What's The Difference?

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
by Rob Cottignies

This continually-updated and thoroughly-researched list explains the differences between commonly confused things.

Comment at the bottom of this page to suggest things you are too lazy to look up yourself. I would be glad to do that work for you.

 Enjoy!

Thanks to these websites for aiding my research: Google, Mental Floss, Wikipedia, Kestrel Meters, Diffen, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Encyclopedia Brittanica, Family Search, Garden Design, National Snow& Ice Data Center, Quora, PBS, Learn Religions, History, My Jewish Learning, BBC, Grammarist, The Atlantic, The Phrase Finder, Thought Co., Criminal Defense Lawyer, Space.com, Clark Exterminating Company, Arizona State University, American Museum of Natural History, Online Etymology Dictionary, The Mayo Clinic, Understanding Dwarfism, Sciencing, Grammarly, Vice.com, Library of Congress, Bon Appetit, North Carolina Sweet Potatoes, National Center for Biotechnological Information, National Health Service (UK), Senate.gov, CNN.com, Spark Notes, MIT School of Engineering, Worldstandards.eu, Oscars.org, Emmys.com, TonyAwards.com, Outright International, Forces.net, GoodYearBlimp.com, Greenbelly Meals, American Museum of Natural History; Utah Geological Survey

***NEWEST***

AFFECT vs. EFFECT
*Affect = Action (verb)
*Effect = End result (noun)

GEEK vs. NERD vs. DORK vs. DWEEB vs. DOOFUS
(all are slang words used to describe social outcasts)
GEEK
*has devoted interest in a specific topic, namely technology
*a formerly-harsh word that also referred to circus performers who had less-than-favorable acts, such as eating live creatures
NERD
*intelligent and socially awkward; focused on a non-social hobby, such as trivia
*possible roots of this word include Dr. Seuss using it in his book If I Ran The Zoo, ‘drunk’ spelled backward (and with a silent K) to indicate that studious people do not party, and a 1940s dummy called Mortimer Snerd
DORK
*dresses and/or acts in unconventional ways
*although commonly mis-labeled as a whale’s penis, the origin of ‘dork’ is probably a slang word for any creature’s member
DWEEB
*wimpy
*the word may be a portmanteau of ‘dwarf’ and ‘feeb’, meaning feeble-minded, likely because the person’s parents did a lot of drugs
DOOFUS
*foolish, such as someone looking for sunglasses that are on their head
*rhymes with the older slang word ‘goofus’ and/or is derived from the Scots word ‘doof’, meaning ‘idiot’

MAGMA vs. LAVA
*Same thing! Liquefied, very hot rock. The only difference is location- magma is underground while lava is what comes out of volcanoes.

ROCKS
IGNEOUS
*formed when molten rock cools and hardens
*examples- basalt, granite
METAMORPHIC
*created when existing rocks are changed by heat or pressure, such as tectonic plates colliding
*examples- slate, marble
SEDIMENTARY
*accumulate in layers from particles in air and/or precipitation
*examples- limestone, shale

TREES
CONIFEROUS
*produce cones and have needles instead of leaves
*examples- spruce, fir, pine, redwood
*also referred to as ‘evergreens’ because their needles stay on all the time, therefore never losing color, though some evergreens do not produce cones so the terms are not true synonyms
DECIDUOUS
*produce hard wood and sprout leaves for some seasons then lose them to retain water in cold weather
*examples- maple, oak, apple, magnolia
*grow faster than coniferous trees but do not live as long

ANIMALS 

ALLIGATOR vs. CROCODILE
ALLIGATOR
*wide snout; teeth hidden when mouth is shut; lives near freshwater; will see you later
CROCODILE
*narrow snout; teeth show when mouth is closed; lives near saltwater; tends to be aggressive; will see you after a while
HOW TO REMEMBER
*rhyme ‘crocodile’ with ‘smile’, which is what they appear to be doing with their closed mouths

AMPHIBIAN vs. REPTILE
(both are cold-blooded animals)
AMPHIBIAN
*begins life in water then develops lungs; skin is smooth
*examples- frogs, toads, salamanders
REPTILE
*always breathes air with lungs; skin is scaly
*examples- snakes, chameleons, Komodo dragons

BEARS
BLACK
*short claws for climbing; up to 600 pounds heavy and six feet tall; lives (naturally) throughout North America; diet is mostly vegetarian; can sometimes be brown or white
BROWN
*all grizzlies are brown bears but not all brown bears are grizzlies; up to 1,000 pounds heavy near coasts, 700 in-land, and nine feet tall; lives (naturally) in forest and mountains of Asia, Europe, and North America; diet includes fruit, plants, and fish; largest sub-species is the Kodiak bear, found in Alaska; Lewis & Clark described the bears they saw as ‘grisley’, meaning ‘silver-tipped fur’ and/or ‘horribly terrifying’
MOON (a.k.a. Asiatic black bear)
*easy to tame and therefore exploit; up to 300 pounds heavy and over six feet tall; lives (naturally) in Asia; diet varies by the seasons; has crescent shapes on chest, giving the species its name
PANDA
*up to 300 pounds heavy and four feet tall; lives (naturally) in China; diet consists 99% of bamboo (averaging 40 pounds per day); red pandas are not bears but small mammals in their own scientific family group
POLAR
*largest bear species; up to 1,300 pounds heavy and 10 feet tall; lives (naturally) in Arctic regions of Canada, Norway, Russia, and Alaska; diet is mostly carnivorous; fur is clear (not white) and skin is black but covered by the thick fur
SLOTH
*up to 300 pounds heavy and six feet tall; lives (naturally) in southern Asia; diet is mostly insects and fruit; named by European explorers who saw them hanging from trees
SPECTACLED
*up to 275 pounds heavy and 6 ½ feet tall; lives (naturally) in South America’s Andes Mountains; diet consists mostly of plants and fruit; named for facial markings that look like glasses (spectacles)
SUN
*smallest bear species; up to 143 pounds heavy and 4 ½ feet tall; lives (naturally) in southern Asia; diet consists mostly of insects and honey; named for chest-patch which resembles a rising Sun
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*koalas are not bears but marsupials, because they have pouches like kangaroos and wallabies

BEE vs. WASP
(only females have stingers)
BEE
*wide body with small hairs on it for temperature regulation, which are also good for collecting pollen and moving it between plants
*a honey bee is small with a yellow appearance, produces a lot of honey, nests above ground mostly in trees, can only sting once due to its stinger’s barb
*a bumblebee is large and round, produces little honey, nests in or on the ground, can sting multiple times
WASP
*all wasps are noticeable because of their narrow waists
*a yellow jacket is small with yellow and black stripes, nests above or below ground in large structures, capable of multiple stings, sometimes for seemingly no reason and even occasionally biting the victim first
*a paper wasp can have stripes but is commonly dark-colored, builds gray paper-y nests in protected places, is able to sting repeatedly if threatened
*hornets are the largest kind of wasp, usually have black and white stripes, build nests similar to paper wasps that can be huge, can sting many times if provoked (sometimes more dangerously than other creatures because of their size)
HOW TO AVOID GETTING STUNG
*though difficult (and unnatural), the best thing to do when in the company of these creatures is to calmly vacate the area

CAMELS
DROMEDARY
*one hump
BACTRIAN
*two humps
HOW TO REMEMBER
*Dromedary starts with D, which looks like one big sideways hump. Bactrian begins with B, which looks like two sideways humps

DONKEY vs. MULE vs. HINNY vs. PONY
(all are in the same biological family as horses)
DONKEY (a.k.a. ass)
*usually domesticated and used for manual labor; more like a cousin of a horse than immediately related
MULE
*born from donkey father and horse mother
HINNY
*born from donkey mother and horse father
PONY
*a small horse, not a baby

