Oral - verbal

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Oral and verbal are confused more often than they should be by academics.

Verbal comes from the Latin word verbum, meaning 'a word'. Logically, it should be used about any words, whether written or spoken. Since at least 1591, however, it has been used to mean "Expressed or conveyed by speech instead of writing; stated or delivered by word of mouth; oral" (OED). The loss of this distinction seems unfortunate - at least to pedants.

Oral, which comes from the Latin os, oris ('a mouth'), is a much better word to use for words that are only spoken. To distinguish between the two forms of language, it seems easier to use the two English words written and spoken. These are unambiguous.

For a common pronunciation problem with the word oral see Oral - aural