Difference between Cartoon and Carton

Labels: Common Errors, Grammar

Here is another common error I have come across. Both these words have different meanings and pronunciation. Incorrectly spelling the word can change the meaning of the sentence.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Cartoon

Pronounced as [kahr-toon]*

*from dictionary.com

It has 2 'o' - Cartoon

Cartoon :

1) Drawing in a newspaper that is usually meant to be funny.

"Animated Gif" "Making faces" "Make face gif" "naughty boy" "making funny faces"

http://www.animateit.net/

2) Comic Strip

3) Animated films for children / TV programs

For example :

Calvin and Hobbes.

Walt Disney Cartoons.

Image : http://www.cartoon-list.com/

Spiderman.

Tiny Toon Adventures.

Thundercats.

We can also use the word Cartoon as an adjective to describe a person or situation that is funny and does not seem real.

For example :

"Mr. Bean Dancing" "Funny Mr. Bean" "Bean animated"

http://www.animateit.net/

1) Mr. Bean seems like a cartoon character sometimes with all the fantastical things he does and trouble he gets into.

2) Her new boyfriend has such a cartoonish personality.

3) I do not like this storybook as the characters and plot are not believable; too cartoonish for my taste.

4) That band decided to use a cartoonish drawing for their CD cover.

Differences between Anime and Cartoons :

Here are some of the differences between Japanese Anime and Cartoons :

1) The physical features in Japanese Anime are closer to real life than in Cartoons. In Anime, the characters look like real animated people, but in Cartoons, they sometimes don't even look like real people. The eyes are very expressive in Anime and the facial expressions convey the feelings of the Anime characters. On the other hand, in Cartoons, the physical features are not that close to reality. For example, the characters in Cartoons might have a small waist or the face and head may be out of shape.

2) Japanese Anime targets a wide range of age group. Most of the time, Anime is targeted towards adults and deals with mature subjects such as suicide. Cartoons are targeted towards children.

3) Anime is usually a series, which means you have to watch the entire series to know what is going on. Whereas Cartoons do not have any continuing storyline. You can watch Cartoons in any order as every episode has a different storyline and is not connected with the previous episode.

Carton