The Big List Of Booboos And Blunders / O To U

• "oblivious" for "obvious"—the difference is between "unable to see it" and "unable to miss it."
• "obsurd"—eggcorn for "absurd."
• "octopi" would be the plural of octopus if octopus were derived from Latin, however, octopus is a Greek word. The correct plural is generally "octopuses", or "octopodes" if you want to be really pedantic.
  • In a similar vein is the "platypi"/"platypuses"/"platypodes" issue regarding the platypus.
• "off of" rather than simply "off", "on" (as in "based on") or "from" (as in "take something off of someone"), although this has become something of a popular colloquialism and hence is probably acceptable in casual situations.
• "oft chance" for "off chance". This is one of those eggcorns that means the exact opposite of the original. "Off chance" means it's extremely unlikely something will happen. "Oft chance" means it's likely to happen often.
• "ok" is not a word. The word is "okay" (or "OK" with both letters capitalized if you really feel the need to contract), and it's not a great word to use in writing anyway.
• "Old timers' disease"—eggcorn for "Alzheimer's disease", a lethal form of senile dementia. This mistake usually occurs because it's primarily a disease of the elderly.
  • In an article in the Mail on Sunday, Terry Pratchett complained that his speech-to-text software (his typing was becoming increasingly erratic) persisted in transcribing this eggcorn itself.
• A person who is everywhere at once is "omnipresent"; someone who is all-knowing is "omniscient"; and someone who is all-powerful is "omnipotent". For monotheists, God is all three.
• "on the lamb" (perched upon a young sheep) for "on the lam" (fleeing from officers of the law)
  • As Abe Simpson puts it, "Call me mint jelly, because I'm on the lam(b)!"
• "once and a while"—eggcorn for "once in a while."
• "one in the same"—eggcorn for "one and the same."
• "one's self" (the concept of the self, applied to a person) vs. "oneself" (reflexive pronoun).
• "ontime" is never, ever correct. Depending on context, it may be a mistake for "onetime" ("former") or "on time" ("punctual").
• "ordinance" (a local law or religious ritual) vs. "ordnance" (weapons or ammunition).
• "orgy" (a group sex act) vs. "orgasm" (what hopefully happens at the end of one)—sometimes seen in Lemons.
  • Also "organism" for "orgasm".
    • This guy made that mistake on TV.
• "other wise" (which makes no sense without context) vs. "otherwise" (which means "under different circumstances").
  • A context in which "other wise" can make sense is the archaic one where "wise" means the extent or manner of things; roughly similar to "way". In this sense "other wise" approaches "otherwise" in that it acknowledges alternatives may exist.
• Despite what some may think, "oriented" and "orientated" are both words and mean the same thing. And just to nip it in the bud, the same applies to "disoriented" and "disorientated".
• "Over" as a word vs. "over-" as a prefix. This one is growing ever more frequent. If you overwork, you work too much; if you over work, you're speaking colloquially that you're done with work, "I'm so over work!"
  • Likewise, "full" as a word (two Ls) vs. "-ful" as a suffix (one L).
• "oversee" (which correctly means to be in charge, or its Latin-derived equivalent "supervise") for "overlook" (to fail to notice).
• "ownership" and "possession" are two similar terms which are easily confused. If you own something, that means you have legal title to it; if you possess it, it is currently amongst your worldly goods. Neither of these terms implies the other. For instance, Harry Potter owned his father's Invisibility Cloak from the instant of his father's death, but did not come into possession of it until Dumbledore gave it to him ten years later. The Harry Potter Wiki got this distinction wrong.
• "pad" for "pat"
• "pagan" (or even worse, "Satanist") is sometimes abused to mean "any religious belief to which I don't subscribe"; it actually refers to a particular belief system which arose in the early days of what is now Britain. In particular, yoga is described as "pagan" when it's actually Hindu in origin (and, in many cases of actual practice, has been stripped of its religious aspects); Hinduism and paganism aren't even from the same continent.
  • That said, "pagan" is somewhat acceptable as a generic term for several polytheistic religions. Saying you're Hellenistic might get the point across that you worship the Greco-Roman pantheon, saying you're "Asatru" will probably be met with a bewildered stare. Saying "Greek pagan," "Norse pagan," or "Egyptian pagan" is a somewhat easier way to get the point across, and is acceptable to some. Note, some. If an Asatruar or Hellenist takes umbrage at being called "pagan," one should apologize.
• "Paid" (given money in exchange for work) vs "payed" (which officially means sealed with tar or pitch, usually in reference to part of a boat, although 99 percent of the time it's just a misspelling of the former.)
• "painist" (not a word, but looks like a synonym for torturer) for "pianist" (person who plays the piano).
• "pallet" (a wooden platform for shipping things; also a thin, flat bedroll) vs. "palette" (a flat surface, often a thin board, which artists use to hold and blend paint; by extension, a selection of available colours as might be found on a palette) vs. "palate" (part of your mouth; colloquially, your sense of taste)
• "paper machete" (a large knife made of paper) for "paper mache"/"papier-mâché" (sculpting medium made up of shredded/chopped paper and glue)
  • Well, unless you're Yomiko Readman.
• "Paper view" (looking at a piece of paper, presumably), vs. "Pay-Per-View": (a service where you pay to watch something). Almost certainly an eggcorn.
• "Paramour" (an illicit lover) vs "power mower" (some kind of really powerful lawnmower?) Probably a text-to-speech mistake.
• 'parsimonious' means 'miserly', and is not a synonym for 'concise'. In the context of science or philosophy, it means "using or requiring as few unproven assumptions as possible," as another name for Occam's Razor is the Law Of Parsimony.
• "passed" (moved in front of) vs. "past" (history)
• "pass mustard" (what you say when you're eating hot dogs) for "pass muster" (to be satisfactory). A properly-working gun might be said to pass muster, but it's a rare gun that can pass mustard.
• "pause" (stop, usually briefly) vs. "paws" (the feet of most mammals)
  • Similarly, "pause" (see above) vs. "pose" (staying still for a photograph or a painting)
    • Just remember: A cat has claws at the end of its paws, while a complex sentence has a pause at the end of the clause.
• "Payroll officer" for "parole officer". Arguably, this could be a spellchecker error, but it has the look of an eggcorn to it.
  • "Payroll" has more to do with money and financial matters than "parole," though it is entirely possible for a parole officer to be on somebody's payroll.
