Talk:List of commonly misused English words


 * see also: Articles for deletion/List of English words with frequent misuse

Notice of relevant discussion
, a redirect to this page, has been nominated at RfD. In the discussion at Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 February 1 it has been suggested that this page (List of commonly misused English words) be moved to articlespace. You are invited to comment in the linked discussion. Thryduulf (talk) 18:08, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

Various entries removed
I've removed a number of entries that lacked citations and whose presence was not justified by common sense. Long-term, of course, "common sense" is not a good citation, but for now at least it was a good place to start. If anyone would like to "rescue" any of the sources I removed, please take a look at the diff, and at my edit summaries in the page history. Thanks. -- Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she/they) 23:16, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

On Bicycles…
The number of people who refer to “breaks” and “peddles” is almost enough to drive one to drink. Mr Larrington (talk) 18:13, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

Prosecute and persecute
Are prosecute and persecute another pair of commonly misused words? Windywendi (talk) 00:50, 18 January 2024 (UTC)


 * I've never seen them conflated myself, but it warrants inclusion if there's a reliable source showing that they are. Justin Kunimune (talk) 12:51, 18 January 2024 (UTC)


 * 'Prosecute' vs. 'Persecute' - Merriam-Webster Is that a reliable source for you? Windywendi (talk) 21:40, 31 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Sure, seems reasonable to me. Justin Kunimune (talk) 22:22, 1 February 2024 (UTC)

Lie lay laid
In my experience, lay and laid are two of the most misused words in English, as much as or not far behind its-it's, there-their-they're, and lead-led. This article, I believe, is their most appropriate location. I'm not aware of lie-lay-laid as disputed, only as misunderstood. The Disputed article does not mention any controversy about lie-lay-laid; it simply provides the correct definitions. If you feel duplicating them there and here is harmful, I urge that the words be removed from the Disputed article and included only in this article, where they much more closely fulfill the premise of the article title. DonFB (talk) 00:01, 5 July 2024 (UTC)


 * The criteria for this page, as written in the introduction, specifies:
 * The words listed below are frequently used in ways that major English dictionaries do not condone in any definition
 * As there are major English language dictionaries which give definitions of "lay" as "lie" and vice-versa, they don't meet the criteria for inclusion on this page. This page is only for usages that dictionaries do not acknowledge or condone. Cases like "lay" and "lie", where the supposed "incorrect" usage is frequent enough to be noted in major dictionaries, are discussed on the disputed usage page. Nohat (talk) 21:20, 7 July 2024 (UTC)