WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Members of Robert Falcon Scott's 1910-1913 expedition to reach the South Pole.

Frostbite vs. Hypothermia: What’s the Difference?

Here's how to tell frostbite symptoms from hypothermia symptoms.

They are several differences between the two.

Tsunami vs. Tidal Wave: What’s the Difference?

Tsunamis and tidal waves may look similar, but they differ in crucial ways.

Are the flags flying for Memorial Day or Veterans Day? Sometimes, it's tough to say.

What’s the Difference Between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?

Both Memorial Day and Veterans Day are meant to celebrate military veterans, but there's one important distinction you should remember.

A 1920 mural by paleoartist Charles Robert Knight depicting Cro-Magnon people painting on cave walls at Font-de-Gaume, France.

Neanderthal vs. Cro-Magnon: What’s the Difference?

These prehistoric members of our genus, ‘Homo,’ occupy different branches of the human family tree.

Here are the differences between green onions or scallions (left) and chives (right).

Scallion vs. Chives. vs. Green Onion: What’s the Difference?

One of these things is not like the others.

Graveyard vs. Cemetery: What’s the Difference?

Both are places where we bury the dearly departed, and the words are often used interchangeably. But that hasn’t always been the case.

Looks like she's reading a novel, not a novella.

Novella vs. Short Story: What’s the Difference?

As Stephen King once said, novellas are “too long to be short and too short to be really long.”

Gourds (left) and squash (right) are similar, but one shouldn’t be eaten.

Gourd vs. Squash: What’s the Difference?

Matters become more confusing when you add pumpkins to the mix.

Linguine vs. Fettuccine vs. Spaghetti: What’s the Difference?

The three types of pasta are all long, but when and how you use them will make all the difference for your meals.

Shiitake mushrooms (left) are edible, while fly agaric (right) is extremely toxic, causing serious symptoms like dizziness, confusion, and hallucinations.

Mushrooms vs. Toadstools: What’s the Difference?

The definitions of toadstools and mushrooms are a bit intertwined.

The official beverage of fall (sorry, PSL.)

What's the Difference Between Apple Juice and Apple Cider?

They’re both fruit beverages, but apple juice and apple cider are not quite the same thing.

What’s the Difference Between Coconut Trees and Palm Trees?

You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? It may have actually been a different type of palm tree.

Squid vs. Cuttlefish: What’s the Difference?

The sophisticated cephalopods have highly evolved vision and can use jet propulsion to escape predators, but there are a few key differences between squid and cuttlefish.

What’s the Difference Between a Lake and a Pond?

The U.S. government has some ideas.

Grasshopper on the left, swarm of locusts on the right

Grasshoppers vs. Locusts: What’s the Difference?

All locusts are grasshoppers, but not all grasshoppers are locusts.

Centipedes and millipedes are actually quite different.

Millipedes vs. Centipedes: What’s the Difference?

They have many more legs than any arthropod should need, but millipedes and centipedes are different in almost every other way.

A major thunderstorm is about to blow over this vineyard.

Scattered vs. Isolated Thunderstorms: What’s the Difference?

Meteorologists convey the chance of cloud cover or rain in percentages, but what those numbers mean in the real world isn’t always clear—so you’ll often hear terms like ‘scattered’ and ‘isolated’ to describe thunderstorms.

This illustration features elements of both circuses and carnivals.

Carnival vs. Circus: What’s the Difference?

Although the line between the two is sometimes a little blurred, their origins are actually very distinct.

Alpacas vs. Llamas: What’s the Difference?

They’re both in the camel family and live in South America, but alpacas and llamas aren’t the same species.

Ice Cream vs. Frozen Dairy Dessert: What’s the Difference?

There's an ice cream impostor lurking in grocery stores. Here's why it matters.

Chipmunks vs. Squirrels: What’s the Difference?

Here's some helpful information about where chipmunks and squirrels live, what they eat, what sounds they make, and how to tell them apart visually.

'IJBOL' (for 'I just burst out laughing') is an acronym. 'LMAO' is an initialism.

Acronym vs. Initialism: What’s the Difference?

Here's everything you need to know about the difference between acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms.

Wolves vs. Coyotes: What’s the Difference?

Coyotes can sometimes look like wolves from a distance—but there are some key differences between the two species.

‘Burned’ vs. ‘Burnt’: What’s the Difference?

‘Burnt’ and ‘burned’ are both acceptable, but they serve different purposes (at least, they do in American English).