If two words sound the same when spoken, they can be the source of much confusion and misuse. We see this every with words like there and their, but it can be even more common with uncommon words. Even when the pronunciation of the two words is different, as is the case with sale and sell, people still seem to get them confused.
For today’s edition of Grammar 101, we take a look at another pair of words that can be easily confused. Do you know the difference between bizarre and bazaar? These are two very different terms with very different meanings.
Bizarre is an adjective used to modify or describe a noun. If something is bizarre, it means that it is grossly unconventional, unusual, or strange. You could say that Carrot Top has a bizarre haircut or that Pablo Picasso’s cubism is about as bizarre an art style as it gets.
While it can carry a negative connotation at times, the term bizarre does not necessitate a negative connotation. In the Picasso example above, I am simply stating that his style of painting is odd and unconventional.
Bazaar, a noun, is a shop or series of small shops where different items are sold. Most commonly associated with the street markets of Asia, the stereotypical bazaar will look like a narrow street with tent-like kiosks set up on either side, selling jewelry, clothing, and other goods. You can also have a “bazaar” where items are sold for charity, possibly raising money for a church.
And yes, it is very much possible to have a bizarre bazaar, though most bazaars are quite bizarre by conventional North American standards. You want to have good grammar, so don’t get the two words confused.
I do love a bizarre bazaar. Much better than a fair fair. 😉
Are you serious?! LOL…I’ve never seen anyone get these two mixed up. But then again, my speeling is prefect.
Actually, the only word I ever have trouble actually spelling is definitely. I always spell it “definetely”. I always have to remind myself that it’s FINITE rather than FINETE.
I can understand people getting confuse over “sale” & “sell” but “bizarre” & “bazaar”?
They are so different in meaning it would be really bizarre for people to mix them up.
I agree that if you have any level of intelligence you have learned the difference in these two words an wouldn’t confuse them. On the other hand, there are a lot of people on the wrong side of the intelligence level.
When we read Michael’s grammar lessons we need to understand that the readership of this blog is on the higher end of the scale so we see these post differently than that average person.
I would think that most of the confusion would be in the spelling and not the meaning.
People may know the difference between the words, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they know there is a spelling difference. Enough people confuse the spelling of “there” and “their” without confusing their meaning.
But “there” and “their” are only off by 1 letter and easier to confuse. “Bizarre” and “Bazaar” are totally different and the first sylabllable is even pronounced differently. Biz versus Ba is the exact way to tell them apart.
Do you guys notice the title and content of this post is “Grammar 101” and NOT “Spelling 101”?
Spelling goes hand in hand with grammar like this. A lot of the time a person will use the wrong word in grammar because they don’t know the correct spelling.
well .. again .. thanks a lot for this grammar tips… honestly i need a lesson about using on and in.. i will thanks a lot michael..