blahvsblankWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“blah” and “blank” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#28,465
“blah” frequency rank
#44,898
“blank” frequency rank
73363
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blah blank
Definition Blabla. Partie principale d’une canne à lancer, faite d’un ou plusieurs brins en bambou, fibre de verre ou de carbone...

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set blah and blank apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
blah
5 ch
blank

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. blah (\blɑː\) and blank (\blɑ̃k\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blah is recorded at frequency rank #28,465, classified as anoun, pronounced \blɑː\. blank is at rank #44,898, tagged as anoun, pronounced \blɑ̃k\.

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 73363, this pair ranks #40,728 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of blah vs blank

Shared letters: abl. Private to "blah": h. Private to "blank": kn.

"blah" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "blank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blahbalh · bblah · blahh · blha · bllah · lbah
  • blankbalnk · bblank · blakn · blankk · blannk · bllank · blnak · lbank

Frequency comparison

blah#28,465
blank#44,898

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blah" and "blank" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\blɑː\ versus \blɑ̃k\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "blah" or "blank"?
"blah" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,465 in our French list, against #44,898 for "blank". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering blah vs blank

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “blah” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list