As we all know, English Language has so many complexities and it is easy to fall short in a conversation. I am sure you will love to speak at least, a little above average, avoiding that embarrassing feeling you get when you make a grammatical blunder in a discussion whether online or offline. In this post, you will get to know "7 words with distorted meanings" that you probably do not understand, and are most likely using wrongly.

1.) The first word on our list is "loose". Yes, loose. Many people confuse "loose" with the word "lose", and some people think loose is just another way of spelling lose. But this is very far from the truth. Loose means "not tight; not closely constrained or constricted, not closely controlled". *( For example, "his belt is loose, the law enforcement is loose). While lose means "fail to keep or maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense".* (For example, "your team will lose tonight", "don't lose your savings"). It is very easy to misuse both words (loose and lose) and interchange them wrongly, so watch out when using them in your writing.

2.) RSVP

If you have received an invitation card before, then you must have come across this. Some hosts are ignorant of what it means, adding it to their cards as one of the routine without a concrete understanding. If you are a Nigerian, sorry to burst your bubble, it does not mean “rice and stew very plenty”. RSVP is derived from the French phrase "répondez s'il vous plaît", which means "please respond". Its original purpose was to be used on invitations that require the invitee to send a response back to the hosts/organizers, informing them whether or not they will be present, or passing on any relevant information.

3.) Copywriting

People confuse “copywriting" with "copyrighting". While copyrighting has to do with securing intellectual property (declaring that a particular work was created by and/or belongs to a particular person, therefore giving the person the exclusive rights to publish and sell that work), "copywriting" is a sales skill. Copywriters write copies (pieces of writing such as sales copies, ads, product descriptions etc, intended to persuade customers to buy a product or service, or perform a particular task).

4.) Ruminate

If you have heard about the digestive system of cows and goats, then you must have come across this word. But ruminate does not only mean chewing the cuds. It has another meaning which is "to think deeply about a subject or question over a period of time"*. When next you see the word "ruminate", do not get confused.

5.) Disinterested

At first glance, one might think disinterested simply means uninterested (not having or showing interest). But this is not the case. Disinterest has to do with neutrality, not being biased. That is, on a particular case, argument or topic, the disinterested person is not on either side, but is at the middle. A disinterested person can still be interested in the matter, but the person is not on either side, or has not come to a conclusion yet. Example- disinterested parents are a better judge in family disputes.

6.) Palliative

This word became more popular in Nigeria post COVID-19 pandemic. Owing to the stories about people hiding palliatives, many people may now think it means food stuff/groceries. The actual meaning of palliative is "a remedy that alleviates pain without curing" or "moderating pain or sorrow by making it easier to bear"*. (A little digression. While looking for the definition of palliative, I came across the word "Palliament" and was like, "is this another way of spelling parliament?". The answer was a big no. Palliament means "a dress; a robe"*, so do not mistake it for parliament, avoiding the web of confusion).

7.) Our last word for today is -

Mold.

The popular meaning which we all know is "to form something, especially with clay". Like molding a statue. But there is another meaning. Mold also means "to spoil due to humidity, i.e. to become moldy"*. Congratulations, you have read till the end. Your sentence construction in English is now at least 7 words stronger.

NOTE:- The definitions with an asterisk (*) behind them are not mine, but were gotten from the digital dictionary WordWeb.

If you enjoyed this post, please do well to drop your feedback, comments, questions, etc, and endeavor to share this post with your friends and family. Are there other words you will like us to add to the list? Please send us a message in the comments section, or send an email to tarisky7@gmail.com

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