PAIRS AND SNARES V

The words in each pair or group below can be confused. Can you give a simple definition of each one that shows the difference between them?

1. MANTEL - MANTLE

2. SLANDER - LIBEL

3. CRUISE - CRUSE - CRUET

4. AVATAR - ATAVISTIC - RECIDIVISM

5. BULLION - BOUILLON

6. INGENIOUS - INGENUOUS

7. CARAT - KARAT - CARET 

8. DISCRETE - DISCREET

Answers:

1. MANTEL - A shelf above a fireplace

    MANTLE - A cloak and a metaphor for the transfer of power

 

2. SLANDER - Defamatory statement that is oral

    LIBEL - Defamatory statement that is written

 

3. CRUISE - A luxury ocean voyage

    CRUSE - An earthenware pot or jar

    CRUET - A small container for oil or vinegar

 

4. AVATAR - Reincarnation, as of a deity or great teacher 

    ATAVISTIC - Reversion to something ancient or ancestral

 

    RECIDIVISM - Tendency to return to criminal behavior

5. BULLION - Un-coined silver or gold

    BOUILLON - Broth

6. INGENIOUS - Very clever

    INGENUOUS - Naive, without guile

7. CARAT - Unit of weight to measure the size of a gemstone*

 

    KARAT - A measure of the purity of gold (24 karats is pure gold.)*

 

    CARET - An editorial symbol (^) meaning something needs to be inserted

8. DISCRETE - Individually separate and distinct

 

    DISCREET - Careful and circumspect

*CARAT and KARAT are so frequently confused - even by jewelers - that they are now used interchangeably.