Monday’s “Jeopardy!” show gave me the inspiration for today’s ChanteSez.
People often get “ambiguous” and “ambivalent” confused.
- Ambiguous = unclear, something that could have a couple different meanings
- Ambivalence = contradictory feelings, something that could go either way
Depending on the situation, you could have a “big” misunderstanding if something is ambiguous.
And sometimes, there are no two ways about a situation. Here’s an example:
Although she had remarried, the way she smiled at her ex-husband was ambiguous. Her current husband didn’t hold any ambivalence. He didn’t like it one bit.
Use “big” as your memory aid to know which word to use.