7 more perplexing word combinations

Are you mixing up ‘incredulous’ and ‘incredible?’ If so, you’re not alone. See if you can navigate these sound-alike terms that trip up even veteran writers.

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Continuing our look at confusing word pairs, here are a few more to pay attention to. Don’t let these trip you up.

1. Garnish and garner

Garnish—to decorate or embellish; to decorate food.

I never know if you’re supposed to eat the garnish.

Garner—to gather, collect or accumulate; to gather into storage.

We garnered our books and created a library of science fiction and 19th-century literature.

2. Incredible and incredulous

Incredible—difficult or impossible to believe; astonishing.

The number of roadblocks we’ve experienced with this project is incredible.

Incredulous—skeptical; unwilling or unable to believe in something.

If I told you what actually happened, you would be incredulous.

3. Jerry-built and jury rig

Jerry-built—built cheaply and quickly.

Jake jerry-built the treehouse in two days.

Jury rig (can also be jerry rig)—built for temporary use.

Three years later, we’re still using their jury-rigged content management system.

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