Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
117,086
edits
The Big List of Booboos and Blunders: Difference between revisions
added entry
(→P-T: added pursue/peruse) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (added entry) |
||
| (2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
Line 100:
*** 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.
* "aromatic" (having a strong, usually pleasant, scent) for "aromantic" (lacking any tendency or ability to fall in love). This seems likely to be a spell-checker glitch.
* "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.
Line 168 ⟶ 169:
* "bossism" (the ideology of being a boss? some peculiar phrase that a boss says?), also for "bosom".
** Bosoms should always be handled with care.
* "bottom of the rug", an eggcorn for "bottom rung", referring to someone or something that has the least priority or privilege in a hierarchy. It's possible that the writer in question had no idea that "rung", besides being the past tense of "to ring", also is the word for the horizontal bits on a ladder that you stand on. Found on the [[Sex Bot]] page on [[This Very Wiki]].
* "Bowl" (a deep container for holding food or liquid; to roll or toss a ball) for "bowel" (intestine), and vice versa.
* "Brassier" is more brassy. A "brassiere" is a bra. And a "brasserie" is a French brewery, or a small informal restaurant. (Our own [[Fiction Business Savvy]] page used to talk about "a brassier for men".)
Line 191 ⟶ 193:
* "callous" (uncaring) for "callus" (hardened skin).
** Actually, "callous" is the adjective form "callus." (Calloused skin has calluses on it.)
* "cannon" (weapon) for "
** 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.
Line 267 ⟶ 269:
** 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)
* "collude" (conspire, work together) vs. "collide" (smack into; interfere with).
* "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)
Line 285 ⟶ 288:
* "convient" is ''not'' a synonym for or variant of "convenient". It's just misspelled.
** Nor is convent (type of monastery, generally all-female)
* "cooperate" (work together) for "corporate" (having to do with a corporation). Found on the website for an event venue which offered locations for "unique cooperate events".
* "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.
Line 308 ⟶ 312:
* "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.
* "culperate" -- eggcorn for "culprit", which seems entirely too common.
* "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]].
Line 384 ⟶ 389:
* Duelists fight each other. Dualists believe in two celestial beings in balance with each other. Ironically, we previously had this one wrong on [[Media Research Failure]].
* "duffleback": eggcorn for "duffel bag".
* "duly" (in the correct or expected way or time) vs. "dully" (in a boring or unexciting way; in a manner that demonstrates no interest or feeling; in a manner that isn't clear, bright or shiny).
* "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).
Line 400 ⟶ 406:
** 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.
* "enguard" and "onguard", eggcorns for the French phrase "en garde!", beloved of fencers and swashbucklers the world over.
* "enjoin" (to impose an order; to forbid or prohibit, as by a judicial order) for "enjoy" (have a good time).
* "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".
Line 452 ⟶ 460:
*** Do the garbage collectors vant to be alone?
** But [[Red Dwarf|Danny John-Jules]] was the voice of two of the Fireys in ''[[Labyrinth]]''.
* "fisher" (someone who catches fish) for "fissure" (crack, crevice, chasm).
* "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."
Line 478 ⟶ 487:
* "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).
* "Give up the goat" -- an eggcorn for "give up the ghost" (die or otherwise cease to exist).
* "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.
* "gouache" (a style of painting involving water-based pigments with a gluelike composition) vs. "gauche" (graceless, crude, or unsophisticated).
* "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?"
Line 509 ⟶ 520:
* "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."
* Homo sapiens is not a plural, it's the official name for Earth's dominant clothed primate species. It means "wise man". So referring to yourself or anyone else as a "homo sapien" is incorrect.
* "hone in on" for "home in on". "Hone" means "to sharpen", while "home" in this context is the same as used in "homing missile" and "homing pigeon".
* "horde" (a mob) vs. "hoard" (a large cache of treasure, or to collect and preserve something obsessively). The use of "horde" instead of "hoard" was spotted [[The Last Hero|on this very wiki]], alas (but is now fixed).
