There are quite a few words and technical terms that we incorrectly use on a daily basis. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise; most people don’t spend their days scrolling through dictionaries. We pick up the meanings of words through intuition, and intuition can sometimes get a little muddy and opaque.

Poison and venom

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There’s no shame in not knowing the difference between poison and venom. Most people tend to conflate the two. But, technically speaking, there is a difference. Poison is at boxing that gets into the body by penetrating it somehow. This can happen via swallowing, inhaling, absorption, and so on. Poisonous animals tend to be passive-aggressive: they won’t directly attack a human; they’ll release their poison as a result of being eaten, touched, or disrupted. Venom, on the other hand, is a specific type of poison. It must be actively injected via a bite or sting. Venom needs a wound in order to enter the body.

ABS AND CORE

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We often hear people talking about abs. And yet, the abs are but one muscle group. The core, on the other hand, encompasses a wide variety of muscle groups. Some experts tend to define the core as everything except for the arms and legs. The 6-pack muscles help perform crunches, while the core performs three-dimensional, wide movements. The core plays the role of the body stabilizer. Crunches and back extensions are great for building the abs, while planks, deadlifts, and pushups are good for the core muscle chain.

Sarcastic and sardonic

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Sarcastic expressions are direct. They are forward and blunt. They often don’t require much wit as they are just expressions of insult. Sarcasm has derogatory content; it aims to insult the person it is directed towards. While sarcasm is usually expressed in words, sardonic expressions can be conveyed through visual cues or gestures. To be sardonic is to be cynically humorous or scornfully mocking. It involves expressing an uncomfortable truth in a clever (and not necessarily malicious way). Sardonic remarks can be made about oneself.