They are tricky, tricky, tricky - words

“The word ‘comprise’ was used incorrectly in your article,” said one of two men standing before me.
“What? How?” I was embarrassed and confused. I had written a brief article for the church newsletter, probably about some social action group, the sentence probably read something like, “The group was comprised of people of all ages and from all walks of life.” And I was probably kind of proud of my short, informational article. Now I was crushed. These two men were figurative giants in my life- both were scientists, highly regarded in their fields and highly respected by me. And now they were discussing an error in my writing.
“It’s a common mistake,” they may have said (it’s been a long time). I know one of them said, “Use ‘comprise’ as you would use the word ‘embrace.’” Otherwise use “compose.”

I have not forgotten that lesson, my embarrassment ensured that (or is it “insured”?). I pride myself in the correct use of words, but I think that was just the starting point for me realizing that I had a lot more to learn.

Many years later I was editing that newsletter when a writer used the word “remunerate.”
“That’s not a word!” I thought to myself. Fortunately, I looked it up and found it:
Remunerate: Make payment to
So just because it is hard for me to say, doesn’t mean it isn’t a real word.
Of course, then there is the word I knew, and I thought it meant “make payment to” but it didn’t:
Renumerate: means on some web sites "to recount" but I can't find it in either of my hard dictionaries, so, is this an accepted word?

Sigh.

Fortunately, many words are misused frequently and so there are lists to help us out. These are some I found:

Grammar Slammer Windows,Common Mistakes and Tricky Choices

Writer's Style Guide: Tricky Words

The Inigo Montoya Guide to 27 Commonly Misused Words