Enjoy two lessons in one today: a quick quiz on commonly confused words packed in proverbial wisdom. As a bonus, if you can answer all 20 questions correctly, you'll be eligible to take The Big Quiz on Commonly Confused Words.
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Instructions:
Complete each proverb by selecting the correct word from each highlighted pair. (To review any of these confusables, follow the links to our Glossary of Usage: Index of Commonly Confused Words.) When you're done, compare your answers with those on page two.
You have three minutes, starting now.
- Affects or Effects
Bitter pills may have wholesome _____. - Carat, Caret, or Carrot
Never bolt your door with a boiled _____. - Coarse or Course
The _____ of true love never did run smooth. - Council or Counsel
A fool may give a wise man _____. - Desert or Dessert
Rats _____ a sinking ship. - Faint or Feint
_____ heart never won fair lady. - Fair or Fare
All's _____ in love and war. - Flaunting or Flouting
One courts misfortune by _____ wealth. - Higher or Hire
The _____ a monkey climbs, the more he shows his rump. - Loose or Lose
You snooze, you _____. - Palates, Palettes, or Pallets
No dish pleases all _____ alike. - Pores or Pours
It never rains but it _____. - Precedes or Proceeds
Bad news _____ by wings; good news hardly walks. - Quell or Quench
Wine in the bottle does not _____ thirst. - Rains, Reigns, or Reins
If passion drives, let reason hold the _____. - Shear or Sheer
It is _____ folly to expect justice from the unprincipled. - Tide or Tied
Time and _____ wait for no man. - Wade or Weighed
Words must be _____, not counted. - Ware, Wear, or Where
If the shoe fits, _____ it. - Who's or Whose
Never slap a man _____ chewing tobacco.
When you're done, compare your answers with those on page two.
