Weary or wary?

[Flippetydip]

On loads of threads at the moment I'm seeing people being "weary of doing things" meaning they are slightly anxious about doing things rather than they are knackered.

I always thought that weary meant tired and slightly fed up and wary meant slightly anxious.

Am I wrong? Not that I care but if I've been labouring under the wrong illusion for 46 years I'd like to educate myself! Or is it a regional thing?

Correct op

writingexplained.org/weary-vs-wary-difference

You are correct. Weary is tired, mentally usually I thought. Wary is you are cautious about something.

They could be weary of doing things warily, I suppose.

You’re right.
Wondered and wandered is another one I’m seeing frequently mixed up on Mumsnet.

Haha yeah I see and hear this a lot.

You’re totally right. Maybe depends on where you’re from as whether you get it wrong - for example, if you have a scouse accent wary sounds exactly the same as weary, so you might well end up typing the wrong one in that context

This reminds of a radio show that once asked people to text in SPAG errors that annoy them. I texted them saying people misusing 'lose' and 'loose' annoys (e.g. 'I don't want to loose my money'). The presenter read my text out on radio but said that one wasn't annoying and to get over it.

Whatever.

And then the following week he had a rant about people saying 'loose' when they mean 'lose'!

I hear it a lot from Americans so assumed it was an Americanism?

I find this very annoying and happening more and more.
Weary=tired
Wary=cautious/nervous
They are NOT pronounced the same.

I saw this on a thread this morning and I'll admit to being annoyed.

Weary = tired
Wary = nervous

I'm shocked at how few people know this.
Extra annoyance points for people who SAY "weary" when they mean "wary".

OK, good, glad I'm not getting mildly irritated over something that is actually my error which would not be the first time

Its possible to use weary in that context. I'm weary of having to take extra precautions. I'm tired of having to take extra precautions....Ues I'm an American

I've noticed it a lot lately. I've also noticed a lot of dogs 'wondering' as well.
I did ask once if one was wondering about where it was wandering but I fear it was lost on the author of the post.

Can I mention the sudden use of ‘gotten’ when plain, old ‘got’ would do just fine.

Definitely and defiantly is another one which winds me up!

You are correct saying “weary” when you mean “wary” is inexplicably very annoying.

Other misuses that grate :

Discreet and discrete
Advice and advise
Less and fewer.

I wince when used incorrectly but don’t say anything

Woman and women is just horrendous.

In my personal experience my friends from the US use weary and leary in a different way than I do.

I got sent a questionnaire to my business about how my company was 'effected' by the virus.

Nine times they used 'effected' - and 'affected' once! HOW DID THEY GET IT RIGHT ONCE AND NOT REALISE?!?!

Don't get me started on the American usage of 'on' instead of 'at' - 'on Christmas', 'on the weekend'.

Makes my eyeballs dry.

if you have a scouse accent wary sounds exactly the same as weary

We can definitely differentiate, I'd say 'wary' as 'wair-ee' and 'weary' as 'weer-ee'.

This is very random but I remember Britney being interviewed by Richard & Judy on their show (channel 4, afternoons I think?) using weary/wary the wrong way round & it annoyed me then & still does about 20 years later

I was thinking about posting this same question recently, how do people not know the difference?

No doubt there will now be a host of posts about dyslexia and not having English as a native language

Not everyone has the same education, particularly in the written word so I really think we should be tolerant, we know what they are trying to say. As for US /UK differences, well culturally the language has evolved differently so that just the way it is . Gotten was perfectly correct in Shakspeare's time. We changed it the US didnt.
We have had 3 years of intolerance and tribalism, I see a glimpse of hope with the mess we are in that some people are having a reality check about what really matters. I am no saint, but am making a concerted effort to feel less irritated. I have noticed that little acts of kindness are getting more common too as we are all in roughly the same mess. Maybe we can also aim for less tribalism in our politics or is that a stretch too far?

I’ve noticed this. It annoys me. I also see a lot of ‘his’ when they mean ‘he’s’. How on earth has that come about?!