More Errors


People send me quite a few word confusions which don’t seem worth writing up but which are nevertheless entertaining or interesting. I simply list a number of these below for your amusement.


If you don’t find what you’re looking for below, please be aware that this is only a supplementary page to a much more extensive list.

What was said	What was meant
a stigmatism	astigmatism
abolishment	abolition
abraded	upbraided
acrosst	across
ad homonym	ad hominem
aerobic numbers	Arabic numbers
affidavid	affidavit
all goes well	augurs well
all of the sudden	all of a sudden
alphabeticalize	alphabetize
altercations	alterations
alterior	ulterior
anachronism	acronym
ambliance	ambulance
anticlimatic	anticlimactic
anchors away	anchors aweigh
antivenom	antivenin
aperpo	à propos
apples and organs	apples and oranges
arm’s way	harm’s way
artical	article
as a pose to	as opposed to
ashfault	asphalt
assessible	accessible
assumably	presumably
at leased	at least
authoritarian source	authoritative source
back round	background
balling out	bawling out
based around	based on
batter an eyelid	bat an eyelid
bear the blunt	bear the brunt
beautify a saint	beatify a saint
beckon call	beck and call
begs belief	beggars belief
besiege	beseech
beyond approach	beyond reproach
bids well	bids fair, bodes well
binded	bound
bled like a stuffed pig	bled like a stuck pig
blessing in the sky	blessing in disguise
blindsighted	blindsided
a board of director	a member of a board of directors
boom to the economy	boon to the economy
bonafied	bona fide
bored of	bored with
bowl in a china shop	bull in a china shop
bran new	brand new
built off of	built on or upon
BVD player	DVD player
by in large or enlarge	by and large
Cadillac converter	catalytic converter
card shark	cardsharp
carport tunnel	carpal tunnel
case and point	case in point
cease and decease	cease and desist
cease the day	seize the day
chalked full	chock-full
cheap at half the price	cheap at twice the price
chester drawers	chest of drawers
chicken pops	chicken pox
chomp at the bit	champ at the bit
chow	ciao
circus sized	circumcised
clearified	clarified
cohabitate	cohabit
collaborating evidence	corroborating evidence
component	opponent
conversate	converse
conservative effort	concerted effort
copywrite	copyright
copywritten	copyrighted
coronated	crowned
coronet	cornet
cortage	cortege
coruscating	excoriating
a couple guys	a couple of guys
coup de gras	coup de grace
cream de mint	creme de menthe
crimp my style	cramp my style
crossified	crucified
culvert sack	cul de sac
cumberbun	cummerbund
cut to the chaff	cut to the chase
darkest before the storm	darkest before the dawn
dead wringer	dead ringer
debockle	debacle
decidated	dedicated
deformation of character	defamation of character
deja vous	deja vu
Samuel R. Delaney	Samuel R. Delany
detrius	detritus
diabolically opposed	diametrically opposed
dialate	dilate
differ payment	defer payment
diswraught	distraught
documentated	documented
doggy dog world	dog-eat-dog world
do to	due to
dottering	doddering
down the pipe	down the pike
dresser draw	dresser drawer
drownded	drowned
drownding	drowning
drudged up	dredged up
dry reach	dry retch
electorial college	electoral college
end justifies the meaning	end justifies the means
enervate	energize
escape goat	scapegoat
esculate	escalate
exasperated	exacerbated
excape	escape
exhilarator	accelerator
expecially	especially
expeculation	speculation
expediate	expedite
exuberant price	exorbitant price
eyesaw	eyesore
fair to midland	fair to middling
far and few between
fathom a guess	hazard a guess
few and far between
fast majority	vast majority
fate accompli	fait accompli
Federal Drug Administration	Food and Drug Administration
final throws	final throes
first come, first serve	first come, first served
flustrated	frustrated
foilage	foliage
foul swoop	fell swoop
Franklin Delanor Roosevelt	Franklin Delano Roosevelt
frentic	frantic or frenetic
garner wages	garnish wages
gave me slack	gave me flak
gentile manners	genteel manners
gentlelady	gentlewoman
genuses	genera
glaucomole	glaucoma
glaze over	gloss over
gleam	glean
gone array	gone awry
gorilla warfare	guerilla warfare
got my dandruff up	got my dander up
grant it	granted
greatfruit	grapefruit
harbringer	harbinger
heared	heard
harps back	harks back
hearst	hearse
heart-rendering	heart-rending
Heineken remover	Heimlich maneuver
here on end	here on in
High Iraqi	hierarchy
hobbiest	hobbyist
hold down the fort	hold the fort
hurtles to overcome	hurdles to overcome
howsomever	however
I seen	I saw or I’ve seen
ice tea	iced tea
imbedded	embedded
flaw in the ointment	fly in the ointment
hare’s breath	hair’s breadth
high dungeon	high dudgeon
ideallic	ideal or idyllic
impaling doom	impending doom
imput	input
in another words	in other words
in lieu of	in light of
in loo of	in lieu of
in mass	en masse
if I don’t say so myself	if I do say so myself
in sink	in synch
in the same vane or vain	in the same vein
incredulous	incredible
indiscrepancy	discrepancy
insinnuendo	insinuation or innuendo
insuremountable	insurmountable
in tact	intact
interduce	introduce
internally grateful	eternally grateful
