# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/141 "2018-07-16T04:40:29Z")
How about ‘quits’ as in _‘Let’s call it quits.’_ ? I used to think this meant ‘Let’s quit (stop) doing something.’ A Frenchman asked me to proofread his English letter claiming that he was owed a spare part: “To be quits we need you to send a G6546 circuit board.” I said this didn’t sound like English and he showed me an English dictionary! Was I wrong? Is this a familiar usage? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/142 "2018-07-16T05:01:45Z")
I’ve heard it (esp. the phrase “call it quits”). The dictionary says the adjective “quits” = on even terms, especially because a debt or score has been settled; freed from a liability or debt – has been English since the late 15th century. So your example is “quits” versus the verb to quit? ---
**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:** [July 16, 2018, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/143 "2018-07-16T06:15:51Z")
Ones that annoy/amuse me; Than/then (seems to be quite common on message boards for some reason) Enormousness/enormity (I think people use ‘enormity’ because ‘enormousness’ sounds clunky, but enormity means something completely different) pacific/specific (this one is always good for a laugh) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/144 "2018-07-16T06:38:35Z")
Immanent vs imminent? ---
**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:** [July 16, 2018, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/145 "2018-07-16T09:22:01Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > 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. > > > [@drad\_dog](#): > > > > In the US the common usage definition of moot is “of no practical significance.” This and mute are perfect examples of the OP. Are you a brit? “Moot court” in law school is an exercise where students debate an unresolved legal problem where the evidence is considered in equilibrium, and it will be the quality of the student’s arguments that push the point one way or another. They are real situations that were made moot before they were settled for one reason or another. > [@glowacks](#): > > Whereas, if a custody dispute ends because of the death of the child, then one would say that the question of custody would become moot, and the point is never actually resolved. This is a great example. Lay people somehow picked up the word “moot” from legalese as meaning “something no longer worth debating,” and got the wrong idea about it, so often use it to mean something settled, as opposed to something that either can’t be, or no longer needs to be settled. > [@Chronos](#): > > The only one I get vitriolic about is “literally”, because it significantly diminishes the ability to communicate. So long as the word “literally” retains its meaning, all other metaphorical, sarcastic, and other figurative usages are on the table, because if it’s ever unclear, you can ask the speaker whether they mean it literally. But when “literally” itself becomes subject to the same treatment, you have no further recourse. Thank you for articulating so well why this fight must be fought. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944/146 "2018-07-16T10:07:46Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > compose/comprise Unfortunately, this error (“comprised of” to mean “composed of”) has become so common that it is now [generally regarded as standard](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprise). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-not-the-same-but-get-interchanged/787944.md?page=7)