Homophones (words with the same sound but a different spelling and meaning) can be the proofreader's worst enemy. Here's a comprehensive list of homophones. I can't claim the credit for compiling the list, by the way, as it's pretty much all over the internet. To the person who put all the work in, I offer my gratitude.
Here's the list (print it out and keep it close at hand): 1. accessary, accessory 2. ad, add 3. ail, ale 4. air, heir 5. aisle, I'll, isle 6. all, awl 7. allowed, aloud 8. alms, arms 9. altar, alter 10. arc, ark 11. aren't, aunt 12. ate, eight 13. auger, augur 14. auk, orc 15. aural, oral 16. away, aweigh 17. awe, oar, or, ore 18. axel, axle 19. aye, eye, I 20. bail, bale 21. bait, bate 22. baize, bays 23. bald, bawled 24. ball, bawl 25. band, banned 26. bard, barred 27. bare, bear 28. bark, barque 29. baron, barren 30. base, bass 31. bay, bey 32. bazaar, bizarre 33. be, bee 34. beach, beech 35. bean, been 36. beat, beet 37. beau, bow 38. beer, bier 39. bel, bell, belle 40. berry, bury 41. berth, birth 42. bight, bite, byte 43. billed, build 44. bitten, bittern 45. blew, blue 46. bloc, block 47. boar, bore 48. board, bored 49. boarder, border 50. bold, bowled 51. boos, booze 52. born, borne 53. bough, bow 54. boy, buoy 55. brae, bray 56. braid, brayed 57. braise, brays, braze 58. brake, break 59. bread, bred 60. brews, bruise 61. bridal, bridle 62. broach, brooch 63. bur, burr 64. but, butt 65. buy, by, bye 66. buyer, byre 67. calendar, calender 68. call, caul 69. canvas, canvass 70. cast, caste 71. caster, castor 72. caught, court 73. caw, core, corps 74. cede, seed 75. ceiling, sealing 76. cell, sell 77. censer, censor, sensor 78. cent, scent, sent 79. cereal, serial 80. cheap, cheep 81. check, cheque 82. choir, quire 83. chord, cord 84. cite, sight, site 85. clack, claque 86. clew, clue 87. climb, clime 88. close, cloze 89. coal, kohl 90. coarse, course 91. coign, coin 92. colonel, kernel 93. complacent, complaisant 94. complement, compliment 95. coo, coup 96. cops, copse 97. council, counsel 98. cousin, cozen 99. creak, creek 100. crews, cruise 101. cue, kyu, queue 102. curb, kerb 103. currant, current 104. cymbol, symbol 105. dam, damn 106. days, daze 107. dear, deer 108. descent, dissent 109. desert, dessert 110. deviser, divisor 111. dew, due 112. die, dye 113. discreet, discrete 114. doe, doh, dough 115. done, dun 116. douse, dowse 117. draft, draught 118. dual, duel 119. earn, urn 120. eery, eyrie 121. ewe, yew, you 122. faint, feint 123. fah, far 124. fair, fare 125. farther, father 126. fate, fête 127. faun, fawn 128. fay, fey 129. faze, phase 130. feat, feet 131. ferrule, ferule 132. few, phew 133. fie, phi 134. file, phial 135. find, fined 136. fir, fur 137. fizz, phiz 138. flair, flare 139. flaw, floor 140. flea, flee 141. flex, flecks 142. flew, flu, flue 143. floe, flow 144. flour, flower 145. foaled, fold 146. for, fore, four 147. foreword, forward 148. fort, fought 149. forth, fourth 150. foul, fowl 151. franc, frank 152. freeze, frieze 153. friar, fryer 154. furs, furze 155. gait, gate 156. galipot, gallipot 157. gallop, galop 158. gamble, gambol 159. gays, gaze 160. genes, jeans 161. gild, guild 162. gilt, guilt 163. giro, gyro 164. gnaw, nor 165. gneiss, nice 166. gorilla, guerilla 167. grate, great 168. greave, grieve 169. greys, graze 170. grisly, grizzly 171. groan, grown 172. guessed, guest 173. hail, hale 174. hair, hare 175. hall, haul 176. hangar, hanger 177. hart, heart 178. haw, hoar, whore 179. hay, hey 180. heal, heel, he'll 181. hear, here 182. heard, herd 183. he'd, heed 184. heroin, heroine 185. hew, hue 186. hi, high 187. higher, hire 188. him, hymn 189. ho, hoe 190. hoard, horde 191. hoarse, horse 192. holey, holy, wholly 193. hour, our 194. idle, idol 195. in, inn 196. indict, indite 197. it's, its 198. jewel, joule 199. key, quay 200. knave, nave 201. knead, need 202. knew, new 203. knight, night 204. knit, nit 205. knob, nob 206. knock, nock 207. knot, not 208. know, no 209. knows, nose 210. laager, lager 211. lac, lack 212. lade, laid 213. lain, lane 214. lam, lamb 