I had a different post in mind for this week, but as I was reading a Harry Potter fanfic (not going to name it to protect the author from embarrassment), one of these words was used incorrectly to mean the other. So, here we go with the first installment of Homonym Help.
Homophones, of course, are words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings, origins, or meanings. The meanings/definitions I’m using come from the Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus.
Today’s homophones are pore (in its meaning to read or study something closely) and pour (to flow in a steady stream).
Basically, you pour water out of your glass, but you pore over your textbooks. Oddly enough, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone use pore when they meant pour, but often pour is used when it should have been pore.
Every time I see the misuse of pour, it takes me out of the story by making me think someone’s pouring their drink on their books, and that – as Hermione Granger would tell you – is just wrong. (Grin!)
