I wrote a whole list of these years ago, but the same misspellings persist, unfortunately.
Advice/Advise - in American English advice is a noun, you can give it to people, and advise is a verb, the act of giving advice
Ball/Bawl - people ball their fists when they are angry and ready to fight; people bawl when they cry loudly like a baby
Bear/Bare - to bear is to carry something physical or figurative like âto bear armsâ or âto bear good news;â bare is when something is hairless, naked, or exposed as in the expression âbaring your soulâ
Hanger/Hangar - clothes go on a hanger in a closet or on a rack; airplanes go in a hangar to keep them safe
Definite/Defiant - when something is a sure thing it is definite; when someone acts out against authority they are defiant
Pour/Pore - you pour drinks or pour out your feelings, but your pores are the tiny holes in your skin that keep it healthy
Palate/Palette/Pallet - palate is the surface of your tongue that allows you to taste (e.g. palatable means âis enjoyable to eatâ); a palette is a set of color options for paint or makeup; a pallet is a wooden platform heavy shipments are placed on so forklifts can move them around, or a pallet is a mattress stuffed with straw
One more example that I donât see misspelled, but do see misused:
Soiled - primarily used to describe clothing or fabric that has been made very dirty with something gross and wet (feces, mud, vomit, food, etc.). It is not just a synonym for âwet,â it is very specific. If your female character has âsoiled panties,â she is not sexy she just pooped her pants.
Sodden - a close synonym to âsoaked,â except it normally has a negative meaning whereas soaked is neutral. You use sodden for objects that have been made soggy or ruined by too much liquid. It is not often used for buildings, cars, or other normally solid objects. Unless the building is made of straw or the car has a fabric interior and was flooded, neither will be described as sodden.
This is partly why I stress that people READ more books if they want to be taken seriously as published authors. You make a lot more mistakes if you donât know what your language should look like in print!