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posted by martyb on Friday October 11 2019, @12:50PM   Printer-friendly
from the its-quiet-awl-write-two-laugh-hat-you're-miss-steaks dept.

I was recently introduced to Professor Paul Brians' web site at Washington State University (WSU). I know I've made many mistakes like these over the years, and would like to think that I have learned from those mistakes. Would that I could have learned them, then, without having to go through those experiences.

So, with a sense of gratitude for what I've been taught and learned so far, and in hopes that it might afford a Soylentil a chance to avoid a red-face-inducing faux pas, I offer you examples of some Common Errors in English Usage:

People send me quite a few word confusions which don't seem worth writing up but which are nevertheless entertaining or interesting. I simply list a number of these below for your amusement. Many of them are discussed on the Eggcorn Database site.

Note: if you don't find what you're looking for below, please be aware that this is only a supplementary page to a much more extensive site that begins here.

NOTE: This is a greatly thinned list of examples from the linked page and has been reformatted for use here. Ellipses ([...]) between entries are implied.

What was saidWhat was meant
ad homonymad hominem
aerobic numbersArabic numbers
ashfaultasphalt
Cadillac convertercatalytic converter
circus sizedcircumcised
deformation of characterdefamation of character
flamingo dancerflamenco dancer
four-stair heatingforced-air heating
gentile mannersgenteel manners
glaucomoleglaucoma
gorilla warfareguerilla warfare
Heineken removerHeimlich maneuver
immaculate degenerationmacular degeneration
in sinkin synch
ivy towerivory tower
misconscrewmisconstrue
muncho manmacho man
parody of virtueparagon of virtue
piece of mindpeace of mind
pot-bellied politicspork-barrel politics
shock waysshockwaves
techknowledgytechnology
two sense worthtwo cents' worth
tyrannical yolktyrannical yoke
very close veinsvaricose veins
windshield factorwind chill factor

What are your favorites — either from this list — or from elsewhere?

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 11 2019, @03:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 11 2019, @03:09PM (#905804)

    Why so serious?