would've - contraction of would have - is NOT would of.

Same for could've and should've.

quote:

Sorry, but "carrot or stick" can be correct.

It means to choose between two different forms of motivation, either reward or punishment. As in, motivating a donkey by offering it a carrot, or beating it with a stick.

golly, thanks for pointing out my error by re-phrasing what I essentially stated in my post.

You know, this part.

quote:

carrot or stick has become it's own distinct idiom

'Education' and 'Getting indoctrinated with a bunch of liberal crap'.

"Rogue" and "Rouge"

Rogue - [rohg] - a loveable scoundrel.

Rouge - [rooj] - French for "red"; a cosmetic.

Rogue:


Rouge:

Calvary - a place in the Bible

Cavalry - what you hope comes to save your ass when you are in a tight spot

---

Not a confusion per se - but I hate seeing / hearing 'nucular'. The dang word is 'nuclear' pronounced noo-clee-ur'.

-------------------------------

"Try and ..." when it should be "try to ...".

Irritates the living hell out of me, almost as much as "could of ...".

Using the uppercase O for the number zero.

I was going to use the word "capital" for uppercase, but couldn't remember if it was capital or capitol.

Imply and infer:

Imply: to suggest something rather than say it directly

Infer: to read meaning into what was said

Accept and except. Just saw this in another section.

meteoric rise.

liberal and narrow minded are often confused with one another

Wail and whale. If you want to, for example, drive a stake into the ground or break something loose, you whale on it. Crying loudly and uncontrollably doesn't do any good. Not that whaling on it makes any sense, either.

quote:

Originally posted by f2:
meteoric rise.

Yeah, that one has always bothered me too: the imagery is confusing. You don't think of meteors (meteorites) all the sudden waking up on the surface of the earth and then shooting the fuck off back through the atmosphere and into space.

quote:

Originally posted by f2:
meteoric rise.

Ha, I never even thought about that.

That wouldn't be so much a confusion of words as an oxymoron. And speaking of oxymoron, it is sometimes used when one actually means a redundancy.

I just popped over to another section and found another confusion of words: loath and loathe.

advice and advise

Buffet and buffet:
One is what the wind does.
One is a style of dining.
And another T and it becomes a rich dude named Warren.

I have two bitches:

1) Quantum i.e. Quantum Jump/Leap - it is a very small thing a "quantum" as in sub-atomic small - not some ginormous orders of magnitude larger.

2) Muster vs. Mustard i.e. Cannot Cut Muster - as in you cannot pass inspection at muster (military) as opposed to the damned hot dog condiment.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
...all the sudden...

There's another one.

"Stop" and "Go". I see them confused all the time at intersections in the city.