chrissymunder | Entries tagged with homonym hump day

Today's Homonym Hump Day pairing could be considered a trick - at least for anyone lacking in grammar as much as I am. The reality is this ISN'T a homonym - it's just sloppy slang.

According to Grammarly.com Everytime should be written as two separate words: every time.

"While some compound words like everywhere and everyone have become commonplace in the English language everytime is not considered an acceptable compound word."

And now I know. :)

Ah, my good old friend, embarassment. I know the definitions of these three, so why then, during an editing pass did I have to go out and look this one up? In this case I turned to Grammar Girl to set me straight. it was interesting to read that some may suggest all three words are interchangeable, but I was taught to think in terms of context when using them. How about you?

I can remember going back and forth on this one when I wrote Start from the Beginning and the storm blew in off the lake. There's a big difference between a flash of electrical discharge and lessening someone's burden. Still, I kept wanting to stick that "e" in there. Do you have a pet word that even though you know the difference between them you confuse the spelling?

This set of homonyms is one I didn't think I had difficulty with. Then I realized it's simply because I don't use them that often in my work. A good review of the definitions over at Ginger Software made sure I'll keep them straight in the future.

Following a rather rambling train of thought after I played around with this one left me wondering: If the majority of closed captioning is done via software and not humans typing, what are the odds the computer will pick the correct spelling when the words sound the same. Is there an algorithm for context?

Now this is a fun series, and one that makes me think I must immediately use at least one of them in my next scene. But it isn't one I seem to have too much trouble with when writing. Perhaps this one is easier because the definitions of the words are so different? When's the last time you used one of the three in your writing?

Wow. Today's homonym is one I'm not sure I'll ever remember correctly. Here's a case where I've almost given up hope Mrs. Wolf's mantra of "if you write it down you'll retain it" will work. But maybe her other advice to second graders - "practice makes perfect" will finally help this sink in.

In my Pink Squirrel Press Anthology Release, Summer Hire we get to see the effect Jim's boss, Aaron has on him. The first time they meet all Jim can think about is his favorite porn film. As they get to know each other Aaron's affects Jim in ways he never imagined.

Hey, I think I got that one right. Go me! (What? you never celebrate the little things?) I'd better doublecheck over at Vocabulary.com to be sure.

Is there a set of homonyms that won't stick in your brain, no matter how many times you look them up? Do you think they'll ever stick?

Sometimes I think one of the main joys of being an author is the opportunity to learn new things. In Drive Me Home , Eric Moss takes a job as a limousine driver. But does he work for Discreet Limousine? Or Discrete Limousine?

The totally different definitions for this homonym found at Vocabulary.com made for an easy choice between the two words. The hard part was remembering to spell it correctly throughout the manuscript. Thank goodness for "find and replace". Are there two words you know mean different things, but you still get the spelling's confused?

Here's a set of words I have to look up Every.Single.Time. You'd think I'd get it by now. But every time I get deep in edits I always twist myself around on this pair and end up second guessing my choices. Let me pause and send a big kiss to anyone who ever had to edit my work *smooch*.

Time spent on the Grammarbook.com blog shows me I'm not alone. (Yay! solidarity!) After I read their first post on into-vs-in to I found a second post on the subject. Apparently the 247 questions they received on the first post made them think they should spend a bit more time beating this into our skulls. For that, I thank them. :)

As I will, Every.Single.Time.I.Look.This.Up.Again.

Do you have a homonym nemesis?

Howdy y'all. Welcome to a new feature I'm calling Homonym Hump Day. First I should check that it actually is Wednesday ... it is, right? Wonderful. What is this new feature on the blog? As you can guess from the catchy post name every Wednesday I'm going to share homonyms I come across in my weekly writing. Simple, right?

The goal is to reach back to the tried and true theories of Mrs. Wolf, my second grade teacher, who used to stand beside us in her very sensible and very polished black loafers and swear that if we "write it down we'll retain it". I really enjoyed her teaching and hope I can have as much fun with these posts as I had in her class. You can join me here every Wednesday for a glimpse at both my latest work and my latest homonym.

(For the more technically inclined let me mention I'm following the Wikipedia example of homonyms, where "In non-technical contexts, the term "homonym" may be used (somewhat confusingly) to refer to words that are either homographs or homophones.^[1] In this looser sense, the word row (propel with oars) and row (argument) and row (a linear arrangement of seating) are considered homonyms, while the words read (peruse) and reed (waterside plant) would be considered homophones.")

Sometimes Life Just Needs a Little Plaid

Entries tagged with homonym hump day

Homonym Hump Day - Everytime or Every Time?

Homonym Hump Day - Ensure or Insure? And what about Assure?

Homonym Hump Day - Lightning or Lightening?

Homonym Hump Day - Capital or Capitol

Homonym Hump Day - Would you rather be a Bore? a Boar? or a Boor?

Homonym Hump Day - Affect or Effect?

Homonym Hump Day - Discreet or Discrete?

Homonym Hump Day - Into or In to?

Homonym Hump Day Kickoff!

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