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35 Clever Illustrations Of ‘Same’ Words That Are Actually Different, By Bruce Worden (New Pics)
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings, homographs look the same, and homonyms are everything that confuse the heck out of us and befuddle our brains in various linguistic ways. And there’s hardly anyone who knows them better than Bruce Worden, the founder of the ‘Homophones, Weakly’ project. It even has a homophone of ‘weekly’ in the name to gently poke fun at itself, too. It’s brilliant!
Bruce aims to provide a visual exploration, a philological adventure if you will, into the realm of homophones (and recently homographs) with minimalistic black and white illustrations.
You’ll find his best newest drawings below, dear Pandas. So put on your ‘I love English’ caps, scroll down, and upvote your favorite pictures. Want some more for dessert (or is that desert? [Wink wink, nudge nudge])? You’ll find Bored Panda’s first article about ‘Homophones, Weakly’ right over here.
More info: Facebook | HomophonesWeakly.Blogspot.com | Amazon
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Becky Roberts 4 years ago
It’s not called a band air everywhere though, it’s about the words not the names of products
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Elizabeth Harmon 4 years ago
They need to add band- something that secures something else: like a head band
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#2
CLG 4 years ago
Although Game of Throwns sounds like a more interesting show.
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Lauren Caswell 4 years ago (edited)
Add a window to the situation on the right and it becomes defenestrated. Why is english so mean *shakes fist*
Jane Smelt 4 years ago
In NZ these words would sound differently. Kiwis add another syllable at the end of the verb, i.e. throwun
Words that sound or look the same can have vastly different meanings and that’s one of the reasons to love the English language that, after all, is peppered with homophones left, right, and center. You have to learn to love homophones—there really is no alternative! However, it would be naive to assume that it’s only English who has these. Polyglots will know what I mean immediately.
There’s a personal reason why I love homophones, too. They’re a major part of what makes dad jokes and puns work well. And considering how much I love those, well, Bruce’s gentle humor and wordplay are right up my alley. Words are wonderful things and Worden’s stealing my heart one quip at a time.
#4
Mary Peace 4 years ago (edited)
They sounds the same when I say them. Is that because I'm English?
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James Dean 4 years ago
Should have done 'I'll' first, when the guy is asking if she will marry him. It's 'I do' in the service. Not too late to redo it bro!
Dill 4 years ago
Fairly violent reaction considering some of them might be dyslexic or not have English as their first language.
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ToxiCity 4 years ago
Effect is a noun. Affect is a verb. that's my way to remember
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Nicola Roberts 4 years ago
I rely on autocorrect the most for this one. I know one is a verb and one is noun but honestly half the time I'm relying on the reader not knowing the difference either!
whiles34 4 years ago
"Affect" is the verb, "effect" is the noun. Except in psychology where something can effect an affect. I love English.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago (edited)
I'm generally into language, but I still avoid using affect and effect like the plague! I always second guess myself that it's one if those times where they aren't following their verb/noun 'rules'
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Joshua Seaman 4 years ago
Except when it's a noun. And effect can also be both noun or verb.
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A.M. Pierre 4 years ago
My mnemonic to remember which one was the noun was that "cause and effect" are the nouns, and you could write them back to back because cause ends with "e" and effect begins with "e", like "causeffect". Hey, I never said it was a simple mnemonic, just one that works for my odd little brain.
Colin Mochrie At Its Finest 4 years ago
This one is more confusing. i still know the difference but the difference sometimes is subtle.
#6
mr. cheeto chester 4 years ago
z,jrdgfzjhdbvz,sdhbczSdhvbzae,hedbgv>Aredva,herdsvbHDGV>CHSDvfzjdvhbzjdbvzh,fsvf NDKJBV>JBFdv>KVHGBV>DUGWEGSDvc<HSdvbjhfva,jdbvadjfhvlafhvapdvha;iuedvfahdfcjasgdhcahsdcafsdcaisdgcuasjdhcfvajghdcfshgcfakdgaksdjgfakdfagyidukasgfskd NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘Homophones, Weakly’ has been an ongoing project since 2011. However, Bruce has revealed on his website even though he consistently posted updates right up to 2016, now you can expect only occasional ones. We’re hoping that this ‘occasionally’ turns into ‘weakly/weekly’ once again and with force. Bruce currently has 15k followers on Facebook and we believe he deserves many more.
