The Big List of Booboos and Blunders: Difference between revisions

[[File:Phonetically-defined-legal-terms.jpg|thumb|350px|link=Wrong Hands]]

{{quote|''Local people called it the Bear Mountain. This was because it was a ''bare'' mountain, not because it had a lot of bears on it. This caused a certain amount of profitable confusion, though; people often strode into the nearest village with heavy duty crossbows, traps and nets and called haughtily for native guides to lead them to the bears. Since everyone locally was making quite a good living out of this, what with the sale of guide books, maps of bear caves, ornamental cuckoo-clocks with bears on them, bear walking-sticks and cakes baked in the shape of a bear, somehow no-one had time to go and correct the spelling.''

 

The following "master list" of errors originally came from a (still-incomplete) [http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/guide/fwg.txt document of advice for amateur writers] which [[Troper]]-and-paid-author [[User:Looney Toons|Looney Toons]] has been composing on and off since early 2007. (At some point in 2012, Looney Toons spun off the error list into [http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/guide/fwg-misused-words.txt its own document], but feel free to check out the guide anyway.)

 

 

Additional examples are always welcome, and will probably be stolen for [[User:Looney Toons|Looney Toons]]' master copy. New entries should, of course, be inserted into the list alphabetically by the erroneous word. If both/all the words are mutually misused for each other, pick your favorite to alphabetize by -- but make sure that someone else didn't pick the other one to alphabetize it under already.

* "aid" for "aide"—The first is not just the verb "to aid" but also can mean any inanimate object that helps with something; the second is a person who provides help of one sort or another.

** "aides" for "AIDS"—just see the ''[[South Park]]'' episode with Jared from Subway in it for this one.

* "all for not" when what was meant was "all for naught".

** Similarly, "ought" ("should") for "aught" ("nothing").

*** Note that "amateur" usually carries the implication of being a dilettante or lacking in professional training. Another case of a word having deviated significantly from its Latin root.

** A common misspelling of ''amateur'' is ''amature''. This one pops up a lot in amateur ''and'' novice writing.

* "artic" (short for "articulated", hinged, especially of a vehicle and particularly a truck) for "Arctic" (the region surrounding the North Pole). Even worse is the eggcorn "Antartic" (against the truck?) for "Antarctic" (of the South Pole).

** And then there's "articulate", well-spoken. This very wiki [[Artificial Limbs|used to claim]] that the mythic hero Sigurd had "a fully articulate metal replacement" hand - in no place in the Eddas or Sagas did Sigurd's articulated artificial hand ever speak.

* "blond" and "blonde". In French, "blond" is masculine (and therefore used for men) and "blonde" feminine (and used for women). In English, you won't be making a mistake if you follow that rule. Or you can simplify and use "blond" for both (and lose the opportunity for wordplay). Hair, no matter whose, is always "blond". "Blonde guy" is either a linguistic abomination or someone in dire need of gender reassignment therapy.

* "boarder" (someone who rents a room from you, or someone who is attacking your ship, as in the phrase "repel boarders") vs. "border" (the edge of a country or other political unit)

* "bore" (dull, soporific person) for "boor" (rude, uncultured slob)

* "borne" (carried) vs. "born" (begin living as an independent organism)

** Also, a tiny distance is "a hair's breadth"; "a hare's breath" is the respiration of a large lagomorph, and would be a measure of time or volume rather than length.

* "breech" (the back end of a cannon; short pants; also an obsolete term for the buttocks, as in "breech birth") vs. "breach" (to break a law, rule, or agreement; an opening in something, or making such an opening)

* "brick-o-brac" -- eggcorn for "bric-a-brac" (random stuff lying about)

* A person from Britain is a "Briton", not a "Britain".

* "callous" (uncaring) for "callus" (hardened skin).

** Actually, "callous" is the adjective form "callus." (Calloused skin has calluses on it.)

** A Kannon is a Buddhist Boddhisattva, sometimes called the goddess of mercy. The company Canon is named after her.

** Now that's ''my'' kind of mercy.

** Also, "colleague" (as in co-worker).

* "collard" (a leafy green vegetable) vs. "collared" (wearing a collar, or having a collar placed on oneself; also being arrested or apprehended)

* "common" as a faux abbreviation for "come on". Come on, people, if you ''must'' abbreviate it, it's "c'mon". "Common" is a whole other word. A common one, in fact.

