"Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton would likely be heavily engaged in reigning in Wall Street."

When I encountered that sentence in a newspaper story, I conjured the absurd vision of Sanders and Clinton wearing crowns while ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange.

The intended verb, of course, is "reining in," meaning "controlling, checking," as in "reining in a horse." But, because the homophones "reign" (to rule) and "rein" both refer to power and control, it's easy to mix them up.

It's helpful to remember that the "g" in "reign" signals its connection to other royal words such as "regal" and "regent."

Here's another pesky pair: "tack" and "tact." Consider this sentence from a recent newspaper story: "HBO's film is expected to take a retrospective tact framed by Madoff as he serves his 150-year sentence."

Here, the intended word is "tack," a direction or approach, not "tact," meaning "diplomacy, finesse." As with "reign" and "rein," these two words not only sound alike, but also overlap slightly in meaning. A teenage girl with tact might try a new tack to wheedle the car keys from her dad. (Not that my own teenage daughter would ever try this.)

When I face the choice between these two words, I try to think of "tack" as a chosen new "track" in the water or in a plan being mapped out.

"Undue" and "undo" don't sound exactly alike; they're pronounced "un-DYOO" and "un-DOO," respectively. But they're often switched, as in this newspaper sentence: "A new administration could just undue everything the Obama administration has done."

The adjective "undue" means "excessive, unwarranted," while the verb "undo" means "to reverse" or "to loosen." I try to remember that "undue" has an "e," as in "excessive."

Further exacerbating our verbal torture are "exacerbate" and "exasperate." A recent letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal exemplifies the confusion: "The pressure could have the reverse effect and exasperate the situation."

"Exasperate" means "to irritate, annoy," e.g., "The student's repeated lateness exasperated the teacher." "Exasperate" always refers to the reaction of a person; you can't "exasperate" a situation.

The letter writer meant to use the verb "exacerbate," meaning "to make worse," which always refers to situations or conditions, not to humans. Remember, you "exasPERate" a PERson, such as your key-less teenage daughter.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Photo credit: Jonas Löwgren