For most of us, English is still a challenge. With all its irregularities, exceptions and rules, it is a very difficult language to master. With that in mind, rediff.com presents our English Bloopers series. Here, we publish written and spoken mistakes spotted and sent to us by observant Get Ahead readers.

It's a great way to review the basics, clarify a few issues and share a laugh or two! So, stop by three times a week for another fresh batch of English Bloopers.

Today, we present the first half of a list of bloopers that have become so common, they're hardly even recognised as errors! Later this week, we'll publish the second half, so stay tuned.

Let's get started:

What was said	What was meant
a stigmatism	astigmatism
abolishment	abolition
acrosst	across
ad homonym	ad hominem
aerobic numbers	Arabic numbers
affidavid	affidavit
afterall	after all
all goes well	augurs well
all of the sudden	all of a sudden
alphabeticalise	alphabetise
altercations	alterations
alterior	ulterior
anachronism	acronym
ambliance	ambulance
anticlimatic	anticlimactic
anchors away	anchors aweigh
antivenom	antivenin
aperpo	� propos
apples and organs	apples and oranges
arm's way	harm's way
artical	article
as a pose to	as opposed to
ashfault	asphalt
assessible	accessible
assumably	presumably
at leased	at least
balling out	bawling out
based around	based on
batter an eyelid	bat an eyelid
bear the blunt	bear the brunt
beautify a saint	beatify a saint
beckon call	beck and call
begs belief	beggars belief
besiege	beseech
beyond approach	beyond reproach
bids well	bids fair, bodes well
binded	bound
bled like a stuffed pig	bled like a stuck pig
blessing in the sky	blessing in disguise
blindsighted	blindsided
a board of director	a member of a board of directors
boom to the economy	boon to the economy
bonafied	bona fide
bored of	bored with
bowl in a china shop	bull in a china shop
bran new	brand new
built off of	built on or upon
buttox	buttocks
BVD player	DVD player
by in large or enlarge	by and large
Cadillac converter	catalytic converter
card shark	cardsharp
carport tunnel	carpal tunnel
case and point	case in point
cease and decease	cease and desist
cease the day	seize the day
chalked full	chock-full
cheap at half the price	cheap at twice the price
chester drawers	chest of drawers
chicken pops	chicken pox
chomp at the bit	champ at the bit
chow	ciao
circus sized	circumcised
clearified	clarified
cohabitate	cohabit
collaborating evidence	corroborating evidence
component	opponent
conversate	converse
conservative effort	concerted effort
copywrite	copyright
copywritten	copyrighted
coronated	crowned
coronet	cornet
cortage	cortege
coruscating	excoriating
a couple guys	a couple of guys
coup de gras	coup de grace
cream de mint	creme de menthe
crimp my style	cramp my style
crossified	crucified
culvert sack	cul de sac
cumberbun	cummerbund
cut to the chaff	cut to the chase
darkest before the storm	darkest before the dawn
dead wringer	dead ringer
debockle	debacle
deformation of character	defamation of character
deja vous	deja vu
detrius	detritus
diabolically opposed	diametrically opposed
dialate	dilate
differ payment	defer payment
diswraught	distraught
documentated	documented
doggy dog world	dog-eat-dog world
do to	due to
down the pipe	down the pike
dresser draw	dresser drawer
drownded	drowned
drownding	drowning
drudged up	dredged up
dry reach	dry retch
electorial college	electoral college
end justifies the meaning	end justifies the means
enervate	energise
escape goat	scapegoat
esculate	escalate
exasperated	exacerbated
excape	escape
exhilarator	accelerator
expecially	especially
expeculation	speculation
expediate	expedite
exuberant price	exorbitant price
eyesaw	eyesore
fair to midland	fair to middling
far and few between	few and far between
fast majority	vast majority
fate accompli	fait accompli
final throws	final throes
first come, first serve	first come, first served
flustrated	frustrated
foilage	foliage
foul swoop	fell swoop
gave me slack	gave me flak
gentile manners	genteel manners
gentlelady	gentlewoman
genuses	genera
glaucomole	glaucoma
glaze over	gloss over
gleam	glean
gone array	gone awry
gorilla warfare	guerilla warfare
got my dandruff up	got my dander up
greatfruit	grapefruit
harbringer	harbinger
heared	heard
harps back	harks back
hearst	hearse
heart-rendering	heart-rending
Heineken remover	Heimlich maneuver
here on end	here on in
High Iraqi	hierarchy
hobbiest	hobbyist
hold down the fort	hold the fort
hurtles to overcome	hurdles to overcome
howsomever	however
I seen	I saw or I've seen
ice tea	iced tea
imbedded	embedded
flaw in the ointment	fly in the ointment
hare's breath	hair's breadth
high dungeon	high dudgeon
ideallic	ideal or idyllic
impaling doom	impending doom
imput	input
in another words	in other words
in lieu of	in light of
in mass	en masse
in sink	in synch
in the same vane or vain	in the same vein
incredulous	incredible
indiscrepancy	discrepancy
insinnuendo	insinuation or innuendo
insuremountable	insurmountable
in tact	intact
interduce	introduce
internally grateful	eternally grateful
intragul	integral
it's beggars belief	it beggars belief
ivy tower	ivory tower
jack of all traits	jack of all trades
jaundra	genre
jest of the idea	gist of the idea
just assume	just as soon
kindly	kind of
kit gloves	kid gloves
lacksadaisical	lackadaisical
lamblasted, landblasted	lambasted
land up	end up, land
landlover	landlubber
lapse into a comma	lapse into a coma
larnyx	larynx
laxidaisical	lackadaisical
lively hood	livelihood
love one and other	love one another
low and behold	lo and behold
ludicrust	ludicrous
make ends meat	make ends meet
make head or tale	make head or tail
masonary	masonry
mean time	meantime
menestrate	menstruate

MORE English bloopers

If you'd like to share common bloopers you come across when people speak/ write in English, do mail your list, along with their correct alternatives to englishbloopers@rediffmail.com -- we'll highlight them right here as a helpful guide to those trying to improve their English. Also, make sure you include your FULL NAME, AGE, OCCUPATION and the CITY you are based in.