In fact, there are rumblings that Bruce is back with a vengeance (perhaps a bit like Dr. Bruce Banner’s Hulk? We’ll see). Recently, he’s been focusing more and more on exploring the realm of homographs. These are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings and pronunciations.
#7
Laura Allan 4 years ago
How to comfort a grammar nazi. Tap them on the back as you say "there, they're, their"
Karen Evans 4 years ago
"your", "yore", and "you're". The last is pronounced the same - depending on where you're from.
Daria Z 4 years ago
I didn't realize there was a problem here until recently. I thought they were all just trying (and failing) to be funny :D
Ian Milne 4 years ago
I don’t think their is a problem with this, most people know there stuff.
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#8
chi-wei shen 4 years ago
The man on the right is running to get some dessert.
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Bakugou 4 years ago
Yes, sir A thousand soldiers die in a hundred-degree heat As we snatch a stalemate from the jaws of defeat Charles Lee was left behind without a pot to piss in He started saying this to anybody who would listen Washington cannot be left alone to his devices Indecisive from crisis to crisis The best thing he can do for the revolution Is turn 'n go back to planting tobacco in Mount Vernon Ooh! Don't do a thing, history will prove him wrong But, sir We have a war to fight, let's move along Strong words from Lee, someone oughta hold him to it I can't disobey direct orders Then I'll do it Alexander, you're the closest friend I've got Laurens, do not throw away your shot... boom *mic drop*
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Richard Nilsson 4 years ago
Why not go the extra mile and bring upp dessert while ya'll are at it?
#9
lailyfnoor 4 years ago
yes..and the NSYNC would be like ... Baby buy by bye!!
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Sanaya Kiran Duva 4 years ago
can I buy this book? Which one? It's by some guy I apparently met. Ok, thanks. Here's the 20 dollars. Bye! Have a good day!
Lucas 4 years ago
Non English speakers learning the language, people with dyslexia or various other learning disabilities...
Load More Replies...Let’s geek out for a second here. Homophones that are spelled the same are called homographs; if they’re spelled differently, they’re heterographs. Depending on what linguistic specialist you talk to, they might tell you that homonyms are homophones or homographs or both.
Others, however, would say that you can only call a word a homonym if they’re both a homophone and a homograph (that is to say they’re spelled and pronounced identically, but have different meanings). Confused? Don’t be—just enjoy the wordplay and the pretty pictures. Don’t let the technical details spoil your fun. They’re just here for major geeks like me.
#10
all bi myself... 4 years ago (edited)
wait why are they going to shoot the reindeer in the b u t t h o l e
#11
That_WeirdBunBun! 4 years ago
Dissent should have been Ruth Bader Ginsburg! R.I.P. She was a wonderful woman.
Samtheperson 4 years ago
For those who don’t get it the right guy is Colin kapernick who was kicked out of the nfl for kneeling during the national anthem for protesting for the BLM project.
Annabelle Tatman 4 years ago
Was enjoying this until you decided to get political and WOKE. Maybe you should do WOKE and WOKE....
#12
Draco Malfoy 4 years ago
See, my brain knows it's a sewer... but my heart thinks that's an oreo haha
Linda van der Pal 4 years ago
There should have been a picture of a person with seeds too! (Sower)
Mary Peace 4 years ago
In the UK there's a TV programme called 'Sewermen' about those who work in underground drains, but seeing just that word, I keep thinking it's male needleworkers. I had never seen the word sewist that someone mentions here.
Where were we? Right, so Bruce has been getting to grips with homographs and, we have to say, they’re a lot of fun. He started focusing on them in March and he said that he’d been keeping a list of them as long as he’s had his list of homophones. He finally decided to start illustrating some of them after taking a well-deserved rest when he finished up his book publishing details.
#13
Mary Peace 4 years ago
Does anyone get confused by this? Surely it's easy enough to think AD is short for advert or advertisement, but I suppose some people don't think at all.
#14
Annabelle Tatman 4 years ago
Take your politics else where - these words don't even fit the category!
#15
N G 4 years ago
If i understand this correctly, the present for firing an arrow at someone's bottom is a boat ?
