Has someone ever told you that you used a wrong word? Well, you're not alone. Many people confuse terms without even knowing it. You might think that it's usually the English language learners who get the names of concepts or objects all mixed up, but it's not unusual for native speakers to get tangled up in misconceptions too.
The truth is, some terms seem so synonymous that people don't even bother to look them up. So, if you ever find yourself in an argument whether muffins have icing or whether tofu and panner are the same thing, it might mean that you need to do some research. But no worries. This time we've got you covered. Inspired by a Scoop Whoop post we dug around and collected some of the most confusing words to explain the differences between them.
Check out if you've made any of these mistakes and let us know in the comments.
(h/t)
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or as we were taught, poisonous: hurts if you bite it, venomous: hurts if it bites you.
In my language (Swedish) both have the same name but with "land" and "water" at the beginning of the word, like "waterturtle" and "landturtle".
It drives me insane when people get this wrong. I 100% blame the Ninja Turtles!
TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) are in fact Turtles! First episode, small boy walks with fish bowl full of water with 4 turtles and it falls down and broke ... little turtles goes into canal. Mutagen changes their body construction and abilities, half turtles half human Hamato Yoshi aka Master Splinter ;-)
No distinction in my language. I learned the english difference with a short from Alice in Wonderland. They had a turtle under the water and they called him tortoise. Alice was confused, cause it is wrong, and they explaind they call him tortoise, because he "tought us" (he was the teacher). So, solved for me. I remember the short and there it goes "tortoise is wrong if it's in the water"
So actualy, it should be "Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortoises" ?! Sexy ... isn't it?
This is a misnomer. This isn't a hard and fast rule. Depends where you are. It seems to be just a North American thing where tortoises aren't considered a type of turtle. There is no "real" answer, it's like the thing with veggies and fruits (tomatoes and cucumbers etc), it all depends on who you ask because different sciences categorize them differently.
Americans do not seem to know this and insist the tortoise is a turtle
Netherlands has 3 distinctions in turtle (or loosely translated; shelltoad); (fresh)water-, sea- and land-
I noticed that Bored Panda used to make this error before. Not once but many times. Well done, Bored Panda. Now you know. ;-)
It's like rectangles and squares. Both are tortoises, but only turtles are aquatic.
Sorry, I got it backwards, but you know what I mean
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My son refuses to accept that they're not all called turtoises. Trying to argue with a 5 year old who believes he's right is a losing battle!
While this is generally true: 1. Box turtles are primarily terrestrial, rarely venturing into water, but are turtles and not tortoises. 2. Some of the South Pacific tortoises have been known to move from one island to another - though they may have just floated rather than actively swam.
Most North Americans get these two confused. And if it lives on land and water it's a TERRAPIN!
The one in the picture is a terrapin. No turtles here...
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there is such a thing as a land turtle. tortoises are HUGE though and tend to live longer.
And because of this, tortoises have stumps for feet whilst turtles have webbed feet
had been told 'shrimp' is used more in American English, while 'prawn' is favoured in British English
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." - Terry Pratchett
Their expression say that they are disappointed in you that you didn't know this.
Do not tell this to all this alternative right movements who claim that there are certain "people" native to places, and that their intermingling with other "races" will weaken the national identity. We may form nations and e may come from different ethnicies, but we are all humans!
"I never know... What's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?" "Stalagmite has an 'm' in it"
How do people not know the difference between a butterfly and a moth???
I'm not sure about everyone else, but I'm pretty sure people know this. Right? Or is it just me?
I did a Masters and a PhD in anurans. The distinction between 'frogs' and 'toads is arbitary. Not all dryish anurans are short-leggedish, or smoothish, or stringy-eggedish, and not all mucussy anurans are the obverse in one or more of those characteristics. The notion of frogs versus toads is simply a gradient of perceptions with no biological significance. And the teeth thing that another commernter claimed is a nonsense...
Wasps can be pollinators - there are many species of orchids whose flower structures are predicated on exactly this fact. Look it up.
Paneer is awesome. Especially when coated with a layer of spiced corn flour or spiced bread.
