Kat Day (she/her)Thyme* for a little proofreading thread of words that are often confused, with some helpful tips for getting it right… 🧵
(*See what I did there? 😉)
perennial: lasting for a long time, or (plants) having a lifecycle of 2+ years
perineal: relating to the area between the anus and genitals
Let the ‘nn’ remind you of the 2 years.
Unless you’re talking to a doctor, you probably mean ‘perennial problem’ 😉
further vs. farther
These both mean ‘more distant’ but, especially in US English, farther implies physical distances, while further is more figurative: yoU should consider this fUrther while you wAlk fArther
And watch out for the easy typo of switching ‘farther’ for ‘father’ 👨🏼
wangle: obtain by scheming/underhand methods
wrangle: argue noisily, or round up cattle
Actually wrangle CAN be used to mean ‘obtain by scheming’ but both words are lovely so let’s not wrangle over it 😉 (Remember the R in arGue, Round up and wRangle)
envious: coveting something someone else has
jealous: negative feeling towards someone because they have something you want
These two are often used interchangeably but they’re subtly different. You’re jealous of the person; you’re enVious when you coVet their Valuables.
It’s the middle of February and the weather is gloomy: is it wintery or wintry?
Actually, either. ‘Wintery’ is less common but who cares about that? So include that E if you like, but, unlike the winter weather, be consistent.
tact: a sense of what is appropriate/tasteful
tack: a short nail with a flat head, a stitch, a movement on a zigzag course & umpteen other meanings
Tack has many meanings, but if you’re talking about Civility you need taCt (it’d be taCtless to get it wrong)
carousel: a merry-go-round, a circular conveyor e.g. for luggage
carousal: a wild, drunken party
You probably want carousel, which has modern uses for moving images on websites etc. Remember carousAl happens at noisy pArties 🍻
A fun one to finish on, courtesy of a friend:
floccinaucinihilipilification: the habit of estimating something as worthless
Writers are often awful floccinaucinihilipilificators 😉
/end
Dark Observer@chronicleflask Wow.. that certainly was a series of toots one should view with the exact opposite notion of floccinaucinihilipilification 😉