Top Ten Confused Words [T]

My cumulative list of “words commonly confused” continues with ten that begin with the letter T. The confusion relates to spelling or meaning.

1. taught / taut
The word taught is the past tense of the verb to teach. It is also used as an adjective to mean instructed: “Howard Phillips Lovecraft, weird fiction writer and primogenitor of modern horror fiction, was a self-taught writer.”

The adjective taut means “pulled tight.”

A common error is to spell taut as taught, as in this fishing advice in a magazine called Backpacker:

INCORRECT: Use more weight to keep the line taught.
CORRECT: Use more weight to keep the line taut.

2. titivate / titillate
The verb titivate means “to spruce up, to make more attractive.” Ex. We decided to titivate the kitchen with new cabinets and countertops.

The verb titillate means “to excite the senses or imagination in an agreeable way.” Ex. Camilla Ochlan has crafted a supernatural mystery-thriller that will titillate the palate of even the most discriminating Sci-Fi Fantasy reader.

The error is to mix them up, as in this example from a restaurant site:

INCORRECT: We are sure to have something to titivate your tastebuds.
CORRECT: We are sure to have something to titillate your taste buds.

3. tortuous / torturous
The adjective tortuous means “full of twists; complex.” The tortuous road we had to climb had one steep and narrow curve after another all the way to the top.

The adjective torturous means “full of pain or suffering. Ex. More significantly, the book prominently features a scene in which the heroes resort to torturous means in order to extract vital, life-or-death information.

The error is to mix them up, although some might argue that a thing can be full of twists and pain at the same time.

4. tenant / tenet
A tenant is someone who rents property. Ex. The tenant always paid her rent on time.
A tenet is a principle or belief. Ex. The tenet to love one’s neighbor is stated in Leviticus 19:18.

The error with these words goes both ways:

INCORRECT: This course is designed to give the students an overview of the basic tenants of Christian Doctrine.
CORRECT : This course is designed to give the students an overview of the basic tenets of Christian Doctrine.

INCORRECT: Most importantly, stay informed about your rights as a tenet.
CORRECT: Most importantly, stay informed about your rights as a tenant.

5. than / then
The word than is a conjunction used after a comparative adjective or adverb to introduce the second member of the comparison. Ex. She thinks her border collie is smarter than my boxer.

The word then is an adverb that refers to a specified time, past or future, as opposed to the present. Ex. We didn’t have enough money for luxuries like books then.

6. through / threw
Through is a preposition used to convey the idea of entering the inside of something and coming out the other side: They always go through the churchyard on their way home.

Threw is the past tense of the verb to throw: He threw the ball over the fence.

The usual error is to spell through as threw, as in this example from a geocaching site:

INCORRECT: You will need to go threw the tunnel to access this cache.
CORRECT: You will need to go through the tunnel to access this cache.

7. throws / throes
Throws is the third person present singular of the verb to throw: He throws with his left arm. Throws can also be the plural of the noun throw that refers to a light blanket: She keeps throws on all the couches and chairs.

Throes is a noun that means “severe pains.” Figuratively, it can mean “difficult times.” Ex. The pirate lay in the last throes of death. The Smiths are in the throes of divorce.

8. track / tract
As a noun, track is a mark or series of marks left by the passage of something. The Mountie caught the fugitive by following the track left in the snow.

One meaning of the noun tract is “a book or written work treating of some particular topic.” Ex. The evangelists passed out tracts on the subject of salvation.

9. till / ’til
Till has different functions, one of which is that of conjunction with the same meaning as until: ‘to the time that; up to the point when”: I will sit here till he agrees to speak to me.

The form ’til is an unnecessary shortening of until.

The error is in thinking that till is a shortening of until.

10. torpid / turgid
The adjective torpid means benumbed or “devoid of the power or motion of feeling.” Ex. Even when he was awake he was completely torpid.

The adjective turgid means swollen, distended, puffed out. The word is applied figuratively to language with the meanings inflated, pompous, bombastic.