    • A payroll officer could well be a real job (someone working in the office of the payroll division) but it has nothing to do with criminal justice. It is a common job title in Australia.
• "peak" (mountain) vs. "peek" (sneak a look) vs. "pique" (either whet, as in "pique an interest"; or a minor state of bad temper, as in "a fit of pique")
  • There's a fairly popular Twitter bot called Stealth Mountain whose sole function is to tweet corrections at people who type "sneak peak."
• "peel" (skin of a fruit) for "peal" (loud succession of sounds, such as the ringing of bells). You cannot break into "peels of laughter".
• "pedal" (propel a bicycle forward, or the things you push with your feet to achieve such purpose) vs. "petal" (the pretty parts of a flower).
• "pedaller" (someone riding a bike) for "peddler" (itinerant seller of small portable goods).
• "pendantic" (having to do with necklaces) for "pedantic" (sounding like Ben Stein)
• The plural of "penis" is "penises" (or "penes" if you're a real stickler for the Latin). It's not the same as the singular, nor is it "penii" or any variation on that, no matter how much funnier that construction is.^note The '-i' pluralization only works for words that end in '-us', and '-ii' requires the singular to ends in '-ius'. You can have a single Toyota Prius or multiple Toyota Prii, but if you have penii or a penius you should really consult your doctor.
  • Nor is the word "penisia", but if you actually think that's the plural you clearly weren't fully conscious when you watched that routine.
  • And "penal" does not mean "relating to the penis". That would be "penile". "Penal" means "of penalties," i.e. about punishment. Which means it's almost certainly not a "penile colony". Similarly, a penal code is a list of laws and punishments. A penile code is presumably some kind of secret message written on someone's penis.
• Despite what some would say, both "people" and "persons" are grammatically correct. "Peoples" should only be used when referring to multiple races, ethnicities etc of people.
  • The distinction between "people" and "persons": the latter refers to a group of (often specific) individuals as such, while the former considers them more as an aggregate. Among the people connected to the case are several persons of interest.
• The Latin phrase "per se"—which means, literally, "by itself"—spawns a lot of eggcorns. It's not "per say", "persay", "percy" (!) or anything else like that.
• "Perscriptivism" for "prescriptivism" was found on this wiki. Like "perserve" below, probably based on a very common non-standard pronunciation of "per" for "pre."
• Persecute: To harass or oppress through violence vs prosecute: to institute legal proceedings against. Although in some contexts either word would work as in: "Some countries persecute/prosecute gay people"
• "Perserve" may be how some people pronounce "preserve," but it's not correct spelling.
  • And "persevere" is something completely different.
  • A spell checker may recognise it as a typo for "perverse".
• "personal" (relating to an individual) vs. "personnel" (the body of persons employed in any work). The Alex comic strip managed to get a great joke out this confusion.
• "pharoah" (wrong) vs. "pharaoh" (not wrong).
• "phase" (part of a cycle or sequence, usually one that repeats on a regular basis; a derivative meaning covers things that come into sync with each other, or which make a transition (say, from intangibility to tangibility)) vs. "faze" (to evoke a stunned, surprised or shocked reaction in someone).
  • Mark Twain made this mistake, and there are many people who will bitch if you use this (these) frequently-misspelt word(s) correctly, just because they expect 'faze' to be itself a misspelling.
• One Star Trek trivia list◊ includes the "split infinitives are grammatically incorrect" nonsense (they aren't, English is not Latin) yet earlier says "this phenomena", which is grammatically incorrect (it should be "this phenomenon"). Likewise, a single item from the list is a trivium and a single requirement is a criterion (only if you have several requirements are they criteria).
• "pheonix" for "phoenix", a mythical firebird that has given its name to a city in Arizona, a superheroine from the X-Men, and more.
• "physic" (an archaic way of saying "medicine") versus "psychic" (having or relating to powers of the mind) was found on this very wiki.
• "physician" (a medical doctor) vs. "physicist" (a scientist specializing in the study of matter and energy)
• "piece of mind" instead of "peace of mind."
  • Unless you're giving someone a "piece of your mind," but under those circumstances you are trying to disturb that person's peace of mind.
• "Pilot" vs "aviator". Naval flyers are called aviators, since a navy pilot steers the ship to harbour and off. Naval pilots existed before aviation was a thing. "Pilot" and "aviator" are two different specializations in the Royal Navy and US Navy.
• "Pirate" vs. "privateer". A privateer carries a Letter of Marque from a government. They're essentially sea-faring mercenaries for hire, who sail under the flag of the country whose government they're getting paid by, and are authorised to attack and prey on any vessel bearing the flag of that country's enemies. A pirate, on the other hand, is an outlaw in the eyes of every recognised European government.
• "planer" (a tool for smoothing wood) for "planar" (flat; or having to do with two-dimensional geometric forms; or having to do with planes of existence in a fantasy universe, especially Dungeons & Dragons).
  • Magic: The Gathering has "plains" as a basic land type and "planes" as its term for worlds in its multiverse. For extra fun, it also has "plainswalk" (creatures with this ability are unblockable if the defending player controls a plains), "planeswalk" (to cross from one plane to another), "Planeswalkers" (those who can planeswalk), and "plainswalkers" (creatures with the plainswalk ability).
• "Pneumonia" to mean "hypothermia". Hypothermia is caused by the body's temperature being too low, while pneumonia is a lung disease caused by viruses or bacteria, and has nothing to do with temperature.
  • Also, "hyperthermia" to mean "hypothermia". Hyperthermia is caused by the body's temperature becoming too high, rather than too low.
• "Pneumonic" (having to do with inflation or lung disease) for "mnemonic" (having to do with memory) or "pneumatic" (powered by air pressure)
• 'poleis' is the correct plural form of 'polis'. 'Polis' is the singular form, 'polises' is an error.
• A young horse is not a "pony" but a "foal". A pony is a small species of horse at any age.
• "populous" (an adjective meaning "having lots of people living there") vs. "populace" (the people doing that living)
• "pores" (n small holes; v reads something intently) vs. "pours" (empties liquid from a container).
  • So if you "pore over" something then you study it closely; if you "pour over" it you just make it wet.
• "porpoise" (a marine mammal) vs. "purpose" (an aim or a goal). Of course, those who know better will often do this one on porpoise. For the halibut. (See the North American dub of Excel♡Saga for a particularly convoluted example caused by a combination of Gratuitous English and puckish translators.)
• "possessed" is one to be wary of. If "A is possessed of B", that's the same thing as saying that "B is possessed by A".