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20131023024231/http://monctonhostel.ca/ These people], I assure you, are running no ''common'' inn. (although there are common rooms... but that's a whole different use)

* "compliant" (obedient, agreeable) vs. "complaint" (expression of dissatisfaction)

* "complex" (consisting of more than one part) vs. "complicated" (consisting of very many parts; sophisticated). This is especially a pitfall in mathematics or computer programming, where "complex" has one very specific meaning; one freeware calculator was claimed to be capable of "complex" calculations (those involving the square root of -1) but wasn't (obviously the author meant "complicated"), and many of the negative comments on it picked up on this.

* "convient" is ''not'' a synonym for or variant of "convenient". It's just misspelled.

** Nor is convent (type of monastery, generally all-female)

* "copyleft" (eggcorn/neologism) for "copyright" (exclusive right to copy). The term "copyleft" or "share-alike" in the free software movement refers to a class of copyright licenses with a reciprocal condition, meaning the public has the right to make and distribute copies of a covered work so long as any modifications are distributed under the same license.

** One Rights And Permissions Manager for UK ISP Dial Pipex was under the impression that although "copyleft" is fine as an in-joke amongst programmers, it's totally worthless when it comes to establishing or defending one's intellectual property rights — no court in the world recognises it. Yet in 2006, a German court [https://slashdot.org/story/06/09/23/1655248/gpl-successfully-defended-in-german-court recognized the GNU General Public License], the copyleft license of the GNU/Linux operating system and [[MediaWiki]] software.

* "course" (path, route) vs. "coarse" (rough, crude)

* "courtesy" (politeness, out of kindness, or as a gift) versus "curtsy" (a greeting where the person lifts her skirt and makes a bobbing motion). One of our pages used to have an example "curtsey''[sic]'' of the other wiki", which brings to mind Wikipedia having legs and wearing a skirt.

* "Creamated". Maybe it's just me, but I don't think there should ''ever'' be dairy products involved in or produced by the disposal of a body. This is an eggcorn for "cremated".

* "crinching" for "cringing"

* "cubical" (shaped like a cube) for "cubicle" (a box in which to work, change clothes, go to the toilet etc.)

** "Cubicle" is of course derived from "cubical", although most cubicles aren't actually cubical.

* "Cumber bun", an eggcorn for "cummerbund" (the pleated sash-like covering that goes around your waist when you wear a tuxedo).

* "cumin" (a plant with aromatic seeds used in cooking) for "coming" (to be arriving somewhere or having an orgasm), probably a consequence of chatspeak plus [[wikipedia:Cupertino effect|overactive spellchecker]].

*** Using the term 'daemon' in purely English text (not a Latin or Greek quotation) while referring to malevolent creature is more a case of [[Altem Videtur]] or [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]] than an spelling error.

*** And all available from your friendly neighbourhood [[Star Trek|Daimon]], with convenient outlets on Vulcan and the Klingon Homeworld; don't forget to visit our lovely main store on Ferenginar.

** Also, don't confuse any of these with "Damon", which is a rather uncommon given name. (A variant of Damien/Damian, perhaps.)

* "Demure" (shy, reserved, or modest, said of a woman or her behavior) for "demur" (object, raise doubts, hesitate, or show reluctance).

* "disillusion" (the disappointment felt when you discover something isn't what you thought it was) for "dissolution" (the formal end of an alliance, treaty, organization or political body). And let's not even get into the way [[J. K. Rowling]] misused "disillusion" in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books...

* "dissemble" (obfuscate, lie) for "disassemble" (take apart)

* "dose" (a prescribed amount) vs. "doze" (sleep lightly, drowse) vs. "does" (third person present tense of "to do," or more-than-one female deer, depending on the pronunciation).

* "dottering" (a variety of medical procedure) for "doddering" (senile)

* "drudge" (scullery maid, scutworker, blog author) for "dredge" (scrape the bottom of something, such as a river; or coat something in a powder, such as flour or sugar)

* One of the strangest mistakes I've seen is "dschungle" for "jungle." I can only assume that the author was a non-native English speaker and unaware of the letter j, substituting the closest phoneme he could think of.

* "duffleback": eggcorn for "duffel bag".

* "dying" (ceasing life functions) for "dyeing" (recoloring).

* "edged" (put a decorative border around, or describing a cutting edge) for "etched" (incised or burnt into a surface with a caustic chemical). "Etched" should also not be confused with "engraved" (incised into a surface with a tool).