International Workers of the World	Industrial Workers of the World
intragul	integral
Issac	Isaac
it’s beggars belief	it beggars belief
ivy tower	ivory tower
jack of all traits	jack of all trades
jaundra	genre
jest of the idea	gist of the idea
just assume	just as soon
kindly	kind of
kit gloves	kid gloves
klu klux klan	ku klux klan
lacksadaisical	lackadaisical
lamblasted, landblasted	lambasted
land up	end up, land
landlover	landlubber
lapse into a comma	lapse into a coma
larnyx	larynx
laxidaisical	lackadaisical
lively hood	livelihood
love nuts	lug nuts
love one and other	love one another
low and behold	lo and behold
ludicrust	ludicrous
Lykert scale	Likert scale
make ends meat	make ends meet
make head or tale	make head or tail
masonary	masonry
mean time	meantime
menestrate	menstruate
meter out justice	mete out justice
misconscrew	misconstrue
mister meaner	misdemeanor
mix words	mince words
momento	memento
muncho man	macho man
muriel	mural
myocardial infraction	myocardial infarction
new leash on life	new lease on life
neck in neck	neck and neck
nitch	niche
no bars held	no holds barred
Nobel lariat	Nobel laureate
notary republic	notary public
odiferous	odoriferous
oject d’art	objet d’art
off my own back	off my own bat
on mass	en masse
on the same hand	on the other hand, by the same token
once and a while	once in a while
orthoscopic	arthroscopic
overhauls	overalls
overjealous	overzealous
pacific	specific
pain-staking	painstaking
pair of parenthesis	pair of parentheses
palatable feeling	palpable feeling
parody of virtue	paragon of virtue
part in parcel	part and parcel
pastorial	pastoral
patriarticle	patriarchal
permiscuous	promiscuous
peacemeal	piecemeal
peak of health	pink of health
pedastool	pedestal
pension	penchant
pentacle of his career	pinnacle of his career
peon of praise	paean of praise
periphial	peripheral
perk up its ears	prick up its ears
perscription	prescription
Peruvian interest	prurient interest
perverbial	proverbial
phantom	fathom
pick fun	poke fun or pick on
piece of mind	peace of mind
pillow to post	pillar to post
pin a finger	pin the blame on, point a finger at
play it by year	play it by ear
plentitude	plenitude
poison ivory	poison ivy
portentious	portentous
poseable thumbs	opposable thumbs
pot-bellied politics	pork-barrel politics
poultrygeist	poltergeist
predominately	predominantly
pratfall	pitfall
prevaricate	procrastinate
prevert	pervert
prolong the inevitable	delay the inevitable
protagonist	proponent
punkin, pumkin	pumpkin
radical chick	radical chic
radioactive increase	retroactive increase
ramsack	ransack
ranking file	rank and file
readdress the balance	redress the balance
rebel rouser	rabble rouser
recreate the wheel	reinvent the wheel
repel	rappel
repungent	repugnant
roiling boil	rolling boil
rot or rod iron	wrought iron
rubble rousing	rabble rousing
rockweiler	rottweiler
run rapid	run rampant
schrap metal	scrap metal or shrapnel
sequences	sequins
shock ways	shockwaves
short sided	shortsighted
skewer the results	skew the results
something or rather	something or other
seizure salad	Caesar salad
self of steam	self-esteem
self-defacing	self-effacing
sense of false security	false sense of security
should’ve went	should’ve gone
shutter to think	shudder to think
similiar or simular	similar
six and a half of one,    a dozen of the other	six of one,    half a dozen of the other
skiddish	skittish
skun your knee	skinned your knee
sleep acnea	sleep apnea
slither of cake	sliver of cake
smack dad	smack dab
smashed potatoes	mashed potatoes
smoking mirrors	smoke and mirrors
smothered onions	smothered with onions
soak and wet	soaking wet
somulent	somnolent
sorted past or story	sordid past or story
stain glass	stained glass
stainless teal	stainless steel
stolled	stole
strident	stringent
strum up support	drum up support
subsiding on	subsisting on
substantative	substantive
sufficive to say	it suffices to say
supremist	supremacist
tactile squad	tactical squad
terminity	temerity
thankyou	thank you
techknowledgy	technology
Theolonius Monk	Thelonious Monk
thread a fine line	tread a fine line
Tiajuana	Tijuana
tie me over	tide me over
times the number	multiply the number
tittering on the brink	teetering on the brink
to eaches own	to each his own
took it for granite	took it for granted
trader to the cause	traitor to the cause
turpentime	turpentine
two sense worth	two cents’ worth
tyrannical yolk	tyrannical yoke
unchartered territory	uncharted territory
unloosen	loosen
udderly	utterly
up and adam	up and at ’em
upgraded	upbraided
valevictorian	valedictorian
Valentimes	Valentines
vaulted	vaunted
verbage	verbiage
very close veins	varicose veins
viadock	viaduct
visa versa	vice versa
vocal chords	vocal cords
voiceterous	boisterous
vunerable	vulnerable
wait ago	way to go
weary	wary
wheedle down	whittle down
whelp	welt
Wimbleton	Wimbledon
wideth	width
windshield factor	wind chill factor
witch	which
without further adieu	without further ado
world-renown	world-renowned
worldwind	whirlwind
worse case scenario	worst-case scenario
worth its weight in salt	worth its salt or worth its weight in gold
worth wild	worthwhile