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Commonly Confused

Affect vs. Effect

Here's the lowdown on what may be the most confusing pair of words in the English language.

Here's the lowdown on what may be the most confusing pair of words in the English language.

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play video affect vs effect
Affect vs. Effect

 

Here's the lowdown on what may be the most confusing pair of words in the English language.

play serenity carr next to an illustration of a refrigerator with the letter d in it
Why is there a 'd' in 'fridge' but not in 'refrigerator'?

 

Thawing one of the mysteries of English

play mrs malaprop
What is a Malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

play hot mess
Hot Mess

 

Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings

play woman and dog illustration
'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'?

 

We're gonna stop you right there

play video lay vs lie
Lay vs. Lie

 

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.

play hanger-hangar-illustrations
Is It 'Hanger' or 'Hangar'?

 

How to remember which is which

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...