* "edition" (revision or printing of something) for "addition" (something that is added to something)

* "effluent" (water outflow, frequently sewage) vs. "affluent" (wealthy); despite the phrase "filthy stinking rich", these should never be confused.

* "eminent" (exalted) for "imminent" (about to happen).

** Also "immanent" (inherently part of something).

* "empress" (noun, female ruler of an empire) for "impress" (verb, to get a favorable or awed reaction from)

** But often an empress is dressed to impress.

* "emulate" (to behave in a similar way) for "immolate" (to set fire to). Although some emulations are so poor that immolation [[Kill It with Fire|is the only sensible remedy]], and conversely, emulating Thich Quang Duc involves immolation.

* "enormity" for "enormousness". "Enormity" means "huge badness," not "hugeness."

** According to [[Bill Bryson]], [[Ronald Reagan]] fell victim to this one, saying when he won the presidential election that he "could not believe the enormity of what had happened".

* "fiancé" and "fiancée". This one's French through and through, so "fiancé" (without the final E) is the man you're going to be married to, and "fiancée" (with the extra "e") is the woman.

* "Filler-buster" instead of "filibuster" (eggcorn written by an Australian who was not familiar with the U.S. legislature).

* "finely" (precisely, with quality) for "finally" (at long last)

* "Firry" or "firey" for "fiery"

*** Do the garbage collectors vant to be alone?

** But [[Red Dwarf|Danny John-Jules]] was the voice of two of the Fireys in ''[[Labyrinth]]''.

* "flair" (special ability, or stylishness) for "flare" (a sudden burst of light or intensity; what trousers did in the '70s).

* "flaunt" and "flout" are often confused, perhaps because both actions are often performed blatantly or brazenly. To "flaunt" your possessions or attributes is to show them off. To "flout" a law is to break it. "Lady Godiva flouted the law by flaunting her body in public."

* What properties a "flourescent tube" would have as opposed to a "fluorescent tube"? Disperse finely ground wheat when you switch it on, perhaps?

* "fool moon" for "full moon" (May be a simple typo, but it's unintentionally amusing. Or it may be an intentional reference to the title of the second ''[[The Dresden Files|Harry Dresden]]'' novel by Jim Butcher.)

* "footsteps" (the individual movements of walking, or the sounds made thereby) for "footprints" (marks made in or on the ground by walking)

* "For all intensive purposes." For those of you going, "well, what's wrong with that?", the phrase actually is "for all intents and purposes". It means, basically, "for any possible reason", not "for those reasons which are particularly strong or sharply felt". "For all intensive purposes," in comparison, is a briefer way of saying, "If you plan to put this object to intense use," but how often does anyone say ''that''?

** Well, maybe those using it are all in tents, and porpoises?

* "foreboding" (implying or forecasting ill events) for "forbidding" (frighteningly impressive, as well as its more common usage).

* "forward" (direction) for "forewarned" (given advance warning).

* "I found up the bank". From context, the activity wasn't "looking for" but rather "contacting by telephone", so it's not just an overly zealous <s>spell chequer add</s> spell-checker at work here. In the same paragraph was "I then walked her throw how easy it was".

* "founder" (n. a person who starts something, v. to sink, literally or metaphorically) vs. "flounder" (n. a fish, v. to thrash about in the water)

* If something is more free than something else, it is "freer". It isn't "free-er", which looks like someone hesitating mid-sentence. Bonus points if you [[Lampshade Hanging|draw attention to your error]] by spelling it with quotation marks.

** Many linguists would argue that "freer" is just as invalid as "free-er". Free should be an absolute, something is either free or not.

* "gambol" (to dance or caper about) for "gamble" (to make a bet or take a chance)

** This confusion was deliberately used as a pun by the management of Windsor Greyhound Track, whose restaurant was called "Eton Gambol" (Eton being the name of the local district—yes, as in the famous public school).

* "Good rithens". Would this qualify as an eggcorn when "rithens" is not even a word?

** Of course; some would even call it a perfect eggcorn.

** Probably a misinterpretation of "good riddance".

*** Well, yes, that's the point.

* "graduated" (calibrated, divided into degrees, granted an academic degree or diploma) for "gravitated" (to drawn inexorably towards something)

* It's "grammar" not "grammer"! An easy typo yes, but all to easy to misinterpret. "Is it a typo of "grammar" or "gramme" I wonder?"

