✅ A stew is a mix of meat and vegetables or sometimes other foods cooked by simmering (I made a thick, hearty stew for dinner).

✅ A pottage is a thick vegetable soup, which might or might not have meat in it (Medieval chefs had many recipes for pottage).

✅ Stew and pottage are similar dishes: both are thick and cooked by simmering.

✅ A stew is generally chunky, while a pottage is more on the liquidy end of the soup spectrum.

✅ Potato refers to an edible tuber. The word can also refer to a sweet potato (The humble potato is a versatile ingredient).

✅ Spud is an informal term for potato, but the word can also refer to a variety of different tools (The spuds were overcooked).

✅ Potato and spud are often interchangeable, with potato being the common term and spud being a more informal one.

✅ However, a spud is also a surgical instrument that can be used to remove wax from ears!

✅ A clown is a fool or a person who is rude and vulgar (Stop being such a clown!).

✅ A turkey is a person who is naive or inept (The promising new recruit turned out to be a turkey).

✅ Both clown and turkey describe foolish people who have bad judgment.

✅ Both words are also somewhat unkind ways to refer to someone, but they’re softer and less offensive words that you might use instead of a word like idiot.