• "post-humus" (after the fertile earth) for "posthumous" (after death)
  • May be related to "post-hummus", subsequent to the chickpeas.
• "Pot marked" for "pockmarked". (This brings some really bizarre images to mind...) "Pock" is the singular form of "pox", as in "chickenpox" and "smallpox", and it means a divot or crater in the skin caused by disease or infection.
• "Potter" (someone who makes pots or slays Dark Lords) for "putter" (perform a series of small tasks in no particular order or hurry; or a type of golf club).
  • For randomly occupying yourself, "putter" is US English; "potter" is the British spelling.
• "A power onto herself" when what was meant is "a power unto herself".
• "pray" (trying to get some deity to pay attention to you) for "prey" (trying to exploit someone's weakness). "It is a social engineering attack, they prayed on the users' ignorance and capitalized on it."
  • To quote Howard Wolowitz: "A Shiksa goddess isn't an actual goddess. We don't pray to them; we prey on them."
  • Related: the insect is called a praying mantis. Many insects prey on others; not many do it holding that pose.
• "precede" (to go before something) vs. "proceed" (to continue doing something)
• "Precluded" (prevented, usurped the place of) for "preceded" (came before)
• "Predication" (a state of being contingent upon a prior condition, action, or event) for "predilection" (a taste, tendency or preference for a particular item or action)
• "Preform" (to shape in advance, perhaps) for "perform" (to do a task, or put on an act).
• "Premier" (first in importance) vs. "Premiere" (first performance).
• "Prejudice" (a preconceived idea or opinion, usually without reason) for "Prejudiced" (one who has a preconceived idea or opinion).
• "preposition" A part of speech usually used to indicate where something is in relation to something else. Versus "proposition" a suggestion or, as a verb, to suggest something (usually something sexual.)
• "presents" (gifts that are given and received, or the act of presenting something) vs. "presence" (the state of being in attendance)
• "prestigious" (respected, famous) for "prodigious" (very very large)
• "preverbal" (before you have the ability to talk) for "proverbial" (invoking or embodying a proverb or stereotype)
• "preview" (a look at an unfinished or unreleased product) for "purview" (jurisdiction)
• "principal" (the first among something) vs. "principle" (a basis for reason, belief or action). A school's principal holds its senior-most academic position. It probably has several principles that underlie its rules. The principal principle of medicine is "Do no harm".
• "privet" (a leafy shrub commonly made into hedges) for "private" (personal, secret). This editor came across a very-poorly-written story which referred to a girl's "privet parts".
  • Her bush, in other words.
• "prodigy" for "protege" (or, more accurately, "protégé"^note the up-accented E (acute) can be easily accessed from your keyboard by holding down ALT and then hitting 0-2-3-3 on your numpad—or by holding down AltGr (or both Alt and Ctrl simultaneously if your keyboard doesn't have AltGr) and typing E). A protege is someone a mentor has taken under his wing. A prodigy is a person with an extraordinary talent. Chiyo-chan from Azumanga Daioh is a prodigy, but not a protege.
  • Similarly, "progeny" (offspring) for "prodigy" (precocious genius)—Calvin and Hobbes deals with this one, when Calvin refers to himself as a "child progeny."
  • While a "prodigy" (precocious genius) may be "prodigal" (wastefully extravagant), it's neither necessary nor sufficient.
• "prolonged" (continues for a long time, such as "a prolonged boring speech about grammar") vs. "prologued" (an awkward verbing analogous to "monologued," probably taken as describing or creating the intro/backstory to a story, at some time in the past).
• "proof" (a line of reasoning deriving a conclusion from a set of premises) for "evidence" (information supporting such reasoning).
  • The words "proof" and "theory" have sometimes-subtle but crucial differences in meaning when used in mathematics, science, or general usage.
• "prophesy" (verb) vs. "prophecy" (noun). When you prophesy, you produce a prophecy. In Christian churches you will sometimes hear them differentiated by pronouncing the verb as "prof-fess-sigh".
• "proscribed" (prohibited) for "prescribed" (specified, recommended)
• "prostrate" (lying down for reasons of humility, exhaustion or illness) for "prostate" (a fairly important part of the male anatomy, particularly for writers of slash fiction). This error is so widespread that the online dictionary definition of "prostrate" is surrounded by ads for prostate-related health products.
• "prostrate" for "prone". Someone prostrated in humility may well lie prone (lying face down), so it's easy to confuse the two words. But "prostrate" could also mean lying face up (the "supine" position), such as collapsing in exhaustion after a race. (In short, if he's lying on his back then he's not lying prone.)
• "main protagonist". Since "protagonist" means "main character" (literally "first character"), "main protagonist" is thus tautologous. This is a problem on several Wikia wikis.^note The phrase "Wikia wikis" is not tautologous. Wikia is a domain that hosts numerous wikis; a wiki is just a specialized type of web page.
• "Provence" (an area of southern France) for "province" (a subdivision of a country). The former is an example of the latter.
• "provincial" (having to do a province; also small-minded or parochial) vs. "provisional" (temporary, evaluative) vs. "provencale" (more properly "provençale", a style of cooking named after the above-mentioned French province).
• "pry" (forcibly loosen) for "probably". Often "probably" is shortened as such in speech, but the two words aren't really that close.
• "purposefully" (with purpose, as in "stride purposefully into the room") vs. "purposely" (on purpose, deliberately).
• "purse" (what you keep your money in if you're British, or a handbag if you're American) vs. "pursue" (to chase). You pursue the thief who stole your purse.
• "puissant" (strong, powerful) for "pissant" (jerk, asshole, with implications of being small or insignificant)
• "purgative" (a medicine that makes you throw up) vs. "prerogative" (a right or privilege).
• "quadrant" (one fourth part of an area or thing). People often just use it to mean "A large part/area" even though you would think the "quad" part makes it obvious. Many sci-fi works will have places like "Quadrant 37, which is ridiculous.
• Possibly a result of thinking that they have something to do with quadrants, but "quardnets" are actually "coordinates".
• "queue" (a line of items or people which is dealt with in sequential order) and "cue" (a signal to act, or a stick for pool)—these are often interchangeably misused for each other. If you "cue the gorillas" you're signalling for them to do whatever it is you got gorillas for, while if you "queue the gorillas" you're merely putting them on your list of things to do.
  • Either of the above vs. "que", which not only has a different pronunciation but isn't even English. (It's Spanish, and pronounced "keh".)
