Homonyms and Their Grammatical Heirs

[Turtle]

Homonym - words which sound alike but have different meanings and which may or may not have the same spelling.

This is an interesting artifact of one difference between spoken and written language and while sometimes innocuous, homonym errors may altogether change the meaning of the communication.

Samples:
•since
•sense
•cents

The ever popular:
•weather
•whether

The Title:
•heirs
•airs
•errors

Your favorite, or ones you love to hate?
•?
•?
•?

[Edella]

Having a spell-checker definitely helps me get my points across better, but it doesn't help a poor speller like me look too bright when screwing-up words like:

censer - incense holder

censor - bad person who fears knowledge.

sensor - a device which detects


elude - to escape

illude - to deceive


elicit - to draw out

illicit - unlawful

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Edella

Having a spell-checker definitely helps me get my points across better, but it doesn't help a poor speller like me look too bright when screwing-up words like:

censer - incense holder

censor - bad person who fears knowledge.

sensor - a device which detects

Exactly! Whether using an electronic spell check or a hard-copy dictionary, such errors as these creep in. On the face they appear as spelling errors, but at the root they are errors of grammatical usage.

Part of my interest in this class is actually employing them purposefully for comic or poetic effect. In some cases this gives the common double entendre, but I can find no word to describe more than two entendres (entendre - French for "meaning") and for me the more the merrier.
For example in the title of this thread, substituting "airs" or "errors" for "heirs" broadens the possible interpretations. For this to have the effect I intend, the communication must be read as the multi-entendre is lost if the passage is simply heard.
•herd
•heard

[InfiniteNow]

• To
• Two
• Too

[infamous]

Pale: ........of a whitish or colorless complexion
Pale: ........a pointed stake used in fences
Pail: .........a cylindrical container, usually with a handle

[InfiniteNow]

* Grate - as in, cheese or road rash or get on someone's nerves
* Grate - as in, a furnishing for a fireplace
* Grate - as in, some combination of bars, usually made of iron, to prevent objects from getting through

* Great - as in, many members on this site

[infamous]

Desert: To abandon or to forsake
Desert: wilderness or uninhabited region
Desert: deserving reward
Dessert: pronounced exactly like Desert but defined as the last portion of a meal, usually sweet in nature.

Thanks to the watchful eye of my friend Turtle this post has been edited to correct a mistake I made in it's first publication. Thank you sir Turtle, very good eyesight for a reptile 'I must say'

..........................Infy

[infamous]

Weather: conditions in the atmosphere
Whether: if it be the case
Wither: to what place
......................Infy

[InfiniteNow]

Peace

Piece

Peas

[infamous]

Post: A piece of wood or metal etc., set upright to support a building, sign, etc.
Post: The place where a soldier, guard, etc. is stationed.
Post: The mail
Post: After in time, later.

.....................Infy