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Free rein 🏇
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Oftentimes when we’re clearing up confusion about a group of homophones, we need to cover each word in the group. That’s not the case with today’s group of same-sounding words with different meanings: We’re tackling reign and rein, which, of course, both sound like “rain” (the word, not the actual weather event). And while you rarely see “rain” confused with “reign” or “rein,” it's tricky to remember the difference between the latter two of these homophones. One reason is probably that they both have to do with control. When used as a verb, “reign” means to exercise sovereign rule or be the predominant force. It can also be a noun, meaning a royal authority or the time that such an authority rules. As a noun, “rein” is the strap you use to control an animal (typically a horse). It can also be used as a verb: She reined in her horse. To add to the confusion, “take the reins” and “hold the reins” mean to take control and wield power, respectively. So yes, it is correct to say that a monarch takes the reins at the start of her reign 🤷♀️ “Reins” is correct in these idioms because they originate from horse management. Similarly, the phrase is free rein, as it also comes from horseback riding, meaning the reins on a horse are held loosely so that the horse can move around as it pleases. If you’re feeling confident after today’s lesson, take a stab at our commonly confused words quiz. Hit reply to let us know how you did. ❤ Team Stylebot
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Hone your writing skills and never use "hone in" again. Get writing tips, have fun with words and learn something new in a one-minute read each week by signing up for Stylebot’s newsletter.
Happy Friday! We’re changing it up a little bit this week. Instead of a writing tip, we have an announcement: Stylebot has been acquired by Indiegraf, the operating system for independent local media. This means that our style guide – the source of all the writing tips in this newsletter – will be available to more than 180 local newsrooms via Indie Editor, Indiegraf's built-in editing assistant. Learn more about Indie Editor here. We’ve so enjoyed bringing you writing tips every Friday, so...
Dear Stylebot subscribers, we have some important and exciting news: Indiegraf, the operating system for independent local media, has acquired Stylebot. That means Stylebot's technology is becoming Indiegraf's built-in editing assistant, Indie Editor. What that means for you: Stylebot’s products (our Slack, Teams, Chrome and Google Docs integrations) will remain operational until April 28. By the end of that day, all accounts will be closed and your access to these products will end. Refunds:...
Have you ever had to alter a draft of your writing because you confused two homophones? It's easy to do online, but harder if you're using expensive stationery. And what about those instances where you didn't even realize you were using the wrong homophone? Knowing you've been doing it wrong for years can feel like a hangar-size mistake. Any idea where we're going with this? 😉 You might have spotted three sneaky homophones in the sentences above: alter, stationery and hangar. Each has a...