babbling blue

There are a group of words that I sometimes get confused by. They all seem to look similar . . . well they all start with the same letter anyway. And that is good enough to confuse me. I assume that if I have a problem with something then surely someone else does as well. So as a service to others, I am posting these words and what they mean. You can thank me later.

ethereal 1. of or relating to the regions beyond the earth 2. lacking material substance (and some others I find less interesting)

If you encounter this word, you probably play computer games or read fantasy books or work on computer networks. . . or read blogs written by geeks. Regardless, you’re probably a big nerd.

ersatz being a usually artificial and inferior substitute or imitation

Like the ersatz Coach bag you got from that shop located in a back alley. . .

ephemeral 1. lasting one day only 2. lasting a very short time

A team may manage to take the lead over the New England Patriots, but the lead is destined to be ephemeral. (That sounds like something Dennis Miller would have said.)

eldritch strange; unearthly; weird; eerie

This is the trickiest one for me. I always know it when I see it, but I can’t usually pull it out of my brain on demand. In fact I started writing this post and then couldn’t come up with this last word. So I saved the post as a draft and moved on. And then the next day, I encountered the word in a book I was reading. A ha! This is another word you’re probably encountering in fantasy books.

Bonus Word (not starting with e):
funereal 1. of or relating to a funeral 2. befitting or suggesting a funeral (as in solemnity)

Basically, it’s taking “funeral” and making it into an adjective. Now you know!

This has been your vocabulary lesson for the day. You’re welcome!