This A-Z list includes:
- Words with two spellings and one meaning
- Words with two spellings and two meanings
- Commonly confused words
- Company, product and brand names
- Place names
- Words to avoid
Words with two spellings and one meaning
There are many words in the English language that have two (or more) correct spellings, for example adviser/advisor. I’ve suggested a ‘correct’ form for each of these words, based on what’s most usual in UK English and what ‘looks right’. Not that there’s really a right and wrong spelling, but for consistency we need to settle on one form.
Words with two spellings and two meanings
Some words are spelled in two different ways to mean two different things, such as discreet and discrete. The differences are explained.
Commonly confused words
For example uncharted and unchartered.
Company, product and brand names
Company names, trademarks and product names where there’s a right and a wrong way of writing them, such as Coca-Cola, JavaScript, and easyJet.
Place names
For example, why do we write southern Africa with a lower case S but South Africa with a capital S?
Words to avoid
Some words you might want to think twice before using: words that risk causing offence, tired metaphors, and some of the more ridiculous examples of corporate-speak.