Readers: A homophone is a word that can sound the same but be spelled differently and have a different meaning. And how.

1. I ate a big bowl of chile, loaded with chile peppers, when I flew down to the beautiful nation of Chili.

Chile is the country. The pepper is a chili; plural chilies. The dish is chili in the U.S., chile in Spanish culture.

2. A highlight of Atlanta, capitol of Georgia, is the gold-covered capital dome.

Capital is the city. Capitol is the building.

3. The navel academy’s midshipmen threw naval oranges at the West Point cadets.

Gaze peacefully at your belly button, grasshopper, and you will know the answer. It’s your navel. The Middies are naval.

4. I was buying a discrete sound stereo system with stolen money, so I had to be discreet. 

The way we wrote it is correct. “Discrete” means separate and distinct. “Discreet” means careful and judicious.

5. My caramelized onions complimented the steaks and drew complements from my guests.

Switch compliments/complements.

6. The school principle said the suspension was proper, saying it was the principal of the thing.

Switch principal/principle.

7. She wrote her “Dear John” note on her best stationary, while riding a stationery bicycle.

Paper for writing is stationery. It’s a stationary bike.

8. The medicine has no side affects. We except credit cards.

No side effects.” “We accept.”

9. The president of the university made an illusion to the allusion of prosperity.

Say he “alluded to the illusion” and you see where you goofed.

10. The refugees immigrated from Syria and emigrated to France.

“Emigrate” is going out. “Immigrate” is going in.

Watch this on video! https://youtu.be/8fp0P4ZIK00

Next time: The difference between lightning and lightning bugs

Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong," features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police:” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we properly can credit you. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com