FROG vs. TOAD
(both are amphibians)
FROG
*small; slender; smooth skin; large hind legs for hopping; lives in or near water; bulging eyes
TOAD
*chubby; hops short distances or walks; bumpy skin; can live away from water

HARE vs. RABBIT
(scientifically not rodents because they have four upper incisors, not just two)
HARE
*large body; long ears and hind legs; lives in grasslands and above the Arctic Circle
RABBIT
*small body; short ears and hind legs; lives in areas with plants and sometimes underground

INSECT vs. BUG
(all bugs are insects but not all insects are bugs)
INSECT
*three defined body parts (head, thorax, abdomen); two antennae; six legs; hard outer exoskeleton
*examples- ants, bees, mosquitoes, flies (including butterflies and moths), beetles
BUG (scientifically called true bug)
*flat body; mouth for piercing or sucking to get food; see-through wings
*examples- cicadas, aphids, stink bugs
NOT INSECTS
*centipedes, worms, spiders
NOT BUGS
*ladybugs, which are beetles

SASQUATCH vs. YETI
SASQUATCH (a.k.a. Bigfoot)
*from North America, specifically the northwestern areas
YETI (a.k.a. Abominable Snowman)
*similar creature from the Himalaya mountains in Asia; much older in the folklore world
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*believers think the two beasts are in the same biological family and somehow survived when the rest died off a long time ago

TURTLE vs. TORTOISE
(both are reptiles in the same scientific order, have protective shells, and lay eggs on the ground)
TURTLE
*flat shell; spends most of life in or near water
*Terrapin (Algonquin word for ‘little turtle’) is a sub-species
TORTOISE
*dome-shaped shell; lives in forests and deserts

COMMON THINGS

AC vs. DC (electricity)
ALTERNATING CURRENT (a.k.a. AC)
*rotating electric currents; easy; safe; can be used over long distances; invented by Nikola Tesla
*used in power cables, kitchen appliances, motors
DIRECT CURRENT (a.k.a. DC)
*straight electric current; championed by Thomas Edison for his version of light bulbs
*used in batteries for flashlights, cell phones, computers
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*when he discovered AC, Tesla was working for Edison, who deemed the idea dangerous and rejected it; Tesla quit and sold his patents to Edison’s rival, George Westinghouse
*common wall sockets around the world (currently 15 different versions) all use AC but look different because inventors produced their own systems according to the region’s safety standards; the ones innovated by the British are considered safest

ALUMINUM FOIL vs. TIN FOIL
ALUMINUM FOIL (a.k.a. aluminium foil)
*introduced in 1910 by a Swiss company; malleable; has no infectious taste
TIN FOIL
*popular in the 1800s and early 1900s; stiff; leaves metallic taste in food; also used in tooth fillings and early phonographs

BLIMP vs. ZEPPELIN
(both are dirigibles (a.k.a. airships) that have large balloon-like chambers filled with lighter-than-air gas, such as helium or hydrogen, and a cabin below to hold people; unlike hot air balloons which can only be guided, dirigibles were made to be steered)
BLIMP
*giant balloon called an “envelope” made of a tough fabric (such as polyester); loses shape when deflated; first built in 1852 France
ZEPPELIN
*metal skeleton made of aluminum; does not deflate; developed by German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the 1890s for transportation and war-time scouting missions
*the Hindenburg, which infamously crashed in 1937 New Jersey, was a zeppelin
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*the tall spire atop New York’s Empire State Building was installed as a mooring post for zeppelins but was abandoned due to fast winds before any attempts were made
*the band Led Zeppelin got its name backstage before a performance, when The Who’s drummer Keith Moon told them their sound would “go over like a lead zeppelin”, meaning fail quickly

BOAT vs. SHIP
BOAT
*commonly used for recreation
*examples- canoes, motorboats, inflatable rescue vessels
SHIP
*large vessel for commercial or military purposes
*examples- cruise ships, aircraft carriers, barges
FERRY
*can be a boat or ship, depending on size
YACHT
*can also be a boat or ship, but with awful music

BULLSHIT vs. HORSESHIT
BULLSHIT
*something perceived as untrue
*from the English word bollocks, which means ‘nonsense’
HORSESHIT
*expressed with anger in an unfair situation
*from English peasants using the word angrily while cleaning actual horseshit from roads

CAT scan vs. PET scan vs. EKG vs. MRI vs. X-RAY
CAT SCAN (a.k.a. CT scan)
*Computed Axial Tomography, meaning ‘to look inside a body using different angles’
*provides full views of a person’s interior- bones, tissues, organs, muscles, any tumors that may be present.
PET SCAN
*Positron Emission Tomography
*uses a small amount of radioactive material to show how tissues and organs work, primarily for cancer screenings or to monitor heart and brain functions
EKG (a.k.a. ECG)
*ElectroCardioGram
*displays a patient’s heart-beat via electrodes attached to the person’s chest
MRI
*Magnetic Resonance Imaging
*uses magnetic fields paired with radio waves to make images of bones and organs
X-RAY
*utilizes radioactive energy beams to produce images
*discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen, who did not know what it was and simply used the letter X to describe it

CONCRETE vs. CEMENT
CONCRETE
*building material used to make things like highway dividers, curbs, etc.
CEMENT
*ingredient mixed with others to make concrete

COLLEGE vs. UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE
*relatively small; offers only bachelor’s and associate degrees
UNIVERSITY
*relatively large; also offers master’s degrees and doctorates
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*several colleges can make up one university

COMMUNISM vs. SOCIALISM
COMMUNISM
*all property is public; people are given basic necessities; government controls everything
*established by 1848’s The Communist Manifesto because authors Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels thought Socialism was too Utopian
*China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam are considered Communist countries, though none has fully realized the notion of public property or money
SOCIALISM
*everything is owned and shared equally by the people, with elected officials overseeing it all
*established during the Industrial Revolution because workers were getting poorer while the higher-ups made a bunch of money
*if a company does well, all employees would receive bonuses.
EXAMPLE
*Think of the main difference this way: You live in a housing community and your neighbor needs a new roof. Communism would require everyone in the community to pay for it while only your neighbor benefits. Under Socialism, everyone in the community would co-own your neighbor’s house, so putting money into it would benefit all.

COUCH vs. SOFA
COUCH
*made for lounging
SOFA
*meant for display or formal sitting

COUNTRY vs. NATION
COUNTRY
*officially-recognized land with distinct borders, permanent residents, and sovereignty (power over itself)
*can also be referred to as a State with a capitalized S, as opposed to the state of Kentucky in the U.S. or Maharashtra in India.
NATION
*is its own land but does not officially govern itself, like Greenland, Bermuda, and the Navajo Nation
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*these criteria were set at the 1931 Montevideo Convention in Uruguay

DEATH vs. GRIM REAPER
(these terms can be used interchangeably)
*the idea of an entity summoning each person at the end of life has existed throughout history *depending on the culture or religion, this being is seen as a murderer, guide, or something else

DEMOCRACY vs. REPUBLIC
DEMOCRACY
*"majority rules"
*laws are passed based on the number of votes they get
REPUBLIC
*people who propose and pass laws are elected by the public
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*the United States bases its government on aspects of both systems, making it a Democratic Republic

DYNAMITE vs. TNT
(AC/DC's Bonn Scott could have been one of these things but not both)
DYNAMITE
*patented in 1867 by Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel, who was seeking a stable explosive and later regretted his invention because people used it to kill others , but used its profits to establish the Nobel Prize
TNT (trinitrotoluene)
*invented in 1863 by German chemist Joseph Wilbrand to be mixed with other substances for various uses, mostly relating to military weapons
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*TNT is more versatile but dynamite has more explosive power and is easier to detonate
*an explosive experiment in their father’s laboratory killed Nobel's brother, Emil

ETHICS vs. MORALS
ETHICS
*principles put in place by a source of authority, such as a job or government
*not necessarily laws but rules and guidelines that are expected to be followed
*doctors and police officers, for example, swear to obey the ethics specific to their professions
MORALS
*what people think is right and wrong or good and bad
*can be influenced by outside factors such as religion or tribal culture
*topics of morals include political issues, how to properly behave in public, and what to eat for dinner
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*The two do not necessarily go together. A defense attorney may morally (personally) object to something a client did but has an ethical obligation to defend the person, per the job description.

