Homonym confusion (quote)

[silibran]

Originally Posted by kokonutty

Actually, it is:

verb
set free; release.
"the hounds have been loosed" - Oxford Languages

OK. This is a sort of poetic usage, not common in everyday language. But yes.

Can I loose weight? That’s how I have seen the word used frequently? I think not, as they are pronounced differently, and have different meanings.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Thanks for this, lol. That dj was pretty clever.

I learned palate first, back in elementary school health class. Then palette in art class. It wasn't until many years later that I ever heard of pallet though. None of them are really common words so I can give people a pass on misspelling them. But not lose/looose or affect/effect. Another one is sell and sale, as in, "I can sale this" or "I had a good sell in my store." They're not homonyms but they are similar sounding and have similar meanings.

That to me is very weird, and not something I ever heard until recent years. "It's for sell." REALLY?

How can you mix up sale and sell unless you've been living under a rock all your life?

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by silibran

OK. This is a sort of poetic usage, not common in everyday language. But yes.

Can I loose weight? That’s how I have seen the word used frequently? I think not, as they are pronounced differently, and have different meanings.

You see that all the time on the Diet and Weight Loss forum, along with "I have loss weight."

And 500 spam emails a day from shrinkme.

[kokonutty]

Originally Posted by steiconi

I assume this was just a typo, but I think naybe is my new favorite word.


nay·be
/ˈnābē/
adverb
perhaps; possibly, but incredibly unlikely
Apparent provisional acceptance of a statement while actually expressing anything from extreme doubt to outright disagreement.

"You say the sun rises in the north in San Francisco? Naybe you're right."

synonyms: nuh-uh, nope, you're nuts, ain't gonna happen, nohaps

Related to "Bless your heart" as used in the southern United States.

My guess is that did not come from Oxford, or even Merriam-Webster.

[kokonutty]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

That to me is very weird, and not something I ever heard until recent years. "It's for sell." REALLY?

How can you mix up sale and sell unless you've been living under a rock all your life?

In some places they're both pronounced like "sail." That's a good reason to move away from regionalisms in pronunciation.

[suzy_q2010]

I use the pin-pen merger. I had never even heard of it before I read about it in another thread here on CD.

Even listening to the supposed difference I cannot hear it.

I grew up in West Georgia. I have Scots Irish ancestors.

The Pin-Pen Merger | Dialect Blog

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by kokonutty

My guess is that did not come from Oxford, or even Merriam-Webster.

It's from the Steiconipedia Americana.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by suzy_q2010

I use the pin-pen merger. I had never even heard of it before I read about it in another thread here on CD.

Even listening to the supposed difference I cannot hear it.

I grew up in West Georgia. I have Scots Irish ancestors.

The Pin-Pen Merger | Dialect Blog

Thanks for the link! Pretty interesting.

[turf3]

Originally Posted by silibran

Pallet - palate - palette

I know it is weird and hard, but there are three different words, spelled differently, but pronounced similarly. Recently I’ve been seeing palette spelled pallet. I know I have seen palate spelled pallet as well.

When I hung out in weight loss forums, I used to see loose used for lose all the time.

Stuff like this bugs me.

Pallet and palate are homonyms. Palette, at least where I'm from, is pronounced with an accent on the last syllable.


Loose is NOT a homonym for lose.


Loossss vs. loozzzz.

[turf3]

Originally Posted by Therblig

The general loss/failure to overcome spelling deficiencies isn't new. The advent of realtime spell checking on every input portal has only made such homonym errors universal... the writer still doesn't know how to spell something well enough to tell that it's a right word, but the wrong one.

Lose/loose is maddeningly common. It makes me want to use loos, and when challenged, say "but I meant it disappeared into a row of toilets."

Accept/except. Jibe/Jive. We could fill a long, long thread with examples (again) but let's not.

The curse of spall chuckers.

Accept and except are not homonyms. Neither are jibe and jive.