** And let's not even complicate matters with the bear/bare confusion, as a "grisly bare" does not, ahem, bear imagining.

* "Gunnery" (the skill of using really big cannons to blow holes in things) for "gurney" (a wheeled cot used to transport injured or ill persons).

* "hanger" (that thing you put your clothes on) for "hangar" (where you keep your zeppelins, planes and helicopters)

* "hansom" (a horse-drawn taxi) for "handsome" (good looking). It is possible to drive a handsome hansom.

* "hey-stack" (a pile of shouted greetings) for "haystack" (a pile of hay), a misspelling that appeared right here on the Wiki, on [[Tropes Examined by the Mythbusters]].

* "hole" (a gap, pit or aperture) vs. "whole" (all of something). There was graffiti referring to someone as an "arsewhole", leaving the viewer to wonder whether being the entirety of someone's backside was worse than simply being its associated orifice.

* "hologram" for any type of stereogram. A hologram is specifically the kind of stereogram which records and replays the wavefront emitted by the object; other types of stereogram, which use two (or sometimes more) separate (2D) images to create the 3D effect, are most decidedly '''not''' holograms. The most recent (as of November 2010) example is the 3-disc Special Collectors' Edition of [[Avatar (film)|Avatar]] sold at Tesco (UK) stores, which includes a pack of four so-called "hologram" art cards which are actually parallax stereograms.

* "holy" (sacred) vs. "wholly" (completely, absolutely). Kipling punningly used both versions—correctly—in one of his poems: "Holy People, however it runs, Endeth in Wholly Slave." Similarly, the Discordians have "To diverse gods/Do mortals bow:/Holy cow/And Wholly Chao."

* "horse" (four-legged riding animal) for "hoarse" (rough and harsh, usually said of a voice)

* "hostler" (a person employed to look after the horses at an inn) and "holster" (an apparatus for carrying a gun)

** Pronouns don't use apostrophes for possessives, but rather special forms (he/his, she/hers, me/mine, you/yours, they/theirs). "It" is a pronoun, and "its" is the special possessive form. ("One" is the sole exception; its possessive, "one's", does have the apostrophe.)

* For that matter, "it's" for "is". This one gives Spanish speakers a ''lot'' of trouble (the Spanish word "es" means both "it's" and "is").

* "jeans" (heavy cotton pants, usually blue) for "genes" (blocks of genetic information which encode specific traits).

* "just desserts" instead of "just deserts"; the term "desert(s)" in this meaning ([http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/desert Etymology 1 here]) is otherwise little-used

 

* "off of" rather than simply "off", "on" (as in "based on") or "from" (as in "take something off of someone"), although this has become something of a popular colloquialism and hence is probably acceptable in casual situations.

* "offal" (animal guts; garbage; rotting meat) for "awful" (very bad or unpleasant). Offal may be awful, but they're not the same thing.

* "ok" is not a word. The word is "okay" (or "OK" with both letters capitalized if you really feel the need to contract), and it's not a great word to use in writing anyway.

* "on the lamb" (perched upon a young sheep) for "on the lam" (fleeing from officers of the law)

 

==P-T==

* "pad" for "pat"

* "pallet" (a wooden platform for shipping things; also a thin, flat bedroll) vs. "palette" (a flat surface, often a thin board, which artists use to hold and blend paint) vs. "palate" (part of your mouth; colloquially, your sense of taste)

* Pantene makes hair-care products. Pantone makes custom colors.

* "paper machete" (a large knife made of paper) for "paper mache"/"papier mache" (sculpting medium made up of shredded/chopped paper and glue)

* 'parsimonious' means 'miserly', and is not a synonym for 'concise'.

* "passed" (moved in front of) vs. "past" (history)

* "pause" (stop, usually briefly) vs. "paws" (the feet of most mammals)

** Similarly, "pause" (see above) vs. "pose" (staying still for a photograph or a painting)

** Unless you're giving someone a "piece of your mind," but under those circumstances you are trying to ''disturb'' that person's peace of mind.

* "peak" (mountain) vs. "peek" (sneak a look) vs. "pique" (either whet, as in "pique an interest"; or a minor state of bad temper, as in "a fit of pique")

* "pedaller" (someone riding a bike) for "peddler" (itinerant seller of small portable goods).

