Lately while reading various message boards, websites, blogs, e-mails, news articles and whatever else I've noticed that people have completely forgotten about homonyms. What is a homonym you may ask?
Homonym (n.) - A word the same as another in sound but different in spelling and meaning
Simple enough, know? Their are a lot of these peppered throughout the English language and while speaking ewe may be able to pull it off, when using the written medium mistakes are pretty apparent. Since it seems that with text messaging, e-mails and other devices we're knot going two have too talk two each other at all in a few years you'd think that we'd place a high priority on making sure we right as clearly as possible. This, unfortunately, is knot the case.
Eye can say from firsthand experience that homonyms are completely ignored in schools these days. Eye believe there is a brief mention of them in second grade and then for the other ten years children are allowed to slide. Go look at a myspace/facebook page and see how many mistakes ewe can spot, it's appalling. What's more appalling though is people that should no better, namely reporters for newspapers and so called "professionals" blunder into the same sort of mistakes... then it becomes common usage! Common usage does not make something correct, it just makes more and more people sound uneducated to those that no better.
Anyway, instead of sitting here spouting how people should take the time to learn how to right and all that bitching and moaning I thought I'd go the extra mile and point out a few of the most common mistakes. This list is all from personal experience in the last couple of days so it is by know means complete, but bye golly, its a step in the right direction.
1. Loose/Lose - I've already covered this in great detail in my screenwriting blog, you can read it HERE
2. Right/Write - People have lately been interchanging the two, presumably while they write. I hope I don't have to explain the meaning of the words, so instead I'll try to help you remember the difference. Using an "R" may be right but it won't help you when you try to write. There, that's kind of clever. Sort of. I mean, it's easy to write one of those that makes sense on paper, but I'm going for more of the "say out loud" route, because what the hell would it matter if you don't know the difference anyway. There is also "rite" meaning a ritual or ceremony, but honestly no one I know says anything like that unless they're describing something having to do with voodoo, so we'll just leave that one out. Moving on...
Remember: Using an "R" may be right but it won't help you write!
3. Accept/Except - I think the problems with these two is that people don't know the difference. Accept is to receive, except means other than (a contrary). This is an easy one to do out loud and it provides clarification of meaning as well. I would sleep with my ex again except they had a sex change. By clearing up half of the problem the rest should fall into place, ex... except... things are falling into place. When except doesn't make sense, use accept! I accept your exception! Also, you could still sleep with your ex, though it'd be way different. But if you're a woman... and you were dating a really feminine man... and uh... they had a lot of money for plastic surgery... and then uh... well never mind. Forget I said anything.
Remember: I would sleep with my ex again except they had a sex change
4. Affect/Effect - A lot of people have trouble with this one. To affect is to have an influence on whereas effect is the result. You can affect the effects but not the other way around. The best way to remember this one is to use another word that it's kind of hard to screw the spelling up for. "My affliction is affecting my effects." Affliction being a problem (disease... on fire... you know) that can affect the things you do, your effects. The "aff" sound in affliction will be your giveaway. Can't make it much clearer than that.
Remember: My affliction is affecting my effects.
5. Illicit/Elicit - This one doesn't come up very often but when it does, it's generally screwed up. I think the main problem is that people don't know that the word elicit exists so they just throw illicit in its place. Illicit means illegal, that's easy enough to remember, elicit means to bring about, or make happen. Something illicit can elicit something, but not the other way around. "The illicit eclair elicited my gut." I think that the e of eclair will help one to remember the e of elicit. In this case it may just be easier to use a few more words and say "That eclair I stole made me fat" ... but it's your prerogative.
Remember: The illicit eclair elicited my gut
6. Hole/Whole - This is another one that people seem to forget that you can throw a silent "w" in front of hole and make it mean something completely different. Hole seems to be used exclusively so it's about time that was fixed. The easiest way to remember this is "You can have a whole hole but not half a hole" but that doesn't help if we're going the say-out-loud route. So, "The whole whale had a hole in his blowhole." Whale helping to remember that sneaky "w" and blowhole for hole. Easy as that. Though it is stupid. I, for one, wouldn't want half a whale.
Remember: The whole whale had a hole in his blowhole.
7. No/Know - I chalk this problem up to extreme laziness. The simple reply of "i no" is just easier to type out so I won't really hold this against too many people. I'm lazy too, dammit. Therefore I'm going to come up with a half-assed way to remember this that won't help anyway. "The knight knows." If you don't know there's a "k" on knight then you're screwed. Ha-ha.
Remember: The knights knows (in theory)
8. Piece/Peace - This is another one that seems to slip through the cracks. It's clear what the differences between the words are, it's just a matter of when to use what. "You can have a piece of pie when there is peace." Simple and straightforward, pie/piece is easy enough to remember and you can't have a peace of pie. So, you better get working on that global community thing if you want some pie.
Remember: You can have a piece of pie when there is peace
9. It's/Its - An apostrophe is used when something is possessive, which is what causes the problem here... people forget that it also denotes a contraction. A contraction is the mashing together of two words for no apparent reason, in this case it's means it is. Its is the possessive term, just like hers and his. "It apostrophe s means it is." There's really no way of making that much clearer than that, so good luck.
Remember: It apostrophe s means it is.
