It’s easy to make mistakes when it comes to language, especially since there are so many words that sound alike but are spelled differently and mean different things. There’s no doubt certain words trip up a lot of people, and a new report reveals which are some of the words that seem to confuse people the most.
The website 24/7 Wall Street just revealed their picks for the words people get wrong all the time, compiling their list based numerous articles on the subject as well as style guides and dictionaries. As you can imagine, many of the words are homonyms, and there’s a good chance you’ve been using them wrong for a long time. And if you aren’t, it probably drives you crazy when people do.
Words people get wrong include (click here for the complete list):
·Adverse and Averse – While adverse means harmful, averse means opposed to.
·Affect and Effect- Affect is a verb, meaning to impact or change, while effect is a now, or the result or that change.
·Aural and Oral - Aural refers to the ear or hearing, and oral to the mouth or speaking.
·Bear and Bare – While bear is a furry animal, it can also mean to endure, as to bear with something, while bare means uncovered, or can mean to expose when used as a verb.
·Biannual and Biennial - Biannual means twice a year, while biennial means every two years.
·Capitol and Capital – The first refers to the place Congress meets, which is in Washington, DC, the U.S. capital.
·Compliment and Complement - Compliment is a verb and noun meaning praise. Complement means goes well with.
·Desert and Dessert - Desert, is the sandy place, while dessert, the sweet treat.
·Disinterested and Uninterested - Disinterested means neutral or not having a stake in the outcome, whereas uninterested means you just don’t care.
·Fewer and Less - Fewer should be used for things that can be counted, while less should be used for things that can’t be counted or don’t have a plural.
·Irregardless - Irregardless means the same as regardless, with some arguing that there really is no such word as irregardless.
Source: 24/7 Wall Street Image © 2019 GettyImages