Which Word Wednesday was launched to showcase common word quandaries and then to explore those words, word meanings, and appropriate word usage. This post series is featured every Wednesday (oddly enough!).
This page is the Which Word’s home base, providing a history of the word duels and links to the posts. So pull up a chair and put these language debates to rest—and be sure to cast your vote in each week’s poll. (You can wear one of those virtual I Voted stickers if you do.)
épée vs. foil
tetchy vs. touchy
imply vs. infer
despise vs. hate
frog vs. toad
healthful vs. healthy
prim vs. prissy
home vs. hone
allegory, metaphor, and simile
argot, jargon, and lingo
stalactites vs. stalagmites
height vs. heighth
half marathon vs. marathon
awhile vs. a while
dilemma vs. problem
scrimp vs. skimp
quotation vs. quote
neologism vs. nonce word
oppress vs. suppress
deprecate vs. depreciate
especially vs. specially
ocean vs. sea
conceit vs. concept
Green Superhero Edition
palate, palette, pallet
flotsam vs. jetsam
amiable vs. amicable
vigor vs. vim
regal vs. royal
hoedown vs. hootenanny
people vs. persons
flair vs. flare
ingenious vs. ingenuous
e.g. vs. i.e.
reluctant vs. reticent
bring vs. take
abstruse vs. obtuse
cynical, sarcastic, skeptical
verbiage vs. verbosity
orient vs. orientate
nauseate vs. nauseous
emigrate vs. immigrate
historic vs. historical
fewer vs. less
pedal vs. peddle
compose vs. comprise
anticipate vs. expect
envious vs. jealous
peruse vs. skim
foreword, preface, and introduction
inconceivable vs. unthinkable
podium vs. lectern
anxious vs. eager
titled vs. entitled
regime vs. regimen
Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 8:03 am
[...] Check out previous Which Word Wednesday verdicts here. [...]
Saturday, October 9, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Hi! I love reading your WWW and was wondering if you’d ever thought to do one on “Prideful” vs. “Proud”? I always wondered if there was a difference…
~Steffani
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at 8:36 am
[...] _______________ Check out previous Which Word Wednesday verdicts here. [...]
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 9:46 am
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Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 7:59 am
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 6:34 am
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010 at 12:02 pm
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 9:06 am
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Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 3:06 pm
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Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 6:19 am
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 9:49 am
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Friday, December 31, 2010 at 3:50 pm
[...] doesn’t it?! Come by each week and join the discussion. Second, I can’t forget my beloved Which Word Wednesday series. Watch for that starting [...]
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 11:44 am
[...] _______________ Check out previous Which Word Wednesday verdicts here. [...]
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 2:23 pm
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 6:47 am
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Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 10:09 am
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Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 7:55 am
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 9:22 am
[...] word groupies! Today’s Which Word Wednesday submission comes from one of our own. Thanks to Becky, we have the ingenious vs. ingenuous match [...]
Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 8:52 am
[...] _______________ Check out previous Which Word Wednesday verdicts here. [...]
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 10:26 am
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 1:03 pm
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Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 11:06 am
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Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 8:14 am
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Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:02 am
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Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 7:43 am
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Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 6:03 am
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Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 7:51 am
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Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 10:57 am
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Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 8:57 am
[...] Check out previous Which Word Wednesday verdicts here. Eco World Content From Across The Internet. Featured on EcoPressed College Campuses Ban [...]
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 8:29 am
[...] match up for Which Word Wednesday is an example of this. Alternate spellings and pronunciations over hundreds of years has muddied [...]
Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 8:12 am
[...] thing we have Which Word Wednesday to solve this language dilemma. Let’s look first to the Oxford American Dictionary for the [...]
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 9:17 am
[...] bit a flair when it comes to language. But what do we call these specialized lexicons? This week on Which Word Wednesday we are going to consider the word trio argot, jargon, and lingo. Let’s look first to the Oxford [...]
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 8:44 am
[...] was the proper term for these examples, which in turn was fodder for this week’s match up for Which Word Wednesday. So let’s sort out the differences between allegories, metaphors, and similes, shall we? As [...]
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 7:50 am
[...] in my brain as I tried to figure it out. Eventually, I had to put it aside and wait for Which Word Wednesday so I could focus on the conversation at [...]
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 8:46 am
[...] for Which Word Wednesday typically are chosen after I have a language debacle or mystery that I simply must put to rest. I [...]
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 9:15 am
[...] the two, but I have a hard time training my tongue to use them properly. Perhaps a feature on Which Word Wednesday will get my tongue to cooperate with my brain? Here are the definitions from The Oxford American [...]
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at 9:46 am
[...] But Frog and Toad are not people; they are creatures. So I began to consider the differences between actual frogs and toads . . . which landed me on the topic for this week’s Which Word Wednesday. [...]
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:59 am
[...] know, I know. It’s Christmas. The season of love and joy. So this week’s Which Word Wednesday match up is not a good fit for the intended mood of the [...]
Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 8:18 am
[...] Which Word Wednesday match up is all about communication. Let’s start with the definitions from The Oxford American [...]
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 12:13 pm
[...] I wondered if the more commonly used touchy had usurped it. That was enough to give me today’s Which Word Wednesday duel (weapon-free, of [...]
Friday, December 30, 2011 at 2:54 pm
[...] Mixed Signals for Christ and Pop Culture, which has stretched me in many good and painful ways. Which Word Wednesday is still going strong right here at The Patch. But generally speaking, my blog was neglected in [...]
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 6:39 am
[...] that produced today’s Which Word Wednesday duel (pun intended), the match up between épée and foil. Here are the definitions from The [...]
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 9:28 am
[...] standard of cooldom. So which sort of quirky is which? That’s the word quandary for today’s Which Word Wednesday between geek and nerd. Here are the definitions from The Oxford American [...]
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 5:29 am
[...] merriment on tap here at The Patch is Which Word Wednesday. Isn’t it fun that Thesaurus Day it falls on Wednesday this year?! We get to celebrate the [...]
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 5:39 am
[...] merriment on tap here at The Patch is Which Word Wednesday. Isn’t it fun that Thesaurus Day falls on Wednesday this year?! We get to celebrate the holiday [...]
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 8:31 am
[...] come in two flavors: acronyms and initialisms. This week’s Which Word Wednesday looks at the difference between the two. Here are the definitions from The Oxford American [...]