “subject to debate”, or “up for discussion”? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/120 "2017-06-08T00:23:58Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > But doesn’t moot mean “subject to debate”, or “up for discussion”? Yes, I made a mess of that, didn’t I. The most common sense in everyday speech is “subject to debate” with the implication of unsettled, unresolved. I guess the similarity in meaning to “mute” is kind of vague, but I think it’s still there - we can’t speak definitively about it \<–\> we should keep quiet about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944.md?page=7)