Examples of literal and figurative use:
My arm was turgid where the snake had bitten it.
Eventually, the movie surrenders to the most turgid Hollywood speechifying and sentimentality, far more so than the original permitted itself to do.

Idioms about Distances

The English language, rich with the idiom, is replete with colorful words and phrases about the measurement of distance. Here is a look at some of those expressions, roughly in order of the magnitude of the length being referred to.

Colloquial phrases about distances include hairbreadth, referring, as the word indicates, to the thickness of a hair with the connotation of coming within an infinitesimal distance of doing something. The closing of this compound word, first known to have been used in the early 1600s, is unusual, as is the insertion of the plurals in the middle of the plural form: hairsbreadth. Similarly, one can refer to doing something “by a whisker.” One can also say that that a room or another place is so small, one could not swing a cat in the confined space.

Two idioms that do not refer to literal distance but include figurative references to distance follow: To express that someone is not trustworthy, one can write or say, “I don’t trust [someone] any farther than I can throw him” (or her). To indicate that one does not want to get close to an object or a subject, one can refer to not wanting to touch something or someone with a ten-foot pole—or, rarely, a barge pole (referring to a long pole used to propel a barge, a long, flat boat used for hauling freight or debris, by pushing the pole’s end against the shallow bottom of the waterway).

A small but more extensive distance might be described as a hop, skip, and a jump or spitting distance (not to be confused with the much more intimate striking distance, denoting sufficient proximity to hit someone or something), though these expressions refer to more than the literal distance, likely even more than “a stone’s throw”—literally, the distance one can throw a rock of indeterminate size. Meanwhile, something right in one’s backyard is no great distance.

Many people are familiar with the expression “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes,” attributed to various American officers during the Battle of Bunker Hill during the Revolutionary War. This admonition to withhold musket fire until the targeted enemy is close enough for a sure shot that justifies the use of precious ammunition had been used repeatedly in various forms for several decades before that conflict, however, and originated with a Swedish king in the early 1600s. It never achieved popular usage, though, even as a figurative expression.

An expression from the American South refers to how many looks away a destination is; this term denotes how many landmarks one must look for before arriving. (“Turn right at the church, then, when you come to a big stump right next to the road, take the next left turn, and it’s right past the creek crossing” represents three or four looks, depending on whether the left turn after the stump counts as a look.)

Diabolical by Supriya Parulekar

Publisher: Gargi Publishing 

"About the book"
Lost and alone, Sonya fought with the demons that haunted her, threatening to rip her apart! "They want me dead..." Sonya mumbled as fear took hold of her. Being a superstar in Bollywood provided no solace to the gorgeous Sonya Rana and there was no running away from the fear that she experienced every waking moment. Jay tried to soothe her frayed nerves with his love but she chose to shut herself from the world. All she wanted was to leave her dark past behind, somehow. "Let me go... please,"" Sonya pleaded to Tania, her step-sister who fiercely loved and protected her. Sonya knew the bitter truth. In the end, either one will survive; she or the demons raging within her, and if the demons won, it would spell an end for Sonya. When one's soul takes a beating, all hope is lost and everything is over in a single heartbeat. The 'Diabolical' had manifested itself within the gorgeous Sonya, killing the hope of a chance at a beautiful life she could have had. Read this book to unravel the dark games our mind plays with us. Experience a tumultuous ride of emotions as Sonya's past catches up with her sending her life spiralling down. Author Note. Supriya is pretty used to daydreaming, and enjoys it like a sport. She's weird at times, but it's funny to watch her in that mood. She loves unicorns, rainbows, and glitter. She acts all grown up, but is a real child at heart. Supriya Parulekar is a published fiction author with five books. Her fifth book "One Tequila, 2 Tequilas ..." with Gargi Publication was released on 14th May. It is garnering positive reviews and is rated 4.5/5. OTTT is also ranked 18th among top 50 bestsellers on Salisonline. She likes experimenting with different genres and you will find something dark and mysterious in her writings. Maybe it stems from the near-death experience she re-lived as a child. Supriya has worked as a script editor for TV18, History Channel.