Homonyms and Homophones

I have to admit, when I first started this unit I thought it was going to be a breeze. Homonyms are not something I have problems with! Or so I thought. As I got into the assignment, I realized that there are a ton of words that I didn't even realize were homonyms or homophones! For instance, I had never realized there was a difference between loath and loathe. After thinking about it I realized that it makes sense, but up until that moment I never would have been able to tell you which one was which. Others that were new to me were marshal and martial, and principal and principle. And there were words that weren't homonyms, but that I still have a hard time with choosing the right one, such as 'different from' vs. 'different with' and 'compared to' vs. 'compared with.' One thing that this unit definitely taught me was to never assume the word is correct! Always double check!
The editing mistake I found this week was in the book I'm reading, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." It's on page 70, and one of the characters is talking and using semicolon's all over the place. He says, "I am by no means of the opinion that a ball of this kind...can have any evil tendency; and I shall hope to be honored with the hands of all of my fair cousins in the course of the evening..." the sentence continues, and after every independent clause there is a semicolon and a coordinating conjunction, which we learned way back in the first weeks is a no-no. Only one or the other should be used, but not both together.