The error is tiny.
Almost invisible.
These words seem identical, both in appearance and in meaning.
It is by grasping this nuance, which embodies the French language so well, that we avoid using one word for another.
Indeed, an
"aggregation"
is not the same thing as an
"accreditation"
.
“Adhesion”
designates something other than
“adhesion”
, and the verb
“abjurer”
is a bit different from
“adjurer”
.
The editorial staff invites you to come back to these
"false friends"
of the French language, so as not to make any more mistakes.
“Annoyance” for “annoyance”
These two words seem twins.
However, their meaning is radically different.
“Annoyance”
is synonymous with irritation.
It designates
“the action of annoying or getting annoyed, the state that results from this action”
, we read in the dictionary.
Speaking of a physical sensation, it is also a
"slight irritating pain"
, and in the psychological field, a
"both nervous and moral irritation"
.
Nothing very exhilarating then.
This meaning is very far from
"annoyance"
!
This word designates the “manners tending to please or to seduce by repeating themselves”: a word, a look, or fluttering of the eyelashes... Everything that is specific to a gallant context, to attract the attention of his interlocutor.
“Speech” for “elocution”
These paronyms certainly have one thing in common: both are borrowed from Latin forms derived from
loqui
, which means
"first"
, notes the French Academy.
Be careful however, their similarity is limited there.
"The speech"
is a
"
brief speech given by a personality
"
.
In antiquity it was a harangue, a leader's exhortation to his troops, then the name of a pope's speech to his assembled cardinals.
By extension, a
“harangue”
is therefore
“a small speech of circumstance”
.
Not to be confused with
"elocution"
, which is "a way of articulating sounds while speaking", of choosing and arranging the words by which one wants to express oneself.
"Amoral" for "immoral"
Someone
"amoral"
is
"a stranger to morality"
, notes the thesaurus.
“The prefix -a, which was used to form this word, marks deprivation, specifies the linguistic troubleshooting bank.
An
"amoral"
person is
"naturally indifferent to ideas of good and evil"
, without this necessarily being pejorative.
Unlike the word
“immoral”
, which qualifies one
“who has a conduct contrary to the principles of morality, which is contrary to morality or good customs (in its form or in its content)”
.
The prefix
im-
, variant of
in-
,
"not"
, which was used to form this word, marks the negation.
This term always has a negative value.
“Captieux” for “heady”
“This wine is strong, it has a captious fragrance”
.
Error in sight.
Confusion between what is
"captious"
and
"heady"
is common.
Here is a little reminder not to fall into the trap again.
In the sentence quoted above, the appropriate verb is
"heady"
, which comes from the Italian
capitoso
, from the Latin
caput
,
-itis
,
"head"
, specifies the Larousse.
He says to himself
“of a wine, an alcohol that goes to your head, a perfume, a very strong, intoxicating smell.”
We also speak of
"heady charms"
, that is to say
"which excite the senses"
.
The meaning of
"captive"
is conversely less pleasing.
From the Latin
captiosus
,
“deceiver”
, it qualifies
“what aims to deceive, by appearances of reason, of truth”
.
This is what is
"fallacious"
, reads the dictionary.
“Expertise” for “experience”
“Demonstrate expertise”
,
“strong in one's expertise”
... These phrases are popular, in business, during a job interview, or in everyday life. But the two words do not have the same meaning. An
"expertise"
, which comes from
"expert"
, is
"the examination of something with a view to its estimation, evaluation, etc."
. We thus speak of
“the expertise of an apartment”
. It is also used in the field of art, when examining a work, a piece of furniture, etc., to attest to its authenticity. It should not be used with the meaning of
"experience"
, which it no longer has since the end of the Middle Ages, underlines the French Academy.
"The Experience"
is synonymous with
“competence, know-how”
.