A year and a half ago, back in August 2019, Bruce published a book called ‘Homophones Visualized’ where he featured a hundred pairs or groups of words for all of us language-lovers to enjoy. “From beat and beet to flee and flea, baron and barren to golf and gulf, each spread contains a pair or group of homophones and corresponding illustrations that provide context for each word.”
#16
A.M. Pierre 4 years ago
I was teaching English as a second language and had to explain this little play on words: "If I bought a newt I would name him 'Tiny' because he'd be 'my newt.'" There were a lot of "wait, so how do I know when it's MIN-it and when it's my-NOOT?" and sadly "you just know" isn't actually an answer.
BookCrazyTeen 4 years ago
Ok but I’m cracking up at ‘my-NOOT’ pls tell me I’m not the only one who gets the my reference
Anders Mellon Skov Hermansen 4 years ago
You're not even trying at this point. They sound nothing alike :P
#18
Nicola Roberts 4 years ago
Ten items or fewer..... I'm in awe of everyone that learns English as a second language.
N G 4 years ago
If it can be measured as a number it's "fewer" otherwise it's "less". You don't have "fewer sugar" in your coffee, but it could be "fewer sugar cubes" in your coffee
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Ian Milne 4 years ago
I’m guessing you’re joking? But it would be than, not then.
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Fara Giganti 4 years ago
if only my school would do that so we'd have more ime o actually work
The Redhead 4 years ago
I could be wrong but I always thought "lessen" is actually less than. The way it was taught to me in the 2nd grade was (31 years ago) was the sign was an alligator and would go to eat the larger number. I never forgot that.
This hasn’t been Bruce’s only foray into the world of publishing, however. With a surname like ‘Worden,’ can you really resist the siren call of literature for long? Bruce is an award-winning author and illustrator. He’s a big fan of science, rock & roll, and children’s education.
#19
Trevor Williams 4 years ago
guy *rents a boat* the rental hours (1) guy *ok* sails in a huge lake 15 min there 15 min back *I can stay for 10 mins him on the way back *rental service over* ship *sinks* guy aw shi-
Mary Peace 4 years ago
If you're a snail you'll be so slow, you'll get to the sale too late, so you won't be able to buy the sail.
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#20
Karen Evans 4 years ago
This irritates me most when I get a text from a GROWN person who should know better.
#21
Michał Jastrzębski 4 years ago
technically, that's a flag of Polish navy. National flag is the one without the emblem.
N G 4 years ago
Hard to replicate in black and white though. We should be able to let them have this one.
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Trevor Williams 4 years ago
You can remove the polish (left) with chemicals but you CANNAE remove the polish (right) with chemicals
GlassHalfWay 4 years ago
When I was very young, my dad and I were at a car show. I was going to help him out by buying car "polish", but then I got handed a "polish" sausage in a bun. Learned that quickly! Oops, he laughed, he ate it.
Phil Boswell 4 years ago
Read this in Readers Digest yonks ago, this was said to be the only word in English that you can't tell how to pronounce without context when it's got an initial capital like this: usually if there's an initial capital that provides enough context. I'd love to know if there's actually another word like this.
He first got published in 2011 and his picture book ‘Goodnight Keith Moon’ became a surprise hit. Since then, he’s won the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo’s SPACE Prize in 2016 for his ‘Woodstalk’ zombies series.
#22
Batwench 4 years ago
I pronounce both of these words very differently so this s one I don’t really get. User error on my part.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
I pronounce them the same. I daresay it varies from place to plaice (sorry for the fish pun i couldnt resist!)
Load More Replies... GlassHalfWay 4 years ago
Cliché (cleeshay)- lacks originality. Cliche (click) - snotty group of girls/guys. Click (click) - a sound
Robert T 4 years ago
The aren't in British English, hence why I took the time to copy the pronunciation from a dictionary. Clique will be derived from French and it is pronounced as in French.
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#23
#24
#25
HufflePuffleGothleGay 4 years ago
Because you know I'm all about that bass, 'bout that bass, no treble I'm all about that bass, 'bout that bass, no treble I'm all about that bass, 'bout that bass, no treble I'm all about that bass, 'bout that bass Bass, bass, bass (bass)
surprised pikachu 4 years ago
wait, so Meghan Trainor wasn't singing about how much she likes fishing?
