LKL’s Blog

English lovers and nitpickers take note – I just discovered a great site, called The Eggcorn Database. An eggcorn is a particular type of English mistake wherein the wrong word is used in a common expression. It is usually due to ignorance of the underlying meaning and etymology, and is often the substitution of one homophone for another, such as “towing the line” (rather than “toeing the line”) or else a similar-sounding word, such as “fermenting trouble” when you really mean “fomenting trouble.” I’ve always been fascinated by these kinds of mistakes, which are, I believe, cousins of the common English mistakes I so love to explain on my own site.

These two English words are very similar; keep reading for further information: Farther vs Further

The words weather and whether have nothing in common other than their pronunciation, but English speakers are sometimes unsure which one to use. Find out whether you need to correct your spelling: Weather vs Whether

Everyday and every day are commonly confused in English; though there’s no difference in pronunciation, mixing them up is definitely wrong when you write: Everyday vs Every Day

I’m not a big fan of inspirational quotes, but there is one that I really like: “Why not go out on a limb? That’s where all the fruit is.” I’d always thought this was by Mark Twain, but when I Googled it, I found a couple of sites that attribute the very similar “Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t that where the fruit is?” to Frank Scully (whoever that is) or Will Rogers. Hmm. In any case, I’ve seen a number of other funny and/or clever quotes by Mark Twain recently, including “Names are not always what they seem. The common Welsh name Bzjxxlwcp is pronounced Jackson.” :-] I may have to go to the library soon and pick up some of Mark Twain’s books.

The English words good and well are often confused by native and non-native speakers of English – this is a good lesson that will put you well on your way to understanding the difference: Good vs Well

Does anyone else mix up these words? They have completely different meanings, but whenever I see either one I have to think for a minute about which one it is. Of course I know what they mean, it’s just that the “philan” at the beginning of both words throws me off, so I thought I’d take a look at the etymology.

A philanderer is a man who has lots of affairs. The word philander, meaning lover, comes from Philander, a former literary name for a lover, from philandros (Greek) meaning loving/fond of men, from the root phil (loving/fond) + andr (man). Interesting… the etymology kind of makes it sound like it should be synonymous with homosexual.

A philanthropist is someone who assists charitable causes. Philanthropy is from philanthropia (Latin) from philanthropos (Greek) meaning humane/benevolent, from the same root phil + anthropos meaning mankind.

Very interesting. So a philanderer is a man who loves men (or rather women), while a philanthropist loves mankind. A rather subtle but important distinction, no?

(Cross-posted to e Learn English Language forum)

These two English words are very often used incorrectly by native speakers. It’s important that you understand the difference between it’s and its.

What’s the difference between borrow, lend, and loan? Two of them are synonyms and the third is the opposite – lend me your eyes and I’ll tell you about them: Borrow, Lend, Loan

According to a Mexican friend of mine, murciélago (bat) is the only Spanish word with all five vowels.

In English, we have facetiously, which has all 5½ vowels (y is the half) in alphabetical order. I also like the words vacuum and aardvark for the unusual double vowels.

The coolest may be the French word jouaient (third person plural imperfect of jouer – to play), which has all five vowels in a row! And créée (the feminine past participle of créer – to create) with its triple E.

Any other vowel-laden words?