Common100Uncommon Words

F Michael Kloran

Common100Uncommon Words

F Michael Kloran

100 Common Uncommon Words grew out of the experience of making vocabulary cards for my classes while I was teaching at Nihon Fukushi University. The goal was to inspire interest in language while getting my students to use a wider range of vocabulary and build their confidence in using it at the same time. Over time, my illustrations and teaching improved as well as my ability to integrate my images into my classes regardless of the topic. Now, I share them with teachers around the world through my website: My English Images.com and The Vocabulary Blog.

Any collection of vocabulary terms for students should, I believe, focus on language they are going to encounter and use the most in the real world. But as you can guess from the title, the terms in this text were chosen because they are more infrequently encountered and yet well known to native speakers. In fact many of the words here are likely to be misused or misspelled even by native speakers.

My hope is that the study of these unusual words will help students identify simpler ways of saying the same things while increasing their vocabulary and love of language. If these images are a help to you and your students, then I’ll truly be pleased. FMK

Mxyzptlk

(10 commonly misspelled words)

misspelled

espresso

I can’t believe I misspelled so many easy words on my test!

If not for my spell checker I would ____________ most of the words in my essay.

- _______________________________________________________________________

A girl at the café laughed at me when I ordered an expresso. She said it’s “espresso.”

My wife wants to buy an ____________ machine but I think they are too expensive.

- _______________________________________________________________________

misspell - verbto spell a word incorrectly.

misspelled - adj

Usage: That’s right, misspell is one of the most common English words that people make a mistake with when writing. Watch out for that double s and the double l. Also, there is a variation in the past participle. Both misspelled and misspelt are correct.

espresso - nouna coffee drink made by forcing steam through finely ground coffee beans.

Usage: Because of the rush it gives you, espresso is often misspelled and mispronounced as “expresso,” as in express. Espresso comes from Italian and unfamiliarity with the word when a sudden coffee shop boom hit the U.S. helped this mistake develop.

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separate

atheist

She had to separate the children because they wouldn’t stop screaming and fighting.

My garage is ___________ from the rest of the house. It’s not attached.

- _______________________________________________________________________

I’m an atheist because it’s impossible to prove god’s existence but science is easy to prove.

She’s not an ___________. She doesn’t believe in ghosts but she ________________ god.

- _______________________________________________________________________

separate verb: to divide into smaller parts / groups.

adjective: individual, apart from others.

Usage: This word is often misspelled due to a change in the pronunciation. As a verb the final “a” is the same as in “ate.”

In the adjective form the final “a” sounds like the i in “written.”

atheist - nouna person who does not believe in gods, spirits, ghosts or anything supernatural.

Usage: The A and E in this word are both long which should help you remember the spelling.

An atheist doesn’t believe in anything supernatural. To talk about one specific thing, just say, “I don’t believe in _______.”

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believe

queue

I don’t understand why my sister believes in ghosts, Santa Clause and god.

Some people ____________ that our ghosts all live in the sky after we die.

- _______________________________________________________________________

We queued for the movie for almost an hour before we got in.

Long ____________ are really annoying. I hate having to ____________ for coffee.

- _______________________________________________________________________

believe - verbto think an idea or opinion is true.

Usage: Lots of words that use ie get misspelled.

Remember the general spelling rule:

i before e, except after c.

(except as in words like neighbor and weigh.)

queue noun: a line, usually of people or cars.

verb: the act of forming or getting into a line.

Also: line up, wait in line, fall in line, a row

Usage: This word is more common in British English and rarely used in the U.S. It is often mistakenly written as “cue.”

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etc.

embarrassed

The little boy said he wanted a train, and a robot, and a video game, and a baseball etc.

I lost my bag with all my things. My computer, my mouse, charger, iPad ___________.

- _______________________________________________________________________

In fourth grade Steve was really embarrassed because he had an accident.

You shouldn’t feel ____________ . Everyone has accidents sometimes. Right?

- _______________________________________________________________________

et cetera. - adverbthe rest, there are too many to say, or list.

Also: and so on, and so forth, et al., and what have you, and what not

Usage: This word is often misspelled as ect. and often mispronounced as ek-setrah. Be careful to say it correctly and your spelling will follow.

embarrassed - adja feeling of shame or social awkwardness.

Also: red-faced, ashamed, humiliated, awkward

Usage: This is a word we use every day but the double r, and the double s, are both common spelling mistakes. I like to say students should never feel embarrassed about asking for help.

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rhythm

diarrhea

I loved the White Stripes. Meg White was a great drummer with incredible rhythm.

The drummer Max Roach had great ____________ and timing.

- _______________________________________________________________________

After drinking the local water I felt sick. Diarrhea ruined my vacation.

It’s not funny! I had ____________ all week and it was awful!

- _______________________________________________________________________

rhythm - nounregular, repeated pattern of sound or movement.

Also: beat, cadence, tempo, pulse

Usage: The h’s and the y in this word sometimes make spelling it a little hard. The letters thm, at the end of the word sound like “thim” and that also makes it a bit tricky. Practice saying it again and again.

diarrhea - nounliquid stool that tends to come frequently.

Also: the runs, the trots, Montezuma’s revenge, turista

Usage: No one likes this often misspelled word or the condition. Can you blame them? A lot of the names for this condition are very informal slang like turista which comes from Spanish for tourist.

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Quick Quiz 8 - word find.

T A F J S E P E R A T E S E B Q I E H

D D Q G H O R K L P X R H Y T H I M K

B I M I S S P E L L E D F D Z Q T B H

E E T Y D G J K R K G R Z G K S N A D

L P L D I A R R H E A D Q T O E H R R

I Q S I F G H J Y S F H U K R P T R E

V A A K E C G E T E Z C E R K A H A X

E T W D G V G H H X S Y U U 8 R Y S P

E H F F Y H E K M S O P E X C A R S R

H E H R Y E G H F J T J R R J T D E E

K I E M B A R A S E D G J E K E N D S

K S R E T C E T E R A I O S S S R O S

L T T O E X P R E N Q I U U E S P D O

D I A R E A S B L I E V E E C T O S Q

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