Original header image by Andrea Piacquadio
10 MORE Words You Literally Didn't Know You Were Getting Wrong
You aced your vocab tests when you were in school. You know the difference between affect and effect. You don’t need autocorrect to add a space between a and lot. In short, you are a genius competent English speaker.
But even those of us who actively try to get it all right sometimes still get it wrong. Take the VP of the USA, for example. During his speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, he misused the word literally at least a dozen times. Thanks to his mega-gaffe, we all now know how NOT to use the word literally since literally literally means you are being literal. Who knew? (Ok, lots of people knew…) Unfortunately, literally is only one word that people frequently misuse. Below is a list of 10 words that you might want to revisit.
Assent vs. Consent
While both are verbs and both mostly mean to agree, assent implies that the person who agrees is enthusiastic about it. Consent, on the other hand, is more neutral or even negative. Examples:
As a condition of employment as nanny for a high ranking Microsoft family, Sara had to consent to keep her new employer a secret.
When the teacher suggested that the students skip taking the math test and take an extra recess instead, the class quickly assented.
*Remember not to confuse assent with ascent. Ascent means a climb and is not even close in meaning to either assent or consent.
Breach vs. Breech
Considering I was a breech birth myself (TMI?), I should have known this one, but I never thought about it until I was about to give birth to my own daughter (who, thankfully, was not breech. TMI, again? Sorry.) Breach, as a noun, means a gap or violation such as a breach of contract or a breach in the dam. The verb breach means to break, break open, or break through. Breech, on the other hand, literally means the lower part or back of something, typically a human, that comes after the back but before the legs. Yes, breech means ass. So, breeches are ass-covers. I’m not sure I’ve heard the word breeches used in anything but writing that is decades old, so you can’t be blamed if you didn’t put that together before now. I sure didn’t. So while most babies have to breach the birth canal to enter this world, only the breech baby does it ass-first. (Sorry for the visual, but I bet you won’t forget this one now.)
*Try not confuse breach with broach either. To broach means to make a hole in something from which to draw liquid or to raise for discussion.
Compelled vs. Impelled
The difference between these two is that one is voluntary (impelled) while the other is not (compelled). Consider these two examples:
The thief was compelled to divulge the location of the stolen goods.
versus
The thief was impelled to divulge the location of the stolen goods.
The use of compel here means the thief was forced to tell where he hid the loot. Though not stated, the reader might assume that a judge or police officer threatened a worse punishment if the thief stayed quiet than if he confessed. The use of impel means the thief gave up the location of the stolen property voluntarily. Though not stated, you could infer that he probably felt guilty, so he confessed to unburden his conscience.
Infectious vs. Contagious
Just in time for flu season, knowing the difference between these will help you craft a perfect “out sick” message to your manager. As you probably know, something that is contagious is something that spreads by direct or nearly direct contact, and it refers to transmission. Something that is infectious may or may not be contagious because infectious refers to cause. You can be infected by a sickness that is not contagious, tetanus, for example, or pneumonia. Both are infectious but not contagious.
Deserts vs. Deserts vs. Desserts
I am pretty sure I’m not the only person who imagines someone getting a pie in the face when I hear the phrase “he got his just deserts.” In this case, deserts (spoken with the emphasis on the second syllable) is not the plural of desert (spoken with an emphasis on the first syllable.) A desert is that arid landscape where the coyote chases the roadrunner while a desert is something you deserve (for better or for worse). A dessert (spelled with two s’s and with an emphasis on the second syllable) is a sweet treat usually enjoyed after a meal. It’s likely that you only hear the word deserts (emphasis on the second syllable) in the commonly used phrase “to get your just deserts.” The phrase can mean something positive, but, more often than not, just deserts are the justified and deserved negative consequences of someone’s negative actions. For example:
Bernie Madoff’s conviction and imprisonment was his just deserts for stealing money from his investors.
Disinterested vs. Uninterested
I see these used interchangeably, but they are actually very different. If you are not interested in or bored by something, you are uninterested. Disinterested means you do not have a financial or personal stake in something. Disinterested means “impartial” or “neutral”.
