Thursday, December 7, 2023

Hurdle & Hurtle

I know, I know, I said I wouldn't do homophones with The Lazy American T very often. Well, jeez, when's the last time I posted ANYTHING here, huh? I'd say this qualifies as "not very often." ;) 

Actually I saw someone make this mistake in print just the other day, and I couldn't get it out of my head, so here we are. Enjoy.

With a D – as a noun, it's a barrier to be overcome – as a verb, it's to leap over that barrier.

With a T – to move at great speed.



Thursday, March 10, 2022

Ellipse & Ellipsis

 -se – an oval.
-sis – an omission.

Not actually homophones, and I wonder how often they'd be used incorrectly in writing. But I sure hear people mix them up in conversation, just like Climactic/Climatic.



Saturday, February 5, 2022

Parity & Parody

 -ity – a state of fairness, equality.
-ody – a humorously exaggerated imitation.



Monday, July 26, 2021

Farro & Pharaoh

Farro – Ancient European grain.
Pharaoh – Ancient Egyptian ruler.



Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Climactic & Climatic

With a C in the middle – relating to the word "climax." 

Without a C in the middle – relating to the word "climate." 

These two aren't even homophones, but I see them mixed up all the time! Hope this helps.



Monday, December 14, 2020

Succeed & Secede

 This goes out to all the red hats out there who need to learn:

1. how to spell secede.

2. what all this talk of secession really makes you look like.

3. you're not welcome on this blog. These aren't even homophones, dimwits. 



Sunday, November 8, 2020

Defuse & Diffuse

With an E – (v.) literally, to remove a fuse. Metaphorically, to make a situation less dangerous.

With an I and two Fs – (v.) to scatter or spread thinly.
(By the way, the adjective form of Diffuse has essentially the same meaning as the verb, but is pronounced with a hard S sound at the end, rather than the Z sound used here. Homographs!) :)



Sunday, November 1, 2020

Decent, Descent, Dissent

I thought this might be a good one for today since Tuesday is election day here in the US. Two homophones, and a third word thrown in for good measure. While "decent" isn't pronounced the same as the other two, it is easily confused on the page. So I thought it was a good idea to include it here.

Decent (DEE-sent) – good, kind, caring
Descent (di-SENT) – moving downward
Dissent (di-SENT) – protest