By way of follow-up, or perhaps continuation, on my
Piqued/Peeked/Peaked post, I bring you more easily mixed-up words. Today, I'll address the continued internet confusion of another set of homophones: Reign, Rein, and Rain.
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The noun version of a rein. Well,
part of it, anyway. Source. |
Okay, so these aren't confused quite as much. But people still seem to struggle with "rein" in the sense of "curb" or "keep in check"; I've seen both "rain" and "reign" used instead. Especially on Twitter, so I suppose people just keep running out of characters. So, here's (part of) the definition, thanks to
Dictionary.com:
rein
verb (used with object)
- to check or guide (a horse or other animal) by exerting pressure on a bridle bit by means of the reins.
- to curb; restrain; control.
Idioms
- draw rein, to curtail one's speed or progress; halt: The rider saw the snake and drew rein sharply.
- give rein to, to give complete freedom to; indulge freely: to give rein to one's imagination. Also, give free rein to, give full rein to.
So if you want to stop a problem before it gets worse, you want to rein it in. Not "rain", which would be meteorologically messy, nor "reign", which would require a royal family. "Rein" is your friend.
Do you have problems with these words? Do other people drive you crazy when they confuse them?
6 comments:
Next you can tackle pear/pair/pare.
I don't mix these words up much, but I think that's because I don't usually have to use rein and reign. Those are the ones I usually see mixed up in other books, too. It's that darn silent G.
@Delores: You are so right. And bear (both kinds)/bare, and... you know, this may end up being a long list.
@JE: 'Tis true. Silent letters are tricky. :/
I just finished a book where the author/editor obviously did a spellcheck, but forgot to do a homonym/homophone check. Very annoying!
erica
The most common misused homophones I see are "your/you're" and "there/their/they're". How do people not get that these are completely different words, and that they are not supposed to be interchanged? Makes me want to slap their grammar/English teacher for not pounding that into their brains ha!
Thanks for this post!
xoxo
@Erica: Yes! I see that all the time! Aaargh.
@Alisha: I've just given up on those words. :/
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