* "pendantic" (having to do with necklace fobs) for "pedantic" (sounding like Ben Stein)

* The plural of "penis" is "penises" (or "penes" if you're a real stickler for the Latin). It's not the same as the singular, nor is it "penii" or any variation on that, no matter how much funnier that construction is.<ref>If you must know, the '-i' pluralization only works for words that end in '-us' (thus '-ii' is only the correct plural ending if the singular ends in '-ius'). You can have a single Toyota Prius or multiple Toyota Prii, but if you have penii ''or'' a penus you should really consult your doctor.</ref>

* "Perserve" may be how some people pronounce "preserve," but it's not correct spelling.

** And "persevere" is something completely different.

* "perspective" (point of view, or the technique of drawing with the illusion of depth and/or distance) vs. "prospective" (likely to be something or take place at some point in the future).

* "partition" (to divide into parts; a wall or barrier that divides a larger space into smaller ones) vs. "petition" (to make a formal request; such a request in written form, usually signed by the people making it).

* One ''[[Star Trek]]'' [http://geeksaresexy.geeksaresexytech.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/st2.jpg trivia list]{{Dead link}} includes the "split infinitives are grammatically incorrect" nonsense (they aren't, English is not Latin) yet earlier says "this phenomena", which '''is''' grammatically incorrect (it should be "this phenomenon"). Likewise, a single item from the list is a trivium and a single requirement is a criterion (only if you have several requirements are they criteria).

* "pheonix" ([[Kill It with Fire|completely wrong]]) for "phoenix", a mythical firebird that has given its name to a city in Arizona, a superheroine from the [[X-Men]], and more.

** Also, either vs. "physique" (the fitness and form of one's body)

* "physician" (a medical doctor) vs. "physicist" (a scientist specialising in the study of matter and energy)

* "pores" (''n'' small holes; ''v'' reads something intently) vs. "pours" (empties liquid from a container).

* "porpoise" (a marine mammal) vs. "purpose" (an aim or a goal). Of course, those who know better will often do this one [[Incredibly Lame Pun|on porpoise. For the halibut]]. (See the North American dub of ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'' for a particularly convoluted example caused by a combination of [[Gratuitous English]] and puckish translators.)

* "post-humus" (after the fertile earth) for "posthumous" (after death)

** May be related to "post-hummus", subsequent to the chickpeas.

* "Potter" (someone who makes pots or kills dark lords) for "putter" (perform a series of small tasks in no particular order or hurry; or a type of golf club)

* "A power onto herself" when what was meant is "a power ''unto'' herself".

* "predominantly" (mainly, overwhelmingly, made up mostly of) for "prominently" (visibly, obviously), and vice versa.

* "Prejudice" (a preconceived idea or opinion, usually without reason) for "Prejudiced" (one who has a preconceived idea or opinion).

* "presents" (gifts that are given and received, or the act of presenting something) vs. "presence" (the state of being in attendance)

* "prestigious" (respected, famous) for "prodigious" (very very large)

*** <nowiki><</nowiki>[[Rimshot]]>.

* "prolonged" (continues for a long time, such as "a prolonged boring speech about grammar") vs. "prologued" (an awkward verbing analogous to "monologued," probably taken as describing or creating the intro/backstory to a story, at some time in the past).

** Similarly, "progeny" (offspring) for "prodigy" (precocious genius) -- ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' deals with this one, when Calvin refers to himself as a "child progeny."

* "proof" (a line of reasoning deriving a conclusion from a set of premises) for "evidence" (information supporting such reasoning).

* "purport" (to claim or appear to be something, usually falsely) for "comport" (behave)

* "purposefully" (with purpose, as in "stride purposefully into the room") vs. "purposely" (on purpose, deliberately).

* "puss" (shorted form of "pussy" used as a nickname for a cat as in "Puss in Boots", or slang for a person's face) vs. "pus" (thick cream-, greenish- or yellowish-hued liquid oozed by infected wounds or cysts)

** However, there is at least one context where ''either'' can be correctly used, although the meaning does change: a DJ or radio station can cue up ''or'' queue up music -- the first means setting up a piece to play immediately at the touch of a button, while the second means to prearranging several pieces to play in sequence.

* "quite" and "quiet" -- ''far'' too common a confusion.

* "refuge" (sanctuary) for "refuse" (garbage)

* "regent" (a temporary interim ruler while the actual ruler is too young or ill to serve) vs. "reagent" (a reactive substance)

** The teacher in ''[[Mahoromatic]]'' does not have a "strict beauty regiment", despite what both Wikipedia and this very wiki claimed until June 2020.

