Meerkat or Market

Flout and flaunt, mitigate and militate (much loved by politicians).

Naughty Nelliemoser but it's difficult to resist the temptation.

Compliment and complement are commonly confused. There was a bathroom suite in B & Q with a sign about tiles "too compliment" the suite. I confess to using a marker pen to correct it.

People saying May Have when it should be Might Have.

And 'floundering' and 'foundering'. There really IS a difference!

And another couple! Woman (possibly a laydee, she was ever-so-nicely-spoken) on Radio 4 this morning used 'reticent' a dozen times when she meant 'hesitant'. This is becoming very common now. People who misuse 'reticent' should be aware that it will have at least two bad effects. One is that pedants won't be able to hear what she or he is saying because they will be shouting so loudly at the radio. Two is that when someone describes an individual as 'reticent', no-one will know what they mean! I think this particular laydee actually also said 'effect' when she meant 'affect' but that might just have been me shouting.

Not at all.

Ah! Thanks - I never even thought about that before...

Lots of people do! But it's a biographical picture. A bio pic. What would Byoppick mean?

Isn't that how you pronounce it?

Biopic? Pronounced Byoppick?

Can't count

Two pet hates disinterested and uninterested muddled especially in newspapers.phase and faze often to be found in the Times and dissect pronounced di- ssect often heard on Programmes with bodies in morgues.

My dictionaries are probably out of date Ariadne – like me.

absent my Chambers online dictionary gives an alternative of "feeling or manifesting hate"; that's where I looked first.

Yes! Absent quite maddening. And 'estimate' which is noun or verb depending on pronunciation. No, it isn't. The distinction has disappeared.

All of my dictionaries define hateful as arousing hatred; not a single one gives an alternative of being full of hate.

The two commonly confused words that annoy me are procrastinate and prevaricate. They may have vaguely similar meanings but they are not the same.

Apropos diffuse and defuse: when we were house hunting we had the particulars of a house with 'defused lighting' in the garage, which would have been a lot of use!
Often you see diffuse used as in 'to diffuse a situation' which should be 'defuse'.

It can now! But is a 'hateful letter' a letter full of hate? Or could it be 'hateful' because it includes information you hate? Would have been clear at one time, now it isn't.

I think it can, Ana, though I understand Lilygran's (where DO you put the apostrophe, before or after the *) question. I think it's another case of change of use over time.

What about "loth" and "loathe"?

Surely 'hateful' can be used either way?

The work "Market" looks like "Marhet" to me as the "K" is not of the kicking variety !