10. Principal/Principle - Ahh screw it. Just remember the other ones and you'll be better. Go learn something your damn self! It's a matter of principle! People expecting me to do all the work for you... buncha *mumble* *mumble*
-Michael
Homonym (n.) - A word the same as another in sound but different in spelling and meaning
Simple enough, know? Their are a lot of these peppered throughout the English language and while speaking ewe may be able to pull it off, when using the written medium mistakes are pretty apparent. Since it seems that with text messaging, e-mails and other devices we're knot going two have too talk two each other at all in a few years you'd think that we'd place a high priority on making sure we right as clearly as possible. This, unfortunately, is knot the case.
Eye can say from firsthand experience that homonyms are completely ignored in schools these days. Eye believe there is a brief mention of them in second grade and then for the other ten years children are allowed to slide. Go look at a myspace/facebook page and see how many mistakes ewe can spot, it's appalling. What's more appalling though is people that should no better, namely reporters for newspapers and so called "professionals" blunder into the same sort of mistakes... then it becomes common usage! Common usage does not make something correct, it just makes more and more people sound uneducated to those that no better.
Anyway, instead of sitting here spouting how people should take the time to learn how to right and all that bitching and moaning I thought I'd go the extra mile and point out a few of the most common mistakes. This list is all from personal experience in the last couple of days so it is by know means complete, but bye golly, its a step in the right direction.
1. Loose/Lose - I've already covered this in great detail in my screenwriting blog, you can read it HERE
2. Right/Write - People have lately been interchanging the two, presumably while they write. I hope I don't have to explain the meaning of the words, so instead I'll try to help you remember the difference. Using an "R" may be right but it won't help you when you try to write. There, that's kind of clever. Sort of. I mean, it's easy to write one of those that makes sense on paper, but I'm going for more of the "say out loud" route, because what the hell would it matter if you don't know the difference anyway. There is also "rite" meaning a ritual or ceremony, but honestly no one I know says anything like that unless they're describing something having to do with voodoo, so we'll just leave that one out. Moving on...
Remember: Using an "R" may be right but it won't help you write!
3. Accept/Except - I think the problems with these two is that people don't know the difference. Accept is to receive, except means other than (a contrary). This is an easy one to do out loud and it provides clarification of meaning as well. I would sleep with my ex again except they had a sex change. By clearing up half of the problem the rest should fall into place, ex... except... things are falling into place. When except doesn't make sense, use accept! I accept your exception! Also, you could still sleep with your ex, though it'd be way different. But if you're a woman... and you were dating a really feminine man... and uh... they had a lot of money for plastic surgery... and then uh... well never mind. Forget I said anything.
Remember: I would sleep with my ex again except they had a sex change
4. Affect/Effect - A lot of people have trouble with this one. To affect is to have an influence on whereas effect is the result. You can affect the effects but not the other way around. The best way to remember this one is to use another word that it's kind of hard to screw the spelling up for. "My affliction is affecting my effects." Affliction being a problem (disease... on fire... you know) that can affect the things you do, your effects. The "aff" sound in affliction will be your giveaway. Can't make it much clearer than that.
Remember: My affliction is affecting my effects.
5. Illicit/Elicit - This one doesn't come up very often but when it does, it's generally screwed up. I think the main problem is that people don't know that the word elicit exists so they just throw illicit in its place. Illicit means illegal, that's easy enough to remember, elicit means to bring about, or make happen. Something illicit can elicit something, but not the other way around. "The illicit eclair elicited my gut." I think that the e of eclair will help one to remember the e of elicit. In this case it may just be easier to use a few more words and say "That eclair I stole made me fat" ... but it's your prerogative.
Remember: The illicit eclair elicited my gut
6. Hole/Whole - This is another one that people seem to forget that you can throw a silent "w" in front of hole and make it mean something completely different. Hole seems to be used exclusively so it's about time that was fixed. The easiest way to remember this is "You can have a whole hole but not half a hole" but that doesn't help if we're going the say-out-loud route. So, "The whole whale had a hole in his blowhole." Whale helping to remember that sneaky "w" and blowhole for hole. Easy as that. Though it is stupid. I, for one, wouldn't want half a whale.
Remember: The whole whale had a hole in his blowhole.
7. No/Know - I chalk this problem up to extreme laziness. The simple reply of "i no" is just easier to type out so I won't really hold this against too many people. I'm lazy too, dammit. Therefore I'm going to come up with a half-assed way to remember this that won't help anyway. "The knight knows." If you don't know there's a "k" on knight then you're screwed. Ha-ha.
Remember: The knights knows (in theory)
8. Piece/Peace - This is another one that seems to slip through the cracks. It's clear what the differences between the words are, it's just a matter of when to use what. "You can have a piece of pie when there is peace." Simple and straightforward, pie/piece is easy enough to remember and you can't have a peace of pie. So, you better get working on that global community thing if you want some pie.
Remember: You can have a piece of pie when there is peace
9. It's/Its - An apostrophe is used when something is possessive, which is what causes the problem here... people forget that it also denotes a contraction. A contraction is the mashing together of two words for no apparent reason, in this case it's means it is. Its is the possessive term, just like hers and his. "It apostrophe s means it is." There's really no way of making that much clearer than that, so good luck.
Remember: It apostrophe s means it is.
10. Principal/Principle - Ahh screw it. Just remember the other ones and you'll be better. Go learn something your damn self! It's a matter of principle! People expecting me to do all the work for you... buncha *mumble* *mumble*
-Michael
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