  • While "Kew" is a London district famous for its gardens.
• "quell" (suppress) vs. "quill" (a pen made from a feather) vs. "quoll" (a cute cat-sized Australian marsupial).
• "quite" and "quiet"—far too common a confusion.
• "quote" (verb) for "quotation" (noun). This is becoming acceptable in informal situations, but some Grammar Nazis will look down on you if you say "That was a quote from person X."
• "quote" vs. "quoth"—"quoth" is the past tense form of an obsolete verb which meant "to say." "Quoth the Raven" means "said the Raven," and has nothing to do etymologically with the word "quote."
• "rapped" (knocked) for "rapt" (completely engrossed in, involved in or fascinated by) or "raped" (violated, sexually assaulted).
  • On a related note, someone who performs rap music is a "rapper", not a "rapist" (someone who rapes). Although being one does not preclude the other, the two refer to completely different things.
    • Not to be confused with "rapier" (a kind of sword).
    • Just to clarify, it's not "rappist" either.
• "rational" (adj: logical, sane) vs. "rationale" (noun: a reason or justification)
• "rationale" (as above) vs. "rationality" (sanity, mental stability)
• "ravish" (traditionally, to rape ^note contemporary romantic novels and art reviews use it to mean something more like "insistently thrill") vs. "ravage" (to destroy, devastate). As in "Smaug then flew away to ravish a town of men". ^note which is a positively odd image if you read too many romantic novels Thank you, Lin Carter. Even Fritz Leiber got this wrong once, too, stating that the Gray Mouser "began to ravage" a pretty girl. (She'd just made a completely unprovoked murderous attack on him, so the Mouser no doubt felt he had cause, but still...)
  • One (tongue-in-cheek) article in summer 1977 described a rapist as "a man whose taste for ravishing women has unfortunately progressed from an adjective to a verb."
  • Smaug example may be a Double Entendre but it is semantically correct if somewhat obsolete. 'Ravish' means both to 'rape' but also 'to sack, pillage, demolish', not unlike the term 'rape' used as a noun (they both stem from the same source word).
• "raze" (to demolish) vs. "raise" (to elevate or to construct, among other meanings)
  • Some people with poor spelling speak of "razing" awareness, which conveys the opposite of the intended meaning; they want to heighten awareness, not flatten it.
  • Similarly, "razor" (an instrument used for shaving) to mean "razer" (someone who destroys).
• "reckless" (irresponsible, careless) vs "wreckless" (not involving any wrecks). Reckless driving and wreckless driving would presumably be opposites, although the latter is usually just a misspelling of the former.
• "recourse" (an alternative or backup plan) vs. "resource" (a supply or stockpile).
• "reek" (stink, smell offensive, give off smoke) for "wreak" (inflict, perform, usually only appears in the phrase "wreak havoc")
• "refuge" (sanctuary) for "refuse" (garbage)
• "refute" is often used much too weakly, as if it meant "offer a contrary opinion". It means to prove something false.
• "regulated" (controlled, restricted or overseen by law) vs. "relegated" (assigned to an obscure place, position, or condition; a person who has been Kicked Upstairs has been relegated to a new role.)
• "rein" vs. "reign". One involves controlling a horse, the other being controlled by a king. This mix-up is perhaps inevitable, since both offices have fallen out of daily usage; most people no would have no reason to realize we are talking about "reining X in", as in pulling on the reins of a galloping horse to cause it to slow or stop, and "free rein" (as in holding the reins loosely and allowing a horse to go where it will). "Reign", meaning "to rule" or "the duration of one's rule", is a different word related to "regal".
  • While it is not incorrect to say "free reign", it's at the very least redundant; freedom is implied in the office of a ruling monarch. On the other hand, "the two reins of Voldemort" is flat wrong. (Unless you're reading some sort of BDSM Lemon with a harness involved.)
  • Neither should be confused with "rain" (precipitation), though they sometimes deliberately are for the sake of a pun.
• "relevant" (pertaining to) vs. "revelant", a metathesis. In the noun form, "relevation" vs. "revelation", it's the former that's the metathesis. Metathesis plus spellchecker has led to the misuse of "revenant" (a type of ghost or undead).
  • A revelant can also be a noun, when referring to a person who has revelations, such as John the Divine (who wrote the Book of Revelation—no "s").
• "relevant" (pertinent) vs. "relative" (with respect to).
• "relive" (experience again) vs. "relieve" (ease one's conscience). The former was used as a malapropism for the latter on WMG.The Simpsons.
• "repel" (to push away) for "rappel" (to slowly descend a vertical surface using a rope, most commonly in rock climbing)
• "repeatable" means that if you do the same thing twice under the same conditions, you get the same result. "reproducible" means that if you instruct someone else on how to do exactly what you did with their own equipment, they'll also get the same result.
• "reprisal" (a return strike or act of revenge) for "reprise" (to repeat a passage of music; more broadly, a repeat of any event)
• "resolution" (degree of detail in an image, or a formal statement of a position or policy) vs. "revolution" (a radical change like an armed insurrection, or one instance of a cycle like an orbit.)
• "restraunt" for "restaurant" (a place for eating). "Restraint" is a measure or condition that keeps someone or something under control, such as budget or self-discipline.
• "retarted" (presumably, to have been tarted for a second or subsequent time) for "retarded" (delayed or slowed, developmentally disabled, or an offensive way of saying something or someone is stupid)
• "retched" (past tense of "to retch", to vomit) for "wretched" (deplorable; of very poor quality or condition)
  • Strictly speaking, "retching" is the act of making the convulsive throat movements, as if to bring something up; it's only "vomiting" if you actually succeed in bringing something up.
• "review" (critique of a book, film, etc., or to critique something) vs. "revue" (a form of theatre made popular by Ziegfield). The former is the most common word, so is often used when the latter is meant. And to make things more confusing, it's possible to review a revue.
• "revile" (to drive away with insulting or hateful words) vs. "revel" (party, enjoy) vs. "reveille" (a bugle call to awaken soldiers)
• In astronomical terms, something "revolves" around another body, but "rotates" about its own axis. The Earth rotates on its axis, and revolves around the sun.
• "ridiculous" (absurd) vs "rediculous" (to "diculous" more than once, presumably). This is probably an eggcorn caused by linguistic drift, but considering the root word is "ridicule" you would think it would be somewhat obvious.
• "ridged" (like Ruffles/McCoys potato chips) for "rigid" (not floppy). "Rigged" is a thing with rigging applied, such as a sailboat mast.
