Have you ever read a caption or a comment on Instagram and wondered, “What are they trying to say?” Have you ever watched a TikTok and asked yourself, “What are they talking about?” There are a lot of words and sayings that people toss out that are so close, but not quite right. The following is a list of a few of those mistakes, along with the correct form and usage of the terms!

1 – “Supposedly” and “supposably”

Surprisingly, these are both real words with official definitions. According to Merriam-Webster, “Supposably is a real word and separate from supposedly.” Supposably means ‘as may be conceived or imagined’ and is the adverb form of supposable, which means ‘capable of being supposed or conceived.’

On the other hand, supposedly usually means ‘allegedly.’ So what people usually mean to say is “supposedly”; like someone might say “supposedly, Pennsylvania is shutting down it’s restaurants for three months again.”

2 – “I couldn’t care less” and “I could care less”

This one is a little harder to explain. When you want to tell someone that what they’re talking about doesn’t matter and you have better things to worry about, the correct phrase is, “I couldn’t care less.” Saying “I could care less” actually implies you care enough that there is room to care less, thus showing you care at least a little taking away the zing to your zinger.

3 – “A part” and “apart”

This is a very common mistake, especially present on social media; these actually mean different things. For example, when you’re trying to say you were involved in something you say “a part.” For example, I am a part of the newspaper staff.

When you’re trying to say the opposite, that you weren’t involved in something, you say “apart.” We decided to stay apart to help socially distance. This is because the definition of apart is “(of two or more people or things) separated by a distance; at a specified distance from each other in time or space.”

4 – “Lose” and “loose”

These words are just setting people up for failure because what looks like one’s pronunciation is actually the others. Lose is when something goes missing and you can’t find it. Loose is the opposite of tight.

If you lose your homework, your teacher might let an angry sigh loose.

5 – “Wreak havoc” and “wreck havoc”

Wreak means “cause (a large amount of damage or harm)” and havoc means “widespread destruction”, so, therefore, wreak havoc means to cause widespread destruction. As in this pandemic wreaks havoc on my social life.

Now, wreck means “destroy or severely damage (a structure, vehicle, or similar).” This means saying “wreck havoc” is redundant since wreck means to cause destruction and havoc means destruction.

6 – “For all intents and purposes” and “all intensive purposes”

“For all intents and purposes,” sounds very similar to “for all intensive purposes”, and it’s easy to see how this mistake has been made for so long. Plus, the incorrect phrase seems like it would make sense.

Despite our flawed logic, the correct usage is “for all intents and purposes,” meaning “in a practical sense.” For example, one might say, “escape from in-school suspension was, for all intents and purposes, impossible.” 

7 – “Case in point” and “case and point”

When you’re trying to provide an example of something, “case and point” is incorrect; the correct phrase is “case in point.” Think of it as trying to show a case (or example) that makes your point, not the case and your point.

To call back to an earlier example, this pandemic is wreaking havoc on my social life. Case in point, we can’t go to dances or basketball games this year! This common mistake can probably be traced back to “check and mate,” which originates from chess.

8 – The application of the word “ignorant”

It is a common misconception that ignorant can be used to describe someone who’s acting like a jerk. The official definition is “lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated or unsophisticated.” So ignorant is actually used to describe someone who doesn’t know something. And isn’t this all of us at times? I mean, I’m pretty ignorant about football!

9 – “Nip it in the bud” and “nip it in the butt”

When you want to prevent something from happening before it gets out of hand, you say “nip it in the bud.” This phrase refers to cutting off (nipping) the bud of a plant to keep it from blooming. Nipping the bud kills it before it gets big, much like the situation in which you are talking about.

For example, canceling school events and indoor gatherings really nipped my senior-year social life in the bud! 

10 – “Regardless” and “irregardless”

Although the word irregardless might make anyone sound intelligent because of its length, it is simply not a word. Regardless is what you’re looking for, to mean “without paying attention to the present situation; despite the prevailing circumstances.”

I, for one, am trying to have a good senior year regardless of this pandemic! When you add the prefix “ir-” the becomes a double negative taking away the intended meaning of the word.