The two nouns, salon and saloon, come from the same French word; in the past, both words described specific kinds of social venues—places where people gather to talk, play games, listen to music, and perhaps drink alcohol. These meanings are now a little out-of-date, but still in use. A salon, historically, was a specific room in […]

These two adjectives are synonymous. Both mean hesitant—not desiring (to do something). They can be used in all the same ways, except that reticent has a slightly more formal style: I am reluctant to eat fast food, because it is bad for you. I am reticent to write a recommendation letter for this student. Ngram Viewer for […]

These words sound the same, but overdue is an adjective meaning “late,” while overdo is a verb meaning “to do too much”: Jim was overdue to pay his phone bill, because he didn’t have enough money. Maria may have overdone the steaks; they’re not supposed to be black. These sentences show some of the most common uses […]

Although related, these three nouns have very different meanings—all of them refer to surfaces that you put something on. Pallet refers to a simple bed such as a home-made mattress, or wooden platform: She preferred to sleep on a simple pallet stuffed with straw. (bed) Pallet can also describe a wooden platform used to carry things: The men […]

The adjectives, Urban and Urbane, both mean “city-like”—but in different ways. Urban can describe almost anything city-related. An urban environment is a crowded and artificial one, with many buildings and busy streets. We can talk about urban transportation, urban lifestyles, urban housing, urban culture, urban youth, etc. Urbane refers to qualities of people that live in cities—or rather, […]