Slice Up Your Synonyms

Synonyms: different words, similar meanings
Pertinent vs. Relevant
Acumen vs. Knowledge


My blog untangles homonyms, homophones, homographs and heteronyms.

"Homonym" is the general term for words that sound or look the same but have unique meanings.
- Ex: Fair (county fair) vs. Fair (reasonable, just)
- Memory Trick: Homonyms have homogeneous sounds.

1.. Homophones sound the same and they're spelled differently.
- Allude vs. Elude, They're / Their / There, Carrot vs. Carat
- Memory Trick: Homophones happen on the phone, because sound-alike words are so different in every way.

2. Homographs have the same sound and spelling.
- Lie (lie down) vs. Lie (Lie To Me),
- Memory Trick: Autograph, Homograph. The same name (John Smith) may refer to different people.

3. Heteronyms sound DIFFERENT but they have the same spelling.
- Content (the contents of your suitcase) vs. Content (happy, satisfied)
- Memory Trick: Heteronyms are identical twins. Same face, different personalities.

Let's try:

Affect vs. Effect
- Sound? Similar. Spelling? Different. Homophones.

Close vs. Close
- Sound? Different. So it's a heteronym. All the others sound the same.

Grace (noun) vs. Grace (verb)
- Sound? Same. Spelling? Same. Homographs.

I'll vs. Aisle vs. Isle
- Sound? Similar. Spelling? Different. Homophones.

Shift vs. the shift key
- Sound? Same. Spelling? Same. Homographs.

Tear vs. Tear
- Sound? Different. Heteronym!

Redundant Relevance

Yahoo!News kills me.

Today they wrote: "Billy Joel's lyrics still have relevancy."

Online dictionaries do list "relevancy" as a word. But it already exists in noun form: "relevance." "Billy Joel's lyrics still have relevance." or in adjective form: "Billy Joel's lyrics are still relevant."

Allude vs. Elude

Homonyms like Allude & Elude cast an illusion of sameness. Both allude to playfulness; both elude precise definitions. Synonyms stick to them like pink on Juicy Fruit. Let's pin them down:

Allude: to make an indirect reference. It comes from the Latin "allusio" – a play on words or game.
"Superman comics allude to the Jesus & Hercules stories, but they never explicitly cite any parallels.

Elude: to escape using trickery and cleverness.
"The Flash eluded his captors with super-speed."