“The ship entered dire straights.”
Confusables Entry 470 / 1011 60-second read
Straight vs. Strait
Without bends versus a narrow sea or difficulty.
The comparisoni
“The ship entered dire straits.”
The ruleii
¶
STRAIGHT = not bent. STRAIT = narrow sea / difficulty.
STRAIGHT (AIGHT) means direct or unbent. STRAIT (AIT) is a narrow sea channel — or trouble, as in "dire straits."
Memory aidiii
Remember it like this
dire STRAITS — the band spells it right."