Word Distinction: Price, Cost and Charge

Compare price, cost and charge. When talking about the money needed to buy a particular object, the usual word is price:
What is the price of this watch?
Cost is like price, but is used less for objects and more:
a) for services
the cost of having the house painted
b) for general things
the cost of living
the cost of food
The amount of money you pay for something is what it costs you:
How much did this watch cost you?
The person who is selling goods or services to you charges you for them:
How much did he charge you for repairing the car?
Charge means “a sum of money demanded especially for allowing somebody do something”
There will be a small charge for admission to the museum.

Word Distinction: Body Shape

Thin is a general word to describe people who have little or no fat on their bodies. If someone is thin in a pleasant way, we say they are slim (or less common) slender.
I wish I were as slim / slender as you.
We could also say lean (= thin in a strong and healthy way):
a lean, muscular body
If they are too thin, they are skinny (= informal), underweight or, worst of all, emaciated:
He looks very thin/skinny/emaciated after his illness.
The prisoners were emaciated.
Thin can be used for things:
a thin pole
but not usually for flat surfaces (especially surfaces where a person might go) or for openings. Instead we say narrow:
a narrow road / a narrow bed
Fine is used to describe that are thin when you are giving the idea of careful, sensitive work
She drew with a fine pen.
fine silk thread

Word Distinction: Degrees of Cleverness

In Britain, bright and smart (which is sometimes derogatory) are informal words for clever:

She is one of the brightest in the class.

He tries too hard to be smart.

But in the US, clever is often derogatory and bright and smart are used more often and more approvingly:

the smartest boy in class

She's very bright.

In both countries quick is an informal word meaning bright and able to learn fast:

Her children are very quick.

Brainy is an informal word which means very bright, often at academic work, but sometimes suggests that someone is rather odd and does not have a very good social life:

a brainy professor who is hopeless at parties

Brilliant is a very strong word meaning extremely bright:

He's a brilliant mathematician.

Clever clogs is an expression used to someone when they have just made what they think is a very clever remark or suggestion:

"Put it in the other way up." "I tried that an hour ago. Come on, clever clogs, you can do better than that!."

Word Distinction: Clothes & Cloth

Clothes is the usual word for the things we wear:
She’s got some beautiful clothes.

Clothes are made from various kinds of cloth or material, such as wool or cotton:
How much cloth/material will I need for a pair of trousers?

Clothing is a more formal word for clothes.

A garment (rather formal) is a single article of clothing.

A dress is a kind of outer garment worn by women:
What a pretty dress she’s wearing!

In certain expressions, however, dress is a particular kind of clothing:
The men had to wear formal evening dress to go to the company dinner.

Cool Links:
Word List: Definitions and Descriptions of Fabric and Cloth

Word Distinction: Living in a Place

Formal words: dwell, reside and inhabit

* When talking about the place where people live, dwell and reside are used like live:
I live in London.
We visited the wise man who dwelt in the mountains.
People resding abroad not subject to tax.

* Inhabit means "to live in" and is usually used in formal descriptions of animal or human populations:
These monkeys inhabit the tropical forests.
Nomadic tribes inhabit the Northern deserts.

* Short periods of time

When talking about short periods of time, stay and not live is used. To stay generally means to remain as a guest or lodger:
Which hotel are you staying at?
I'm staying with friends.

To sojourn is to reside temporarily in a place:
He was sojourning at [a] hotel in Charlotte Street.

Word Distinction: Past Events

Story and history

A story tells of a number of connected events which may or may not really have happened.
She told the children a story.
History is the real events of the past
We studied history at school.

Historic and historical

Historical characters and events are those which really existed or happened in the past. Historic places or events are those which are thought to be very important in history. Thus the Battle of Hastings (1066) was a historical event (it really happened) and also a historic event (it had an important influence on English history).

Word Distinction: Mixing Things

Mix is the most general word to use about susbstances:
to mix butter, eggs and flour
Blend is often used about the action of mixing in careful proportions to produce a particular taste, smell or other good result:
to blend spices / blended whisky
Mingle is usually intransitive and is used
a) of people:
mingled with the crowd
b) of flowing liquids of different origin, colour, temperature, etc.
The fresh water of the Amazon mingles with the salt water of the South Atlantic.
Merge is intranstitive and is used when one thing becomes lost in another, or two things become one:
an insect that merges with its surroundings
the place where two roads merge
When two or more things combine, they join or stick to each other, but keep their own identities, and may be separated again under suitable conditions:
Hydrogen combines with water to form oxygen.

