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What’s Your Least Favorite Malaprop/Mispronunciation/Homonym Error?

March 3, 2010 by Nathan Bransford 290 Comments

In the course of reading the 400+ queries that came in while I was away (answered!), I saw my share of homonym problems, which I usually just chalk up to typos. There’s one, however, that gets me every time: peak/peek/pique. As I Tweeted yesterday, my interest is never “peaked” or “peeked.” It’s only piqued. (Although certainly my interest peaks when I see someone misuse pique.)

My friend Holly Burns recently blogged about the best mispronunciations she’s ever heard, and there certainly are some doozies.

What are your favorite/least favorite malaprops, Spoonerisms, homonym errors, and/or other tips of the slongue or tpyos? Any in particular that always drive you crazy?

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: writing advice, You Tell Me

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shannon says

    March 4, 2010 at 11:56 am

    A former co-worker of mine once let spell-check do all the work and sent an e-mail to the whole office saying, "I apologize for any incontinence." I still think that's hilarious.

    Reply
  2. Simon says

    March 4, 2010 at 12:24 pm

    the most annoying ones are the ones I make myself. Caught a whole run of 'isles' instead of 'aisles' recently. And a 'tenant' instead of a tenet.

    Reply
  3. Simon says

    March 4, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    I think somebody already mentioned 'alot'

    FFS it's two words.

    Reply
  4. Simon says

    March 4, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    A recent (online) phenomenon I've come to hate is the use of adjectives or verbs as nouns, when they aren't.

    eg. This is made of awesome.

    I know this isn't what we're talking about as it's done deliberately, but that just makes it worse for me.

    Reply
  5. kathy says

    March 4, 2010 at 1:34 pm

    My husband once wanted to call out someone as a wimp with the P word. Being mindful of the company we were in, he called him a "female gentile." The comeback? Is that as opposed to a male jew?

    Reply
  6. Kelly says

    March 4, 2010 at 1:53 pm

    I cringe when I see your/you're misused plus the there/their/they're.
    My husband's relatives from Iowa (including his parents) all say acrosst instead of across. It drives me crazy!

    Reply
  7. Seamus says

    March 4, 2010 at 1:59 pm

    Egad. My teeth are on edge as I read through these. I second all 209 comments before mine. The other day, a young woman who was giving a talk to a large group of people was trying to encourage people to act on their convictions. Several places in her speech she used her new word, "intentionality." Someone please help me. These are the same people – if I may stereotype – who use the word, "dialogue" as a verb and use the word "myself" in non-reflexive ways, as in "The party consisted of Jane, Judy, Frank, John and myself." Someone please make it stop.

    Reply
  8. Jamie Michele says

    March 4, 2010 at 2:13 pm

    Late to the party, but a good friend of mine used to curse "Jesus Age Christ!"

    When we finally heard him clearly and tried to correct him, he didn't believe he was wrong. He couldn't understand how "Jesus H. Christ" could be any better, and honestly, none of us could come up with Jesus's middle name to prove it. I think we decided on "Horatio," perhaps "Harold," but secretly, I figured it stood for "Holy."

    Reply
  9. Adam Pepper says

    March 4, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    Man. You people are so anal reflective.

    Reply
  10. Anonymous says

    March 4, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    Here, here!

    Reply
  11. truthfinder says

    March 4, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    "Butt-naked" instead of "buck- naked". Gifts and "collectables", instead of "collectibles".

    Reply
  12. Anonymous says

    March 4, 2010 at 6:08 pm

    A wonderful article on "Talk of the Nation" on NPR:

    "Words and the Web"

    https://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=5518444&m=5518445

    Reply
  13. Torie underlines says

    March 4, 2010 at 7:44 pm

    For the first 16 years of my life, believed the word "misled" was pronounced " "my-zulled."
    And then I grew up to be a Junior Literary Agent…

    Reply
  14. Laura says

    March 4, 2010 at 7:50 pm

    A student of mine recently cautioned in ink "Don't put yourself on a peddle stool."

    Think for a minute, you'll get there.

    Reply
  15. Anonymous says

    March 4, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    The mispronunciation of "supposedly" and "often" Even newscasters say "supposevly" and "off ten" Often has a silent T and there is no V in Supposedly. Drives me nuts and I bet 95% of the USA say these wrong.

