Pale and Pail; no, not equal

Several times lately I've seen the word "pail" used as a verb where "pale" would be correct.

Dear AP, and others--Pail= a bucket, container
Pale = lacking color, vigor {as in "that pales in comparison to his last outburst"]
also as in "Are you felling well? You look PALE"
= fence stake or boundary {as in "beyond the pale"]


Normally these things don't bug me, but there are times. It is what we get for A. spellcheck, B. the fact that most people ain't got good larnin' in the pubic skoos.

I catch myself writing phonetically all the time. And many times I do not catch it. When I see it I know. I believe most of the errors I'm mentioning here are cases of not knowing the difference. It happens.

While I'm at it, (and I, too, lack the education I think fitting a person of my stature) let's take a look at "then" and "than"
Then deals with sequence and time--as in first I punched him the nose, and THEN he shot me.
Than ideals with comparison---as in, "He announced to the entire locker room 'mine is bigger THAN yours'".
or, "I'd rather be a hammer THAN a nail"

Valley girl speak sometimes confuses the vowels A and E, so it is natural that the spelling and context of words gets screwed up in print. "she's my best girl frand, gah" "He is rally rally cute"