Both of these words refer to elements of old aristocratic European culture which do not appear in America often today, but which are not as uncommon in the UK.Croquet is a sport in which players hit a wooden ball through small gate-like objects, called wickets, on a lawn (a field of grass)—such as the lawn […]

Credible means “believable;” it may describe an idea, text, or person: I found neither the author, nor his book, credible; he uses dishonest arguments. Creditable, on the other hand, means “worthy of credit”; credit, here, means praise or respect—usually for an action or product, not a person: Your efforts to help the poor are quite […]

A councilor is a member of a council, such as, typically, a city council (a council is a group of people who meet to make decisions or advise, usually, industry or government): I will not vote for him for city council, because he is too self-centered to be a good councilor. A counselor is a […]

Corrode and Erode both describe gradual destruction—of two different kinds.Erode means “to gradually destroy, reduce, or wear down, by abrasion”; abrasion means any action that removes tiny pieces of something bit by bit, such as the action of wind and water on rocks: The Utah desert contains many beautiful rock formations created by wind or […]

These two adjectives mean almost the same thing, but there is a difference.  Continuous describes something that goes on without pausing, stopping, or breaking.  Continual refers to something that happens very regularly—so that it might feel almost continuous: Their continual arguing drove everybody crazy.There is a continuous highway going along the entire west coast of America. […]