My husband is a drummer, and yesterday his band played their Christmas concert, so I thought this would be a good time to share this muddle. I first saw these words mixed up in a post about John Cougar. He lost his temper one day and threw his drum kit …
ensure: (verb) make certain that something will happen insure: (verb) protect against loss by arranging for compensation assure: (verb) reaffirm a positive outcome; remove doubt
faze: (verb) to disturb; to worry; to fluster Part of the expression “That doesn’t faze me.” phase: (noun) a stage or period of development; (verb) to order by stages NOT part of the expression “That doesn’t faze me.”
copywrite: (verb, nonstandard) to write copy (generally for business or advertising) (rare back-formation from copywriter) copyright: (noun) the authority to copy creative content (aka intellectual property); (verb) to register the copyright of creative content
peek: (noun) a quick look or glance; (verb) to take a quick look or glance, often secretively Used in the expression “a sneak peek”. peak: (noun) the summit; pointed top; highest level; (verb) to reach the highest level NOT used in the expression “a sneak peek”. A sneak peak is …
fond: (adjective) affectionate; loving; caring; admiring; desirous found: (verb) to establish; to begin building; to base found: (adjective, past participle of to find) discovered; rediscovered; retrieved, located
than: (conjunction, preposition) used to link two parts of a comparison; used with “more’, less’, and ‘fewer’ to indicate amounts (a group of more than 10 people); used to state a preference between two objects then: (adverb) next; afterward; at a specified time “I would rather have the cookie than …
hear: (verb) the action of processing information with your ears Used in the expression, “Hear! Hear!” here: (adverb) indicates your current location; confirms your attendance NOT used in the expression, “Hear! Hear!”
advise: (verb) to give counsel, tips or suggestions advice: (noun) the counsel, tips or suggestions that are given If you want the verb–the word that represents the action–spell it with an S. If you want the noun, spell it with a C.
lightning: (noun) a bolt of electrostatic discharge that occurs in the sky during a thunderstorm e.g. thunder and lightning lightening: (verb) making less heavy; making less dark or less dense in colour e.g. lightening the load
