WHAT DO I MEAN ?
Words that sound alike but are spelled differently or spelled the same but have different meanings and a language comprised of parts of all languages spoken worldwide. ENGLISH Ain't it great!
principle...principal / here...hear / we...wee /
born...borne / sleigh...slay / so...sew / moose...mousse /
whether...weather / which...witch / red...read
bite...byte / steel...steal / night...knight / break...brake /
led...lead / bail...bale / threw...through / meant...mint /
hour...our / two...too...to / some...sum / reign...rain /
pair...pare...pear / by...buy...bye / reed...read /
there...their...they're / can (tin)...can (butt end)...can (able)
wood...would / horse...whores / piece...peace /
fair...fare / lie...lye / see...sea / bough...bow /
write...right / dye...die / deer...dear / genes...jeans /
bass...base / plain...plane / mail...male / pore...pour /
Thanks to Nancy Maiorana, Barbara Woodward, Holly Lee Harris, and Frances Spindle Bindon for all their great add-ons to this list. If there's someone I've forgotten..I lost my original list just let me know. My friend Rosanna Blair, who was born in Italy and is a retired Virginia Art Teacher, remarked during the compilation of this list about the difficulty of learning English due to the confusion of sound alike words. I know there's more combinations but this is good for a start. If you think of more or if I come up with more I'll add on.
Sandy, thanks for sharing this as this is one of my favorite pastimes and I have a heck of a good time naming my paintings with this knid of word play. Three titles that come to my mind are: 1.A Dark Knight in Queen's Town. 2.Study of Roopa Dudley. 3.Chess-Nut. Speaking 3 fluently and learning to read and write in 5, I love this aspect of language. However, I am a terrible speller in all of them and feel fortunate and blessed to have a Spell Check button. Stay tuned for my " Three Knights in Paradise". I am still working on that one.
ReplyDeleteRoopa, congratulations on speaking five languages. I worked international flight reservations for United Air Lines before I retired....loved speaking to people from all over the world. In high school I studied Spanish and know just enough to really get myself in trouble.....KNOW NO.......need to add to the list!
ReplyDeleteSo, sow and Sow [as in Pig!] LOL. Learning Spanish is the sixth and last on my list [after I Master French and that is not happening any time soon] because I find it to be the easiest. The irony is that I see myself moving to Arizona in the next 20 years and it is imperative to know Spanish there. Jam as in traffic and Jam as in Preserve. Bolt as in lock and Bolt as in horse suddenly taking off. Aarh...sorry...I need some Chocolate and my daily dose of Caffine...Dose...Doze...oh dear!
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