Soundalikes

It's time for tea and thyme on the tee at the golf course in the Gulf. I could make a rude joke but of course I won't be coarse.

coarse and course coarse=rough as in rough grass, or rude and abrasive language or personality. Of course. Course as in golf or race course
time and thyme and time and tide wait for no man - time on the clock or watch, thyme is a herb
tea and tee - tea is what you drink, a golf tee holds a golf ball

It's time to learn the difference between time and thyme.

Angela Lansbury, B A Hons English teacher and tutor

Complimentary, complementary

compliment - praise, being nice
full complement - total (matching) group, being part of something
complimentary - saying nice things, praise, being nice to somebody is giving something free
free (included in the price). You pay somebody a compliment. Notice the I in the middle as in praise.

complementary - completes, adds, match, separate, notice the e twice, as well as the a in both words, the full complement or set, tablecloth and napkins, part of the package

Discreet and discrete

Discreet - tactful, guarded, not revealing too much in words nor actions

Discrete - separate


Here's somebody else's take on it.
http://blog.dictionary.com/discreet-and-discrete/

Angela Lansbury, B A Hons, English teacher and tutor.

Soundalikes: made and maid, great and Grate for comedy, puns

I made a list of soundalikes for the maid.
Puns often use soundalikes. If you are writing comedy, use lists of soundalikes. Great for humour. So long as they don't grate on your ear.

ah, are
Bare, bear
fare, fair
grate, great
heard, herd
hoard, horde
kneed, need
lead, led
made, maid
oh, owe
passed, past
read, red
road, rode
steal, steel
there, their, they're
wait, weight
which, witch

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, winner of humorous speech competitions.

More Soundalikes from B & B and be and bee to toe and tow

be, bee, B & B (bed and breakfast)
bite, bight
bought, brought
bow, bough
but, butt
cent, sent
cite, sight
coat, côte - French for coast
cue, queue
doe, dough
do, dew, due, Jew
fare, fair
feat, feet
hair, hare
hangar, hanger (the first hangs clothes, the second houses aircraft)
hear, here
hi, high
ho, hoe
hue, Hugh
knight, night
knot, not
know, no
lieu, loo
lose, loose
mite, might (a mite is a small size)
mo, mow
nay, neigh
oh, owe
pair, pear
pi, pie
rain, rein reign
raise, raze
right, rite, write
root, route
roe, row
pea, pee
peak, peek
roe, row
sea, see, si, c.c. si-si
seas, sieze
sew, so,
sue, Sue
suite, sweet
teas, tease
toe, tow
wander, wonder (the first is to walk aimlessly; the second to puzzle over something

Spelling on certificates in Singapore

I visited a Toastmasters club in Singapore. I was very pleased to receive a certificate of appreciation. Only one thing was wrong. The spelling of the word appreciation. the first i was missing.

Should I tell them? I should.

Update
A former Area Governor thought it would be more diplomatic not to mention it. I hesitated.

Then on a return visit I saw the certificates were all in correct English. We were all very jovial and friendly. The topic turned to mistakes avoided.

I mentioned to the person who had been in charge in the previous visit that my certificate had been spelled wrongly. He was neither apologetic nor embarrassed. He was shocked, amazed and outraged.

Clearly he thought the certificates had been composed and / or printed by somebody else and he had merely passed them on. he promised to replace my certificate with a correct copy.

Angela Lansbury, English teacher and tutor

Soundalikes: air and heir to wear and where

air, heir
bare, bear
be, bee
bean, been
fare, fair
hair, heir
mite, might
pear, pair
pea, pee
peer, pier
Practice (noun) and practise (verb)
right, write
scene, seen
site, sight
steal and steel
their, there
to, too, two
wear, where