Spellcheckers can be useful tools for writers, and in particular, for bad spellers. However, there are plenty of mistakes that spellcheckers will never correct. One such error, which screams out for line editing, is the incorrect homonym. (Homonyms: words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings and are spelled differently. Sometimes they are even spelled the same but have discrete origins or definitions. Phew!)
"No Gait When Sitting on a Gate" - Stock Photo
This week, I read a manuscript that was riddled with wrongly substituted homonyms. The author otherwise has strong writing skills, but her brain likes to play tricks on her while she’s absorbed in the writing process. She even laughed when I pointed out all the wrong words. She’d never noticed her mistakes after several revisions. This is another reason why even good writers are still in need of editors.
Alternatively, good writers can also put on editors’ caps and go hunting for those tricky homonyms on their own. The first step for recognizing them is to learn what makes the confusing words different from each other. The next step involves creating a visual image for each word. Associative images help you to better remember the correct spelling when you visualize both word and picture together in your mind.
Here’s a short list with examples of commonly misspelled or substituted homonyms and similar-sounding words that get by in a lot of today’s unedited, self-published manuscripts:
Broach vs. Brooch
Dyeing vs. Dying
Gait vs. Gate
Discrete vs. Discreet
Lightening vs. Lightning
Nauseous vs. Nauseated
Broach vs. Brooch
You broach a subject, not brooch it. This mean you bring it up, or introduce it. Whatever the subject, it might help to see some guy or gal, wearing a t-shirt with the word broach on it, giving the “subject” a handshake.
And since you don't brooch a subject, why not use only this spelling for a piece of jewelry on a pin or clasp that you wear on a blouse or jacket? While brooches have sometimes been spelled “broaches” interchangeably in the past, why confuse things for yourself when you can have a separate spelling for each of these two homonyms?
Dyeing vs. Dying
Dyeing is the process of coloring some material, like fabric, or hair, another hue. There is an "e" in this word that’s not in its counterpart. Perhaps think of it as ebony ink?
Dying is what you don’t what to do anytime soon, if you can help it. You might remind yourself that “there’s no ebony in dying.”
Gait vs. Gate
A gait is the manner in which a person or animal walks or runs; this word might refer to a lope, a strut, a shuffle, a canter. There’s an "i" in gait, so you could easily remember that “Gait is how I walk.”
A gate, however, is a door in a fence. Perhaps an ebony fence? (Or an English garden fence?) There’s no “i” in the middle of gate, so it’s probably locked and keeping you out. But if it’s unlocked and you get to walk through the gate and beyond the fence, your gait will likely be perky.
Discrete vs. Discreet
If you look different than your neighbor — you have short hair, he has long; you have bronze skin, his is olive — you can say you’re discrete. You’re individual. And if you have a bunch of objects in a box, separated by dividers, those objects are also discrete. Try to remember there’s a “t” dividing the 2 “e”s.
If you enjoy looking at your neighbor, but you do it surreptitiously so that your husband doesn’t get jealous, then you are being discreet. You are keeping attentions under the radar; you’re being careful not to upset the situation. Imagine your husband is the “t” and how he would get in between you and your ogling if he were between the “e”s.
Lightening vs. Lightning
It boggles my mind how often I run across the use of “lightening” for “lightning.” There’s that e, again, which seems to confuse the masses. This time, it stands in for something that gets removed. No wonder this one trips up so many.
Lightening is what you do when you bleach (remove or lighten the color of) your hair, or remove weight from a heavy load.
Lightning is the bright, electrical flash of light across a stormy sky.
Nauseous vs. Nauseated
Why, oh, why does nearly everyone get this wrong? It’s no wonder, when media repeatedly pours the wrong answer in your ears.
Nauseous is something that’s disgusting, poisonous, or vomit-inducing. When you say that about yourself, “I’m nauseous,” or “I feel nauseous,” you’re saying that you are making other people want to get sick to their stomachs. So, don’t go around saying you’re a disgusting person. Unless you have low self-esteem, or are trying to make “ous” get sick, on purpose.
Nauseated means that you are feeling ill, or feel like vomiting, because something else is making you feel that way. Like maybe you “ated” something bad. Get it now?