Connie's list of commonly confused words

[conuly]

Memorise this list OR DIE.

Libel: Printed. Something about you in a newspaper that is false and damaging to your reputation is libel.
Slander: Spoken. Something about you on a TV show that is false and damaging to your reputation is slander.

Flotsam: Floating wreckage of a ship or cargo.
Jetsam: Cargo jettisoned off a ship in times of distress.

Your: The second person possessive pronoun.
Ur: An ancient Sumerian city.

Islam: A religion/religious group.
Muslim: A member of the Islamic religion.

More will come next time I get annoyed. Djusk' a.

Comments

[conuly]

Libel comes from the same root as library? Libel = literary, slander = speech?

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, I never even thought of the 'liber'-'libel' connection, but that makes perfect sense as well.

Gotta love the way my mind keeps things straight. Sometimes I'll mention a mnemonic I came up with, and people just stare at me strangely as if I said something in Martian...

[conuly]

Poor you. Libel actually comes from libellas, a small book, but that, of course, comes from liber.