Grisly vs. Grizzly vs. Grizzled
This is another case where these words seem like they would be more closely related. The term grisly means horrific or gruesome as in grisly murder scene. While it seems reasonable that the meanest bear in the woods might be named for the mess he leaves after chowing down on some hiker, grizzly actually means “greyish”. Grizzly bears are named for the greyish tips on their fur. I, for one, don’t ever want to get close enough to a grizzly bear to find out if his fur is tipped with grey. I’ll take their word for it. Grizzled also means “greyish” and is typically used to describe people. A man with a greying beard could be described as grizzled.
Incredible vs. Incredulous
While the word incredible actually means “unbelievable,” over time, it has come to signify that something is especially good. Incredulous, on the other hand, has a more negative connotation; it means “skeptical.” For example:
The incredulous crowd watched as a man dressed in a red and blue body suit scaled a building without any ropes.
Literally vs. Figuratively
Last month, Joe Biden sent the grammarian crowd into a tizzy by misusing the word literally multiple times in his speech at the Democratic National Convention. For the record, literally means “actually; without exaggeration.” For some reason, this word gets used all the time to mean figuratively, which is the exact opposite concept. It's unknown to me how this particular usage came to be so popular--maybe it just rolls off the tongue better than figuratively, or maybe it’s like using the word badass to describe something as incredibly good and desirable. Who knows why, but one thing is for certain; Biden literally needs to hire a new speech writer.
If you are a fan of the show Parks and Recreation, then you have probably heard the character Chris Traeger (played by Rob Lowe) abuse the word literally. Like Biden, Chris frequently misuses the word (“I have a resting heart rate of 28 beats per minute. The doctors who studied me said that my heart could, literally, pump jet fuel up into a jet.”), but his character is so obnoxiously upbeat that on some occasions, you actually believe him when he says “Biking for charity is literally one of my interests on Facebook.” Either way, the term fits the character perfectly, which is why it's funny whether he uses it correctly or not. For the rest of you, though, unless you literally mean exactly what you are saying, don’t use the word literally. If you have to use SOMETHING, try the word actually.
I.e. vs. E.g.
I admit that I have confused these for years, but finally, FINALLY, I memorized them. As you know, they are both abbreviations. As you might suspect, they both stand for Latin phrases. I.e. stands for id est (“that is”) and e.g. stands for exempli gratia (“for example”). Since NO ONE speaks Latin anymore, it’s best to find another way to remember these. Look no further than Grammar Girl for a good way to remember the difference. I.e. means “in other words” and should therefore introduce information that clarifies the statement made in the rest of the sentence. For example:
I really don’t have time to make dinner tonight; i.e., you should pick up a pizza.
The expression i.e. is great for introducing parenthetical statements because it sets off a bit of nonessential or extra information. You can actually enclose it with parentheses or not, depending on how much distance you want to put between the two concepts.
E.g. is easier to remember—think “egg sample” in order to connect your brain to “for example.” It’s silly, but it works. E.g.:
I really don’t have time to make dinner tonight. Can you pick up something, e.g., pizza or takeout?
In this example, e.g. sets off a couple of options, or examples, of dinner items that can be picked up. Unlike the sentence using i.e., which specifies what dinner item to pick up, the e.g. sentence offers some examples, and, because they are just examples, it’d be perfectly fine to assume the person this statement is directed to might choose to pick up something not listed, like hamburgers.
Your Mission
Do all of us a favor (and avoid "pulling a Biden"), and learn what your words actually (literally--haha) mean. We all sometimes get over-confident about language, but sometimes bad habits can lead to serious confusion (and mockery on a national scale). What's a word you used to confuse? How did you finally learn to get it right? Share your experience in the comments below. You never know, you might help someone else to finally learn a word they have misused for years.
Want to take your writing to the next level? Check out our slate of online workshops.
About the author
Taylor Houston is a genuine Word Nerd living in Portland, OR where she works as a technical writer for an engineering firm and volunteers on the planning committee for Wordstock, a local organization dedicated to writing education.
She holds a degree in Creative Writing and Spanish from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. In the English graduate program at Penn State, she taught college composition courses and hosted a poetry club for a group of high school writers.
While living in Seattle, Taylor started and taught a free writing class called Writer’s Cramp (see the website). She has also taught middle school Language Arts & Spanish, tutored college students, and mentored at several Seattle writing establishments such as Richard Hugo House. She’s presented on panels at Associated Writing Programs Conference and the Pennsylvania College English Conference and led writing groups in New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado for writers of all ages & abilities. She loves to read, write, teach & debate the Oxford Comma with anyone who will stand still long enough.
