WWotW: Principle vs Principal

I was a little confused today. Actually it does not usually take that much to confuse me. I was handed the business card of a colleague that identified him as a "Principle", rather than a "Principal". It confused me enough that I referred myself to the dictionary to confirm my understanding of both words!

principle noun a basic idea or rule that explains or controls how something happens or works =

principal adjective first in order of importance =

WWotW: Drawer

At work recently there has been some discussion of drawers. Or draws. There is a world of difference, and one is in general a noun, the other a verb! All that I am saying is that if you are going to send out a company wide lesson learnt then it might be advisable to make sure that you are talking about furniture rather than a the act of putting a picture on a piece of paper.

drawer noun a box-shaped container without a top which is part of a piece of furniture. It slides in and out to open and close and is used for keeping things in =

draw verb to make a picture of something or someone with a pencil or pen =

WWotW: Refrigerator

The word refrigerator is one that is commonly misspelt. The common word fridge has a "d", whereas the formal refrigerator is without. Many people do not realise this, and I cringe at "refridgerated" trucks as they drive past.

I had always thought that fridge was the informal word for refrigerator, however it seems that as far as the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictiony is concerned, it is the other way around!

Refrigerator noun formal for fridge =

Fridge noun a piece of kitchen equipment which uses electricity to preserve food at a cold temperature =

WWotW: Column

The word colum struck my notice this week. It was part of a document template at work, and if they had only used it once I might have let it pass without comment. Twice though on the same document indicates misspelling rather than mistyping.

Otherwise whoever wrote the template was actually talking about a person.

Column noun any vertical block of words or numbers =

WWotW: Marriage

I thought that today's word was topical on a few fronts, given our recent wedding (yay!), the current debate here in Australia about same-sex marriage and the recently announced royal nuptials.

I find it interesting that the dictionary definition specifies a woman and a man, part of the wording being debated with respect to same-sex marriage.

Marriage noun a legally accepted relationship between a woman and a man in which they live as husband and wife, or the official ceremony which results in this =

WWotW: Procrastinate

Procrastinate verb to keep delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or boring =

WWotW: Pronunciation

One word that is often mispronounced is "pronunciation".

The word pronouce has "ou", and pronunciation has only a "u". Therein lies the confusion!

Pronunciation noun how words are pronounced =

Even Google knows the correct spelling. When I typed in "pronounciation" its response to the search request was:
Showing results for pronunciation. Search instead for pronounciation

Wednesday Word of the Week: DEFINITELY

In the last week I have had at least three emails from people containing the word "definately". I eventually got to the point where I doubted my recollection of the correct spelling of the word and resorted to my favourite dictionary website, Cambridge Dictionaries Online.

The visit put my mind at ease and I have decided to try motivate myself to have a Wednesday Word of the Week to pick up on some of the quirks and inconsistencies of the English language. I will not pretend to be on a level with Kate Burridge (Can We Help, ABC TV) however I will do my best to clarify some common irritants!

Definitely adverb without any doubt =

Oh, and if you were curious about the other spelling:
Definately Idiot-speak for "definitely". One of the most common moronic misspellings found on the internet =