Word Distinction: Bodily Damage

Wound, injure and hurt can be used when talking about bodily damage. You can be wounded or receive a wound from any attack in which a gun or sharp instrument such as a sword or knife is used.
You can be injured or receive an injury
a) when any other weapon such as a heavy stick or bomb is used
b) in an accident
He was seriously injured in a car crash.
Both wound and injure are more serious than hurt:
She slipped and hurt her knee.
Hurt is usually used for freelings:
You’ve hurt my pride.

Word Distinction: Travelling

The general activity of moving from place to place is travel:
He came home after years of foreign travel.
If a person moves from place to place over a period of time, we speak of their travels:
Did you go to Rome during your travels?
A journey (usually trip in American English) is the time spent and the distance covered in going from one particular place to another:
a long journey by train from Paris to Moscow
Persepolis was ten days' journey across the desert.
A voyage has the same meaning but it is only by sea:
The voyage from England to Australia used to take several months.
A trip is a short journey, or one on which you spend only a short time in another place, then come back:
We'll have time for a trip to France next weekend.

Word Distinction: Fame

Different words are used connected with the concept of fame: famous, well-known, distinguished, eminent, notorious and infamous.
Famous is like well-known but is a stronger word and means “over a wide area”:
the doctor, the postman and other well-known people in the village
A famous film star has come to live in our village.
Distinguished and eminent are used especially of people who are famous for serious work in science, the arts, etc:
a distinguished writer
an eminent surgeon
Notorious means “famous for something bad”:
He was notorious for his delinquent habits.
Infamous means well known for being bad, especially morally wicked:
an infamous criminal/traitor

Did you know?

The B-list actors, celebrities, etc are people who are fairly well known because they are on television, in the newspaper, etc but who are not really famous:
They had invited some B-celebrity to open the new supermarket.

Word Distinction: Leading the Way

To lead is to show the way by going first:
You lead and we’ll follow.
She led them down the mountain.
To guide is to go with someone (who needs help) in order to show the way and explain things:
He guided the blind woman across the road.
He guided the tourists round the castle.
To direct is to explain to someone how to get to a place:
Could you direct me to the station, please?

Word Distinction: Cleaning

In order to clean a room and its contents you can brush any surface at any level using a brush, usually held in one hand.
You can sweep the floor using a brush with a long handle.
You can dust surfaces above floor level using a soft cloth.
You can scrub any surface by rubbing it hard with with a short stiff brush using water.
You can wipe any saurface by rubbing it with a cloth, probably using some water.

Word Distinction: Breaking Things

You cannot break soft things like cloth or paper, but you can tear them, which means “pull apart so as to leave rough edges”, or cut them, which means “divide by using a sharp edge”:
He tore the letter into pieces.
I cut the cake with a knife.
Things made of glass or china may break (or be (get broken) or smash, which means “break suddenly into small pieces”:
The dish smashed on the floor.
Crack means “break without the parts becoming separated”:
You’ve cracked the window but luckily you haven’t broken it.
Burst means “break suddenly from pressure inside”:
She blew up the paper bag until it burst.

Language: Hitting with the hand

Hitting with the hand: slap, smack and punch

Slap and smack are both used about hitting someone with an open hand. Slap is usually used about hitting someone across the face:
She slapped his face.
Smack is usually used about hitting children:
Be quiet or I’ll smack you!
I’ll smack your bottom if you don’t behave!
Punch is used about hitting someone or something with a closed hand:
A boxer tries to punch his opponent.

* Cultural Note:

It is generally believed that women tend to slap and men tend to punch.

Different types of slap

A slap is a quick hit with the flat part of the hand:
He gave her a slap on the cheek.
Different parts of a person’s body can be literally slapped; there are also some language expressions with the word slap and body parts containing metaphorical meanings:
A slap in the face is an action that seems to be aimed directly and intentionally against someone else; rebuff:
It was a slap in the face for her parents when she ignored their advice and gave up her job.
A slap on the back is an expression of praise or thanks for something done; congratulations.
A slap on the wrist is a gentle (perhaps too gentle) punishment or warning:
The law ought to be tougher; we shouldn’t just give criminals a slap on the wrist!

