More Tips on English Usage Homonyms and Spelling

1. More Tips on English UsageHomonyms and Spelling For BDCOL Students

2. Homonyms, Spelling, etc. • Loose is the opposite of tight; lose is the opposite of find. • I need to stop all this loose living before I lose any remaining chance at promotion. • Lead rhymes with “greed,” or else refers to a soft, gray elemental metal. Led means, well, led. • Do not fly behind me, for I may not lead. • I was led astray by my WSO, who is a very bad influence—ask anyone. • The Republic F-105 was the original “lead sled.” • Moral is an adjective, or it can refer to a lesson; morale refers to a state of mind. • In war, the moral is to the physical as 6.02 times 1023 is to twelve and a half. • The moral of the story is that you shouldn’t pull negative Gs after eating nachos. • The defenestration of the Quality Air Force briefer did wonders for unit morale.

3. More • Rational is an adjective about thought, rationale is a noun, referring to reason or justification. • Keanu may be rational, but he’s not much of an actor. • The rationale for retiring the EF-111 tactical jammer fleet remains unconvincing. • I tried to think of a plausible rationale for a TDY to New Orleans during Mardi Gras. • Horses have reins, monarchs have reigns. • The airship’s reign as queen of the skies was brief but romantic. • It is time for the proletariat to seize the reins of power! • When it rains, it pours. • You can wreak havoc or destruction. You can wreck almost everything else. • If you think airpower can wreak havoc with speed and firepower, you should see my kids. • That one stupid mistake wrecked both an expensive aircraft and a once-promising career.

4. more • To defuse is to disarm or make safe. Diffuse means dispersed or spread out. • I tried to defuse the confrontation before anyone got hurt. • The only remaining sign of the explosion was a diffuse gray cloud drifting downwind. • The diffusion of advanced MANPADS poses serious problems for our attack helicopters. • A sight is something you look at (or, on a weapon, through). A site is a place. To cite means to refer to an academic source, which is a citation. • The Dean’s expression of shock and disappointment was a sight that I will never forget. • He smiled as he lined up his sight on the outhouse and squeezed the trigger to fire the 105. • This will be a good site for an Air Force base if there is another Ice Age. • Can you cite any evidence, beside the phony accent, that you are Clausewitz reincarnated? • Ordnance is weaponry, an ordinance is a law. • He’d sooner bomb his own grandmother than return to base with unexpended ordnance. • I’m afraid violating the noise ordinance is the least of the charges being levied against you. • Affinity means attraction. Infinity means enormous or numerous without limit. • You seem to have an affinity for saying exactly the wrong thing to superior officers. • Strangely, the infinity of rational numbers is smaller than the infinity of real numbers. • Hey, your Dad backed over my skateboard with his Infiniti!

5. Principal means important, or an important person. A principle is a law or belief. • The Hurricane was the principal fighter in the RAF during the Battle of Britain. • The principle of proportionality is central to the laws of war. • To me, the vice principal’s office soon came to feel like a second home. • When the fight started, she hit the Hornet pilot with a beer bottle, just on principle. • To elude means to escape, to allude to something is to suggest it in an indirect way. Such a suggestion is an allusion, not to be confused with an illusion, which is a misperception or a mistaken belief. • I’m afraid your last point eludes me, can you restate it more clearly? • If you are alluding to my earlier comments, I would point out that the situation has changed. • His subtle allusions to Hegel and Marx only served to confuse the cadets. • It is time to dispel the illusion that carrier aviation is more responsive than land-based air. • To lie is intransitive, meaning you do it; to lay is transitive, meaning you do it to something (which might be yourself). (Sit and set work the same way, but for some reason produce less confusion). • The Galapagos Islands lie on the equator, due south from Guatemala. • Unfortunately, they did not know that the reserve brigade lay across their axis of advance. • Lay your weapon on the desk, then lie down on the floor and no one will get hurt. • She laid out the pros and cons of the plan so simply a child could understand them. • PA lied about the F-15 being able to reach Mach 2.5, but the public believes it. • Historical means relating to history or the past. Historic means historically important. • Mitchell’s sinking of the Ostfriesland was truly an historic event for air power. • The western corner of Molton and Montgomery Streets is a site of great historic importance. • I love a good historical romance—let’s rent both versions of Pride and Prejudice. • He believed the historical record would prove that Douhet was wrong.

6. Affect is a verb, meaning “to influence,” or “to have an effect” (or “to make a pretense of”). Effect is a verb meaning “to bring about,” and a noun meaning “result.” I know it seems irrational, but I didn’t invent English, so don’t blame me. If you learn nothing else at BDCOL, learn this—or else. • I lit the afterburner, but it had no discernible effect on our relative speeds. • My decoys did not appear to affect the approaching missile. • I was unable to effect a disengagement. • After ejecting, I affected an attitude of nonchalance and disdain towards my captors. • Lesser is the opposite of greater. A lessor is someone from whom you lease something. • Given the choice between BDCOL and prison, this seemed like the lesser of two evils. • Some tenants say I’m a slumlord, but I prefer to be called a lessor of entry-level housing. • Predominant is an adjective, predominate is a verb (just like dominant and dominate). • India is the predominant military power in South Asia by a wide margin. • C-130s predominate in the transport arms of most major air forces. • When you praise someone, you are being complimentary. When two things fit together to make a whole (or a right angle), they are complementary. Free goodies are complimentary. • Ouch! When I said you’re smarter than you look, I meant it as a compliment. • What wine would you recommend to complement buffalo wings and guacamole? • The ship’s complement was badly depleted by the epidemic. • I assumed the buffet was complimentary—until the waiter brought me the check.

7. The military rank marshal has only one l (marshal also means to collect or organize). George Marshall was a general and a Secretary of State. Martial means related to warfare or the military. • Did General Marshall ever meet Marshal Zhukov or Air Marshal Tedder? • German railroad marshaling yards turned out to be a good strategic bombing target. • Napoleon had many martial virtues, but few of any other kind. • People looked at him strangely after he accidentally listed “marital arts” as his main hobby. • Eniwetok is in the Marshall Islands? I thought it was a planet in Star Wars. • Groups of states aligned together are usually called blocs, not blocks. • Yugoslavia was the first country to leave the Soviet bloc. • There was a solid block of anti-temperance voters, which decided the result of the election. • The Block 50 F-16C may be the best multi-role fighter ever built. • People imply when they write or speak, and infer when they read or listen. • Don’t infer too much from this preliminary evidence. • The speech seemed to imply that we would not fight to defend South Korea. • I’m sorry if you inferred that; I certainly didn’t mean to imply any disrespect. • I think there’s an important inference to draw from the actions of the Bosnian Serbs. • The implications of this discovery will certainly be profound.