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Jan 11

Please pare the skin off this pair of pears

Posted on Monday, January 11, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

pail, pale
pail means a bucket
pale means light-skinned

pain, pane
pain mean strong discomfort
pane means a piece of glass in a window

pair, pare, pear
pair means a set of two
pare means to remove the outer covering
pear means a fruit

Jan 10

Only one car won the race, of course.

Posted on Sunday, January 10, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

one, won
one means a single item
won means the past tense of win

overdo, overdue
overdo means to work too hard
overdue means past due

overseas, oversees
overseas means across an ocean
oversees means having the task of supervision

Jan 9

Oh! Do I still owe you money?

Posted on Saturday, January 9, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

oar, or, ore
oar means a device used to propel a boat
or means a choice between two phrases
ore means rock containing metal or gems

ode, owed
ode means a short poem set to music
owed mean something due someone

oh, owe
oh means an expression of surprise
owe means that something is due someone

Jan 8

Do naval rations include navel oranges?

Posted on Friday, January 8, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

naval, navel
naval means relating to a navy
navel means belly button

nay, neigh
nay means no
neigh means the sound made by a horse

none, nun
none means nothing
nun means a woman who has devoted their life to religion

Jan 7

It took muscle to open that large mussel

Posted on Thursday, January 7, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

morn, mourn
morn means morning
mourn means to grieve over a death

muscle, mussel
muscle means the tissue used to move a skeleton
mussel means a shellfish like a clam

mustard, mustered
mustard means a sauce made from a yellow seed
mustered means to gather troops

Jan 6

A moose has no need for mousse

Posted on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

moan, mown
moan means a low cry of pain
mown means that mowing has been completed

mode, mowed
mode means a means of accomplishing something
mowed means that mowing has been completed

moose, mousse
moose means the largest member of the deer family
mousse means styling cream for hair

Jan 5

Clear the junk before forwarding email

Posted on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 in Email tips

Before you forward that email clean out all the junk that has accumulated.

Adjust the subject to remove all those FWs.

Remove all those accumulated >>>.

Remove extra email addresses.

If all this is too much trouble and it is a chain letter, see this blog posting.

For more email ettiquette tips, I recommend 101 Email Etiquette Tips. Please pay special attention to #44-49.

Jan 4

Being a minor, he could not be a miner

Posted on Monday, January 4, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

mind, mined
mind means to obey
mined means to have removed minerals from a mine

miner, minor
miner means someone who works in a mine
minor means someone under a legal age

missed, mist
missed means to have failed to hit
mist means drizzle or fog

Jan 3

The medal was made of a rare metal

Posted on Sunday, January 3, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

medal, metal, mettle, meddle
medal means an award
metal means a mallable element
mettle means endurance
meddle means to interfere

might, mite
might means strength or power
mite means an insect

mince, mints
mince means to chop finely
mints mean multiple candies eaten to sweeten the breath

Jan 2

Welcome to twenty-ten or two-thousand ten

Posted on Saturday, January 2, 2010 in Pronunciation

How do we pronouce this new year?

This is how we pronounce years past:
  1899 eighteen ninety-nine
  1900 nineteen hundred
  1902 nineteen oh-two
  1910 nineteen ten
  1999 nineteen ninety-nine

Then it became more cumbersome:
  2000 two-thousand, not twenty hundred like nineteen hundred
  2002 two-thousand two, not twenty oh-two like nineteen oh-two

What pattern should we follow for 2010?
  twenty-ten, like nineteen-ten?
  two-thousand ten like two-thousand nine?

Some say twenty-ten and there is even a site promoting that but not everyone agrees.