#26
lara 4 years ago
Worse, literally instructions on a prescription: Suppositories NOT to be taken orally.
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Trevor Williams 4 years ago
I gave you back now gimme oral *um ok* puts d**k in ear *wait wtf*
Mary Peace 4 years ago
When I was at school, I hadn't learnt this, and got confused about French oral and aural exams.
CrunChewy McSandybutt 4 years ago
These are pronouced differently on the West Coast of the U.S. AH-rel and OH-ral
#27
Robert T 4 years ago
Both "red" and "reed" are words as well - which reminds me of the joke "what's black and white and red all over?" - answer appears in both the pictures above.
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Abbyboudreaux 4 years ago
One time in 3rd grade, our teacher wrote a little paragraph on the board with a few grammatical errors in it and we were supposed to identify and correct them. Well I raised my hand to say that it had the wrong ‘read’ because the passage was past tense but they used the present tense of the word, lol. Everyone laughed at me. Good times.
#28
Colin Mochrie At Its Finest 4 years ago
That would be mopped. Would have been useful here, too, but it is not a homophone.
Load More Replies... Draco Malfoy 4 years ago (edited)
Mope, or moped, is to be or to have been in a depressive or gloomy state definition: a person given to prolonged spells of low spirits.
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Bruce lives in Ann Arbor in Michigan together with his wife and son (and bike, according to his writer’s bio; can’t forget the bike). And we're hoping that he'll be showing us the playful side of English and pairing it with his wonderful illustrations for many years to come. Which of his illustrations and word pairs/groups did you enjoy the most, dear Pandas? Let us know in the comment section below.
#31
#32
#33
#34
N G 4 years ago
don't eat 2 whole oranges without chewing them, you'll die and turn into a skeleton
Laetitia Astolfi 4 years ago
Ileum is part of the small intestine, ilium is part of the hip bone
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Amelia Earhart 4 years ago
Ummm, I still don't know what either word means! Sorry Bruce... although I think the rest are a brilliant expose on our devious language.
@science_visuals 4 years ago
The ileum is part of the intestines, and the ilium (or iliac crest) is the top of your pelvis! It's a good one for med students or medical illustrators :D
#35
Robert T 4 years ago
Either "dove" or "dived" is correct - I think dove will be the older usage - https://www.dictionary.com/browse/dived?s=t
Dilly Millandry 4 years ago
Shelli Aderman is correct with that you can say 'dove to the bottom'.
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Add New Image
What do you think ?
Loretta 4 years ago
Being a non-native English speaker and realizing you've been pronouncing half of these words wrong.
Rosie Hamilton 4 years ago
Aw, never mind Loretta! There are native English speakers that get them wrong as well. Plus look how wound up the grammar nazis get about people writing them wrongly - they never allow for terrible education or even dyslexia. My poor brother is always so worried that people will think he is an idiot because he cannot spell and yet he is a very clever man, a man with dyslexia. He cannot do many of these and will even spell the same word correctly, then incorrectly in the same paragraph but be incapable of seeing it.
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cassiushumanmother 4 years ago
It would be impossible to do that in french, so much homophones. "Un hère, vétu d'une haire, erre sur une aire, chantonnant d'un air triste en roulant les R un air d'une autre ère." 8 homophones in one sentence. Some authors plays with them, like Alphonse Allais did. "Par le bois du Djinn où s'entasse de l'effroi/ Parle ! Bois du gin !...ou cent tasses de lait froid." Through jinnis wood where dread is piled up/ Talk! Drink some Gin... or hundred cups of cold milk". Exactly the same sound.
Gyro Pilot 4 years ago
English is a mish mash of differing laguages and their respective grammers: and interesting history but confusing for non-native to master.
marianne eliza 4 years ago
What is interesting is delving into the etymology of words. English, and especially USA English has borrowed many/most words from other languages. The pronunciation of many of those words has been Anglicized, twisted, added to, subtracted from, and mispronounced, so that non-native speakers have a hard time. But I still like it better than any language that has many forms of the word "the", depending on gender, single or multiple, yesterday, today, or tomorrow.
cassiushumanmother 4 years ago
From latin or arabic, i love it! Even it's a pain in the "foundation". I learned latin and german before english, as a french, and i make a lot of mistake in english, but i can talk in english as a 4 language without major troubles because i learned that before. I'm not fluent in english, but i can speak and people understand what i say, and i understand what they are saying. I'm grateful for latin and german and their complexities that i don't even master, and of course i'm grateful to kind of master french (a lot of french people don't master french, i'm really good at it). Languages are awesome! You can learn all day and never master any language, even yours.