FATALITY vs. CASUALTY
FATALITY
*death resulting from an event, such as a car crash or war
CASUALTY
*any injury sustained by such an incident
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*the casualty rate is always higher because it includes fatalities

FILIBUSTER vs. GERRYMANDER
(though quite different, these are both fun-to-say strategies used to give certain politicians and/or parties an advantage)
FILIBUSTER
*tactic involving speaking endlessly employed to block or delay voting on a proposed bill
*United States Congress has allowed this technique since 1806
*there is no limit to how long the talking can go and the current record is 24 hours and 18 minutes by Strom Thurmond in 1957, who was opposing the Civil Rights Act
*the Senator does not have to stick to the issue at hand, evidenced by past ones singing and reading from the phone book
*the House of Representatives allowed filibusters until 1811, when the body was sick of listening to a Representative named Barent Gardenier, who was known to hold the floor at length simply because the House had no legal ability to prevent him from speaking
*if it seems a Senator will continue preventing a vote from happening, the Senate can stop the person by invoking cloture, which is an immediate vote requiring a 60% majority (as opposed to the usual 51%, also known as a simple majority)
*since the 1970s, Senators are no longer obliged to speak at length (or at all) for a filibuster, namely because the Senate has many other important matters needing attention; instead, a filibuster may simply be declared, essentially blocking the bill
GERRYMANDER
*redistricting the boundaries in an area for the benefit of a political party, which has historically hurt non-white voters
*named for James Madison’s vice president Elbridge Gerry, whose surname was combined with ‘salamander’ because the ploy he signed into legislation was said to be slippery
*while it is illegal to explicitly redraw districts for political gain, there have always been ways to do it, sneakily yet within the law

JAIL vs. PRISON
JAIL
*typically houses people awaiting trial or those convicted of petty crimes and serving a sentence of a year or less
PRISON
*typically houses people who have been convicted of high crimes and serving sentences of more than a year
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*both are mostly owned and operated by the state or federal government, though some are private
*death row is always found at a prison

LIVER vs. KIDNEY vs. SPLEEN vs. PANCREAS
LIVER
*largest internal organ; creates the digestive aid bile; stores vitamins and minerals; turns carbohydrates into usable energy (called metabolism)
KIDNEY
*filters waste and toxic materials from the body; cleans blood
*a human typically has two but people born with one stay healthy because it enlarges to make up for lack of the other
SPLEEN
*removes old or damaged red blood cells, which distribute oxygen throughout the body and return carbon dioxide to the lungs for exhalation.
PANCREAS
*creates digestive juices called enzymes; regulates the level of sugar in blood.

MILK- WHOLE vs. 2% vs. 1% vs. SKIM
(commercially-sold cow’s milk undergoes pasteurization, the process of heating raw milk to kill harmful bacteria then quickly cooling it, developed in 1864 by French scientist Louis Pasteur)
WHOLE MILK
*contains 3.25-3.5% milk fat, which means that percentage is the amount of fat in the beverage
*has not been altered from its original form, except for pasteurization
2% & 1%
*when natural milk settles for about two hours, fatty globules rise to the top (because they are lighter in weight than the liquid) and are removed then re-introduced in 2% or 1% quantities
*excess fat is often used to make butter and cream
SKIM MILK
*created when none of the fat is replaced
*has the same amount of nutrients as the other milks but removes the “full” feeling
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*homogenization is the process of reducing fats to very small particles that will disperse evenly within the milk to keep the taste consistent and ensure the fat will not collect at the top
*when milk expires, it is said to ‘curdle’, which means it naturally acidifies, lowering its pH (potential of Hydrogen) level, allowing protein molecules to stick together in clumps called curds that can be used to create curds for cheese and tofu

MURDER vs. MANSLAUGHTER
(all degrees and categories fall under the broader term homicide)
(laws vary between states but these are the general definitions)
FIRST-DEGREE MURDER (a.k.a. capital murder)
*killing someone after a deliberate plan was in place
*example- stalking that ends with the victim’s death
SECOND-DEGREE MURDER
*done without premeditation, meaning without a plan
*example- an argument that escalates to murder
FELONY MURDER (though every murder is a felony)
*accidentally killing someone while committing another crime
*example- a getaway driver running somebody over after a bank robbery
*intent does not have to be proven
THIRD-DEGREE MURDER
*very similar to felony murder and is only an option in Minnesota, Florida, and Pennsylvania
*the other states will commonly charge manslaughter in similar cases
VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
*can be referred to as a ‘heat of the moment’ crime
*example- being provoked- say, by a cheating spouse or agitator in a bar- to the point of uncontrollable rage, without time to cool off from it
*this crime can be difficult to prove because the attacker’s mental state is the main consideration
*if the attacker acts with unreasonable anger, such as road rage or going after someone for casual rudeness, the charge would likely be second-degree murder
INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
*a person’s non-malicious negligence causes a death
*example- checking a phone while driving then hitting a person

OSCAR vs. EMMY vs. TONY vs. GRAMMY
OSCAR
*officially called the Academy Award Of Merit
*presented by the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences since 1929
*male figure holding a sword symbolizes a “crusader” in the film industry
*weighs 8 ½ pounds, stands 13 ½ inches tall, and is made of bronze with 24-karat gold plating
*designed by Irish art director and production designer Cedric Gibbons in 1928 then created by American sculptor George Stanley
*the origin of calling it Oscar is not known for certain but the most-popular hypothesis says that Academy librarian Margaret Herrick simply thought the figure resembled her uncle, Oscar
EMMY
*officially called the Emmy Award
*presented by the Television Academy since 1948
*female figure has wings to symbolize the nine Muses from Greek Mythology and holds an atom to represent science
*weighs 6 ¾ pounds, stands 15 ½ inches tall, and is made of copper, nickel, silver, and gold
*created by television engineer Louis McManus using his wife as the model
*desperate for a name, the Academy initially accepted Immy, suggested by television engineer Harry Lubcke after a nickname for a tube found in early television sets
TONY
*officially called the Antoinette Perry Award For Excellence In Broadway Theatre
*presented by the American Theatre Wing since 1947
*coin-like award features the masks of comedy and tragedy on one side with the winner’s name on the other
*weighs 3 ½ pounds, stands 9 ½ inches tall, and is made of brass and bronze with nickel plating
*created by Dutch architect Herman Rosse
*actress and producer Antoinette Perry was an important figure in theater and the award was given her nickname of ‘Tony’ by Vera Allen, then-chairwoman of the American Theatre Wing
GRAMMY
*officially called the Gramophone Award
*presented by the National Academy Of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) since 1959
*statuette is a metal depiction of a gramophone (phonograph)
*weighs five pounds, stands 8 ½ inches tall, and is made of a trademarked zinc alloy called grammium
*created by American artist John Billings.

