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Tash
“I use to get jewelry and a print or something they made . It was a nice jester.”
This is a comment I spotted on social media recently in response to a request for some gift ideas. It took me a moment to realise that ‘jester’ was meant to be ‘gesture’, but then it all made sense.
I must admit this is not a pair of words I had thought of as spelling options before, but I now know they can be confused so here are the meanings…
jester [noun]: a person who entertains, especially in medieval times, and often does so through silly behaviours. Also known as a fool, a jester often wears a funny hat with bells hanging from it.
The King laughed as he watched the jester before dinner.
gesture [noun]: a movements of limbs, head or body to express an emotion or thought.
A nod of the head is a gesture of approval.
The key thing I can see that may help you know which word to use is the relationship between jest (to joke or laugh) and jester.
For today’s Monday Meanings, I thought I’d follow on from Friday’s post and my personal recent history by defining death and dearth.
Apart from an obvious similarity in spelling with one letter difference, death and dearth do have a certain similarity in meaning too. neither is a cheerful word and both are about a lack or loss. To me, both give the impression of barrenness, isolation and gloom.
Do you find these words similar or just words that happen to be spelt in a similar way?
Death (noun): the end of life, a cessation of being alive.
Liz was completely alone at the lighthouse after Jack’s death.
Dearth (noun): a scarcity or lack of something
There was a dearth of vegetation and colour in all directions.
While being closely related with the same root word, today’s pair of words are quite different – and understanding them can be quite enlightening.
simple [adjective]: basic; missing elaboration, ostentation, complication and subdivisions
Basic arithmetic is simple to write and calculate; quadratic equations are not so simple!
Following main roads is simpler than maneuvering through side streets.
In grammatical terms, simple means having only one clause without any subordinate clauses or modifiers.
simplistic [adjective]: over simplified, missing information or depth
Saying income is the indicator of career success is simplistic.
In 2007, 28% of Victorian drivers aged 18 – 25 were killed.
What a terrible statistic.
It’s also pretty surprising – at 30 June 2006, 902,796 Victorians were aged 18 – 24. 28% of that is 252,782.
The Victorian road toll in 2007 was 333.
So I looked at a Victorian Government website and found this sentence:
While 18 to 25 year olds represent around 14% of licenced drivers, they accounted for approximately 28% of all drivers killed on Victoria’s roads.
28% of the state road toll was 93. Awful to lose that many young people, but significantly better than losing 252,782 of them.
That first sentence is perfectly acceptable in terms of grammar and spelling, and it makes sense when you read it.
But the authors and editors of that text book (yes, I found that sentence in my daughter’s current VCE text book on health) didn’t check that the correct meaning was being communicated.
There is a huge difference in meaning between 28% of young drivers were killed and 28% of killed drivers were young.
Somewhat detracts from the credibility of that text book, doesn’t it?
Do you think I should read the entire book and check every fact they state, or assume it was a one-off?
Doing some marketing research for a client, I came across the following sentence:
With over 37 year’s experience, where sure to make your Christmas party a huge success!
I admit I was stunned to see this error and thus a new Monday Meaning post was inspired.
where: [noun] location or place; [adverb] in what place/position/respect; ]pronoun] which place or point?
I wonder where Simon will be on Christmas Day this year?
we’re [contraction]: we are – we’re is simply an abbreviation of ‘we are’ where the apostrophe replaces the space and letter a.
We’re going to my Father’s house for Christmas lunch this year.
I’m also adding a word that sounds different but has similar spelling and does sometimes get used in place of where and we’re.
were [verb]: ‘to be’ in the past (ie the past tense) for a plural (we, they) or second person singular (you) noun
We were at my Uncle’s last Christmas Day.
Today’s Monday Meanings is an interesting set of words.
All three words have a similar sound and very similar meanings – they all relate to making certain and secure. However, they are generally used in different contexts.
Assure: speak positively to convince, make certain, make safe, ensure
The police will assure the family that all is being done.
The CEO will assure this job is yours once she returns from lunch.
Ensure: make certain, make safe, secure
Preparing a first aid kit will ensure a safer trip.
Insure: to guarantee or provide indemnity against harm or loss, usually in the form of money
I pay a premium so the company will insure my business against theft and fire.
insure is used where financial matters are involved – relate insure and insurance basically.
assure is mostly used on connection with people or other living things (a for assure and a for alive can help remember this one!) – ‘I assure you’ – and can be related to reassure
ensure is more about events and things – think of ensure as a guarantee that something will happen
Here are some examples for you to try the three words in…
Mary wants to ……. her business equipment.
Jane will …….. the blog posts are uploaded on time.
Ashton hastened to …….. staff that their jobs were secure.
The leader carried an extra blanket to …… the cubs were warm.
Comedy writers ……… readers of a laugh.
Not all companies will …….. a sole trader business.
* Image courtesy of 123rf
Constantly confused by letters and similar sounding words? Then read on, learn new definitions and relax!
consonance [noun]: agreement or harmony of the parts of a whole; the repetition of consonants, usually for the key syllables of words or in key words of the writing – often used in poetry
Consonance of words, tone and meaning makes good writing better.
Click-clack, click-clack, the train runs along the track. {note the repeated ck sound)
consonants [noun ]: letters other than vowels ( so not a, e, i, o or u) – more technically, these are the letters which require at least partial closing your vocal tract to say them.
There are 21 consonants in the English language, although Y can act as a vowel and W acts as a vowel in Welsh.
consonant [adjective]: in harmony or agreement
Consonant with the company’s brand, the salesman promised quickly delivery
Sometime [adverb]: a not defined time, unspecified time
I’ll finish the great Australian novel sometime.
Sometimes [adverb]: occasionally, from time to time
Sometimes business owners think about going back to having a job.
Some time [phrase]: a period of time
For some time I have been planning to write another eBook.
This trio is based on the same two words merged into one, or not, and all relate to time so the differences are subtle enough it isn’t surprising some people misuse them.
Left as two words to be the phrase, ‘some time’ is the most precise and considered of the three – and it has more precision required to separate the two words so maybe that will help remember when to use the phrase rather than an adverb.
Another pair of words daily confused as people often don’t know the difference between allude and elude, or use them incorrectly anyway.
allude [verb]: indirectly refer to something
Being discreet, the Principal will only allude to the incident when explaining the new policy to students.
Note that allude is an indirect reference so does not fit in a sentence such as ‘In summary, the details I alluded to are numerous but simple’ because giving details is not indirect – mentioned or referred would be better words in this instance.
elude [verb]: to escape or get away from
The truant student continues to elude teachers and social workers.
The manager’s name eludes me but I remember his jolly laugh.
Remember the e in elude and escape to help get these words in their correct context.
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