– with contribution from my dear friend, Stacy

The time has come for a new list of words people often mix up when they write. The first of these is drivel, which means nonsense, and the second is dribble, which means, essentially, drool.  People tend to try to use these words when they want to sound smart or pretentious, but they end up sounding exactly the opposite because the word they end up using is dribble, rather than drivel: ‘Stop driveling on!’ ‘His writing was pure drivel.’

(According to Google’s dictionary, these two words have a common meaning in the archaic usage – drool.) That does not mean they can still be used interchangeably. So, if you want to appropriately insult someone, use drivel…..unless they actually drool.

Another pair of commonly misused words are wary and weary. To be wary is to be uncertain of someone or something, not sure if they can be trusted. To be weary means you are tired or exhausted. I have frequently both heard and seen weary used in place of wary. This is simply a matter of knowing what these words mean and using them correctly. I am weary of seeing wary and weary confused.

Likewise, do and due are sometimes mixed up by writers. Do is a verb and denotes action, while due generally refers to something being owed. It can also be used as a synonym for phrases such as, ‘because of…’ as in this example: Due to unforeseen circumstances, I won’t be able to make it to the party. Do is also used in the phrase ‘make do,’ which I have often seen written, ‘make due,’ carrying an entirely different connotation. 

Dear writers and speakers of English, due to the amount of drivel to which we have become so accustomed, I grow weary of repeating myself: edit your works before you publish them, check your grammar before speaking, and please, let us revive the beauty that is the English language.