* "regulated" (controlled, restricted or overseen by law) vs. "relegated" (assigned to an obscure place, position, or condition; a person who has been [[Kicked Upstairs]] has been relegated to a new role.)

* "relive" (experience again) vs. "relieve" (ease one's conscience). The former was used as a malapropism for the latter on [[The Simpsons (animation)/WMG]].

* "repel" (to push away) for "rappel" (to slowly descend a vertical surface using a rope, most commonly in rock climbing)

* "reprisal" (a return strike or act of revenge) for "reprise" (to repeat a passage of music; more broadly, a repeat of any event)

* "resolution" (degree of detail in an image, or a formal statement of a position or policy) vs. "revolution" (a radical change like an armed insurrection, or one instance of a cycle like an orbit.)

* "respectable" ("worthy of respect" or "fit to be seen") in place of "respective" ("particular" or "associated"). Possibly a confusion of synonyms, since respectable can also be defined as "proper", but not the same sort of proper that "respective" implies.

* "restraint" (the voluntary choice to not take a possible action; a device or arrangement intended to restrict a person's freedom of movement) vs. "restrained" (held back, bound or restricted in some manner, either literally or figuratively; past tense of "to restrain")

* "restraunt" for "restaurant".

** And no matter how you say it, "ridiculous" is not spelled with an "e."

* "riggers" (people who set up rigging) for "rigors" (challenges or hardships)

** Note that it's "rites of passage" (rituals), not "rights" (permissions or, mind-bogglingly, non-lefts). The [[Rush]] song "Distant Early Warning" uses the latter, but it's a pun.

** It's also Copyright - permission to replicate - not Copy''write'' (replicating text) or Copy''rite'' (a ritual performed to make a stubborn Xerox device work). A ''copy writer'' is someone who writes (advertising) "copy," and has nothing to do with replicating since they're making an original.

* "risky" (having the chance of loss, failure or danger) vs. "risque" (sexually suggestive, mildly indecent and/or shocking).

* "roll" (move along a surface by rotation) for "role" (part to play in an organized operation like a military strike or a theatrical production)

* "sooth" (archaic word for "truth", as in "soothsayer") for "soot" (black carbon residue from fire) or "soothe" (v., "give ease")

* "spackle" (patching material for plaster walls) for "speckle" (tiny mote-like dot)

* "specter"/"spectre" (a particularly nasty ghost) for "scepter"/"sceptre" (ceremonial mace-like implement that is part of a monarch's or emperor's regalia).

* "spurn" (dismiss brusquely, shun, ignore) for "spur" (encourage, prompt, force into action)

* "stanch" (block, plug or stop up, as in a flow of blood) and "staunch" (unwavering, devoted)

* "substain" for "abstain". "To substain from sex" comes closer to "making your living from," implying having a fair amount of, rather than "having none whatsoever".

* "suit" for "sued". Well, if you get sued you'll have a suit on your hands, but they're not quite the same thing.

* "summer" vs. "Sumer." The former is a season, the latter is an ancient Mesopotamian region and civilization.

** The latter is also a really, really old way of saying the former, as in the ballad "Sumer is icumen in."<ref>''Lhude sing, cuccu!''</ref> (Use of ''icumen'', a word so bloody old that even Shakespeare never used it, should give an idea of how long we've been using the double "m" in the season—it dates back to a time when English was more like German than the language we speak today.)

** To mistake them is to [[Elder Scrolls|invoke the wrath of Sithis]].

* "test their metal". Appears as an eggcorn of "test their mettle" (i.e., put their abilities to the test).

** Light the fires. I've had to correct such an error ''on this very page''.

* "there" (indicating a location or direction) vs. "their" (showing ownership by a group of people) vs. "they're" (contraction of "they are"). Absurdly common, especially among non-native English speakers (who can generally be forgiven).

* "thou" (second person pronoun from Elizabethan English, "you") vs. "though" (a conjunction meaning "in spite of the fact that" or "in spite of the possibility that"). If you ''must'' abbreviate "though", "tho'" (with the terminal apostrophe) is the usual way to do it.

* "threw" (propelled something into the air by muscle power) vs. "through" (a preposition meaning roughly by way of the middle of something, either by interpenetration or puncture). "Through" is sometimes shortened to "thru"; sometimes it is misspelled as "though".

