Substituting a letter (or two) in a word, especially if it’s a long word, can turn your carefully written prose into a joke in your writing workshop (for example, when you use use Square (“Women’s drawstring bag is used specifically as a handbag”) when you mean ridiculeor the classic mistake that causes confusion lots of rocks (“wearing agate”) with smooth (“breeding ducks”)).
A slightly more common set of confused words is greedily And honest. The one that starts with a eddy– can mean “craving” or “too eager” and initials version– means “honest” or “accurate”.
Readers are voracious at work.
Greedily come from Latin pig (“to devour”). This root is shared by some English words, such as voraciously itself, and somewhat more ambiguously wanderingis only used in heraldry and means “expressed in the act of devouring.” Vorare also gives us the endings of a large number of words that are defined as “following X” (such as bugs“eat worms”).
honest likewise comes from a Latin word (veraxmeans “honest”), although this root word has served as the basis for many more modern English words (authenticity (“truth”) is one such example). Why there must be more words that mean “swallow” than words that mean “honest” is a mystery to the food gods, or perhaps the FDA.
Both words seem to have entered our language around the late 16th or early 17th centuries; Our current evidence suggests slightly earlier use for greedily.
….thus, the Wolf’s voracious greed will destroy and destroy the prey it stumbles upon in its hunger.— Richard Linche, Fountains of ancient novels1599
Furthermore, that the Protestants cannot haue fayth to please God, that is, the fayth is certainly infallible not based on vindication, I prove it this way. No man can be assured of the truth of the unseen, nor can he be certain of it, without the words of an infallible true Author in all his words, delivered to him by a witness of infallible truth…— John Floyd, total1639
We’re sorry to announce that we don’t have a simple mnemonic for you to chant when you’re not sure which word to use. However, there is no need for such memory support here; just remember that both of these similar words exist, you’ll be prompted to consult the best mnemonic reminder available: the dictionary.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
