1. Without further adieu. This got the ball rolling for collecting comical sound-alikes.

2. Let us wet your appetite with a few favorite homophonic gaffes.

3. Poor writing reeks havoc on clear communication and distracts from the main point.

4. It’s a tell-tail sign that writers aren’t necessarily readers. Big mistake.

5. They should hand over the reigns, or at least step back from the keyboard.

6. This doesn’t phase some people who feel that proper writing style, grammar and spelling are optional.

7. It’s a waist of time to them, but good for giggles and groans for us.

8. They will fair well in business—and certainly in the blogosphere—as long as we accept poor writing.

9. In a physical year, we’ll see this word instead of “fiscal.” Yipes!

10. It doesn’t bare a resemblance to convey that we balance the books on a schedule, other than January through December.

11. These examples are taylor-made for confusion and comedy.

And now, for the mother of all funny homophones. Drum roll, please.

12. It’s a crap chute, what you’ll get these days for business writing.

It’s sort of like the “telephone” game, where participants whisper words to each other and, by the end of the game, have completely changed the words. The difference here is these misunderstandings are loud and online. Clarity in writing isn’t a game.

by Kim Phillips