PASSPORT vs. VISA
PASSPORT
*proves citizenship of a country and therefore allows one to re-enter it after travelling abroad
VISA
*required by some countries for entry and is an official document attached to one's passport
*can be for tourism or work, depending on one's reason for visiting
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*one can travel with a passport and no visa, but not the other way around

RACISM vs. PREJUDICE vs. BIAS vs. DISCRIMINATION vs. BIGOTRY
RACISM
*one group gaining advantages over another and is seen as superior based exclusively on their race, which is defined as a mix of physical, behavioral, and/or cultural traits
*example- sending anyone of (at least suspected) Japanese ancestry to internment camps during World War 2
PREJUDICE
*a pre-conceived idea about a person based on the “group” they are in, also known as a stereotype
*example- assuming a person is too old to get something accomplished without consideration of whether the individual could actually do it
BIAS
*a weighted way of thinking toward a person, favorably or not
*example- seeing O.J. Simpson as a murderer even though he was acquitted in court
DISCRIMINATION
*treating a person as inferior based on gender, color, religion, etc.; used mostly in workplaces and other situations where people have authority
*example- not hiring a woman solely because she is a woman
BIGOTRY
*practicing any or all of the above without ever changing views
*example- Archie Bunker on 1970s TV show All In The Family

SEX vs. GENDER
SEX
*has to do with biology and anatomy, specifically what is between a person’s legs at birth, not with how the person appears or acts later in life
*a hospital assigns a person as Male or Female, thus determining the sex
GENDER
*how a person identifies, which is why their gender may differ from what their birth certificate says
*conforming to or rebelling against society’s typical behaviors and roles determines a person’s gender

SOCCER vs. FOOTBALL
SOCCER
*the world’s most popular sport
*involves kicking or head-butting a round ball past a goalkeeper into a net
*the term ‘soccer’ is believed to have been coined by an Englishman as some sort of abbreviation for ‘association football’, which did not stop the British deeming it too Americanized in the 1980s
FOOTBALL
*describes the same sport, arguably making more sense because primarily feet are used to play
*in the United States, ‘football’ usually refers to what other countries call ‘American football’, which involves using hands, helmets, a strange scoring system, an oblong ball, and additional factors to differentiate it from soccer
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association
*‘Association Football’ differs from ‘Union Football’, which is the primary league of rugby

STREET vs. AVENUE vs. other things…
(each word falls under the broad term road, which refers to any path between two points that has been designed specifically for vehicular travel)
(these are not official rules and there are many exceptions, though planners often abide by the definitions)
STREET
*buildings on both sides; runs perpendicular to an avenue
AVENUE
*buildings on both sides; runs perpendicular to a street
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*Tucson, Arizona, has stravenues that run diagonally
BOULEVARD
*wide road (usually with a median) for taking higher-speed traffic to or from a residential area
PLACE
*has a dead end
COURT
*has a cul-de-sac (French for ‘bottom of a bag’)
WAY
*generic term for a side street
LANE
*narrow and tends to be in a rural area
DRIVE
*goes near a natural landmark, such as a mountain, lake, or scenic overlook
TERRACE
*has a noticeable slope

SWEET POTATO vs. YAM
(these foods are commonly confused for each other but not as closely related as thought, though the differences are more scientific than practical)
SWEET POTATO
*sweet taste; red or orange appearance; orange or purple inside
*part of the morning glory family of flowering plants
*originates from Central or South America
YAM
*dry, neutral taste; dark skin; white or orange inside
*related to lilies and grass
*native to Africa and Asia.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*these foods are known tubers, which also includes carrots and beets
*the interchangeable usage likely comes from African slaves, who saw sweet potatoes as being similar to their native yams and referred to the softer variety by that name to distinguish them
*sweet potatoes are frequently found in American supermarkets while (true) yams are more likely to be available in specialized and international markets

SYMPATHY vs. EMPATHY vs. PITY vs. COMPASSION
SYMPATHY
*feeling sorry for someone’s situation although you cannot personally relate, such as when a person’s dog is lost but you never had one
EMPATHY
*directly relating someone’s situation to your personal life, such as helping a friend deal with a break-up by using knowledge you gained from one of your own
PITY
*feeling sorry about the predicament of somebody you often do not know personally, like having sadness for homeless people when you have a good living situation.
COMPASSION
*actively trying to help a person who is less fortunate, like giving a card or hug to someone whose relative died

VIOLIN vs. FIDDLE
(same instrument!)
VIOLIN
*played in orchestras for powerful, tonal compositions
FIDDLE
*used in genres such as bluegrass and country for fast riffs and upbeat tempos

WORLD WAR 1 vs. WORLD WAR 2
(there are numerous differences but the focus here is on the basics)
WORLD WAR 1
*originally called The Great War
*fought from July 1914 to November 1918
*introduced trench warfare and tanks
*main catalyst was the assassination of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie by a Serbian nationalist in an attempt to free the Balkan countries from the oppressive rule of Austria-Hungary
*Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, Italy, Romania, the United States, Japan
*Quadruple Alliance (a.k.a. Central Powers): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, which was based in Turkey
*important names: Max von Baden (German chancellor), Franz Joseph I (emperor of Austria-Hungary), Woodrow Wilson (president of the United States), Nicholas Romanov II (last tsar of Russia), Winston Churchill (Britain’s Lord of the Admiralty)
WORLD WAR 2
*fought from September 1939 to September 1945
*main catalyst was the invasion of Poland by Germany
*Allied Powers: composed of many countries but the Grand Alliance leading them was comprised of Great Britain, the United States, the USSR
*Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan
*important names: Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill (British prime ministers), Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman (American presidents), Dwight D. Eisenhower (American general), Josef Stalin (leader of the USSR), Hirohito (emperor of Japan), Benito Mussolini (Italian prime minister), Adolf Hitler (Austrian-born German chancellor and leader, a.k.a. The Führer)
*Key events: the German Blitzkrieg (‘lightning war’) attack on the United Kingdom; Operation Barbarossa, which was Hitler’s attempted invasion of the USSR despite signing the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact; the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; the Battle of Midway; D-Day, when Allied troops stormed France’s region of Normandy; Americans dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

GRAMMAR

 ANNOYING vs. IRRITATING vs. OBNOXIOUS vs. BOTHERSOME
ANNOYING
*person or situation that is not malicious but makes one mildly upset, like a pet peeve
*examples- poor service at a restaurant, listening to someone chew loudly
IRRITATING
*something that is usually persistent and causes noticeable anger
*examples- a leaky faucet dripping, a co-worker constantly asking the same question
OBNOXIOUS
*something offensively unpleasant
*examples- a horrible smell, a person being unnecessarily loud
BOTHERSOME
*something that disrupts but is generally not serious
*examples- stomachaches, spam telephone calls
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*a nuisance is a person or thing that can be any or all of the above

CAN vs. COULD
(using these words interchangeably is fine but there are technical differences)
CAN
*informal verb used in the present tense to ask/grant permission or express ability
*I can (am able to) ask you to leave helpful comments about this blog and you can (have permission to) leave them
COULD
*formal verb used in the past tense to propose a possible outcome
*You could have left some nice comments

COINCIDENCE vs. IRONY
COINCIDENCE
*two seemingly related things happening at the same time
*example- somebody wearing the same shirt you have on
IRONY
*when a result is the opposite of what was intended.
*example- my mother called me a son-of-a-bitch to insult me but actually did so to herself
*situational irony is something shockingly different from what is expected
*example- a dentist having really bad teeth
*sarcasm can be considered ironic with a sense of mean-ness
*example- saying you would love to attend a young relative’s Little League game when you truly do not want to go

CONDESCENDING vs. PATRONIZING
CONDESCENDING
*when the speaker is trying to insult the other person
PATRONIZING
*crafty and subtle, such as how a boss might talk to an employee

FARTHER vs. FURTHER
FARTHER
*when something is physically more distant, like California being farther from New York than Ohio is
FURTHER
*figurative term used to progress something, such as furthering a plan
HOW TO REMEMBER
*if something is described in terms of distance, it is farther

FRAUD vs. DEFRAUD
FRAUD
*noun describing deception for personal gain, or the individual doing so
DEFRAUD
*verb pertaining to the action described above

GENIUS vs. INGENIOUS
GENIUS
*noun describing a person with great intellectual ability
*example- someone who can solve complex math problems in their head
INGENIOUS
*adjective referring to a person or thing that is very clever
*example- MacGyver using everyday objects to escape bad situations

IDIOM vs. PROVERB/ADAGE/MAXIM vs. AXIOM vs. CLICHÉ
IDIOM
*describes something in an unrealistic way
*example- Raining cats and dogs
*to remember, only an idiot would think an idiom was true
PROVERB/ADAGE/MAXIM
*short, true, obvious statement used to explain a situation
*example- A penny saved is a penny earned
AXIOM
*self-evident claim that does not require further proof
*example- 2 + 2 = 4
CLICHÉ
*noun describing any of the above or another word or phrase that is overused to the point of meaninglessness and/or annoyance
*to make it an adjective, simply add a ‘d’- clichéd
*French word meaning ‘to click’
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*If you would enjoy a list of expressions and their meanings, just go here!

