ABJURE vs. ADJURE

In “The Careful Writer,” Theodore Bernstein discusses the difference between similar sounding words. But I don’t even recognize some of the words he writes about!

When I came across “abjure, adjure,” I read the entry and then discovered the definitions. Abjure means to renounce. Adjure means to command. A fun mnemonic device Bernstein uses is remembering “b” for “banish” and “d” for “direct.”