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Artist's palette
paired-down for pared-down When you pare something you peel it or shave bits off it.
palate or pallet for palette "A vast palate to draw from." The palate is the roof of your mouth or your sense of taste. A pallet is used for packing books etc. A palette is a board an artist sets out his colours on, often used metaphorically.
Palma violet for Parma violet The scent is from Parma in Italy, not Palma in Majorca.
panacea for substitute A panacea is a cure-all, not a replacement.
panache for penchant Panache is flamboyance; a penchant is a liking.
parlous for brutal With that change in demographics came a cultural swing toward pacifism, a relaxing of the usually parlous baboon hierarchy, and a willingness to use affection and mutual grooming rather than threats, swipes and bites to foster a patriotic spirit. New York Times, April 13, 2004 Parlous means perilous, dangerous.
parry with the truth Were they trying to say palter - it means haggle but also equivocate. If you parry a question you bat it back.
passed master for past master A past master has been a master in the past.
passing for passably "The acting is passing fair." Amazon review Passing fair is beyond fair; the writer meant the acting was only fair.
past time for pastime Past time is time past; a pastime is something that passes the time.
pastille for pastel "The furniture and fittings are very comfortable in light pastille colour." Bay Hotel Teignmouth A pastille is a jelly sweet; pastels are coloured chalks that come in pale, subtle colours.
pastoral shades for pastel shades They were a happy mélange of cotton jumpers, quillted anoraks and lightweight trousers all in calming, pastoral shades. The Evening Standard June 28, 2007 Anything pastoral relates to shepherds; pastels are coloured chalks.
pasty for patsy A pasty is a pie; a patsy is a scapegoat.
patrimony for patronage Patrimony is inheritance ("Fair patrimony I leave thee, sons!" Shakespeare); in a system of patronage a patron funds an artist or writer.
patsy for popsy A patsy is a fall guy; a popsy is a bit of stuff.
paucity for poverty Paucity is scarcity; poverty is lack of money.
pawn for flog Artists forced to "pawn off" works, Observer June 14 09 If you hand in your valuables at a pawn shop you get a proportion of their value (if you come back later with the amount you can "redeem" your goods). The Obs was talking about artists forced to sell off their works for a low price.
peace core for peace corps A core is the centre of an apple; a corps is a body of men.
peaked for peeked, specs for specks, Jeeps for Jeepers In bandages from which her frightened face peaked out ... energy orbs on his photos (dust specs to the rest of us) and that his video camera kept turning off. Jeeps! Andrew Billen in Times November 5, 2008 You peak when your graph makes a shape like a mountain peak - you've reached the top and the only way is down. To peek is to look out. Jeepers! is a polite way of saying Jesus!
pedal for peddle, pedaller for pedlar "Pedalled with the air of a Victorian gentleman gone irrevocably over to the dark side, Derren's how-did-he-do-that? shtick continues to impress." Guardian May 21, 2004 You propel a bicycle forward by pushing on its pedals. If you're a pedlar, you peddle your wares to the public.
peddle pusher for pedal pusher Pedal pushers are a type of abbreviated trouser.
pedigree for track record His fine performance was actually the result of a long pedigree. In recent years, Hemmings enjoyed pointing out that Blow Up was his 48th film. Guardian December 5, 2003 A dog's pedigree is the list of its ancestors.
pentagon for pentagram The Wicca pentagon. Times 7 Oct 06 A pentagon is a five-sided figure and a famous American building; a pentagram is a five-pointed star used in magic.
per say It means "as such" and it's spelled per se.
pergular for pergola The wooden arcade you find in your garden is a pergola, accent on the "per".
perpetrating for purporting If you perpetrate something you do it; if you purport to be something you are not, you are just pretending.
peruse for pursue To peruse is to read; to pursue is to follow.
petition for partition Guardian Sept 8 03 A petition is an appeal; a partition is a non-load-bearing wall. Many people pronounce these two words the same way.
picaresque for picturesque A picaresque tale is episodic; a picturesque scene is pretty as a picture.
picture perfect for pitch perfect If something is picture perfect, it's as pretty as a picture; if you're pitch perfect you're singing perfectly in tune.
pinball vision for pinsharp, pinpoint If something's pinsharp, it's as sharp as the point of a pin. Pinball is a game.
pin-perfect spins Evening Standard July 31, 2007 Pins are sharp, not perfect. The cliché is pitch perfect, or picture perfect.
pinpricks Their contributions to the world are mere pinpricks. Pinpricks are futile attacks you hardly feel. The writer means something like "drops in the ocean".
pique for penchant His pique in acting escalated after being employed as a page boy with the Stratford-on-Avon Players. (imdb) Pique is petulant outrage; a penchant is a leaning towards, or a yen for. And he was employed as a page boy, not his pique (or penchant).
plaintiff for plaintive The small, plaintiff sound. Evening Standard September 21, 2004 A plaintiff is a legal accuser; a plaintive sound has a complaining tone.
play tribute for pay tribute You pay tribute to a ruler in the form of taxes or elaborate gifts.
pleasantry for pleasantness Substituting pleasantry for bad experiences. Evening Standard June 28, 2007 A pleasantry is a joke; pleasantness is niceness.
plethora for a lot It means too much.
