✅ Elbow refers to the joint between the upper arm and forearm. It can be used to refer to the same joint in the front leg of any four-legged animal, or any bend that is similar to an elbow (I banged my elbow on the door frame; They built their house right next to the river’s elbow).

✅ Ancon refers to the elbow, and is an anatomical term (You can see a break just below the ancon).

✅ Elbow and ancon refer to the same body part, but elbow is the more common term.

✅ Ancon is pretty rarely used, even in anatomical contexts. It’s a bit more common in architecture, and refers to a bracket that supports an architectural feature such as a cornice (The pigeons loved to roost in the ancons of the courthouse).

Write about a time you bumped your ancon with the help of Grammar Coach.

✅ Tactful describes having tact—that is, having a strong sense of what to say or do so you don’t cause offense (He gave a tactful answer to her question).

✅ Politic describes shrewdness in protecting your own interests while not upsetting or offending others (a politic decision).

✅ Tactful and politic both describe being aware of other people’s feelings in delicate situations. Politic tends to emphasize prudence in diplomacy, whereas tactful emphasizes a genuine desire not to offend others (He was very tactful during the disagreement; I felt like she had a very politic approach).

✅ Politic is a pretty formal and uncommon word, and has taken on negative connotations of falseness, although this is not its primary meaning.

It would be politic for you to check out these synonyms!

✅ Validity generally refers to the quality or state of being valid or sound (They questioned the validity of the results).

✅ Legality refers to the quality or state of being legal or permitted by law (The legality of her driving was questionable).

✅ Validity and legality have quite similar meanings—however, validity often refers to the reliability of something in a court case or similar context (the validity of the evidence), whereas legality refers to whether or not something is actually allowed within the law (Are you certain about the legality of the plan?).

✅ Validity can be used in a range of contexts, not just legal ones (The chef supported the validity of her statement on whether pineapple belongs on pizza).

These synonyms will help you question the legality of different pizza toppings!