I am not sure about this.. The one on the right is also eaten as a fruit in my natives.. It's more like a different variety of Banana..
in S.A the tangerines are called naartjies. pronounced 'nar-chies' . think it comes from the Afrikaans language.
Like other differences on this list, the distinctions are arbitrary and not consistent. There is not biological difference between kangaroos and wallabies, save size, and small kangaroos and be smaller than large wallabies. Some wallaby species are distinctly plain in colour. My bona fides? I'm a biologist, with three species of macropod that that come out to graze on my paddocks every night.
Rats are amazing, intelligent creatures and it's about time people stopped being scarred of them and start educating themselves about them. They deserve respect.
I thought it's more of US/UK thing. UK calls it biscuits while US cookies.. no?
Pretty useful post, makes you understand the difference between things that look the same. But i'm pretty sure everybody can see the difference between Gorilla and Guerilla .
Well these are really useful, especially since I don't speak english as my first language
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You should have included chocolate chips and potato chips. I got those mixed up when I tried to make cookies.
Chocolate chips go in cookies whereas potato chips go in biscuits.
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Most important(!) - Things That Most People Don’t Know Are Actually Different your - you'r
Wow! Some of them seem pretty obvious but other were real eye openers! Thanks.
Cupcake and Muffin have different batters. The icing has nothing to do with the difference.
Whether you're a native English speaker or not, I think a lot of these are actually helpful. Some are more what you'd call common knowledge, but I will admit that there are some that I've forgotten. Just my opinion!
I enjoyed this article. Some of the commenters were rather cynical. You're article was one of the most enjoyable things I've read online in a long time.
I was looking forward to seeing 'Floor' and 'Ground'; a pet peeve of mine when I hear people [husband] use them interchangeably, whether they are inside or out.
The turtle vs tortoise bit is wrong. There are land turtles (box turtles for instance). A tortoise has thicker legs and is mostly vegetarian while a turtle has flipper-like legs and are generally omnivores.
The only real difference is that guerrillas fight in small bands using unconventional methods while gorillas prefer to maintain standard military structures and tactics (citation needed).
The one about the cookies only correct from a British speaker's point of view. My oatmeal cookies are very crunchy, thank you, and the fluffy biscuits at breakfast are great with gravy.
Kinda sad that some people don't know the difference between these things. Seeing as how the first giveaway would be the different names...
People also use mugs for tea and cups for coffee. Especially in Europe coffee is served in cups. The difference is only in size and shape, and not in the beverage you drink from it.
'A winged monster of Thebes, having a woman's head and lion's body' *shows picture of an Egyptian Sphinx, which is wingless and, usually has a male face/head* And before anyone gets on me, yes they are different and yes, they could have found an image of a Grecian sphinx to show.
There should be one with stockings and pantyhose. Stockings only cover from toe to thigh. Pantyhose covers from toe to waist.
I actually thought most of these were incredibly obvious, and widely know.
for Aussies there are 2 types of thongs that outsiders get confused by. thong can mean the type of underwear or the shoes
You certainly don't want to muddle up which part of the anatomy you wear them on!!
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Sorry to say, but most of these are so simple and should know the difference between the 2. Wow
True, though for people who do not have English as their first language, it can be hard to tell apart. Plus, some depend on the country where you live. Like cookies and biscuits. English is not my first language, but I knew the difference between all of them. Probably because I have quite some American friends. And speak/write in English a lot. And always writing (well, typing actually) in English over here.
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Please replace "Mr. Madison" with "this article" in the following quotation: "Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
In Australia always prawns, drives me nuts if they are called shrimp, but had no idea there was an actual difference. Most Americans I know only call all types shrimp also. I also even being an Aussie did not and had no need to know Crocodile vs Alligator based on snoit shape, so while everyone knows , some haven't needed to and if either one comes at me, I would not much care which was which, and will still never call any variety shrimp 😀
Prawn is favorite dish of Indians. My shrimp roll. Follow Us : https://prmtyms.com/
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Is this aimed at 2 year olds?! Who in their right mind would think any of these pairs are the same thing? The only people who may find this useful are non-native English speakers and only those at a lower level.
