Quiz: commonly misused or misspelled words
I’ve written more posts than I can count about confusing word pairs, words that are hard to spell and words that aren’t really words.
Instead of another article about usage, let’s see how you fare with a quiz.
Read the list below and make note of which words or phrases are incorrect—either from misspelling or from misstatement. Check your answers at the end.
Definitions and usage guidance came from Oxford Dictionaries, Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster.
- Alterior motive
- Augurs well for the project
- Brussel sprout
- Caddy-corner
- Center around
- Conversate
- Coursing through my veins
- Cut and dry
- Derring-do
- Digestive track
- Dire straits
- Door jamb
- Doughnut
- Duct tape
- Easedrop
- Fine-tooth comb
- Harebrained
- Home in
- Mute point
- Old wise tale
- Per say
- Sleight of hand
- Thunder and lightening
- Wet your appetite
Answers:
- Incorrect. “Alterior” should read “ulterior.”
- Correct.
- Incorrect. “Brussel sprouts” should be “Brussels sprouts.”
- Incorrect. “Caddy” is not correct; instead, use “catty” or “kitty.”
- Incorrect. Things don’t “center around,” but rather “center on” or “revolve around.”
- Incorrect. It should be “converse.”
- Correct.
- Incorrect. It should be “cut and dried.”
- Correct.
- Incorrect. It should be “digestive tract.”
- Correct.
- Correct.
- Correct.
- Correct.
- Incorrect. “Easedrop” should be “eavesdrop.”
- Correct.
- Correct.
- Correct. “Home” is to “focus in on a target”; “hone” means “to sharpen.”
- Incorrect. “Mute” should read “moot.”
- Incorrect. Instead of “wise,” it’s an “old wives’ tale.”
- Incorrect. “Per say” should read “per se,” meaning “by or in itself.”
- Correct.
- Incorrect. “Lightening” is incorrect; “lightning” is correct.
- Incorrect. “Wet” should be “whet,” which means to “stimulate an appetite or desire.”
How did you do, PR Daily readers? What words or phrases cause you trouble?
This post was first published on Ragan Communication’s PR Daily.
