modsvsmofoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“mods” and “mofo” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,631
“mods” frequency rank
#46,074
“mofo” frequency rank
64705
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mods mofo
Definition plural of mod Abbreviation of motherfucker.

Where the eye mixes mods and mofo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mods
4 ch
mofo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mods (/mɒdz/) and mofo (/ˈməʊfəʊ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mods is recorded at frequency rank #18,631, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɒdz/. mofo is at rank #46,074, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈməʊfəʊ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 64705, this pair ranks #76,363 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mods vs mofo

Shared letters: mo. Private to "mods": ds. Private to "mofo": f.

"mods" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mofo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modsmdos · mmods · modds · modss · mosd · omds
  • mofomfoo · mmofo · moffo · moof · omfo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mods" and "mofo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɒdz/ versus /ˈməʊfəʊ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mods" or "mofo"?
"mods" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,631 in our English list, against #46,074 for "mofo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "mods" and "mofo". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mods" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mofo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,363 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mods" and "mofo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mofo vs Moog". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list