Is traditional knowledge or belief known as lore or lower? Would you build a house with lumbar or lumber? Should you spray mace or Mace into the face of an attacker?
Would you lead or led a horse? Do you leaf or leave to go shopping? Does your hot water heater have a leak or a leek? Is a lean or a lien the legal claim of one person upon the property of another person?
Will you be leaving later or latter? Would a lath or a lathe be used to cut the wood? Does a lay or a lei go around your neck? Is a lea or a lee a meadow? Is a leach or a leech a bloodsucking worm?
Are your relatives your ken or kin? Is a key or a cay a small metal instrument specially cut to fit into a lock and move its bolt? Would you bake pottery in a kill or a kiln? Do you knead bread dough or do you kneed it? Is a wildebeest a gnu or a knew? karat,…
Bring and take are two words that a lot of people are confused about how to use. I’ve heard them used wrong on television shows, in movies, and on radio talk shows. Is there a reason for this confusion? Some people grew up in regions or households where these words were consistently used in the wrong way. Others…
The English language can be so confusing at times. Aah, ah, ahh, aw, and awe are all pronounced the same—at least they are in the part of the country where I live—but each one has a different meaning. I know that I’ve used at least one of them in the wrong way before. Chances are,…
Which word means to weaken: enervate or innovate? Would you stay overnight at an inn or an in? Are toddlers acquisitive or inquisitive? Is a treacherous person insidious or invidious? Would you need to insure or ensure your vehicle? innovate, enervate To innovate means to come up with some new creative method, product or idea…
If something is dull and boring, is it incipient or insipid? When someone has understanding and discernment, do they have incite or insight? If a person is skeptical, are they incredible or incredulous? When you teach something to someone by repetition, do you inculcate it or inculpate it? incidence, incidents Incidence is the act of…
Is someone who is high in station, rank, or repute described as immanent, imminent, or eminent? Do you immerse or amerce a tea bag in water? Does an emigrant or an immigrant leave one’s native country with the intention of settling in another? immanent, imminent, eminent Immanent is an adjective that means existing, operating, or…
Is the frozen form of water ice or ayes? If a person is lazy, is he idle, idol, or idyll? Is a poem an idol, idle, or idyll? Would one walk down an I’ll, an isle, or an aisle? Does a magician perform an illusion or an allusion? I, aye, ay I is the nominative…
