Grammar Moses: To dissemble is not to take this column apart

Sometimes - when I'm talking to myself, because, really, who else would listen to me for more than 20 column inches once a week? - I wonder whether words that are very similar are synonyms, whether they have minor differences or whether they have nothing to do with each other.

The following four pairings entered my inner dialogue: ineptness versus ineptitude, plenty versus plenitude, gentility versus gentleness, and dissemble versus disassemble.

Those of us who have an expansive grasp of vocabulary (put me down as a borderline case, moniker notwithstanding) have a broader menu of words to be used for just the right occasion. Consider the language as a symphony: complex, layered and nuanced.

Some of us learn from word-a-day calendars. Hey, learning is learning, and that's all good. But make sure you know how to use a word properly and, for Pete's sake, don't use it all the time. Here's looking at you, most 1980s New Wave bands.

The rest of us tend to smoosh a lot of square pegs in round holes, linguistically speaking, using the best tools available. I'm thinking of your basic 2½-minute Ramones song: three chords, nothing flashy, largely derivative of other Ramones songs, but it gets the job done.

Enough with the musical interlude. Hey! Ho! Let's go!

Ineptness vs. ineptitude

Let's call these synonyms. They both mean the quality of being inept. If you don't know the definition of "inept," you haven't read enough of my columns.

"Ineptitude" ranks much higher in Google's Ngram Viewer, by the way.

Plenty vs. plenitude

Both derive from the Latin root plenus, which means full.

Note: There is one "t" in plenitude.

You have plenty OF something, such as beer in the garage fridge. That means you have a plenitude of beer. Different parts of speech, same concept.

"Plenty" has a wider variety of uses, so it probably goes without saying it is much more commonly used in books than "plenitude."

Gentility vs. gentleness

"Gentleness" is the quality of being gentle. And that's generally considered a good thing, unless you're a competitor in Thunderdome.

"Gentility," on the other hand, is the condition of belonging to the gentry. And the word has a bit of a stench about it in my experience. One who exhibits gentility is an aristocrat, someone who is "well bred," who puts on airs and deals in snobbery.

In other words, not my kind of person.

Dissemble vs. disassemble

To "disassemble" something is to take it apart. Think of the painful interlude between the Blackhawks' first modern-era championship and its second, when many of the big-name players were shopped to other teams.

It's the opposite of "assemble."

To "dissemble" is to hide one's true self. Think of Frank Abagnale Jr., played by Leo DiCaprio in the film "Catch Me If You Can." The guy was a master dissembler, pretending to be a pilot, a doctor and an attorney - all before his 18th birthday.

Next week I might discuss the definition of "gullibility" using the same example.

Those who dissemble also tend to lie a lot.

So, the only things similar about the two words are their spellings and their negative prefix, dis-.

To "dissemble" is to not resemble yourself.

Write carefully!

• Jim Baumann is vice president/executive editor of the Daily Herald. You can buy Jim's book, "Grammar Moses: A humorous guide to grammar and usage," at grammarmosesthebook.com. Write him at jbaumann @dailyherald.com and put "Grammar Moses" in the subject line. You also can friend or follow Jim at facebook.com/baumannjim.