IF IT HAS BEEN A VERY LONG DAY, YOU ARE ‘WEARY’. IF SOMEONE IS ACTING IN A WAY THAT MAKES YOU SUSPICIOUS, YOU ARE ‘WARY’.
ALL IN ‘DUE’ TIME, NOT ‘DO’ TIME
‘PER SE’ NOT ‘PER SAY’
THANK YOU
BREATHE – THE VERB FORM IN PRESENT TENSE
BREATH – THE NOUN FORM
THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE
WANDER – TO WALK ABOUT AIMLESSLY
WONDER – TO THINK OF IN A DREAMLIKE AND/OR WISTFUL MANNER
THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE (but one’s mind can wander)
DEFIANT – RESISTANT DEFINITE – CERTAIN
WANTON – DELIBERATE AND UNPROVOKED ACTION (ALSO AN ARCHAIC TERM FOR A PROMISCUOUS WOMAN)
WONTON – IT’S A DUMPLING THAT’S ALL IT IS IT’S A FUCKING DUMPLING
BAWL- TO SOB/CRY
BALL- A FUCKING BALL
YOU CANNOT “BALL” YOUR EYES OUT
AND FOR FUCK’S SAKE, IT’S NOT “SIKE”; IT’S “PSYCH”. AS IN “I PSYCHED YOU OUT”; BECAUSE YOU MOMENTARILY MADE SOMEONE BELIEVE SOMETHING THAT WASN’T TRUE.
THANK YOU.
*slams reblog*
IT’S ‘MIGHT AS WELL’. ‘MIND AS WELL’ DOES NOT MAKE GRAMMATICAL SENSE.
IT’S NOT ‘COULD OF’, THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER. IT’S ‘COULD HAVE’. SAME APPLIES TO ‘SHOULD HAVE’.
And this is why my students look at me as though I’m the devil when I try to tell them that no i’m not lying this really is a thing
IT’S ‘COULDN’T CARE LESS’ NOT ‘COULD CARE LESS’ IF YOU COULD CARE LESS THAT MEANS YOU CARE
VOILA – ROUGHLY TRANSLATES AS “LOOK AT THAT” (VOI-LA)
VIOLA – AN INSTRUMENT SIMILAR TO THE VIOLIN
WALLAH – MEANINGLESS GIBBERISH AND YOU JUST MADE SOMEONE CRY
HOW ABOUT THESE?
CLOTH – A PIECE OF MATERIAL LIKE COTTON
CLOTHE – TO PUT CLOTHES ON SOMEONE
CLOTHES – THE THINGS TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE NOT NAKED
ALSO IT’S FREAKING “REIN IN YOUR EMOTIONS” LIKE WHAT YOU WOULD DO TO A HORSE NOT “REIGN IN YOUR EMOTIONS” BECAUSE THAT IS THE TIME OF A RULING FOR ROYALTY THE IDIOM IS BASED OFF OF HORSE STUFF!
oh we doing this?? bet!
fiancé/fiancée are loan words from french and are therefore gendered (yeah i know it sucks, blame latin). the former is masculine, so used for male/masc people. femmes use the latter.
in the same vein, widow = femme, widower = masc
(sorry, i’m not currently aware of any gender neutral terms for either of the above terms except maybe betrothed or affianced for engaged people or the bereaved for the Left Behind, but they sound so horribly outdated so idk)
speaking of veins!