* "horse" (four-legged riding animal) for "hoarse" (rough and harsh, usually said of a voice)
Line 538 ⟶ 549:
** 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").
* "jamb" (part of a door) for "jam" (shove something into a space that might be too small for it; a type of fruit preserve)
* "jeans" (heavy cotton pants, usually blue) for "genes" (blocks of genetic information which encode specific traits).
** Thus [https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Jeanstealer Jeanstealer]<sup>'''''NSFW'''''</sup> is only one specific Genestealer.
Line 652 ⟶ 664:
* "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.
* "offhand" (offensively or obnoxiously nonchalant) vs. "off hand" (one's non-dominant hand -- your left, if you're right-handed, or vice-versa).
* "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)
Line 667 ⟶ 680:
==P-T==
* "pack" (fill a suitcase or box; a bag one carries on one's back) for "pact" (oath, vow, solemn promise).
* "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)
Line 684 ⟶ 698:
** 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")
* "peel" (skin of a fruit; a tool not unlike a giant spatula used to move baked goods into and out of an oven) for "peal" (loud succession of sounds, such as the ringing of bells). You cannot break into "peels of laughter".
* "pee" (urine) vs. "pea" (small, spherical green vegetable). You would think that this was not a distinction that had to be made, but you would be wrong.▼
* "pedaller" (someone riding a bike) for "peddler" (itinerant seller of small portable goods).
▲* "pee" (urine) vs. "pea" (small, spherical green vegetable). You would think that this was not a distinction that had to be made, but you would be wrong. A Google search will reveal that ''many'' instances of the error "two pees in a pod".
* "peet" (a brand of coffee) for "peat" (a variety of moss grown in bogs, which is used as both a fuel and a soil amendment).
* "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>
Line 715 ⟶ 730:
* "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.)
* "porthole" (round window on a boat) vs. "portal" (a door, often used for magical or technological apertures that transport one far distances).
* "post-humus" (after the fertile earth) for "posthumous" (after death)
** May be related to "post-hummus", subsequent to the chickpeas.
* "Pot-marked" for "pockmarked". (This brings [[Frying Pan of Doom|some really bizarre images]] to mind...) "Pock" is the singular form of "pox", as in "chickenpox" and "smallpox", and it means a divot or crater in the skin caused by disease or infection. Whereas "pots" are large ceramic or metal containers in which one cooks. Someone with a "pot-marked" face probably has more (and more severe) problems than just a bad complexion.
* "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".
Line 757 ⟶ 772:
* "pursue" (chase) for "peruse" (read carefully).
* "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)
* "queue" (a line of items or people which is dealt with in sequential order) and "cue" (a signal to act, or a stick for pool) -- these are often interchangeably misused for each other. And then there is the hybrid "que" ("what?" in Spanish) which is misused for both.
** 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.
Line 805 ⟶ 820:
** 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.
* "ring his neck" (make his neck make a sound like a bell), probably an eggcorn for "wring his neck" (twist his neck between your hands like a towel you're trying to squeeze dry)
* "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)
Line 857 ⟶ 873:
* "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)
* "sparing" (careful with the amount of some quality or substance one is using or sharing ) vs. "sparring" (mock or light combat, usually one-on-one, for training).
* "specter"/"spectre" (a particularly nasty ghost) for "scepter"/"sceptre" (ceremonial mace-like implement that is part of a monarch's or emperor's regalia).
* "Spelt" is a variety of wheat. "Spelled" is how letters are placed in order in a word.
Line 874 ⟶ 891:
* "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.
* "suite" (a connected set of things, such as rooms or computer applications, or in music several short pieces intended to be played one after the other) for "suit" (one or more pieces of clothing; or a legal proceeding
* "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.)
Line 931 ⟶ 948:
* "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)
* "Vaugner" -- an eggcorn for "Wagner" (the composer)
* "Vegas" (a city in Nevada) vs. "vagus" (either of two nerves that extend from the brain to the abdomen)
* Venetian blinds are window coverings made of slats. [https://phoenicianblinds.net/ Phoenician Blinds] is a London jazz band.
| |||