English is a sloppy language

English has many examples of words that are spelled quite differently from one another but that have a similar sound when spoken, and that mean nearly the same thing.

Here are some examples:

bang and clang
bind and bond
blare and glare
burble, bubble, gurgle, and gargle
chock and chuck
cinch and clinch
clap and clop
click and clack
dandle and dangle
dank and damp
dribble and drizzle
elegant and eloquent
flip, flap, flop, plop, and glop
foundering and floundering
gabbing, gabbling, and babbling
hank and hunk
harping and carping
hiccough and hiccup
jabber and jibber, and gibberish and blabber
ketchup and catsup
persnickety and pernickety
pratfall and pitfall
prick up your ears, perk up your ears, and pick up your ears
pronking and pronging
sassy and saucey
sled and sledge
slob and slop
sniff and snuff
snip and snap
snooty, snotty, and snouty

Jules Berman

tags: synonyms, synonymy, language, spelling, orthography, pleionyms, plesionymy, onomatopoeia, wordplay, writing

For Logophiles Only

Here is a list of words that are similar to one another, in sound (phonetics) and meaning Some of these are onomatopoeic (for which the word is the phonetic spelling of a sound, as in clang and clank). Others are similar-sounding synonyms that are spelled differently (as in gray and grey). Still others are words with similar spelling and similar meaning, that are distinct from one another (as in elegant and eloquent).

bind and bond
blare and glare
burble, bubble
burst, bust
careering, careening
casket, basket
champ and chomp
chock and chuck
cinch and clinch
clap and clop
clang and clank
click and clack
dally and delay
dank and damp
elegant and eloquent
flip, flap, flop, plop, glop, and slop
flouted, flaunted
foundering and floundering
gabbing, gabbling, and babbling
gloom and glum
grey and gray
gurgle and gargle
harping and carping
hiccough and hiccup
jabber and blabber
ketchup and catsup
onomatopoeic and onomatopoetic
persnickety and pernickety
posh and plush
pratfall and pitfall
prick up your ears, perk up your ears, and pick up your ears
pronking and pronging
roil and rile
sassy and saucey
scrabble and scramble
scribble and scrabble
slaver, slavver, and slobber
sled and sledge
sniff and snuff
snip and snap
snooty, snotty, and snouty
splash and plash
spouted, sprouted
suppliant and supplicant
unloose and unleash
wobble and waddle

By the way, logophiles are people who love words.

---

- Jules Berman

key words: onomatopoeia, plesionyms, similar sounding words, synonyms, rare diseases, common diseases, orphan diseases, genetic diseases, jules j berman Ph.D. M.D.