INFAMOUS vs. NOTORIOUS
INFAMOUS
*person or thing that is renowned because of bad reasons
*examples- serial killers, a restaurant with foul-tasting food
NOTORIOUS
*can have a positive, negative, or even a neutral tone
*common usage leans toward the darker side but not quite bad enough for ‘infamy’
HOW TO REMEMBER
*notorious begins with the same letters as noteworthy
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*Notorious B.I.G.’s initials stood for Business Instead of Game

SHALL vs. WILL
(while used interchangeably, there is a technical and very grammar-nerdy difference)
SHALL
*used after first-person pronouns, such as I shall and we shall
WILL
*used after second- and third-person pronouns, such as you will and they will
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*the Old English phrase woll not gives us the contraction won’t, which is used instead of willn’t

THAN vs. THEN
THAN
*used for comparison
*example- the grim reaper is scarier than Pac Man
THEN
*refers to time, specifically an event following another
*example- I am going to kill your face, then I will eat a sandwich

THAT vs. WHICH
THAT
*used to define something, add necessary information to a sentence, and supply additional details
*should be substituted with who or where whenever possible
*example- ‘The books that have blue covers are on the table’
WHICH
*can be removed from a sentence without affecting its meaning and is usually preceded by a comma
*example- ‘The books, which have blue covers, are on the table’

THERE vs. THEIR vs. THEY’RE
THERE
*refers to a location
THEIR
*possessive, because the item belongs to them
THEY’RE
*contraction of the words ‘they’ and ‘are’
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*an apostrophe (‘) must replace letters or signify ownership
*never use an apostrophe to pluralize anything, including surnames

USE vs. USAGE
USE
*verb referring to the way something is employed
*example- you might use a pencil to stab someone in the face
USAGE
*noun that describes how something works
*example- common usage of a pencil is writing, not stabbing people in the face

YOUR vs. YOU’RE
YOUR
*possessive, because it belongs to you
*example- you are doing that thing in your own way
YOU’RE
*contraction of ‘you’ and ‘are’
*example- you're the one doing it that way

PEOPLE

 

BLOODY MARY vs. MARY, QUEENS OF SCOTS
BLOODY MARY (a.k.a. Mary Tudor, Mary I of England)
*England’s first queen to rule on her own, from 1553 until her death in 1558
*only child of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive into adulthood
*Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, had the king’s first marriage voided so their daughter Elizabeth would be first in line for the throne
*upon Henry’s death, his son with Jane Seymour (wife #3), Edward VI, ascended but died of tuberculosis at 15
*through scheming, Henry’s sister’s granddaughter, Lady Jane Grey, was then named ruler
*Mary fought to reinstate her parents’ marriage and rendered herself queen with support from the general population
*she also had the 16-year-old Jane executed for treason
*Mary, a devout Catholic, earned the nickname “Bloody” for her extreme methods used to persecute of Protestants
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS
*was part of the Stuart family, grand-niece to Henry VIII, and became monarch of Scotland at six days old in 1542
*eventually married the French dauphin (heir to the throne), followed by her English cousin, then her lover, who was accused but acquitted of murdering the cousin
*had a famous feud with English Queen Elizabeth I (see above), which led to Mary being executed for treason in 1587, after 19 years in prison

DWARF vs. MIDGET vs. LITTLE PERSON
(these terms all describe a person with a height of 4’10” or less)

DWARF
*focuses on people with disproportionate limbs and torsos
MIDGET
*out-dated term considered offensive because it was the word used when advertising “freak shows” at carnivals in the 1800s
LITTLE PERSON
*the most-agreeable phrase when not calling someone with dwarfism by their actual name
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*this condition is medically called dwarfism and affects roughly 0.00009% of the worldwide population, or 651,700 people.

*80% of people with dwarfism were born from average-sized parents

HALF-SIBLINGS vs. STEP-SIBLINGS
HALF-SIBLINGS
*share one and only one parent
STEP-SIBLINGS
*were both alive when one’s parent married one of other’s

LGBT+
LESBIAN
*woman who is attracted to other women
GAY
*man who is attracted to other men
BI-SEXUAL
*person who is attracted to men and women, though the term has evolved to signify attraction to any two gender identities
TRANSGENDER
*person whose gender identity (see SEX vs. GENDER under Common Things above) does not agree with what is on their birth certificate
TRANSVESTITE
*person who dresses and acts as another gender without necessarily identifying with that group
TRANS-SEXUAL
*person who is in the process of looking like the gender they identify with, usually with surgery and/or hormone treatment
DRAG QUEEN
*man who dresses like a woman without identifying as one, typically for entertainment purposes
*example- RuPaul
CISGENDER
*heterosexual person who identifies with the sex on their birth certificate
QUESTIONING
*person who has taken no action to alter their sexual orientation nor gender identity but is not sure how they identify
INTERSEX
*person who is biologically neither sex and may have been born with extra chromosome and/or atypical genitalia
ASEXUAL
*person who identifies as any gender but has a low or non-existent sex drive
PANSEXUAL
*person attracted to anyone, regardless of sexual or gender identity
NON-BINARY (a.k.a. Gender-fluid or Gender-queer)
*person who does not identify strictly as male or female
QUEER
*depending how the speaker says it, an empowering or derogatory term for a person who is one or more of the above, excluding cisgender

PIRATE vs. BUCCANEER vs. CORSAIR vs. PRIVATEER
PIRATE
*blanket term to describe anyone roaming the seas looking to steal treasure and whatever else from unsuspecting ships
BUCCANEER
*worked in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific coast of central America, primarily targeting Spanish ships
CORSAIR
*operated in the Mediterranean Sea and was found on both sides of the war between European Christians and Ottoman Muslims
PRIVATEER
*a mercenary who does piratical deeds for the highest bidder
*Sir Francis Drake worked as a privateer when he attacked ships while sailing around the world

PRIEST vs. DEACON vs. MINISTER vs. PASTOR vs. REVEREND
PRIEST
*ordained specifically into priesthood after years of study and practice
DEACON
*important step toward becoming a priest; performs many of the same services without being fully ordained
MINISTER
*can administer religious rites, such as baptism and marriage
PASTOR
*any of the above
*oversees, counsels, and teaches a congregation as opposed to, say, a monk, who practices religion in a mostly silent capacity
REVEREND
*a person worthy of being revered, meaning respected; similar to calling a judge ‘honorable’
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*a rabbi and an imam are equivalent leaders in Judaism and Islam, respectively, though there are small differences within their denominations as well

PSYCHOLOGIST vs. PSYCHIATRIST
PSYCHOLOGIST
*uses psychotherapy to treat conditions through discussion and/or behavioral intervention
PSYCHIATRIST
*has a medical degree and can monitor patients being treated with prescribed medications