• "riggers" (people who set up rigging) for "rigors" (challenges or hardships)
• "right" vs. "write" vs. "rite"... probably vs. "wright" as well. Doesn't help that there's a supermarket chain called "Shop-Rite", which is actually urging its customers to "shop right". Which is bad grammar anyway, because it's modifying a verb with an adjective.
  • Note that it's "rites of passage" (rituals), not "rights" (permissions or, mind-bogglingly, non-lefts). The Rush song "Distant Early Warning" uses the latter, but it's a pun.
  • It's also copyright—permission to replicate—not copywrite (replicating text) or copyrite (a ritual performed to make a stubborn Xerox device work), and definitely not "copyleft (joke neologism with no legal validity). A copy writer is someone who writes (advertising) "copy," and has nothing to do with replicating since they're making an original.
• "rob" (to take property from, illegally) vs. "steal" (to take illegally). You rob the person, you steal the thing.
• "roll" (move along a surface by rotation) for "role" (part to play in an organized operation like a military strike or a theatrical production)
• "roll play" for "role play". Usually found in discussions of RPGs (role playing games). Sometimes "roll play" is used deliberately to refer to RPGs where the players just roll the dice instead of role playing, but disparaging someone else's gaming this way is a good way of triggering backlash and was old when White Wolf did it in the early nineties.
• "Rowmania" (a craze for either arguments or a certain type of boating) for "Romania" (a country in Europe). "Roumania" and "Rumania", which also appear occasionally, are not technically errors, since they're old and now mostly obsolete spellings of the country, but unless you're writing a story set in a time when the older spellings were commonly used, stick with Romania.
• "rouge" (a shade of the color red, or a type of makeup) for "rogue" (a criminal or outlaw). It's possible, though highly unlikely, that a rogue may wear rouge.
• "saccharine" has at least once (in a review of "Bittersweet Symphony") been misused to mean "like saccharin". It actually means "like sugar"; which of course is where saccharin got its name.
  • And then there are people who use "Saccharine" for the Tintin character "Sakharine"...
• "Sanction" as a noun is unambiguous. "Sanction" as a verb has taken on two virtually diametrically opposed meanings: to approve and to punish. It's best to avoid "sanction" as a verb.
• "Santa Claus" does not have an "e" at the end, unless one is talking about the rule of Santa succession in those Tim Allen movies.
• "scamdalous" (something to do with scams?) for "scandalous" (causing outrage by flouting morality or law). Probably a typo.
• "scandalous" vs. "scurrilous" (gossip invented to damage someone's reputation). One may spread scurrilous claims of scandalous behaviour, but they're still two separate words.
• "scared" (frightened) for "sacred" (holy). An easy typo to make, admittedly, but this one is in the official subtitles of the Loveless DVD.
• "scarred" (giving scars, or having them) for "scared" (being frightened).
• Scotland Yard for the British national law enforcement, the equivalent of the American FBI. As its page indicates, Scotland Yard is the London Metropolitan Police, not their national police. The national law enforcement is known as the Security Service, sometimes called State Security and better known as MI5.
• "scrapping" (brawling, fistfighting, getting rid of) for "scraping" (dragging one object roughly along another)
• "season" (a time of year lasting about three months, generally distinguished by climate), and "seisin" (ownership of land). (As with "seise", below, use seisin sparingly.)
• "sealing" (that which seals) for "ceiling" (the solid top of a room)
  • "sealing wax" lets you put a seal on an envelope; "ceiling wax" is presumably a cleaning product for the tops of rooms—or possibly something used to ensure your own baldness.
• "Segue way" when the writer simply means "segue", under the reasonable impression that the final "ue" in "segue" is silent, as in "rogue" or "morgue". However, "segue" is a word directly imported far more recently than these from another language, and still follows its origin language's pronunciation rules.
  • In addition, there's "segue" vs. "Segway", which for good or ill is how you pronounce "segue".
    • What's a Segway? About 80 pounds. (Rimshot)
• "seize" (grab) for "cease" (stop).
  • And it's "seize", not "sieze".
  • Also, watch out for "seise". A person who is seised of a piece of land owns that land. (Although you should probably use this only if your story involves legal land ownership and you really want to show your work.)
• "self-aware" (cognizant of one's own feelings, mental state, etc.) vs. "aware" (cognizant of a specific different thing). "Self-aware" is already shortened from "aware of oneself", so being "self-aware of something" makes no sense.
• "Self-deprecating" (making fun of one's own self) vs "self-depreciating" (making oneself go down in value, presumably). Likely a misreading, particularly since the word "deprecate" (to show disapproval) hardly ever appears on its own, except in technical senses.
• "Semitic" (relating to Jewish people or the language family Hebrew is part of) vs. "Sinitic" (relating to Han Chinese people or the language family Mandarin is part of).
• "sense" (perceive, or one method of doing such) for "since" (because, from the time of).
• The correct spelling is "separate", not "seperate".
• "sepulchre" (noun; tomb, mausoleum) for "sepulchral" (adjective; eerily resonant). The latter is the adjective form of the former.
• "series" and "species" have the plurals "series" and "species". Spelled exactly the same. No apostrophes.
• "servile" is someone with slave-like attitude and demeanour: "serval" is a small feline predator.
• "sever" (to slice off) for "severe" (of great magnitude). Having one's arm severed would be a severe wound.
• "sew" (run thread through cloth with a needle) vs. "sow" (to plant, as in seeds; alternately, a female pig, though this has a different pronunciation)
• "sewage" means waste water and excrement; "sewerage" is the mass noun denoting the sewers built to carry the stuff.
• "shear" (to slice or cut) for "sheer" (translucent, almost transparent). "Sheer" is sometimes used in the sense of "pure" or "solid", as in "sheer force of will"; there's also a usage in the sense of a "sheer cliff face". "Shear force of will" is a meaningless phrase (although it might be turned into the name of a ki attack by a sufficiently clever author Airbender). Although some good writer could dream up something about applying a shear force to someone's will. The result might interest a psychiatrist (how much stress can someone take before they start to slip?).
• "sheave" (the grooved wheel on which the rope runs in a pulley block) for "sheath" (scabbard for a knife or other small blade)
  • Or probably more commonly for "sheathe", which is the action of putting a knife in its sheath, or a sword in its scabbard.
  • Also "sheaf" (pl. "sheaves"), a bundle in which cereal plants are bound after reaping.
