I love to hear similar-sounding words misused. (Okay - not really.) Unimatrix One, Three, and Four decided to compile a list:
Calvary - cavalry (Calvary is a place, and "cavalry" refers to mounted soldiers.)
Prostate - prostrate (Prostate is a body part, but "prostrate" refers to lying face-down in submission.)
Immorality - Immortality (A lector at church misread, as in "Our bodies were not made for IMMORTALITY." Good heavens. Father had to use the phrase "Our bodies were not made for IMMORALITY" several times during the homily, just to make sure the people understood. Heh.)
compose - comprise ("Comprises"="is composed of")
And my favorite:
regime - regimen - regiment ("I have an exercise regimen." "The regime in Iran is oppressive." "This regiment has twenty-seven soldiers.")
On a related note, I once heard on the radio a speech being read on behalf of some folks seeking asylum in Louisiana. The orator kept saying "the Polish people", pronouncing the nationality "Polish" as "polish", as in shoe polish. Late in the speech, she realized her mistake.
Feel free to add more in the com box.
4 comments:
So what you're saying is that...
"The Calvary rode onward."
"He lay prostate before the Almighty."
"That is an immortal lifestyle."
"His speech was comprised of..."
"My exercise regime is designed after the regiment formed for a regimen of soldiers."
...would drive you nuts?
Of course not! *smiley face*
Instead, something like
"The Calvary's prostrate regime is comprised of immortality"
might.
How about this one:
There going to get they're rears kicked over their.
I do the there/their/they're thing when I'm tired. So you can imagine how I feel when I end up typing:
"There over their!"
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