Category Archives: confusing words

Confusing Words Of The Week

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Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

  • collision – a clashing
    • The receptionist had a car collision on her way to work today.
  • collusion – a scheme to defraud
    • He was accused of collusion in billing his elderly client through another corporation.

Memory tips:

  • collision – remember the “i” as in “incident”
  • collusion – remember the “u” as in “fraud”
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Confusing Words of the Week

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Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

  • anxious – desirous, but also implies fear or concern
    • He was anxious to get the results of the lab work.
  • eager – desirous
    • She was eager to go on the girls’ weekend.

Memory tips:

  • Since the words have pretty much the same definition, but anxious implies fear or concern, I would associate the “x” in anxious with a sign to avoid something because of fear or concern.
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Confusing Words Of The Week

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Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

  • magnet – something that attracts
    • The chocolate cake in the kitchen was a magnet for the dieters.
  • magnate – someone of high rank
    • He appeared to be a business magnate with his fancy car and nice suits.

Memory tips:

  • magnet – a “net” to attract
  • magnate – this person could have reached such a high rank by what they “ate” along the way
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Confusing Words of the Week

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Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

Through – by means of; from beginning to end; because of

  • John read the report through multiple times.

Threw – did throw

  • Sally threw her laundry in the washer before she left this morning.

Thorough – exhaustive

  • The report was a thorough summary of the upcoming changes.

Memory tips:

Through – like building a trough, you are going through something

Threw – past tense of throw so just change one letter

Thorough – think of it as more cOmplete so it contains the extra O

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Confusing Words Of The Week

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Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

  • Casual – incidental; informal
    • The party attire was casual, so I wore jeans.
  • Causal – causing
    • The casual link to the accident was her cell phone.

Memory tips:

Casual – “You all” (casUAL) are more comfortable in an informal atmosphere

Causal – Root is “cause” so “causal” is “causing”

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Grammar Giggle – Everyday

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This was another sign I recently saw for sale. Here is a link to a blog post I wrote on this very topic. This sign should be “Every Day.”

proofthatblog.com

 

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Confusing Words of the Week

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Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words were part of yesterday’s Grammar Giggle. They are:

Passed – moved along; transferred (past tense of past)

He passed along his notes from the seminar to Jean.

Past – time gone by

In the past, our televisions had five channels.

Memory tips:

Passed – Think of the “ss” as tracks where you are moving something along

Past – Think of “ast” as like “aft”er as in something that has already happened.

 

 

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Confusing Words of the Week

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Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

Envelop – to cover; to wrap

She used the blanket to envelop her cold feet.

Envelope – a wrapper for a letter

The letter was returned as the envelope was missing postage.

Memory tips:

  • envelop – Think about this as wrap ending the same way as envelop
  • envelope – Since this has an extra “e,” I would use the extra “e” to designate the letter that is going inside
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Confusing Words of the Week

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Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

plague – an epidemic disease; a disastrous evil or affliction

The flu is quickly becoming a plague.

plaque – a decorative tablet that honors someone or commemorates something

He received a plaque to commemorate his 10th anniversary at the firm.

Memory tips:

  • plague – A disease usually makes your tongue feel weird or coated, so I would remember the word plague having to do with your tongue.
  • plaque – A plaque you put on the wall will make people question how you earned it, so remember that a plaque will make people question.
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Confusing Words Of The Week

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Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

discreet – prudent

She was discreet about the secret her friend shared with her.

discrete – distinct; separate

The book had a discrete section on citations.

Memory tips:

discreet – think of the ee as eyes seeing something that shouldn’t be posted on the internet or something that you have to be discreet about.

discrete is separate – both end in te

 

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