Homonyms, Homophones and Horror-nyms

Homonyms are words that share the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings, while homophones are words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled.

These are often misspelled, misused and confused.  I know because I have done it—and I call them all horror-nyms.

Examples of errors, my own and otherwise, will be followed by a list of homophones, with a homonym or two.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Observed: She was quick as a march (no capitalization) hair.

Observed: The king sat on his thrown.

Committed: I enjoyed the lethargic dancers instead of the liturgical dancers.

Committed: We traveled to the British Aisles.

Committed: I once referenced the cannon of scripture, instead on canon.

Committed: She was messaging my feet, instead of massaging.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Ad/add
Addition/edition
Affect/effect
Aid/aide
Ail/ale
Aisle/isle
Altar/alter
Antidote/anecdote Arc/ark
Awful/offal
Ball/ball (dance)/bawl
Beet/beat
Bear/bare
Bells/belles
Birth/berth
Blue/blew
Boar/bore
Board/bored
Bolder/boulder
Border as in edge/boarder as in tenant
Bow to bend forward/bow on a ship/bough of a tree/bow [pronounced "bo"] (decorative)
Bow/bough
Break/brake
Breach/breech
Breath/breadth
Cannon/canon
Cant/can't
Capital/capitol (building)
Chaste/chased
Complement/compliment
Cord/chord
Counsel/council
Count (title)/count (verb)
Course/coarse
Cow as in bovine/cow (v.) as to intimidate
Crane (machine)/crane (bird)/crane (verb)
Dairy/diary
Dam/damn
Date as in day/date as in a day out/date as in fruit
Dear/deer
Deign/Dane
Dessert/desert
Die/dye
Do as in a note/dough for bread/doe (deer)
Do/dew/due
Dove (bird)/dove (past tense of dive)
Draw as if in pull/draw as if drawing a picture
Drop (fall)/drop (liquid)
Eight/ate
Fair/fare
Fawn/faun
Feat/feet
Flea/flee
Flower/flour
Fly (like a bird)/fly (insect)
Fore/four
Fowl/foul
Fuse/fuze
Gate/gait
Gene/jeans (pants) Gene/Jean (names)
Genes/jeans/Jean (woman's name)Great/grate
Hail/hale
Hair/hare
Hall/haul
Handy work/handiwork (I saw this written on facebook.)
Hay/hey
Hear/here
Heard/herd
Heart/hart
Hew/Hugh/hue
Holy/wholly
Hole/whole
Horse/hoarse
Hose/hoes
Hour/our
Idle/idol/idyll
Its/it's
Knew/new/gnu
Knight/night
Know/no
Led/lead (past tense)/lead(metal)
Letter (correspondence)/letter (of alphabet)
Liken/lichen
Loose/lose
Lure/lore
Lure (verb)/lure (noun)
Maid/made
Main/mane/Maine (i.e. Spanish Main)
Mail/male
Manner/Manor, as in house
March as in a month/march as in a parade
Meet/meat/mete
Message/massage
Metal/mettle/medal
Mite/might
Mole as in animal/mole as in blemish
Moon/moon (verb)
Morning/mourning
Mould/mold
Nap/nape
Need/knead
Oar/or/o'er
Pair/pear/pare
Pain/pane
Palate/pallet
Pall/Paul
Past/passed
Paws/pause
Peace/piece
Peek/peak/pique
Peer/pier
Picture/pitcher
Pine/pine (verb)
Plain/plane
Please/pleas
Poker/polka
Pole/poll
Pour/pore
Presents/presence
Prey/pray
Principal/principle
Profit/prophet
Prostate/prostrate
Queue/cue
Rap/wrap
Reign/rain
Right/rite
Road/rode
Row/roe
Rye/wry
Scent/sent
See/sea
Seed/cede
Seem/seam
Shoe/shoo
Shutter/shudder
Site/cite/sight
Sew/so/sow (seeds) /sow (female pig)
Shear/sheer
Soul/sole
Stare/stair
Steak/stake
Steal/steel
Stern (strict)/stern on a ship
Style/stile
Sun/son
Some/sum
Tail/tale
Tear (from eye)/ tier
Tear (rip)/tare
Tea/tee
Tenants/tenets
There/their/they’re
Throne/thrown
Toad/towed/toed
Too/two/to
Trip (journey)/trip (stumble)
Vain/vane
Veil/vale
Vile/vial
Vise/vice
Waste/waist
Way/weigh/whey
Week/weak
Wet/whet
Whale/wail
Where/wear/ware
Whether/weather
Whore/hoar
Width/with
Writing/riding
You/ewe
You’re/your/yore

Superstore Hero

Superstore Hero

            The aisle in the store was packed with last minute Christmas shoppers and crammed with carts. I was among the shoppers and we had all claimed our space to pore over items on the shelves. I felt pressured and hurried, as I had other items to buy and when I got home, supper to cook.

            I didn't think even a fly could fit into that aisle until an elderly man seated in a motorized cart, managed to squeeze his way in.  Then he just parked there, only to sit and take up precious space.

            Everyone pushed around him as if he were invisible.  I tried to as well, but hemmed-in between his motorized cart and a display, I was trapped.

            Letting out an annoyed sigh, I briefly took notice of the man who had hindered my shopping.  He appeared somewhat disheveled, with his pants pulled down too low, revealing what appeared to be an adult diaper.

            Before I could turn away, he began talking.

            "You know, I've lived a charmed life …."

            My mind screamed.  "I don't have time to listen to this man's life story.  I've got so many things to do."

            Despite the shopping mayhem around us, he continued talking as if we were taking a leisurely stroll down a country path.

            "When I was serving in the South Pacific, I took a walk along the shore and picked up a small object from the sand.  Something about it didn't seem right, so I threw it in the ocean."

            At this point, I began to think of this man as more than an interruption.  He was likely a World War II veteran, part of the "Greatest Generation," who had served in the Pacific Theater.  I tried to imagine him a young warrior, storming the shores of Iwo Jima.  Now here he was, wearing an adult diaper, sitting almost helplessly in a motorized shopping cart.

            He continued with his story.

            "That night, I remembered a training film our troops were shown about dangers in the South Pacific.  One of them was that object I had picked up from the beach.  If it was held for more than a minute, it would release a poison that could kill a man."

            The elderly gentleman went on to tell me a couple of other ways in which his life was spared.

            "Someone's been watching out for you," I told him.

            He nodded.  "Like I said, I've lived a charmed life."

            After we parted, I was glad I had paused to listen.  I remembered the times I had felt like a ghost trying to break through from another realm, as others spoke.  So often, I just want to be heard, as did the man in the store.  Only God knows how many stories and adventures are locked up inside this hero.

            In Luke 6:31, we read the words of Jesus.  ^"Do to others as you would have them do to you" (NIV).

            I haven't always succeeded at this, but maybe a part of it, is giving that one lonely person the gift of a listening ear.

World War II's Greatest Generation is featured in "The Face Behind the Veil" by Flora Reigada