• "shellshock" is simply the old name for PTSD, right? Not quite. The condition formerly known as "shellshock" actually refers to two similar yet distinct conditions: PTSD, which is a long-term condition, and acute stress reaction, which is short-term.
• "shield", not "sheild". As with "seize/sieze" just a few lines back, "deity/diety" and lots of other "ei/ie" pairs a lot of people seem to have problems getting that right.
  • Just remember, folks: 'i' before 'e' except... all the times that it's the other way around.
• "shiny gamma" for "Shinigami". One of the most surreal mistakes ever, almost certainly caused by an overzealous (or downright insane) spell-checker.
• "shinning" (climbing up something) vs. "shining" (emitting or reflecting light).
• "shirking violet" (a flower that won't do what it's supposed to) for "shrinking violet" (idiom for a shy person)
• "(be) shod of something" (have that something put on your feet) or "(be) shot of something" (to get rid of it) for "(be) shut of something" (escape something or put it behind you).
• "Shoo-in" (an all but certain winner) vs "Shoe-in" (something you nudge in with your shoe, presumably.)
• "Shortsided" when the author meant "shortsighted".
• "shutter" (covering for a window) for "shudder" (a convulsive shiver throughout the body)
• "sic" (to set someone or something—like a dog—upon a target) vs. "sick" (not well). Also, "sic" is Latin for thus and is used to indicate that a wrong spelling in a quotation is being preserved from the original.
  • It is specifically not an acronym for "spelling is correct".
  • One odd occurrence, almost surely the result of overzealous autocorrect, was "Sikkim!" (a state in India) being substituted for "Sic 'im!" (an attack command).
• "Sick as hell anemia" An eggcorn (or possibly a really dark pun) for "Sickle Cell Anemia", a disease that causes one's red blood cells to collapse into sickle-like shapes, hence the name.
• "sight" (vision sense, thing or place to see) vs. "site" (a location) vs. "cite" (refer to)
  • Relatedly: "On Sight" (as soon as you see them) vs "On site" (at a given location). There are a few contexts where both could work: to "kill on sight" is to kill as soon as you see the person, wheras to "kill on site" would be to kill the person right where they are (usually people mean the first, but the second still makes sense.)
• "simplistic" is not a "fancier" way of saying simple. It means oversimplified or simple to a fault, such as "He has a simplistic view of morality". Accordingly, the "word" "oversimplistic" is both wrong and redundant, as the "over" is already implied in the base word.
  • An oversimplification, however, indicates reducing something beyond simple and into simplistic.
• "sire" (method of address toward royalty, or to have a child) vs. "sir" (method of address toward one of superior military rank, or toward a stranger)
• "skivvies" (an old-fashioned word for underwear) vs. "civvies" (civilian clothing). Your civvies should include skivvies, but not be limited to them.
• "'Slander' is spoken. In print, it's 'libel'." Legally, though, they're both typically covered by the term "defamation".
• "slavish" (blindly devoted to something or someone) vs. "Slavic" (associated with the cultures or languages of several Central and Eastern European countries).
  • Though perhaps worth noting that, due to certain events in European history, the words share a root.
• The past (imperfect) tense of "slay" (to kill) is "slew", not "slayed". The past perfect tense is "slain".^note Example: The knight set out to slay the dragon. The knight slew the dragon. The dragon was slain.
• "Sleek" (smooth and glossy hair or fur) vs. "sleet" (a mixture of rain and snow). It's hard to believe these two could ever be confused since they sound nothing alike, "k" and "t" are nowhere near each other on a keyboard, and their meanings aren't remotely similar, but I saw a fanfic that used "sleek" when they meant "sleet" (which conjures some truly bizarre images).
  • Maybe it's because neither is a particularly common word?
• "slight of hand" (possessing small hands) for "sleight of hand" (dexterity), an eggcorn.
  • In addition, the noun meaning the reverse of a compliment is spelled "slight", not "sleight".
• "soar" (fly like an eagle) vs. "sore" (when the soaring abruptly ends).
  • Also "saw" for "sore".
• "solidarity" for "solitary." The first is a group acting in unison, especially as pertains to labor movements; the second is one by itself. "Solidarity" has nothing to do with isolation; in fact they are almost opposites.
• "sooth" (archaic word for "truth", as in "soothsayer") for "soot" (black carbon residue from fire) or "soothe" (v., "give ease")
• "spackle" (patching material for plaster walls) for "speckle" (tiny mote-like dot)
• "specially" (for a special purpose) for "especially" (used to single out one person, thing, or situation over all others)
• "specter"/"spectre" (a particularly nasty ghost) vs. "scepter"/"sceptre" (a ceremonial mace-like implement that is part of a monarch's or emperor's regalia) vs. "Spektor" (a Russian-American singer/songwriter).
• "spurn" (dismiss brusquely, shun, ignore) for "spur" (encourage, prompt, force into action)
• "spendthrift" isn't a fancy expansion on "thrifty". It means the exact opposite.
• A stalactite hangs from the ceiling of a cave, while a stalagmite sticks up from the ground.
• "stanch" (block, plug or stop up, as in a flow of blood) and "staunch" (unwavering, devoted)
  • "Staunch" for "stanch" is such a common error that some see it as a legitimate variant spelling. Just not the other way round.
• For anyone attempting British slang, being "starkers" has nothing to do with being stark raving mad; instead, it describes being stark naked. Therefore, it would not at all be appropriate to speak of being driven starkers (that is, unless you actually intend to say that someone has been driven insane to such a degree that he would randomly take all his clothes off).
• "stated" (said) for "statted" (to be represented in RPG or wargame statistics).
  • Also, "stated" for "started", probably a typo.
• "stationary" (not moving) is easily confused with "stationery" (as in school stationery—pencils, pens, rulers etc.).
• "steal" vs. "steal from". If you steal a museum, you steal the entire building. If you steal from a museum, you steal some of its exhibits. Compare and contrast with "rob" vs. "steal," above.
• "steel" (an alloy of iron) vs. "steal" (to deprive someone of something)
• "Strait" vs. "straight". "Strait" means narrow (although nowadays it more often is used to mean a narrow body of water, like the Strait of Gibraltar); ergo, "straitlaced" refers to a tightly laced corset. Nobody cares if your corset is laced straight or crooked—it's an undergarment.
  • In general parlance, people making a beeline for something head "straight" for it, not "strait" for it. Of course, if someone is going narrowly across the room, they might well be going strait.
  • And the confining garment is a straitjacket.
