Fun with Homophones

by Anna Jones Buttimore

www.annajonesbuttimore.com

Is it role or roll? Through or threw? There are times when getting the right version of a word isn’t that important, but as you’ll see below, choosing the wrong spelling can lead to disaster.

• I saw a Facebook post about a dress-up day at a Primary school. The mother said that the theme was “Grease”. So why was her daughter shown in the picture wearing a toga, and did she arrive at school to find that all the other children were dressed in fifties’ swirling dresses or denim overalls?
• My gym posted a sign explaining that the air conditioning had broken and asking members to “Please bare with us” while they get it fixed. Do they really want everyone to keep cool by getting naked until the AC is repaired?
• This car was parked in front of my daughter Gwen's boyfriend's house. Apparently the car is intended to make your boat go faster. (In case you can't read it clearly, it says "For Sail".)
• An invitation asked that everyone "bring a bored game". Well, the games may have been bored, but the people quite enjoyed themselves.
• An Amazon review said that after reading the sad ending the reviewer "balled my eyes out." Ouch. That suggests that the person was so distressed by the end of the book that he took a kitchen implement most often used on melons and gouged out his eyes. A little extreme, I feel, when the sequel might set everything right again. 

Spelling does matter! If you're not sure which version of the word to use, it might pay to check. Getting the wrong one could change the entire meaning of your sentence.