Monday Muddle: affect, effect

affect: (verb) to alter; to change; to make a difference to; to sway the emotions of; (noun) facial expressions, gestures, vocal sounds that display emotion, often insincerely  effect: (noun) end result; consequence; change resulting from an action or other cause; used in the term “special effects”; (verb) to cause something …

Monday Muddle: noting, nothing

noting: (verb, present participle of to note) taking note of; paying attention to; noticing; mentioning to someone elsePart of the expression “also worth noting.” nothing: (pronoun) not a thing; not anything; something of no value (can also be used as an adjective and adverb) NOT part of the expression “also worth noting” …

Monday Muddle: hummus, humus

hummus: (noun) food originating from the Middle East used as a dip or spread; made primarily from mashed chickpeas humus: (noun) organic matter that is left after plants, leaves, animals and insects have decayed; used to add nutrients to soil

Monday Muddle: uncharted, unchartered

uncharted: (adjective) describes a physical area that has not had a map or survey done of it; used figuratively to talk of areas that are new to the person navigating themUsed in the expression uncharted territory.  unchartered: (adjective) (uncommon, at least in its correct sense) describes an organization that does …

Monday Muddle: fair, fare, fear

fair: (adjective) impartial, just, equitable; light in colour; average, adequate; not stormy; (noun) trade show; agricultural exhibition; carnival  fare: (noun) fee for transportation, a selection of food; (verb) achieve a level of success  fear: (noun) feeling of imminent danger; anxiety; concern; (verb) to be afraid; to expect danger, unpleasantness; to …

Monday Muddle: spilt, split

spilt: (verb, past tense of to spill) to allow or cause contents of a container to overflow the edges (including people from a building); to reveal information that should have been kept confidential  split: (verb) to break or tear into parts; to divide into shares; to separate; (noun) a break …

Monday Muddle: fictional, fictitious, fictive

fictional: (adjective) imaginary; characteristic of literary fiction (e.g., fictional character)  fictitious: (adjective) artificial; fictional, but with intent to conceal or mislead (e.g., fictitious alibi)  fictive: (adjective) relates to a specific fictional element (e.g., fictive kinship)

Monday Muddle: brake, break

brake: (noun) a device used to stop a process or machinery, typically a vehicle in motion; (verb) to apply brakes; to stop  break: (noun) a pause at work; an interruption or disruption of progress; a crack or fracture; a change that potentially leads to something better; (verb) to damage, crack, …

Monday Muddle: dugout, dug out

dugout: (noun) a shelter that is dug out of the ground and is covered with a roof; a shelter at the side of a baseball field, usually lower than ground level with a roof and a bench, for use by the players and staff when they are not on the …