Excepting/Accepting

I believe it was a couple years ago when I saw a sign that said we should except others. I don’t approve of that attitude. I would prefer to accept others. I’m pretty sure that what I saw was a mistake.

It makes a lot of sense that someone could make this mistake. The words are very similar. People might read the sign and not even catch the mistake. II would be shocked if no one else read the sign before me and didn’t notice anything wrong.

Even though there is an obvious potential for confusion, this is a pretty big error. Think about what these two words mean. Accepting is inclusionary. Everyone can get along despite their differences. Excepting is exclusionary. Anyone who is different is treated as an outcast (a feeling that I am very familiar with – perhaps this sign wasn’t an error).

We frequently hear about words that people confuse with others. I don’t think that I have ever seen these two words on one of these lists. I have no idea why. If you are going to use these words, double check your text. A simple slip can drastically alter what you are trying to convey.