• "stringed" (fitted with strings, usually a musical instrument) for "strung" (connected) or "stinged" (mostly abstained from, or gave someone too little of something).
• "subbing" for "sobbing"
• "substain" for "abstain". "To substain from sex" comes closer to "making your living from," implying having a fair amount of, rather than "having none whatsoever".
• "Substitute". To substitute A for B means to get rid of B and replace it with A, NOT the other way around. The chap who said "in hot weather I substitute jeans for shorts" was saying the opposite of what he meant. He should have said "...substitute shorts for jeans", or "...substitute ["replace" would be better] jeans with shorts". This is worth emphasising because (a) it is a common error, (b) it is a stupid error, and (c) those who make it often display a bizarre inability to understand what the problem is and seem unable to appreciate that they have inverted the meaning.
• "suit" for "sued". Well, if you get sued you'll have a suit on your hands, but they're not quite the same thing.
  • On a related note, "suit" (a set of formal clothing or a costume, a legal action, or an offer of marriage in olden times) versus "suite" (a grouping of rooms in a hotel or an office building). You can't wear a really nice suite on a date (though if the date goes very well, you might want one to conclude it in).
  • Or "suit" (a set of clothing, a legal action, or a really old-fashioned way to say that you've proposed to someone) versus "suet" (beef fat, or a type of bird food).
• "summer" vs. "Sumer." The former is a season, the latter is an ancient Mesopotamian region and civilization.
  • The latter is also a really, really old way of saying the former, as in the ballad "Sumer is icumen in." (Use of icumen, a word so bloody old that even Shakespeare never used it, should give an idea of how long we've been using the double "m" in the season—it dates back to a time when English was more like German than the language we speak today.)
• "suppose" vs. "supposed". You're supposed to use the past participle in this sentence. I suppose it's the way it gets pronounced that causes people to lose the D.
• "surly" (grouchy, angry) for "surely" ("certainly", "truly"). And don't call me Shirley.
• "suspicious" for "suspect". In these dark times, there's a lot of talk about "suspicious" packages, although it's unlikely that any package is capable of harboring suspicion. If you see a package which you believe might be a bomb, you are suspicious; it is suspect.
  • Although this may be a language shift in process, given that the former word is now used much more often in this context than the latter.
• "synthetic" for "artificial"—ever hear of photosynthesis? This error is particularly bad when used for things such as the Duophonic process (to turn mono recordings into fake stereo), which necessarily involves taking the original apart in order to place different elements at different points on the sound stage—that's analysis, not synthesis.
  • This error was present in the stated reason for deleting an item from Non-Indicative Name (since restored); the deleting editor claimed that synthesizers are so called because they create sounds artificially. All musical instruments create sound artificially, but that's not the reason why synthesizers have that name; it's because they create sounds by a process of putting together (synthesis) as opposed to one of taking apart (analysis).
    • Of course, the most classical audio synthesis technique is called "subtractive synthesis", because it is removing frequencies from the signal.
  • You can infer from this that the opposite of "synthetic" is "analytic", not "natural".
• "systemic" vs. "systematic": Something that happens because of a system is systematic, something that happens to a system itself is systemic.
• "tact" (discretion) for "tack" (heading of a ship, the method for sailing a sailing ship against the wind, or a small nail) or "tacked" (attached to something by small nails). The idiom is "to change tack", a nautical metaphor. This editor would have learned the difference a lot faster if his teachers hadn't insisted on "correcting" him not from "tact" to "tack", but from either of "tact" or "tack" to "tactic".
  • The reverse also happens.
• "Taiwan" (East Asian country off the coast of China) vs. "Thailand" (Southeast Asian country next to Burma/Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia). Probably the result of a spellchecker or speech-to-text mistake, but may also be caused by a geographically illiterate writer.
• "taking it on the lamb": using a young sheep to carry your goods; vs. "taking it on the lam": going on the run from the authorities.
• The noun "tamper" (something which tamps, e.g. the tamper of an atomic bomb) should not be confused with the verb "to tamper" (to interfere).
• "Tampion" is a plug for the cannon muzzle to protect the barrel from weather. "Tampon" is an item for female hygiene.
• "tapir" (a largish animal somewhat like a cross between a pig and an anteater) for "taper" (in this case, "candle", although it also means "narrows down to a point"). Lighting a tapir will only annoy it.
• "tare" a weed, only used as a noun; vs. "tear" to rip something (verb), or a rip in something (noun). "Tar" is a chemical produced by pyrolysis of pine wood used for waterproofing and rot-proofing things like wood.
  • There is also "tare weight", which is the weight of an empty container or unladen vehicle, subtracted at weigh stations from the measured gross weight of said container to find the weight of its contents (the "net weight").
• "taught" (educated, given a lesson) and "taunt" (make fun of) vs. "taut" (flat, smooth, tight, often said of a fit and well-toned body, or a rope stretched tight)
• A tax return is the paperwork you file reporting your income. What you get back is the tax refund.
• A "tart" is a sweet cake or slang expression for an over-made-up woman. A "tort" is a lawsuit for harms that are not either criminal or based on a contract, such as causing damage.
• "Telekinesis" (the ability to move things with ones mind") versus "Telepathy" (the ability to read minds or communicate directly through thoughts.) These often get confused, likely because they are both stock Psychic Powers and both start with "tele-".
• "temp" (a short-term employee) for "tamp" (to pack or press a powder into a solid mass, a step in loading black powder weapons like Civil War-era rifles and cannon).
  • "Tamper" means "something which tamps" (see above) or "to interfere with". The tamper of an atomic bomb (as mentioned in Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers, for instance) helps it to explode; it doesn't hinder it.
    • And neither meaning of "tamper" should be confused with "temper" (a bad mood, a measure of how easily someone gets aggravated, or a verb meaning "to mitigate" or "harden by repeated heating and cooling").
• "tenet" (rule or item of belief) vs. "tenant" (someone who rents from you) vs. David Tennant.
  • Similarly, "tennis" vs. "tenets." An egregious mistake is to write about the "tennis of my religion".
    • Col. Potter didn't know tennis was a religion.
  • To mistake them is to invoke the wrath of Sithis.
• "test their metal". Appears as an eggcorn of "test their mettle" (i.e., put their abilities to the test).
• "that" vs. "which". Generally, "which" is simply providing more information about something whereas "that" distinguishes it from a group of others like it. If you were asked to fetch 'my phone, which has a blue case' then that information just helps you recognise it, but if you were asked to fetch 'my phone that has a blue case' then that would imply the speaker has other phones in a variety of cases, and they particularly want the blue one.
