The Language Perfectionist: More Confusables

By Don Hauptman

Here’s another roundup of look-alike and sound-alike words I frequently see confused:

• A bomb is defused; something that’s spread around is diffused.

• A flare is an illuminated signal; something done with style displays flair.

• If you read something carefully, you’re poring over it, not pouring (which you do only with a beverage or other liquid).

• If you’re reluctant to do something, you’re loath to do it; you loathe something if you hate it.

• An interesting discovery will pique your interest, not peak it.

Finally, this verse may help you avoid another common misuse:

An apiary‘s home to bees;
An aviary‘s for the birds.
Which proves that we should watch our words,
And learn to mind our P’s and V’s.

[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was a direct-response copywriter. He is author of the wordplay books Cruel and Unusual Puns and Acronymania, and is now writing a new book that also blends language and humor.]
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