* "track house" (a house likely to be run over by race cars or horses) for "tract house" (small, inexpensive home mass-produced in suburban developments). An obvious eggcorn.

* "trammel" (an impediment or restriction) vs. "trample" (to stomp on or grind underfoot).

* A "troop" is a unit of soldiers. A "troupe" is a group of actors or other entertainers. They're two completely different types of groups of people (unless you're part of the [[Sakura Taisen|Flower Division]], of course).

* "Trooper" is a soldier in an army, or a member of [[Trooper|a Canadian rock band]]. "Troper" is what we call ourselves on [[This Wiki]]. This one is likely the fault of an overzealous spellchecker.

* "ungulate" (a mammal with hooves) for "undulate" (to move with a sinuous or wavelike motion)

* an unstable (adj.) instability (n.) destabilizes (v.).

* "Upmost" (at the tippy-top) for "utmost" (greatest, most extreme).

* "vassal" (feudal subordinate or servitor) vs. "vessel" (ship or boat; a container like a jar or bottle)

* "Vegas" (a city in Nevada) vs. "vagus" (either of two nerves that extend from the brain to the abdomen)

* "Vermilion" is an orange-red. "Viridian" is green.

* "Verses" as opposed to "versus". The first is poetry, the other indicates a state of opposition or contrast. It's "Tyson versus Holyfield", not "Tyson verses Holyfield"—unless Tyson is writing poetry about his opponent.

* "Wait ago" for "way to go". The most amusing eggcorn I've seen.

* "Wallah!" (Hindi, someone who is associated with a particular activity, selling or carrying something, or Arabic, "By Allah") for "Voilà!" (French, literally meaning "See there!" — idiomatically, "And there you have it"; see above for more fun with "voilà")

* "wander" (walk around without a destination in mind) vs. "wonder" (ruminate).

* "wane" (a verb meaning "to decrease") for "wan" (an adjective meaning "unhealthily pale")

* "where with all" for "wherewithal" (the means to do something): eggcorn.

* "Wherefore" does not refer to location, but is basically an archaic way of saying "Why." "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" (note - no comma between "thou" and Romeo, as there would be if she was asking where he was) is Juliet lamenting that her new lover is a Montague, asking ''Why'' he couldn't be someone that her family wasn't sworn to kill on sight.

* "whiles" (periods of time; misspelling of the adverb "while" meaning "during which") for "wiles" (devious plans or stratagems, employed to manipulate someone)

* "who" (subjective pronoun) vs. "whom" (objective pronoun); few people know when to use "whom" and thus default to "who" for all cases. A simple way to remember which is appropriate is to substitute the "who" with "he" or "him". If "he" sounds correct, use "who"; if "hi'''m'''" sounds correct, use "who'''m'''".

** Who loves whom? [[Ho Yay|He loves him]].

* It's "wiener" (as it's a Vienna, Wiener, sausage), not "weiner". Unless you're [[w:Anthony Weiner|an ex-Congressman]].

* "wipeout" (to take a bad fall while surfing) vs. "wipe out" (to destroy utterly, to kill every last individual)

* "Yea" for "Yeah". "Yea" is an archaic form of "yes", but it is pronounced "yay", not "yeah". The only times "yea" is used today is in response to a formal vote; to vote yea or nay. (Or in the King James Bible -- "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death...")

* "you're" (contraction of "you are") vs. "your" (showing ownership by you). Again, this is an understandable error for non-native English speakers, but native speakers really should have learned this in grade school.

* And, since it doesn't fit anywhere else on this list, turning a singular noun (usually one ending in "-y") into a plural noun with a simple "-s", as in "storys", instead of the proper replacement of the "-y" with "-ies".

** With some exceptions, such as given names, and words that have a vowel before the "-y". Therefore, the plural of "story" is "stories," but the plural of the British spelling of the same word, "storey", is "storeys." Ahh, the joys of English!

* When discussing the limits of a given range, the distressingly often-seen "between X to Y" is ''not'' correct. You can use "between X and Y" or "from X to Y", but don't switch in the middle.

** On a similar note, "both" doesn't match up with "but also". Choose between "both X and Y" and "not only X, but also Y".

 

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[[Category:Artistic License Linguistics]]

[[Category:Mondegreen]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big List of Booboos and Blunders, The}}