# Tans vs tongs

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### Tans
*noun · frequency rank #43,954*
The Black and Tans, a British irregular army group operating against Irish republicans in the War of Independence 1920/21.

### tongs
*noun · IPA /tɒŋz/ · frequency rank #37,257*
An instrument or tool used for picking things up without touching them with the hands or fingers, consisting of two slats or grips hinged at the end or in the middle, and sometimes including a spring to open the grips.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tans-vs-tongs