    Reply
  16. Katie Alender says

    March 4, 2010 at 8:15 pm

    Ooh, supposably drives me nuts.

    My favorite, and I think the original word should be changed to the new spelling, is using "volumptuous" for "voluptuous."

    Reply
  17. Heather Bouwman says

    March 4, 2010 at 9:22 pm

    I have twice had students tell me, in discussing Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" (where the daughter takes an antidote…) that at the end of the story, she takes "the anecdote that kills her." I love that line.

    Reply
  18. Tricia says

    March 4, 2010 at 9:59 pm

    I was well into adulthood before I knew that discrete and discreet were separate words. I always thought one was just a misspelling of the other.

    And I keep calling homophones homonyms. Sigh.

    Reply
  19. Joy says

    March 4, 2010 at 10:11 pm

    Since I'm in the throws of first trimester morning (all-day) sickness woes: nauseous vs. nauseated. I giggle when I hear someone say they feel nauseous–I suppose if they started throwing up in front of me that'd be appropriate but otherwise, not quite. 🙂

    Reply
  20. Anne Pfeffer says

    March 5, 2010 at 12:00 am

    When I moved from my childhood home of Phoenix, Arizona to Chicago and spent my first winter there, I was frequently puzzled by what they called the "windshield factor." I imagined it as a temperature so low it would crack the windshield of your car. I had never experienced anything like that in Arizona. Eventually, I figured out that no one in Chicago had experienced it either.

    Reply
  21. tellgreatstories says

    March 5, 2010 at 2:23 am

    Cathy:

    A good way to remember gray from grey is this:

    America uses grAy
    England uses grEy

    The thing I hate the most is actually something I do all the time: I cannot spell definitely/definately without looking it up. And every time I do it I just want to beat my head against the desk. It's like there's a little "Out to Lunch" sign in my brain where the correct spelling should be, and no matter how hard I try, I can never remember it.

    Reply
  22. Lorelei says

    March 5, 2010 at 4:22 am

    Just hate principle inestigators who stand on principal.
    I'd also rather not receive any complements.

    Reply
  23. Jenny Woolf says

    March 5, 2010 at 12:24 pm

    I don't like reading "phase" for "faze" – and don't even talk to me about that sad, uneasy little hybrid word "phaze."

    Reply
  24. Dawn Anon says

    March 5, 2010 at 6:39 pm

    oh my gosh… i can't stop laughing. I'm going to exit my office in a few moments with red, swollen, glassy eyes. Gee, thanks everyone!

    this is such a fun topic.

    Ideal/idea is the one that gets me. "idear" doesn't bother me. But when i hear, "Hey, I have an ideal"… i can barely keep myself from laughing.

    I have to confess… when i'm with my friends, i often use "irregardless" just to see their faces squinch up and turn red. It's in the dictionary now…i argue and laugh. Yes. Sometimes I'm naughty on purpose.

    Reply
  25. Jaleh D says

    March 5, 2010 at 9:32 pm

    Phrase: chomping at the bit.
    I actually didn't know that it was "champing" at the bit, even though I did know where the bit goes. I always treated it as a figurative expression. Similar mouth motion even though the teeth aren't involved. I'll try to remember the right word though.

    Count me with that author on the radio. I always thought coxswain was COX-SWANE, too. So is it COXEN or COX-WEN? The former one doesn't make any sense. But then many English words are weird, like colonel.

    I frequently mis-type and mis-write homophones, but I do actually know the correct words. It comes from my fingers trying to keep up with my brain, putting down whatever sounds right in order to get the thoughts on paper. Then I backtrack and fix the misused words. But, I think that's the key. I do fix all the ones I find.

    Reply
  26. Dianne says

    March 6, 2010 at 4:35 am

    Jaleh D.: It's pronounced "coxen." There's also "boatswain," which is pronounced "bosun."

    Reply
  27. Rachel C says

    March 6, 2010 at 5:09 am

    I'm suprised I didn't see this one, because it completely drives me crazy: 'set' for 'sit' as in 'I set down in the chair'.
    *cringe* It's like fingernails on a chalkboard.