Word Distinction: Objects for Doing Jobs

Device is a general word for any man-made object used for doing work, and is generally used when there is no suitable particular word:
a device for catching mice
I had no idea how this device worked.
A gadget is a small and perhaps unusual device for doing a particular job:
a clever little gadget for opening bottles
A machine usually uses power and is not worked directly by hand:
the machines in the factory
Electrical machines used in the home (such as washing machines) can also be called appliances.
An instrument is an object used to help in exact or difficult work, usually without power:
medical instruments
A thermometer is a measuring instrument.
A tool is an object held in the hand, without power, and used for making things from wood, metal or other materials:
A hammer is one of a carpenter’s tools.
An implement is usually larger than a tool, and is used for other jobs:
A plough is an instrument used in farming.

British & American Usage: Bath and Bathe

A bath (also a bathtub in American English) is a large basin in which one sits to wash the whole body:
a white enamel bath with brass taps
A bath also means an act of washing one’s whole body at one time:
I have a bath every morning. (British English)
I take a bath every morning. (American English)
I’m just running/drawing a bath. (= pouring the water for a bath)
A bath is also a container for holding a liquid used for a special purpose:
an oil bath
an eyebath
The fabric is plunged into a bath of black dye.
Bath also means bathroom in advertisements for houses:
two bedrooms, kitchen and bath
to bath is to give a bath to (a person):
She’s bathing the baby.

Bath and bathe: Usage

In British English, bath and bathe have slightly different meanings. You bath to get clean:
He baths every morning.
to bath a baby
You bathe something to make it clean in a medical way:
to bathe a wound
to bathe one’s eyes
This difference doesn’t exist in American English, which uses bathe for both meanings. In British English bathe is also the word for swimming:
to bathe in the sea

Word Distinction: Earth, Land, Soil, Ground, Floor

The surface of the world, when compared with the sea, is called the land, but when compared with the sky or space it is called earth or the Earth:
After a week at sea, the sailors saw land.
After a week in space, the spacecraft returned to earth.
An area considered as property is a piece of land:
the high price of land in London
The substance in which plants grow is the soil or earth:
a tub filled with soil/earth, or (when we think of it as having an area) ground
a small piece of ground where I could plant a few potatoes
But when we are talking about large areas used for farming, we say land:
There is good land here for growing corn.
The surface we walk on is called the ground, but when this is inside a building, it is the floor:
The horse fell to the ground.
The plate fell to the floor.

Word Distinction: Entering

Both entrance and entry can be used to mean the act of entering. However, entrance is used especially when talking about a ceremony or performance, or about the right to enter.

to make an entrance onto the stage

an entrance examination

Britain's entry to EEC.

"No entry": road sign

Admission implies a physical entrance, whereas admittance implies some sort of procedural or merely formal entry; admission correlates with permission to move into a room or building but admittance correlates with acceptance into a group or organization.

Word Distinction: Shopping & Services

When people go out to buy things in shops, they are shoppers:
a busy street full of shoppers
When people buy things from a particular shop, they are that shop's customers:
The shop-assistant is serving some customers.
If you are paying for professional services, for example from a lawyer or a bank, you are a client, but in the case of medical services, you are a patient. If you are staying at a hotel, you are a guest. If you are using transportation services you are a passenger, though increasingly customer is used in this way.

Word Distinction: Talking About Temperatures

Low Temperatures

Cold suggests a lower temperature than cool, perhaps uncomfortably low:
cold weather
Cool often suggests a pleasantly low temperature:
a nice cool breeze
a lovely cool room (said when you are hot)

High Temperatures

In the same way, hot suggests a higher temperature than warm, or a temperature which would not be comfortable for a long period. Warm often suggests a pleasantly high temperature:
The handle is too hot to touch.
I've caught a cold, so I'm going to take a hot bath and go to bed.
I could lie in a warm bath for hours.
a llvoely warm room (said when you are cold)