• "then" (an adverb designating a time relative to the speaker) vs. "than" (a comparative). "Better dead than Red" is a sentiment from the 1950s and 1960s indicating a political preference; "Better dead then Red" indicates the order in which you'd like to be both. If you pull a twofer and use "then" in conjunction with "different" (see above) then prepare for the special hell.
• "there" (indicating a location or direction) vs. "their" (showing ownership by a group of people) vs. "they're" (contraction of "they are"). Absurdly common, especially among non-native English speakers (who can generally be forgiven).
  • Also, as with the other "ie/ei" pairs elsewhere on the page, it's thEIr, not thIEr. B.C. made fun of this one thirty-plus years ago. It's time to start getting it right.
• "Tough" , "though", "thought", "through", "thorough", "trough". It's tough to be thorough when writing through the night, though. They didn't make those easy.
  • In sequence: Mad Dog Tannen was a tough guy. McFly wasn't, though. Tannen thought this would be easy, but he couldn't shoot through McFly's improvised armor. McFly was thorough in beating Tannen, who ended in a trough. (Okay, it was a cart of manure, but it's always a trough in westerns).
  • More specifically, "through" (to penetrate, tunnel, pierce, or otherwise "go through" an object), "threw" (past tense of "throw", to hurl, toss, or launch an object away), and "thru" (not actually a word, but an unofficial abbreviation of "through," as in "Drive-Thru.") Alice did not say she through the ball, nor did she go threw the door. And and don't you dare write that she thru a ball!
• "Thorne" (an English surname) vs. "throne" (the chair a monarch sits on). At least one review of Anthony Trollope's novel Doctor Thorne misspelled the protagonist's name as "Doctor Throne". Probably a typo rather than someone genuinely confusing the words, though.
• "Though" is never to be spelled as "thou", which is a completely different word in meaning and in pronunciation. Specifically, "thou" is an archaic second-person singular pronoun, so the two words aren't even of the same part of speech.
• "Till" meaning the same as "until" is a legitimate word, not a contraction. Spelling it 'till is considered incorrect.
  • "Til" or "'til" (as in until) is also acceptable. "Until" is still recommended for the beginnings of sentences.
• "Times" is not a verb (as in "Times his Hit Points by 10). The correct word is multiply
• "Title" or "eponymous" is something a title or name refers to; "titular" means in name only. For instance, Harry Potter is the title character, but not the titular character, of the Harry Potter franchise, while Naruhito is the titular Emperor of Japan, possessing the title but no actual power.
• Nothing drives a high school teacher insane faster than 18-year-olds who cannot distinguish between "two", "to", and "too".
  • "Two" is a number; "I own two computers."
  • "To" is a preposition; "I'm going to the store."
  • "Too" is a comparison; "This page has too many examples."
• "Toe-headed" (bizarrely mutated) for "tow-headed" (tousled- and/or blond-haired). This was spotted in Issue 30 of the Weird NJ Magazine, so it's not just fan writers who commit eggcornery.
• "tomb" (a burial site) vs. "tome" (a large book).
• "tongue and cheek" as an eggcorn for "tongue-in-cheek", regarding a type of humor or humorous delivery.
  • Also: "tongue", not "tounge".
• "Torturous" (very painful) vs "Tortuous" (twisty) vs "torturess" (A female torturer, presumably, though usually just a misspelling.)
  • Also, "tortious" anything that can result in a lawsuit.
• "towing the line" vs. "toeing the line"—the "line" here isn't a rope that can be pulled, it's a mark on the ground that you're stepping as closely to as possible. Think of Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam—"I dare you to step over this line." Sam refuses to toe the line, and ultimately gets in trouble.
• "track" (a path or route, or a verb meaning "to follow") vs. "tract" (a region of land, or political literature). You can't have huge tracks of land, unless you own a bunch of hiking trails and none of the land between them.
• "trammel" (an impediment or restriction) vs. "trample" (to stomp on or grind underfoot).
• "trooper" is a soldier in an army. "Troper" is what we call ourselves on This Very Wiki. This one is likely the fault of an overzealous spellchecker.
  • "trouper" is a member of a troupe (acting or performing). Also someone reliable or persistent despite difficulties without complaining: a real trouper, you might say (though not a real trooper unless they actually are a soldier).
• "Tsar" is the more-accurate reference to the former rulers of Russia, following the standards of Russian transliteration. "Czar" is a widely-seen alternative despite being less accurate.
• "Tudor" (Henry VIII's family, or a style of architecture) vs. "tutor" (a teacher).
• "turn into" (transform into) vs. "turn in to" (hand something over to someone). Cinderella's fairy godmother turns Cinderella's rags into a ballgown; a criminal turns themselves in to the police. If you say someone turned their homework assignment into their teacher, you'd better be talking about a Harry Potter fanfic set in advanced inanimate-to-animate Transfiguration class or someone with extraordinary origami skills.
• "ubiquitous" vs. "exclusive". If you are saying that something is ubiquitous to a given area you are saying it can be found everywhere in that area; if you say it is "exclusive" to that area, you are saying it can be found only in that area.
  • A thing can be both ubiquitous and exclusive: plentiful in one area and utterly absent outside it. Tropes like Worthless Yellow Rocks can include things like this. Still, the two terms don't always overlap: an exclusive restaurant probably doesn't generate the traffic and revenue to become ubiquitous.
• "unique" means one of a kind and is an absolute adjective, i.e. you can't be "more unique" any more than you can be "more dead". You could say something is "almost unique" if there were only two of it in existence, but this is hardly ever used.
• "undertake" (v., to begin something) vs. "undertaker" (n., someone who prepares dead bodies for burial). The author probably meant the former, unless the story is a murder mystery or involves funeral preparations.
  • The opposite mistake crops up occasionally; a few Black Butler fanfics refer to the Undertaker as the "Undertake".
• "unmarred" ("not marred", "to mar" meaning "to damage") vs. "unmarried" ("not married").
• An unstable (adj.) instability (n.) destabilizes (v.).
• "upmost" (at the tippy-top) for "utmost" (greatest, most extreme).
• "Utters" is the third person present tense of "to utter," to speak something quietly, in a low tone of voice, or under your breath, "Alice utters a statement." "Udders" are where a cow makes milk, or a derogatory term for a human female's breasts. Definite eggcorn.

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