Ever Had a Stake Dinner?
The following sentence appeared in a published memoir:
I challenged him to a hundred yard run with the steakes being a stake dinner for two at the restaurant of the winner’s choice.
The writer demonstrates a common problem: homophone confusion.
No, a homophone is not a new kind of smart phone; homophones are words that are pronounced the same but spelled differently (some people refer to them as homonyms).
The sentence above has two problems:
- The author misspelled steaks (the meat you eat for dinner).
- The author confused the meaning of steaks and stakes.
The sentence should read:
I challenged him to a hundred-yard run with the stakes being a steak dinner for two at the restaurant of the winner’s choice.
Whether/Weather you’re/your writing/righting a blog post, a Facebook update, or/ore a book, be/bee aware of tricky homophones!
Your turn!
Share the most absurdly confused homophone you’ve read recently.
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