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.

Root & Route

Root – (n.) The portion of a plant that anchors it to its surroundings and absorbs nutrients. (v.) Cheer.
Route – (n.) Path, direction.
Why do carrot farmers get lost in beet fields? Because they can't find their root.
...Meh, that joke sorta works.

Coarse & Course

I told you last week's map would show up again...

Cite, Sight, Site

Getting tired of seeing that book yet? :) Just wait till I start reusing the map!

Tighten & Titan

And for those who like their Titans a little more astronomical, and a lot more Proper Noun:

Mantel & Mantle

-el – A covering, often decorative, surrounding a fireplace. A great place to hang socks full of chocolate.

-le – This one has a lot of definitions, including: the layer of the earth between the core and the crust, and apparently some kind of cape-like cloak. But it's also a verb that describes the very act of cloaking something or concealing it. So, technically, you mantle your fireplace with a mantel. So that's not confusing at all.

Happy holidays!

And, for the sports fans:

Continence & Continents

Another -ence vs -ents homophone this week:
-ence – (n.) Let's just call it "the ability to hold it in."
-ents – (plural n.) The big chunks of land floating around the earth.

Whirled, Whorled, World

Whirled – (v.) spun around in circles, past tense of Whirl.
Whorled – (adj.) describes a circular or spiral pattern, especially in nature.
World – (n.) something we seem singularly focused on using up and destroying, despite the fact that we have nowhere else to go.

Iraq

Homophones, Weakly's first guest blogger! Harrison, my six-year-old partner in homophony, submitted not only a suggestion, but his very own drawing based on the complicated situation of listening to people pronounce the word Iraq. Is it "eh-" or "eye-," "-rack" or "-rock"? There are lots of possible combinations (not to mention quite a few meanings for "rack" – ahem), so I appreciate the help in sorting it out, Harrison. And I enjoyed reinterpreting your drawings in the HW style.

Emigrate & Immigrate

OK, so, technically these aren't homophones. But they're close. And from time to time I do hear "emigrate" used where "immigrate" should be. (I'm looking at you, NPR.)
One never emigrates TO a place. One always emigrates FROM a place.












Ah, Paris. We all have dreams, don't we?

Capital & Capitol

With an A – refers to uppercase letters, an accumulation of available wealth (with some indecipherable Econ 101 definition, I'm sure), or a city which is the seat of a country's or state's government.

With an O – the building itself used by a country's or state's legislative officials.

And don't forget, Capitol must always be capitalized.

"I'm going to take all my capital out of the bank and spend it on a trip to our nation's capital, where I'll write an angrily misspelled protest sign in capital letters and hold it up in front of the Capitol."