215. laps, lapse 216. larva, lava 217. lase, laze 218. law, lore 219. lay, ley 220. lea, lee 221. leach, leech 222. lead, led 223. leak, leek 224. lean, lien 225. lessen, lesson 226. levee, levy 227. liar, lyre 228. licence, license 229. licker, liquor 230. lie, lye 231. lieu, loo 232. links, lynx 233. lo, low 234. load, lode 235. loan, lone 236. locks, lox 237. loop, loupe 238. loot, lute 239. made, maid 240. mail, male 241. main, mane 242. maize, maze 243. mall, maul 244. manna, manner 245. mantel, mantle 246. mare, mayor 247. mark, marque 248. marshal, martial 249. marten, martin 250. mask, masque 251. maw, more 252. me, mi 253. mean, mien 254. meat, meet, mete 255. medal, meddle 256. metal, mettle 257. meter, metre 258. might, mite 259. miner, minor, mynah 260. mind, mined 261. missed, mist 262. moat, mote 263. mode, mowed 264. moor, more 265. moose, mousse 266. morning, mourning 267. muscle, mussel 268. naval, navel 269. nay, neigh 270. nigh, nye 271. none, nun 272. od, odd 273. ode, owed 274. oh, owe 275. one, won 276. packed, pact 277. packs, pax 278. pail, pale 279. pain, pane 280. pair, pare, pear 281. palate, palette, pallet 282. pascal, paschal 283. paten, patten, pattern 284. pause, paws, pores, pours 285. pawn, porn 286. pea, pee 287. peace, piece 288. peak, peek, peke, pique 289. peal, peel 290. pearl, purl 291. pedal, peddle 292. peer, pier 293. pi, pie 294. pica, pika 295. place, plaice 296. plain, plane 297. pleas, please 298. plum, plumb 299. pole, poll 300. poof, pouffe 301. practice, practise 302. praise, prays, preys 303. principal, principle 304. profit, prophet 305. quarts, quartz 306. quean, queen 307. rain, reign, rein 308. raise, rays, raze 309. rap, wrap 310. raw, roar 311. read, reed 312. read, red 313. real, reel 314. reek, wreak 315. rest, wrest 316. retch, wretch 317. review, revue 318. rheum, room 319. right, rite, wright, write 320. ring, wring 321. road, rode 322. roe, row 323. role, roll 324. roo, roux, rue 325. rood, rude 326. root, route 327. rose, rows 328. rota, rotor 329. rote, wrote 330. rough, ruff 331. rouse, rows 332. rung, wrung 333. rye, wry 334. saver, savour 335. spade, spayed 336. sale, sail 337. sane, seine 338. satire, satyr 339. sauce, source 340. saw, soar, sore 341. scene, seen 342. scull, skull 343. sea, see 344. seam, seem 345. sear, seer, sere 346. seas, sees, seize 347. sew, so, sow 348. shake, sheikh 349. shear, sheer 350. shoe, shoo 351. sic, sick 352. side, sighed 353. sign, sine 354. sink, synch 355. slay, sleigh 356. sloe, slow 357. sole, soul 358. some, sum 359. son, sun 360. sort, sought 361. spa, spar 362. staid, stayed 363. stair, stare 364. stake, steak 365. stalk, stork 366. stationary, stationery 367. steal, steel 368. stile, style 369. storey, story 370. straight, strait 371. sweet, suite 372. swat, swot 373. tacks, tax 374. tale, tail 375. talk, torque 376. tare, tear 377. taught, taut, tort 378. te, tea, tee 379. team, teem 380. tear, tier 381. teas, tease 382. terce, terse 383. tern, turn 384. there, their, they're 385. threw, through 386. throes, throws 387. throne, thrown 388. thyme, time 389. tic, tick 390. tide, tied 391. tire, tyre 392. to, too, two 393. toad, toed, towed 394. told, tolled 395. tole, toll 396. ton, tun 397. tor, tore 398. tough, tuff 399. troop, troupe 400. tuba, tuber 401. vain, vane, vein 402. vale, veil 403. vial, vile 404. wail, wale, whale 405. wain, wane 406. waist, waste 407. wait, weight 408. waive, wave 409. wall, waul 410. war, wore 411. ware, wear, where 412. warn, worn 413. wart, wort 414. watt, what 415. wax, whacks 416. way, weigh, whey 417. we, wee, whee 418. weak, week 419. we'd, weed 420. weal, we'll, wheel 421. wean, ween 422. weather, whether 423. weaver, weever 424. weir, we're 425. were, whirr 426. wet, whet 427. wheald, wheeled 428. which, witch 429. whig, wig 430. while, wile 431. whine, wine 432. whirl, whorl 433. whirled, world 434. whit, wit 435. white, wight 436. who's, whose 437. woe, whoa 438. wood, would 439. yaw, yore, your, you're 440. yoke, yolk 441. you'll, yule Thanks, again, to the original creator.