    Reply
  28. AJ Richardson says

    March 6, 2010 at 5:37 am

    Then/Than. So many people I know don't know the proper way to use than, drives me crazy.

    Reply
  29. Teresa says

    March 6, 2010 at 4:24 pm

    I remember having a raging fight with my dad when I was about twelve over whether it was 'nonplussed' or 'nonpulsed.' (still think the latter sounds better to this day…)

    Reply
  30. Haley says

    March 6, 2010 at 10:24 pm

    Sorry I'm a few days late on this one, but had to comment. Other than the great ones you guys have written, here are hte ones that drive me nuts:
    1. when people pronounces supposedly supposebly. My skin crawls.
    2. I have a student who constantly says "how much pages" rather than "How many" – I'm working on him.
    3. My grandmother does this as many do – add an s to the end of a store that doesn't an s and add the word the in front as in "The KMarts, The Walmarts, and JC Pennies.

    Reply
  31. karen97 says

    March 7, 2010 at 1:58 am

    Hi Cathy,

    About definitely/definately, and not being able to remember it, how about saying to yourself, "I do remember it, because it's it not at."

    Reply
  32. Kate Allison says

    March 7, 2010 at 2:30 am

    Accept and Except. Lose and Loose.
    Affect and Effect. And my absolute non-favorite: Of instead of Have. Audrey Hepburn did not sing "I could of danced all night." Actually, she didn't sing "I could have danced all night" either. It was dubbed.

    Reply
  33. Colleen says

    March 8, 2010 at 5:58 am

    I work in the legal field. To start a court application, you file a Notice of Motion and an Affidavit. I've had people call them Notion of Motion and After David.
    Also, if you adjourn your application generally, that is, not to a certain date, you say you are adjourning it "sine die". I had one person say that their application was adjourned to a sunny day. (Serves us right for using jargon.)

    Reply
  34. Anonymous says

    March 21, 2010 at 3:33 am

    Comprised Of. Think of comprise as "include" You don't include of!

    Reply
  35. Mark Pennington says

    April 28, 2010 at 1:33 am

    As a member of the literary illuminati, I feel compelled to full disclosure on my own 20 Embarrassing Mispronunciations. See if you may share some of my burdens and "out yourself" for proper penance.

    Reply
  36. ibrahim says

    May 15, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    Sesli SohbetgelSesli Chatgor
    SesliSohbetsendeSesliChatbize
    Sesli Sohbet sitelerikatilSesli Chat sitelerihadi
    SeslibeklemeChatyoksa
    Sohbetpismankamerali Chatolursun
    kamerali SohbetamaSesli sitelergecikme
    Sohbet sitelerigecmisChat siteleriolmaz
    Sohbet merkezi chat merkezi
    Sesli merkezi sesli Sohbet merkezi
    Sesli chat merkezi Sohbetmerkezi
    Sesli SohbetgelSesli Chatgor
    SesliSohbetsendeSesliChatbize
    Sesli Sohbet sitelerikatilSesli Chat sitelerihadi
    SeslibeklemeChatyoksa
    Sohbetpismankamerali Chatolursun
    kamerali SohbetamaSesli siteleris isten
    Sohbet sitelerigecmisChat siteleriolacak thanks.
    Seslimuhabbet sesli muhabbet
    alim satim alis veris
    alim satim alis veristhanks

    Reply
  37. First Aid Kit Refils says

    May 19, 2010 at 9:28 am

    I had received the first edition of “Make” magazine as a gift and it was really awesome…

    Reply
  38. Andy R - UK says

    April 7, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    Hi guys 'n' gals

    One spoonful
    Two spoonsful
    Three spoonsful
    Please God, NOT spoonfuls!
    There is no such word as fuls!

    Makes me soooooooooooo mad.

    Have a nice day now.
    Andy

    Reply
  39. expatCanuck says

    May 16, 2012 at 12:25 am

    Folks who use insure instead of ensure make me crazy.

    In fact, the incorrect usage has been so prevalent that it's now accepted.

    But, as far as I'm concerned, if you're not an insurance company (or contracting with one), you can't insure a damn thing.

    < … stepping off of soapbox … >

    Reply
  40. Kim Kinsey says

    June 16, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    Misspelling "premiere" makes me the most upset, anxious, and bothered!

    Reply
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