Easy to Confuse

Wow, I haven’t done an easily confused words post all year! I can’t believe I’ve been slacking. Forgive me, Grammar Police Chief Melissa.

Anyway! What do we have this time?

Do/Due

These are words I mix up without even thinking about it. I mean due, and I stick do in there instead. It doesn’t help that do is such a versatile word. Besides being one of the most basic verbs in all of English, it’s part of a lot of idioms, like a “to do” (a party) or “do in” a murder. Due often has to do with something that should happen at a particular time, like the rent is due at the first of the month. There are a few other ways to use it, like a due course, where it means direct, and because of (I’m late due to the molasses spill in Boston). You might just need to check every use of do/due in your MS to make sure it’s right…

Knob/nob

Yeah, I didn’t know nob was a word either, but there it is. No red squiggly line or anything. It has a few different meanings, including slang for a head and a person of high society. It’s not used much anymore, so unless you’re talking about hobnobbing, you should stick a K in front of there.

Wrest/rest

Funny how much difference one little W can make—you certainly can’t rest if you’re wresting! Ha! Well, I thought it was funny. But it should make it easy to tell them apart. Wrest is something that requires action. Rest is the exact opposite. Oh, but wrest can also mean a small key for tuning a stringed instrument. But you probably won’t need that information (just in case, though).

Arch/arc

This one always confuses me, because arch and arc seem so similar. An arc is part of the curve of a circle (or the light between two electrodes). An arch is a curved piece of architecture—or anything curved really, like the arch of your foot. Plus, it can also mean the highest level of something (an archangel or an arch-villain). I just remind myself that unless it has to do with electricity or part of a circle, use arch.

Alter/altar

Luckily these aren’t too difficult to discern since they’re always used as seperate parts of speech, a verb and a noun. An altar is a raised platform used in religious ceremony, so as long as you remember the noun is the one with the a, you should be all set.

Okay, that’s it for this rendition of Easily Confused Words. Do you have any words that you can’t help but mess up?