plimsoles for plimsolls The rubber-soled tennis shoes were called after a Mr Plimsoll, like the line.
plumb the truth for plumb the depths You find out how deep
the depths are by dropping a plumb line – a line with a bit of lead on the bottom.
plumbing for channelling With Tsakane Maswanganyi's Irina plumbing the soul singer in her operatically inflected numbers. Independent June 25 09 You plumb or measure depths by letting down a string with a lead (plumbum in Latin) weight on the end.
plummeted for plumbed, inequity for iniquity, deaths for depths [Miss Marple's] mind has plummeted the deaths of human inequity. (imdb) Plummet means to fall a long distance, but "plummeting the deaths of human inequity" has a certain ring.
plummy for palmy "Full of great stories about the great old guard in the plummy old days of his rich, old town." Palmy days is the cliché. Perhaps the rich people spoke in plummy voices.
pocked for decked a cartwheel pocked with props department straw Private Eye Jan 2008 Pocks are spots that turn into pits (think small-pox); to deck is to decorate.
pomade for pompadour Pomade is a hair product; a pompadour is a hair style called after Madame de Pompadour whose do was actually quite conservative.
pompous for pretentious, bogus With some saying they sometimes felt "smug" and "pompous" giving their kids organic foods to take to school. Richard Benson and Alex Bilmes, joint editors of Class of 2004 A pompus person humourlessly stands on his dignity; pretentious people are affected; bogus ones are fake.
pony up for cosy up Guardian February 4, 2008 To pony up is to pay; to cosy up to someone is to cultivate their acquaintance.
poor beagle for porbeagle Guardian July 8 06 A porbeagle is a kind of shark and has nothing to do with indigent hounds.
Porches for Porsches Seize their Porches! The Web on "robber bankers".
pore through for comb through The 33-year-old Finnish biologist, aided by genealogists, has pored through centuries-old tomes. Scientific American You comb through evidence; you pore over texts.
portentous for pretentious or pompous A portentous event presages disaster - when the Saxons saw Halley's comet they thought it was a portent of evil, and lo, the Normans invaded. Someone pretentious is affected. They may be pompous as well - it's a combination of smug, over-serious and high-and-mighty.
posed for poised You pose for a portrait; if you're poised you hold yourself in readiness.
posit for posset To posit is to propose; a posset is a pudding or hot drink.
postulate for pontificate To postulate is to suggest; to pontificate is to lay down the law.
poultry for paltry A poultry sum. Poultry are chickens; a paltry sum is negligible. They sound very alike.
pouring or pawing over for poring over (a book) You pour liquid out of a jug; if you paw someone you handle them offensively; to pore over something is study it closely.
prancing for posturing When you prance you dance about or curvet like a horse; when you posture you strike attitudes in an affected manner.
pray on for prey on To pray is to petition a deity; lions prey on antelopes - they hunt them down and eat them for dinner.
precipitous for precipitate A precipitous drop is steep; precipitate means too fast.
precis for premise Based on the precis that an unmarried woman will seek her most valuable possession in a fire, whereas a married woman will grab her baby instead. A precis is a summary; a premise is a proposition, or a given. And it implies that her baby isn't the married woman's most valuable possession.
predomatinely It's predominantly, but I like "predomatinely".
preoccupation for preconception A preoccupation is an obsession; a preconception is a prejudice.
presaged for predated Something presaged has been predicted; if X predates Y it happened first.
presumptiveness for presumption For all the bile that has been flung at Clinton alleging her presumptiveness... The word is presumption and it means overconfidence.
Priory of Scion for Sion A scion is a sprig, as in plant; the Priory of Sion is an imaginary secret cult.
prism for spectrum Millions who don't believe in the left-wing prism. Will Lewis, editor of the Daily Telegraph, Sept. 07 A prism is a glass toblerone that splits white light into the colours of the rainbow; the spectrum is the colours of the rainbow.
Procul Harem for Procul Harum Procul Harum were a popular jazz combo of the 60s.
prodigy for progeny, protégé for prodigy There would also be regular reports prepared of each bird's progress and its prodigy. Guardian Mar 22 00 Streeter is an an unlikely dance protégé. Observer May 7 09 A prodigy is something outsize, unusual or precociously talented, like an infant prodigy; your children are your progeny; a protégé is someone with a protector.
protocol for prose "The story gets curiouser and curiouser and makes for an ever more gripping read, despite its sometimes awkward protocol style and the author's naivete." Protocol is a set of rules for behaving correctly in the presence of the Queen; prose is the opposite of verse.
proviso for premise A proviso is an "always provided that..."; a premise is a proposition.
puckish for perverse
pulling punches for delivering punches, or packing a punch If you pull a punch you don't deliver it with full strength. If you pack a punch it means you have it in your metaphorical knapsack or suitcase.
purposefully for purposely Purposefully means determinedly; purposely means on purpose.
purview for purlieu, province Purview means scope; a purlieu is an area of influence; a province is a district.
pusillanimity for sneering The familiar Naipaul tone of regretful pusillanimity. Observer Sept 14 08 Pusillanimous means cowardly; Naipaul is infamous for being snide.
put through the ringer It's a wringer: thing you dry clothes with, nothing to do with bell-ringing.
puts great score in for sets great store on, which means "values highly".
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