Grr! Sometimes I want to punch the English language right in its stupid face! Why does it create so much confusion by giving us words with similar definitions, separated by just one or two letters?

Only this week did I realize that there are two words for adverse. One for ‘I’m having an adverse reaction,’ and another for ‘I’m not averse to a little hard work.’ Hard work! It’s hard work keep up with all these doofy definitions.

How about these old chestnuts?
complimentary / complementary
stationary / stationery
principal / principle

Luckily, the differences between these definitions were drilled into my head in junior high.

Here are a few others that annoy me:

alternate / alternative (I wrote a post about these two)
turgid / turbid (and a post about these)
immoral / amoral

And don’t even get me started on words that can mean the opposite of themselves! Dubious, fearful, etc.