PSYCHOPATH vs. SOCIOPATH
(these terms are not absolute so doctors and mental health workers prefer anti-social personality to describe such people)
PSYCHOPATH
*generally cold, calculating, and manipulative in planning moves to get what they want
*most well-known serial killers have been psychopaths
*business CEOs have also been found to harbor these traits to succeed
SOCIOPATH
*impulsive and nervous, often reacting to situations rather than creating them
*could “snap” at any second for seemingly no reason
*adapting to social norms and fitting in are difficult
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*regarding conscience, a psychopath does not have one and will make decisions without concern for anyone involved and feel no remorse after
*sociopaths know the difference between right and wrong but disregard it and act how they wish

REDNECK vs. HICK vs. HILLBILLY
REDNECK
*describes the skin of a farmer’s tan or burn
*mostly used on people from the American South
*being great at agriculture but not “city” issues made people use the term in a derogatory manner, which still happens today, though some “rednecks” proudly describe themselves as such
HICK
*used in a negative way toward people from any small town
*a former nickname for Richard
HILLBILLY
*describes people from small towns in hilly areas, specifically within the Appalachian Mountains.
*William was a common name in such places

SECOND COUSIN vs. COUSIN REMOVED
SECOND, THIRD, ETC.
*in the same generation
*if their parents are siblings, they are first cousins; grandparents = second cousins, and so on
REMOVED
*can go in either generational direction from each other
EXAMPLE
*My first cousin and I have fathers who are brothers. If my cousin has a child, it would be my first cousin once-removed. Later in life, if that kid has a kid, it would be my first cousin twice-removed.

SOCRATES vs. PLATO vs. ARISTOTLE
(all were famous philosophers in ancient Greece)
SOCRATES (469 – 399 ­_BCE)
*known as the Father of Western Philosophy
*first documented thinker to question morals, ethics, and everyday life
*chose to live in poverty
*never wrote down his thoughts, which were instead recorded by his students
*the Socratic Method is to make people re-think their stances by asking questions instead of simply giving them information. (“Why do you believe Earth is flat?” vs. “Here is a mountain of evidence proving Earth is not flat.”)
*After a crushing military defeat, Athens found a scapegoat in the 70-year-old Socrates, charging him with impiety (disrespecting the gods) and moral corruption of Greek youth. The philosopher could have lived in exile but chose to die from drinking a beverage made from poison hemlock, saying it was his legal responsibility.
*“An un-examined life is not worth living.”
PLATO (~427 – ~347 _BCE)
*student of and primary writer about Socrates
*founder of political philosophy; avid wrestler
*established The Academy, the western world’s first higher learning institution
*first person to describe non-sexual love, commonly known as a Platonic relationship
*most famous idea is the Theory of Forms, which suggests physical things are simply imperfect representations of ever-lasting ideas and thoughts; in other words, material possessions are not as important as knowledge
*the cause of Plato's death is not known for certain but most scholars agree it happened in his 80s while in bed or at a wedding
*“Ignorance is the root and stem of every evil.”
ARISTOTLE (384 – 322 _BCE)
*student of Plato who rejected his Theory of Forms
*founded The Lyceum school of philosophy
*first person to distinguish the many branches of science (biology, geology, etc.)
*believed the Sun revolved around Earth, eels (and some other animals) did not reproduce naturally, and Evolution was a terrible idea
*King Philip II of Macedon hired Aristotle to tutor his son and heir, Alexander The Great, to teach him about more than military triumph
*when Alexander mysteriously died at age 32 without an heir, Greece was pushed into chaos, which led to Aristotle being accused of impiety and fleeing from Athens
*died from natural causes on the Greek island of Euboea (pronounced Eh-via)
*“Those who know, do. Those who understand, teach.”

THE TALIBAN vs. ISIS vs. AL-QAEDA
(all have been labelled militant terrorist groups with varying degrees of loyalty to traditional Muslim values and Sharia law- the idea that the Qur’an should be obeyed word-for-word)
(the factions view Western life as a threat to Islam but disagree in ideology, often leading to conflicts with each other)
THE TALIBAN
*began in 1994, referring to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
*name means ‘students’ in Pashto, the official language of Afghanistan
*draws inspiration from tribal cultures while proclaiming to restore peace, though their strict enforcement of laws usually shows otherwise
ISIS
*formed in 2014 by people who were unhappy with the Taliban’s “loose” interpretation of Islam
*stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
*though they shun most modern conveniences, ISIS has notably embraced social media to recruit new members
ISIS-K
*a branch of ISIS that focuses on the Khorasan Province in northern Iran, most of Afghanistan, and parts of central Asia
ISIL
*stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which includes land in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan
AL-QAEDA
*emerged in 1988 Pakistan
*supports a literal interpretation of the Qur’an
*means ‘the foundation’ in Arabic
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*ISIS is sometimes referred to as the “so-called Islamic State” because they represent themselves, not the state of Islam in general

RELIGION

This list is by no means comprehensive but describes basic beliefs and differences of many organized religions.

AGNOSTIC vs. ATHEIST
AGNOSTIC
*acknowledges the possibility for Nature and/or religion to be correct, regarding the existence of a god or gods
ATHEIST
*as sure no deity can exist as religious people are that at least one can

AMISH vs. MENNONITES
(these sects are very similar in religious beliefs, such as adult baptism and strictly following the Bible) (they lead simple lives, practicing pacifism, always being humble, and achieving goals through community efforts and physical labor)
(dancing and musical instruments are not allowed since they might express individualism and/or pride, though the communities do sing religious and traditional songs in groups)
AMISH
*completely shun modern technology, though they use some in limited ways to interact with non-Amish people
MENNONITES
*often utilize things such as cars, washing machines, telephones, and sometimes birth control
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*Rumspringa is practiced by many branches of both groups and is a year or two during which adolescents experience unfamiliar things in worldwide society, such as travel and electricity. After this, the teenagers choose whether to be baptized or leave their community, with estimates claiming 80-90% of them stay in Amish or Mennonite society.

BUDDHISM vs HINDUISM
(both originated in India and hold dearly the idea of re-incarnation: that souls are re-born in different beings after life cycles)
BUDDHISM
*follows the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who would come to be known as the Buddha
*believes achieving Nirvana (elevated enlightenment) is most important while practicing meditation with humility and wisdom
*there are three main divisions of Buddhism- Theravada, Mahayana (including Zen), Vajrayana- and even a fairly new group of extremists
*the statue of a smiling chubby guy with his legs crossed is not Buddha, who was thin because he practiced self-control
HINDUISM
*has no known founder and strongly believes in the concept of karma: what goes around comes around
*there are many deities in Hinduism but the three main ones are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, who are worshipped in varying degrees by different groups
*the idea of samsara says these deities always have and will continue to create, preserve, and destroy the universe

CHRISTIANITY
(every denomination of Christianity follows the teachings of Jesus Christ)
ANGLICANISM (a.k.a. Episcopalianism)
*associated with the Church Of England (founded by Henry VIII) and its teachings
BAPTISTS
*focus solely on the personal relationship with God
*the Southern Baptist Church originally formed to oppose the Northern Church’s advocacy of civil rights and abolishing slavery
*Baptists do not consider baptism necessary for salvation
CALVINISM
*follows the teachings of John Calvin (and others), focusing on predestination and God’s supreme power over each individual
CATHOLICISM
*recognizes the pope as a special authority figure
EVANGELICALISM
*believes the Bible is inerrant and the only path of salvation is through belief in Jesus
*spreads the message (evangelize) to convert people to being “reborn” with Evangelical beliefs
LUTHERANISM
*adheres to the ideas of Martin Luther, focusing on philosophical thought, such as wine representing the blood of Jesus instead of being his actual blood
METHODISM
*follows the teachings of John Wesley, a former Anglican priest who emphasized social movements, such as prison reform and personal accountability
MORMONISM
*believes God and his creations are all necessary beings
*abstains from vices such as alcohol, caffeine, and non-medicinal drugs
*Mormonism was founded as the Latter-Day Saint movement by Joseph Smith, Jr., who was instructed by an angel where to find and how to translate the Bible’s then-unknown third testament, which told of the relationship between God and early American inhabitants
QUAKERS (a.k.a. the Society of Friends)
*believe religion comes from within each person, who has unique worth in the world
*meet in worship houses, which are distinctly not churches but simple buildings, and sit together silently to be in the presence of God as a community
PRESBYTERIANISM
*value God’s word over human writings and ideas
PROTESTANTISM
*started in 1517, when Martin Luther unveiled his 99 theses opposing the structure of the Catholic Church
*a branch of Christianity itself, there are many divisions of Protestantism as well