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 It’s hard to know where to start with this story from KXAS-TV. It illustrates
any number of proofreading lessons: how easy it is to miss a humdinger of an error, how difficult said error can be to rectify once it has been spotted and the potential cost involved. I think I’ll leave it to the original reporter, Andrew Tanielian. A Texas elementary school is correcting a spelling mistake made when it changed its name nearly nine years ago. Sunrise Elementary School in Fort Worth added "McMillan" to its name in the 2003-2004 school year -- but also added an extra "i." The school changed its name to honour its first teacher, Mrs. Mary McMillan, who eventually became principal. A relative recently reached out to the Fort Worth Independent School District to say it had bought an extra vowel. Everything had the incorrect spelling of "Sunrise-McMillian" instead of "Sunrise-McMillan," including the lettering on the building, printed signs, vinyl congratulatory signs, logos and Facebook. "Oh, I was kind of shocked," said Ernie Johnson, who waters the grass on school grounds and never knew the spelling was wrong. "I hadn't paid it any mind." Ever since hearing from McMillan's relative, the school has been correcting the error. But the name is in many places people easily forget, such as business cards, visitor's passes, certificates and digital signatures embedded in email. The school is taking the corrections with the right balance of seriousness and humour. Principal Marion Mouton and his staff keep finding misspellings to correct. "Our day-to-day things that we just take for granted now and, as we're coming up with it, we're seeing 'OK, that's something else we need to fix,'" he said. The student body as a whole hasn't been told, though some may know. Once more misspellings are corrected, the school hopes to turn the mix-up into a teachable moment on how to take responsibility, correct an error and move on. When visiting her class, teacher Jouet Dotson came up with a quick brainstorm on how to teach the new, correct spelling. "You know how we say there's no 'i' in team?" teacher Jouet Dotson brainstormed. "We could say, 'Well, [at] Sunrise-McMillan, we're a team, so there is no 'i' in the last part of McMillan.'" The Fort Worth ISD isn't saying how much it will cost to fix all the mistakes but did say it's exhausting all resources to try and keep costs down. People are often tempted to forego proofreading if the text in question is relatively short. If you encounter the Why bother? It’s just a few words! response, just draw the laissez faire individual’s attention to the Washington D.C. public schools’ $41,000 anti-truancy advertising campaign.
Emblazoned in stark black and white on the sides of 75 Metro buses was the slogan: Go To Class – It’ a Blast!!! The absentee ‘s’ was last seen sitting outside the principal’s office. And let's not even talk about those gratuitous and nausea-inducing exclamation marks.  Okay, just kidding. But judging by the number of images of very permanent spelling errors I've seen floating around the internet, it's a market that's ripe for exploitation.
If anyone ever asks you what a proof reader does, for heaven’s sake don’t start talking about spelling mistakes and grammatical errors right off the mark. You’ll see their eyes glaze over in under a minute and they’ll do that stretching-mouth, flaring-nostrils thing which means they’re yawning but they don’t want to hurt your feelings so they’re trying to kind of seal it in. Do you remember that scene in Dead Poets’ Society when Robin Williams as John Keating asks his class for which single endeavour language was developed? He receives the unimaginative answer of “To communicate” and swiftly counters with, “No! To woo women!” Well, the ‘what does a proof reader do’ question should be tackled in pretty much the same way. That isn’t to say we proofread in order to dazzle the opposite sex (although, why not? Why not?), but it most certainly is about more than just spelling errors and grammatical blunders. We proofread to spare blushes. We proofread to protect our employers and clients from embarrassment. Let’s take a look at the kind of embarrassment, in fact the sheer humiliation which the strategic deployment of an effective proof reader would quickly have nipped in the bud. In December of last year, a school teacher spotted a spelling error on Monmouthshire Council’s recycling bags. The instruction to ‘separate’ various materials for recycling purposes was printed as ‘seperate’. An easy mistake to make, and not an uncommon one. Hardly humiliating, you might think. However, the teacher in question, Helen Pritchard, took the recycling bag to her class at Llanvihangel Crucorney School and asked her 20 pupils if they could spot the mistake. Without exception, the primary level students nailed it. They then wrote a letter to the council (see below) expressing their disapproval.  A Proof Reader is Born Okay, having a classroom full of ten-year olds admonish you for poor spelling is a little embarrassing but still a few lengthy strides away from ‘humiliating’.
Well, this little episode made it into the local press. Okay, we’re edging toward humiliating now, but we’re not all the way there yet. Then, the piece was taken up by the BBC and featured on their website. The BBC website receives 1.2 million page views and 80 million hits per month. Like I said: humiliating. So, we proof readers don’t simply expose spelling errors and grammatical slip-ups. No, we shield our employers and clients from the searing heat of unwanted publicity in a media-soaked era. Okay, so we do that by trawling for spelling mistakes and poorly-executed English, but that's not going to hold anyone's attention at a dinner party, is it? |
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