100Common

Uncommon Words
F Michael Kloran
100 Common
Uncommon Words
F Michael Kloran
100 Common Uncommon Words grew out of the experience of making
vocabulary cards for my classes while I was teaching at Nihon
Fukushi University. The goal was to inspire interest in language while
getting my students to use a wider range of vocabulary and build their
confidence in using it at the same time. Over time, my illustrations and
teaching improved as well as my ability to integrate my images into
my classes regardless of the topic. Now, I share them with teachers
around the world through my website: My English Images.com and
The Vocabulary Blog.

Any collection of vocabulary terms for students should, I believe,

focus on language they are going to encounter and use the most in
the real world. But as you can guess from the title, the terms in this
text were chosen because they are more infrequently encountered and
yet well known to native speakers. In fact many of the words here are
likely to be misused or misspelled even by native speakers.

My hope is that the study of these unusual words will help students
identify simpler ways of saying the same things while increasing their
vocabulary and love of language. If these images are a help to you and
your students, then I’ll truly be pleased. FMK
 Mxyzptlk

(10 commonly
misspelled words)
misspell - verb
to spell a word
incorrectly.
misspelled
misspelled - adj

Usage: That’s right,

misspell is one of the
most common English

SAMPLE
words that people
make a mistake with
when writing. Watch out
for that double s and
the double l. Also, there
is a variation in the past
participle. Both
misspelled and
misspelt are correct.

I can’t believe I misspelled so many easy words on my test!

If not for my spell checker I would ____________ most of the words in my essay.
- _______________________________________________________________________

espresso espresso - noun

a coffee drink made by
forcing steam through
finely ground coffee
beans.

Usage: Because of the

rush it gives you,

SAMPLE
espresso is often
misspelled and
mispronounced as
“expresso,” as in
express. Espresso
comes from Italian and
unfamiliarity with the
word when a sudden
coffee shop boom hit
the U.S. helped this
mistake develop.

A girl at the café laughed at me when I ordered an expresso. She said it’s “espresso.”
My wife wants to buy an ____________ machine but I think they are too expensive.
- _______________________________________________________________________
 separate
separate
verb: to divide into
smaller parts / groups.

adjective: individual,
apart from others.

Usage: This word is

often misspelled due

SAMPLE
to a change in the
pronunciation. As a
verb the final “a” is the
same as in “ate.”

In the adjective form

the final “a” sounds
like the i in “written.”

She had to separate the children because they wouldn’t stop screaming and fighting.
My garage is ___________ from the rest of the house. It’s not attached.
- _______________________________________________________________________

atheist atheist - noun

a person who does
not believe in gods,
spirits, ghosts or
anything supernatural.

Usage: The A and E

in this word are both

SAMPLE
long which should
help you remember
the spelling.

An atheist doesn’t
believe in anything
supernatural. To talk
about one specific
thing, just say, “I don’t
believe in _______.”

I’m an atheist because it’s impossible to prove god’s existence but science is easy to prove.
She’s not an ___________. She doesn’t believe in ghosts but she ________________ god.
- _______________________________________________________________________
 believe
believe - verb
to think an idea or
opinion is true.

Usage: Lots of words

that use ie get
misspelled.

Remember the

SAMPLE
general spelling rule:

i before e, except
after c.

(except as in words
like neighbor and
weigh.)

I don’t understand why my sister believes in ghosts, Santa Clause and god.
Some people ____________ that our ghosts all live in the sky after we die.
- _______________________________________________________________________

queue queue
noun: a line, usually
of people or cars.

verb: the act of

forming or getting into
a line.

SAMPLE
Also: line up, wait in
line, fall in line, a row

Usage: This word is

more common in
British English and
rarely used in the U.S.
It is often mistakenly
written as “cue.”

We queued for the movie for almost an hour before we got in.
Long ____________ are really annoying. I hate having to ____________ for coffee.
- _______________________________________________________________________
et cetera. - adverb
the rest, there are too
many to say, or list.

Also: and so on, and

so forth, et al., and
what have you, and
what not

SAMPLE
Usage: This word is
often misspelled as
ect. and often
mispronounced as ek-
setrah. Be careful to
say it correctly and
your spelling will
follow.
etc.
The little boy said he wanted a train, and a robot, and a video game, and a baseball etc.
I lost my bag with all my things. My computer, my mouse, charger, iPad ___________.
- _______________________________________________________________________

embarrassed embarrassed - adj

a feeling of shame or
social awkwardness.

Also: red-faced,
ashamed, humiliated,
awkward

SAMPLE
Usage: This is a word
we use every day but
the double r, and the
double s, are both
common spelling
mistakes. I like to say
students should never
feel embarrassed
about asking for help.

In fourth grade Steve was really embarrassed because he had an accident.

You shouldn’t feel ____________ . Everyone has accidents sometimes. Right?
- _______________________________________________________________________
 rhythm - noun
regular, repeated
pattern of sound or
rhythm
movement.

Also: beat, cadence,

tempo, pulse

Usage: The h’s and

SAMPLE
the y in this word
sometimes make
spelling it a little hard.
The letters thm, at the
end of the word sound
like “thim” and that
also makes it a bit
tricky. Practice saying
it again and again.

I loved the White Stripes. Meg White was a great drummer with incredible rhythm.
The drummer Max Roach had great ____________ and timing.
- _______________________________________________________________________

diarrhea diarrhea - noun

liquid stool that tends
to come frequently.

Also: the runs, the

trots, Montezuma’s
revenge, turista

SAMPLE
Usage: No one likes
this often misspelled
word or the condition.
Can you blame them?
A lot of the names for
this condition are very
informal slang like
turista which comes
from Spanish for
tourist.

After drinking the local water I felt sick. Diarrhea ruined my vacation.
It’s not funny! I had ____________ all week and it was awful!
- _______________________________________________________________________
Quick Quiz 8 - word find.

T A F J S E P E R A T E S E B Q I E H

D D Q G H O R K L P X R H Y T H I M K

B I M I S S P E L L E D F D Z Q T B H

E E T Y D G J K R K G R Z G K S N A D

L P L D I A R R H E A D Q T O E H R R

SAMPLE
I Q S I F G H J Y S F H U K R P T R E

V A A K E C G E T E Z C E R K A H A X

E T W D G V G H H X S Y U U 8 R Y S P

E H F F Y H E K M S O P E X C A R S R

H E H R Y E G H F J T J R R J T D E E

K I E M B A R A S E D G J E K E N D S

K S R E T C E T E R A I O S S S R O S

L T T O E X P R E N Q I U U E S P D O

D I A R E A S B L I E V E E C T O S Q

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