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Daria Z 4 years ago
I think many languages have the same homophones. There're some in Russian, too. And then there is Chinese...
Mere Cat 4 years ago
In Finnish, there are only homonyms, not homophones that are spelled differently. What you hear is what you write (except a few loan words...). If you see a word written, you can read it aloud without any doubt of the pronunciation.
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RoseTheMad 4 years ago
I feel lucky English is my first language, I couldn't imagine having to learn it when it really is this confusing. Also: Tire/tyre (car) and Tire (to be tired/sleepy) , Bat (the animal) and Bat (as in baseball bat), Light (as in light bulb) and Light (not heavy), Horse and Hoarse, Team and Teem, Morning and Mourning, Coward and Cowered (this may be confusing as you could say the coward cowered e_e) ... English sucks like that. xP
Daria Z 4 years ago
English is my second language and I love it partly because of these quirks :-)
Load More Replies... Loretta 4 years ago
Being a non-native English speaker and realizing you've been pronouncing half of these words wrong.
Rosie Hamilton 4 years ago
Aw, never mind Loretta! There are native English speakers that get them wrong as well. Plus look how wound up the grammar nazis get about people writing them wrongly - they never allow for terrible education or even dyslexia. My poor brother is always so worried that people will think he is an idiot because he cannot spell and yet he is a very clever man, a man with dyslexia. He cannot do many of these and will even spell the same word correctly, then incorrectly in the same paragraph but be incapable of seeing it.
Load More Replies... cassiushumanmother 4 years ago
It would be impossible to do that in french, so much homophones. "Un hère, vétu d'une haire, erre sur une aire, chantonnant d'un air triste en roulant les R un air d'une autre ère." 8 homophones in one sentence. Some authors plays with them, like Alphonse Allais did. "Par le bois du Djinn où s'entasse de l'effroi/ Parle ! Bois du gin !...ou cent tasses de lait froid." Through jinnis wood where dread is piled up/ Talk! Drink some Gin... or hundred cups of cold milk". Exactly the same sound.
Gyro Pilot 4 years ago
English is a mish mash of differing laguages and their respective grammers: and interesting history but confusing for non-native to master.
marianne eliza 4 years ago
What is interesting is delving into the etymology of words. English, and especially USA English has borrowed many/most words from other languages. The pronunciation of many of those words has been Anglicized, twisted, added to, subtracted from, and mispronounced, so that non-native speakers have a hard time. But I still like it better than any language that has many forms of the word "the", depending on gender, single or multiple, yesterday, today, or tomorrow.
cassiushumanmother 4 years ago
From latin or arabic, i love it! Even it's a pain in the "foundation". I learned latin and german before english, as a french, and i make a lot of mistake in english, but i can talk in english as a 4 language without major troubles because i learned that before. I'm not fluent in english, but i can speak and people understand what i say, and i understand what they are saying. I'm grateful for latin and german and their complexities that i don't even master, and of course i'm grateful to kind of master french (a lot of french people don't master french, i'm really good at it). Languages are awesome! You can learn all day and never master any language, even yours.
Load More Replies... Daria Z 4 years ago
I think many languages have the same homophones. There're some in Russian, too. And then there is Chinese...
Mere Cat 4 years ago
In Finnish, there are only homonyms, not homophones that are spelled differently. What you hear is what you write (except a few loan words...). If you see a word written, you can read it aloud without any doubt of the pronunciation.
Load More Replies... RoseTheMad 4 years ago
I feel lucky English is my first language, I couldn't imagine having to learn it when it really is this confusing. Also: Tire/tyre (car) and Tire (to be tired/sleepy) , Bat (the animal) and Bat (as in baseball bat), Light (as in light bulb) and Light (not heavy), Horse and Hoarse, Team and Teem, Morning and Mourning, Coward and Cowered (this may be confusing as you could say the coward cowered e_e) ... English sucks like that. xP
Daria Z 4 years ago
English is my second language and I love it partly because of these quirks :-)
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