ISLAM
(practiced by Muslims, who follow the teachings of the prophet Muhammad and the Qur’an
SUNNI
*comprises 80-90% of Muslims, who accept Muhammad’s next three successors, known as caliphs
SHIA
*comprises 10-20% of Muslims, who believe the fourth caliph, named Ali, was Muhammad’s true successor
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*the percentages are approximate and did not take into account minor Islam-influenced beliefs, such as Sufism and Wahhabism
*Muslims eat ‘halal’ food, which means it is permissible to be eaten according to the Qur’an
*the word ‘Muslim’ means ‘one who submits to Allah’ in Arabic
*in Arabic, ‘al’ means ‘the’, so Allah is the god, not simply a god

JUDAISM
*all people in the Jewish diaspora follow the Torah (the first five books of the Jewish Bible, also known as the Old Testament) as God’s law, which is higher than any law of humanity
*Shabbat is a period of rest and prayer between Friday and Saturday evenings
*the largest movements within Judaism are Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox, which can be (simply) described as progressive, traditional, and fundamentalist
*the Haredi group (including the Hasidic and Yeshivish communities) can be called ultra-conservative and are often recognized by their clothing- black hats and simple outfits for men and modest attire for women
*the languages of Judaism are Hebrew and Yiddish
*Jews generally follow a kosher diet, which means food approved of in the Torah

SCIENCE

 ANNUAL vs. PERENNIAL
ANNUAL
*plants bloom once each year
PERENNIAL
*plants bloom every three or more years

ASTEROID vs. METEOROID vs. METEOR vs. METEORITE
ASTEROID
*large rock floating aimlessly around space
METEOROID
*smaller asteroid
METEOR
*meteoroid that has broken into Earth’s atmosphere but burns up or explodes shortly after
*what people call ‘shooting stars’ are meteors
METEORITE
*meteoroid that hits Earth’s surface

ASTRONOMY vs. COSMOLOGY
ASTRONOMY
*the study of objects in the universe, such as stars and planets, as well as forces like gravity and dark energy
COSMOLOGY (not cosmetology)
*a branch of Astronomy that focuses on the universe as a whole, specifically its origin and potential future

ATOMIC BOMB vs. HYDROGEN BOMB
(both are nuclear weapons because the reactions described take place in the nucleus of atoms and result in huge explosions)
ATOMIC BOMB
*employs fission, which happens when a neutron smashes into an isotope (version of an atom with a different number of neutrons, such as uranium-235) and causes it to split into two smaller atoms
*when each new atom releases neutrons that crash into other atoms, a chain reaction is formed, unleashing a tremendous amount of energy
*the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War 2 (named ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Fat Man’) were fission-based uranium and plutonium weapons, respectively
HYDROGEN BOMB (a.k.a, thermonuclear bomb)
*works with fusion, which happens when two or more atomic nuclei fuse together under immense heat to form the nucleus of a heavier element, resulting in a lot of energy
*hydrogen bombs are several times more powerful than atomic bombs but one has never been used in war so its true destructive power is unknown
*the Sun is a gigantic nuclear fusion reactor, constantly creating helium out of lighter hydrogen atoms

CYCLONE vs. TROPICAL STORM vs. HURRICANE/TYPHOON
CYCLONE
*any low-pressure storm system in which air pressure at its center is low so the surrounding winds blow toward it
*turn counter-clockwise north of the Equator and clockwise south of it
TROPICAL STORM
*formed at sea in tropical regions, this violent system is a huge spiral of smaller storms that can additionally cause tornadoes upon reaching land
*winds must gust less than 74 miles per hour
HURRICANE/TYPHOON
*very powerful storm with winds reaching 74 miles per hour or higher
*called ‘hurricane’ around the Atlantic Ocean and ‘typhoon’ around the Pacific and Indian Oceans

EQUINOX vs. SOLSTICE
(Earth is constantly tilting at a 23.5-degree angle during its orbit around the Sun, giving Earth seasons)
EQUINOX
*12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness within one calendar day
*in the northern hemisphere, the Vernal (Spring) equinox happens around March 21^st and the Autumnal equinox around September 23^rd
*the southern hemisphere experiences these at opposite times
SOLSTICE
*the most and least sunlight received in one calendar day, providing the longest and shortest days of the year
*in the northern hemisphere, the Summer solstice (longest day) happens on June 20^th or 21^st and the Winter solstice (shortest day) is on December 21^st or 22^nd
*again, the southern hemisphere experiences the opposite

FAHRENHEIT vs. CELSIUS vs. KELVIN
FAHRENHEIT
*developed by German physicist Daniel Fahrenheit in 1724
*water boils at 212°F and freezes at 32°F, though the temperature can go below 0°F
CELSIUS (a.k.a. Centrigrade, meaning 100 degrees)
*developed by Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius in 1742
*water boils at 100°C and freezes at 0°C, but the temperature can go below 0°C
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*the formula for Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion is F – 32 x 5 / 9 = C
*the formula for Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion is C x 9 / 5 + 32 = F
*for everyday temperatures, doubling the degrees Celsius and adding 30 gets you close enough to accuracy in Fahrenheit
*the United States, Liberia, and some countries in the Caribbean Sea and Oceania (near Australia) use Fahrenheit while the rest of the world uses Celsius, though a few utilize both
KELVIN
*developed by William Thomson (a.k.a. Lord Kelvin) in 1848
*primarily used by scientists around the world
*has no negative numbers, with Absolute Zero being the point at which everything freezes

LAKE vs. POND
*no scientific difference
*what is referred to as a lake tends to be larger with sunlight never reaching its bottom

MASS vs. WEIGHT vs. VOLUME vs. DENSITY
MASS
*how much matter an object contains
*your bones, organs, and everything else in and on your body make up your mass.
WEIGHT
*the measurement of gravity’s pull on an object
*higher or lower gravity affects your weight on other planets though your body’s mass stays the same
VOLUME
*the amount of three-dimensional space an object (solid, liquid, or gas) takes up
*described in cubic units like feet cubed, grams cubed, etc.
DENSITY
*how much mass an object has relative to its volume
*a shoebox containing 200 marbles has more density than the same shoebox with 50 marbles in it

METRIC SYSTEM vs. IMPERIAL SYSTEM
METRIC
*developed by the French in the late-1700s because they had too many different units of measurement
*Napoleon abolished the system but it was brought back in 1840
*base number is 10 and its units of measurement include the gram, meter, and liter
*this system is (officially) used by all countries on Earth except the three mentioned below
IMPERIAL
*originated in the British Empire in the 1800s
*units of measurement include the pound, foot, and gallon
*this system is only (officially) used in the United States, Liberia, and Myanmar
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*the United Kingdom began using metric units to make trade within Europe easier but still measures distance in feet and miles
*some examples of conversions: 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers; 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds; 1 gallon = 3.78 liters

