Hello everyone!

Today we’re going to examine the difference between hearty and hardy, two similar-looking adjectives that sound even more alike! As with last week’s pair, these two are easy to confuse because their meanings are quite similar, but it will give your writing a real edge if you know the best time to use each one. So let’s dive in!

Hearty means strong, in the sense of being enthusiastic or cheerful; for example, She has a hearty appetite. Hardy also means strong, but in the sense of being robust or able to endure hardship; for example, She was hardy enough to survive the freezing winter. While they both have the same basic meaning (strong), their connotations are drastically different, and so it might give your readers pause to see you talking about somebody’s “hardy” endorsement of a candidate or how the “hearty” young man was able to climb Everest.

So how can you remember which word to use when? The answer this time is in the words themselves! Hearty begins with heart, which can remind you of its indication of cheer and enthusiasm, while hardy begins with hard, which can remind you of its indication of stamina. It’s really as simple as that!

Until next time!

Hello all!

Are you ready to conquer another tricky word pair? Today, we’re going to look at flaunt and flout, which can be confusing because they are similar in almost every way: spelling, pronunciation, meaning, and even part of speech. But there are key differences between the two that make it worth knowing when it’s best to use which one.

Flaunt is a verb meaning to show off, and it usually holds the connotation of showing something off in a manner that violates the rules of politeness in order to attract attention. For example, She flaunted her enormous engagement ring in front of her unhappily single cousin. Flout is a verb meaning to openly break or ignore, and it usually refers to a rule or standard of some sort. For example, She flouted the law when she broke into the jewelry store and stole the ring right in front of the security cameras. Both verbs have a sense of flamboyance about them, where the person completing the action is seeking some form of attention, but flaunt has more the sense of bragging about something while flout has more the sense of scornful disregard for a rule.

And now you can stop flouting the rules and instead flaunt your knowledge of the difference between these two words! Until next time!