Particular - peculiar

Writers - and speakers - have been known to confuse particular and peculiar. This is a confusion that has existed for half a century. It is an understandable confusion for tired writers to make: two longer words starting with 'p-' and ending '-ar', with '-c-'s, '-u-'s and '-l-'s between can be mistaken. Furthermore, their meanings overlap at times. For further detail about the meanings, see particular (meaning) or peculiar (meaning): but put as simply as possible,

• particular means 'detail', and the two adverbial constructions in particular and particularly mean 'in detail'; and
• peculiar means 'strange', 'odd' or 'remarkable'. Peculiarly means 'strangely', 'oddly' or 'remarkably'; the adverbial phrase 'in peculiar' is no longer current.