My first language isn't English but I knew all of these differences. I think it is literally the uneducated or the lazy who never check up on anything that would get any of these wrong. I mean look at native English speakers mixing up 'their', 'there' and 'they're' or simple things like burgundy spelled as burgandy [rolls eyes] and many, many more. My English boss used to give me his correspondence to check too and I found lots of mistakes.
Load More Replies... Pretty useful post, makes you understand the difference between things that look the same. But i'm pretty sure everybody can see the difference between Gorilla and Guerilla .
Well these are really useful, especially since I don't speak english as my first language
Load More Replies... You should have included chocolate chips and potato chips. I got those mixed up when I tried to make cookies.
Chocolate chips go in cookies whereas potato chips go in biscuits.
Load More Replies... Most important(!) - Things That Most People Don’t Know Are Actually Different your - you'r
Wow! Some of them seem pretty obvious but other were real eye openers! Thanks.
Cupcake and Muffin have different batters. The icing has nothing to do with the difference.
Whether you're a native English speaker or not, I think a lot of these are actually helpful. Some are more what you'd call common knowledge, but I will admit that there are some that I've forgotten. Just my opinion!
I enjoyed this article. Some of the commenters were rather cynical. You're article was one of the most enjoyable things I've read online in a long time.
I was looking forward to seeing 'Floor' and 'Ground'; a pet peeve of mine when I hear people [husband] use them interchangeably, whether they are inside or out.
The turtle vs tortoise bit is wrong. There are land turtles (box turtles for instance). A tortoise has thicker legs and is mostly vegetarian while a turtle has flipper-like legs and are generally omnivores.
The only real difference is that guerrillas fight in small bands using unconventional methods while gorillas prefer to maintain standard military structures and tactics (citation needed).
The one about the cookies only correct from a British speaker's point of view. My oatmeal cookies are very crunchy, thank you, and the fluffy biscuits at breakfast are great with gravy.
Kinda sad that some people don't know the difference between these things. Seeing as how the first giveaway would be the different names...
People also use mugs for tea and cups for coffee. Especially in Europe coffee is served in cups. The difference is only in size and shape, and not in the beverage you drink from it.
'A winged monster of Thebes, having a woman's head and lion's body' *shows picture of an Egyptian Sphinx, which is wingless and, usually has a male face/head* And before anyone gets on me, yes they are different and yes, they could have found an image of a Grecian sphinx to show.
There should be one with stockings and pantyhose. Stockings only cover from toe to thigh. Pantyhose covers from toe to waist.
I actually thought most of these were incredibly obvious, and widely know.
for Aussies there are 2 types of thongs that outsiders get confused by. thong can mean the type of underwear or the shoes
You certainly don't want to muddle up which part of the anatomy you wear them on!!
Load More Replies... Sorry to say, but most of these are so simple and should know the difference between the 2. Wow
True, though for people who do not have English as their first language, it can be hard to tell apart. Plus, some depend on the country where you live. Like cookies and biscuits. English is not my first language, but I knew the difference between all of them. Probably because I have quite some American friends. And speak/write in English a lot. And always writing (well, typing actually) in English over here.
Load More Replies... Please replace "Mr. Madison" with "this article" in the following quotation: "Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
In Australia always prawns, drives me nuts if they are called shrimp, but had no idea there was an actual difference. Most Americans I know only call all types shrimp also. I also even being an Aussie did not and had no need to know Crocodile vs Alligator based on snoit shape, so while everyone knows , some haven't needed to and if either one comes at me, I would not much care which was which, and will still never call any variety shrimp 😀
Prawn is favorite dish of Indians. My shrimp roll. Follow Us : https://prmtyms.com/
Load More Replies... Is this aimed at 2 year olds?! Who in their right mind would think any of these pairs are the same thing? The only people who may find this useful are non-native English speakers and only those at a lower level.
My first language isn't English but I knew all of these differences. I think it is literally the uneducated or the lazy who never check up on anything that would get any of these wrong. I mean look at native English speakers mixing up 'their', 'there' and 'they're' or simple things like burgundy spelled as burgandy [rolls eyes] and many, many more. My English boss used to give me his correspondence to check too and I found lots of mistakes.
Load More Replies...