vein = blood vessel that carries blood back to the heart, or, in the way i used it above, having a distinctive style or tendency
vain = self-absorbed, conceited
conceited = self-absorbed, vain
conceded = withdrew, gave up, forfeited (i.e., “conceded the point”)
ancestors = those who came before (harriet tubman is my ancestor)
descendants = those who came after (i am a descendant of harriet tubman)
supine = face up, prone = face down
affect = to impact or change (or, in a psychological context, one’s expression of emotion as demonstrated through facial expression, tone of voice, or body language)
effect = the result of a change (or, in verb form, to influence, as in “to effect change”)
preceded = went before (”she preceded him into the room” means she went into the room before he did)
proceeded (i happen to loathe this word but whatever, it’s my issue) = to move forward or to begin or continue a course of action (”she proceeded to jump” is a horrible and jarring way–my issue, sorry–to say she began to jump)
rein = to curb, as in “rein in your emotions”
reign = to rule, like a king (also, a ruler’s period of rule, i.e., beyoncé’s reign is far from over)
shudder = like a shiver, usu. in revulsion or fear
shutter = to close, as in a business when it’s bankrupt. also, a type of window covering
bear with me = be patient with me (alternatively, there is a large ursine animal with me)
bare with me = naked with me
“no one” is two words
so is “a lot”
it is “deep-seated,” not “deep seeded.” the latter applies to gardening.
it was mentioned above, sort of, but the abbreviation of could have is “could’ve.” see also “should’ve,” and “would’ve.”
crap i forgot:
discreet = inconspicuous, low key
discrete = separate, individual
WRITERS THIS IS FOR YALL
Drawer = box insert in furniture that holds items
Draw = verb that can mean to create a picture or to pull something behind you
TAUNT = to tease or goad
TAUT = without any slack or give; drawn tight
TAUGHT = the past tense of “teach”
Fabric, muscles, skin, etc. are not “taught” or “taunt” – they’re taut
And, while we’re on the “aw” sound….
FLAUNT = to show off in an obvious or gaudy manner
FLOUT = to scorn or deride
You don’t “flout” good looks, talent, or money – you “flaunt” them.
AND
While this should probably have its own post because it’s a phrase and not a single word, and is just flat-out wrong instead of a homonym or spelling error, I’m just gonna piggyback it on this one, since it’s making the rounds.
“CROCODILE TEARS” DOES NOT MEAN HUGE, ROUND, FAT TEARS. IT MEANS FAKE, INSINCERE TEARS.Ihave NO idea how fandom got this so wrong and spread it around, but I see it in a LOT of fanfiction.
A man has blond or brunet hair.
A woman has blonde or brunette hair.
They’re French loan words with genders. An “e” at the end means it’s feminine. No “e?” Masculine.
You POUR milk over cereal. Or rain might pour from the sky.
You PORE over something you’re studying closely, like a book or a map. You might also pick at your pores in the mirror.
If your character wants to lie down in bed, he lies down in the present tense, and he lay down if it happened in the past.
Lied applies only to telling a lie, in the past. “I lied when I said I had ten thousand a year.”
In the present, you would lay your belongings down someplace… or set or place them. If you forgot where your gloves were, you would ask if someone recalled where you laid your gloves.
Skip “lain”, unless you really, really need that participle.
If I may add-
THERE: a place, or a gesture in indicate the exsistance of something.
“Her wallet is over there,”
“There are seven candies left”
THEIR: a possession, or used in titles
“Their book is on the table”
“How are Their Majesties?”
THEY’RE: a contraction of they are
“They’re filling water balloons in the back”
(They are filling water balloons in the back)
THESE ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE.
I have a good one. PLEASE REMEMBER IT’S A BOWL OF SOUP.
YOU DO NOT WANT TO EAT A BOWEL OF SOUP.
A PART = A FRACTION OF A WHOLE (“I HAVE SEEN A PART OF THAT MOVIE”)
APART = SEPARATE (“THE CITIES ARE 2 MILES APART”), OR EXCEPT (“WE’RE ALL GOING, APART FROM BOB BECAUSE HE HAS WORK”)
APART OF <–NOT A THING. STOP SAYING IT.
A LOT = A LARGE AMOUNT/A GREAT DEAL (“I LIKE THIS SHOW A LOT”)
ALLOT = TO GIVE/APPORTION (“WE WILL ALLOT EQUAL TIME FOR EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THEIR EXAM”)
write write write 