Writing Tip: MORE Frequently Confused Words

More homophones and homophone-like words that are frequently misused:

     Pique as a verb, to irritate, "wound the pride of," or "arouse (curiosity, interest, etc.)"; as a noun, ill-
          feeling or resentment -- 'the rustling sound of the plastic bag piqued the kitten's interest.'  The verb
          form of pique will always have an object that receives the action --> the subject is the plastic bag, the
          verb is pique, but the thought cannot culminate without describing WHAT was piqued, i.e., the kitten's
          interest.
     Peak as a verb, "reach the highest value," crest, top out, culminate; as a noun, it is the highest point or a
          projecting part of something larger -- 'the fever peaked in the night, breaking just before dawn.'  In this
          case, though the sentence presents a time line of events, they are not necessary to express the complete 
          thought contained in just the subject, the fever, and the verb, peaked.  This verb requires no object. 

     Roll is to rotate or move "by turning on an axis" -- 'the old saw about rolling with the punches is rarely
          comforting when the situation becomes difficult.'
     Role is a function, or an actor's part -- 'since I've been in this role, the department's revenues have
          doubled.'

     Peace of Mind is tranquility or mental calm -- 'he found that an organized desk imparted peace of mind
          when stress became too great.'   
     Piece of [one's] Mind is a "sharp rebuke or lecture" -- 'the teacher was sorry for letting day's frustrations
          lead him to give an unlucky student a piece of his mind with little provocation.'

(All quoted definitions are from The Oxford Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus (Second Edition))