Let’s see if we can restart the word-of-the-day. Our first theme will be “Easy-To-Confuse Pairs”. But here at Wordcraft, we won’t settle for easy pairs like lie/lay or effect/affect. Far from it!

emolument — a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office
emollient — soothing or softening to the skin (noun: a preparation that does so); soothing or calming to a confrontation or to anger

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such Time.
No Person holding any [United States] Office of Profit or Trust shall accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
The President shall receive for his Services, a Compensation, and he shall not receive any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
—U.S. constitution

A woman with too much time and money on her hands:
“Forty! and still an abandoned wife,
She felt old urges stirring to life.
She paid a professor a huge emolument
To demonstrate what his ponderous volumes meant.”
—Ogden Nash, The Seven Spiritual Ages of Mrs. Marmaduke Moore

Hail, Poetry, thou heav’n-born maid!
Thou gildest e’en the pirate’s trade.
Hail, flowing fount of sentiment!
All hail! All hail! Divine emollient!
—Gilbert and Sullivan, The Pirates of Penzance (It’s parody, poking fun at over-serious opera.)

A photo here

This message has been edited. Last edited by: wordcrafter,

A personal favorite, farther / further.

See this clip from Finding Forrester.

(favorite: farther / further, from Finding Forrester)

Love the video clip! I have probably used farther/further wrong.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

Nice to see the word-of-the-day resurrected. And a good choice to start. Wonder if any of my favourites will make the list. Perhaps we could all post our favourites when the week's theme is finished.

I’ve been trying to do a confusing-pair-of-words each day. That’s time-consuming. Instead, I’ll split each pair over two days.

apothegm — a concise saying or maxim; an aphorism
(In Brit-speak, apophthegm. Quite a consonant-cluster there!)
(from Greek apophthengesthai ‘to speak plainly’)

ALICE: Your first responsibility is to your household.
BILLY KNAPP: Yes, but …
ALICE: I’m sorry. I should not dismiss it with an easy apothegm.
— Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

OK since nobody’s posting here – just have to say: in Spanish there are so many words for here & there! Easily confused pairs, & more.

For “here”, there are “aquí” and ”acá.” Some will tell you there’s a precise distinction: “aquí” refers to a specific point close to you, whereas “acá” means nearby, as in the same room/ area. Others will state with authority that “acá” is only used with motion verbs, as in “Ven acá” (Come here)—as opposed to “Aquí está” (Here it is). Still others, particularly those from Spain and Mexico, say they are interchangeable, and that the two distinctions cited apply in Central & S America, w/some countries preferring one distinction, some the other.

For “there,” we’ve got “ahí,” “allí,” and “allá.” Many will say “ahí” is close at hand [but further away than “here”], “allí” is in the middle distance, and “allá” is the furthest [farthest?] away.

But we’ve got another group who cast a different light on all the above, claiming that the “í” ending is specific and the “á” ending is general. Their main thrust seems to be that it’s never OK to use “por” or “para” [roughly equivalent to “over”] with “í”-ending here or there words, because that suggests says it’s over here/ over there—as opposed to right here or right there... But others (mainly Spanish & Mexican”) say that “por aquí,” for example, is so commonly used as to be deemed “correct.”

I teach Spanish to very young beginners (ages 2.5-6), My rule is, when in doubt, say it like the Mexicans—partly because that’s where I learned Spanish, partly because it’s the Spanish-speaking population they’re most likely to encounter in US, & partly because the vocabulary/ usage is closest to that of Spain (so I won’t get feedback from purist Spain-Spanish educated parents...)

Interesting. It reminds me of our thread here once about how many meanings there are for the word set

Yes, I wish Wordcrafter would continue with the word a day. I do know it's a lot of work.

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Interesting. It reminds me of our thread here

Yes, I wish Wordcrafter would continue with the word a day. I do know it's a lot of work.

We could try the "Have I Got News For You" Solution...

That's a UK TV show where the long time host was caught in a cocaine and hookers scandal and fired. Since then it has continued for many years with a different host each week.

Anyone could volunteer to do a week of short pieces about interesting words. If I can come up with a topic I'll do a week's worth as I am not at school for the next four days anyway.

I could do a "Words associated with Brexit" without it getting too political if anyone is interested.

I am!!! I'd love it.

OK, I'll start a thread.