OCEAN vs. SEA
OCEAN
*the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern are all connected and make up one enormous body of saltwater called the World Ocean
*salinity (saltiness) comes from minerals brought into the water by rivers and cracks in the ocean floor
*the boundaries of the smaller sections were likely designated by early cartographers (map-makers) and made official by the United Nations, though there are many disputed areas
SEA
*part of the ocean that touches land, though notable exceptions include the Caspian, Black, and Dead Seas, which contain saltwater but are surrounded by land on all sides
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*like lakes and ponds, gulfs and bays are technically the same thing – bodies of water surrounded by land except for an entryway
*though there are exceptions, a gulf tends to have a narrower entrance and is larger than a bay

POISON vs. VENOM
POISON
*lethal liquid transferred by touch or being consumed
*Poison is also a rock band formed in 1983, fronted by Bret Michaels of reality TV fame, and has the hit song Every Rose Has Its Thorn
VENOM
*poison stored in an animals’ fangs or stingers and injected into victims
*Venom is a heavy metal band formed in 1978, fronted by Cronos of being-in-a-heavy-metal-band-called-Venom fame, and has the non-hit song In League With Satan

RADAR vs. SONAR
(these systems’ waves are returned after hitting objects, giving observers vital information about them, such as location and speed)
RADAR
*RAdio Detection And Ranging
*first officially used in 1939
*emits electromagnetic waves primarily on land and in air
SONAR
*SOund Navigation And Ranging
*developed in the 1920s
*sends out acoustic sound waves primarily in water

SPECIAL RELATIVITY vs. GENERAL RELATIVITY
(scientific theories developed by German physicist Albert Einstein, which continue to influence many branches of Science, particularly Astronomy)
(scientific theories, such as relativity, gravity, and the big bang, are not facts but widely-accepted ideas that have overcome thorough scientific scrutiny but are not testable because of factors like the enormity of space, inadequate equipment, and gigantic amounts of time required)
SPECIAL RELATIVITY
*published in 1905
*discusses the relationship between an event and its observer
*example- Watching a person on a moving walkway. Going in the direction of the walkway, the person walking 3 miles per hour would appear to move faster to an on-looker due to the addition of the walkway’s speed. If the walkway was moving at 3 m.p.h. and the same person was walking against it, the person would appear to an on-looker to be walking in place. In the walker’s reality, he or she would be walking at 3 m.p.h. regardless of direction.
*E = mc² comes from special relativity and means Energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared. This describes how energy is created inside a celestial body. The speed of light has been calculated at 186,000 miles per second and is abbreviated ‘c’ from the Latin word ‘celeritas’, meaning swiftness.
GENERAL RELATIVITY
*published in 1915
*deals with space-time, which is the combination of the three dimensions of space plus the dimension of time
*example- Meeting a friend at the Empire State Building. You can look up the building’s address to find the first two dimensions- the intersection of 34^th Street and 5^th Avenue in New York City. But does your friend want to meet in the main lobby, on the top floor, or somewhere in between? That information is the third dimension. The date and time will provide you with the fourth dimension to make meeting your friend successful.
*the theory itself says that the gravity of large objects (like black holes) distorts space-time to create the bending of an otherwise-straight beam of light around an object
*general relativity also describes time dilation, which is the idea of time moving much slower (for the observer) closer to the center of a celestial object than, say, in orbit

STALACTITE vs. STALAGMITE
(long, narrow formations in caves created by minerals in dripping water)
STALACTITE
*hangs from cave ceilings
STALAGMITE
*accumulates and “grows” from cave floors
HOW TO REMEMBER
*stalacTites are on Top while stalagMites are on the bottoM

STREAM vs. BROOK vs. CREEK
STREAM
*any flowing body of water, from a small one to raging river
CREEK
*small- to medium-sized stream; one would need a boat to cross it
BROOK
*narrower and shallower than a creek; can be waded (walked) across

TORNADO vs. MONSOON
(these are not very similar but worth noting anyway)
TORNADO (a.k.a. twister)
*huge, rotating funnel cloud stretching from Earth to the sky
*can occur wherever weather conditions are right but happen most often in the southern United States
MONSOON
*yearly season of heavy rain caused by shifts in temperature and wind
*most happen in southern and eastern Asia

TSUNAMI vs. TIDAL WAVE
TSUNAMI
*ocean wave (or series of waves) that can move as fast as an airplane and is caused by an underwater earthquake, landslide, or volcano
*small on the open ocean but the energy of a tsunami as it reaches a shallow coast forces water up into the waves we commonly recognize, which are mostly under 10 feet tall but can reach over 100
*Japanese for ‘harbor wave’
TIDAL WAVE
*caused by tides, when Earth’s gravitational interaction with the Sun and Moon creates tidal surges
*more like a large water movement than a destructive wave, though it can cause damage by flooding

UNUSUAL UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
ACRE
*43,560 square feet, or ¹/₆₄₀ of a square mile; a bit smaller than an American football field
*an average house sits on about a quarter of an acre of land
CUBIT
*21 inches, though not an official unit of measurement
*roughly the distance from a person’s elbow to the tip of the middle finger
*from the Latin word cubitum, meaning ‘elbow’
*in the Bible, Noah’s Ark was 300 cubits long, 50 wide, and 30 tall, measuring around 440 x 72 x 43 feet.
FATHOM
*Six feet
*from an Old English word meaning ‘outstretched arms’ because the unit described the distance between middle fingertips on a man whose arms were extended
FORTNIGHT
*two weeks
*from an Old English term meaning ‘fourteen nights’
FURLONG
*slightly more than 660 feet
*from Old English words meaning ‘furrow’ and ‘long’, depicting the length of one strip of irrigated farmland
HAND
*about four inches
*used primarily to measure the heights of horses, this unit was the average vertical distance of a human palm, from the top of the wrist to the base of the middle finger
HECTARE
*slightly more than 2.47 acres
*from Hekaton, the Greek word for ‘one hundred’ because a square hectare is exactly 100 meters on each side
KNOT
*speed (on water) of around 1 ³/₂₀ miles per hour
LEAGUE
*around three miles in water
*the average distance a cannon could hit an off-shore ship
*the title of Jules Verne’s book 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea refers to distance traveled *in* the water, not depth
LIGHT YEAR
*almost six trillion miles
*light, the fastest known entity, travels around 186,000 miles per second
NAUTICAL MILE
*around 1 ­­³/₂₀ miles in or on water
*equal to one minute of latitude or longitude and used for navigation
*60 minutes in one degree, 360 degrees around the world
PARSEC
*roughly 3.26 light years
*complicated reason for existing; look it up
*short for ‘parallax second’
SCORE
*20
*supposedly from counting livestock and marking a ‘score’ to signify 20 animals
*Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address begins, ‘Four score and seven years ago…’, meaning 87 years prior, in 1776

VACCINE vs. INOCULATION
VACCINE
*developed by English doctor Edward Jenner, who used cowpox to prevent smallpox in humans
*the virus that caused cowpox was vaccinia, which gave us the word vaccination
*originally used solely relating to cowpox but has since described any method of injecting a person with a small amount of a disease so the body could learn how to fight against it.
INOCULATION
*formerly used in reference to plants, specifically grafting them together for various reasons, hoping they would attach and grow as one
*the idea spread from the plant world to largely mean anything that is implanted, including medicine or putting an idea into someone’s brain
*when pus from smallpox blisters was first used to prevent the disease in healthy people, the process was called an ‘inoculation’

WEATHER vs. CLIMATE
WEATHER
*happening outside right now and in the near future
*windy, sunny, rainy, etc.
*meteorologists are often criticized but really are the best people in their field, showing just how unpredictable weather is
CLIMATE
*the averages of weather in a region (local to worldwide) over decades
*saying the 10 highest recorded worldwide temperatures have all occurred since 1998 means the climate has been warmer in that time than since accurate recordings began in 1850.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*when James Inhofe brought a snowball into the Senate, he was trying to show that global warming (change in the climate) was not happening, but only proved that it had recently snowed (weather) in the Washington, D.C., area