「distraction 」と「destruction」の違い

Something unsual happened on Sunday. Just as I was finishing my lunch, there was a phone call on the intercom. (all of today's definitions are from Edict)

• インターフォン intercom;

The building manager called, asking us to evacuate the building. He said the fire alarm had gone off on our floor!

• 立ち退く (たちのく) (v5k) to evacuate; to clear out; to vacate; to withdraw; to take refuge; (P);
• 火災警報 (かさいけいほう) fire alarm;

Within a minutes, I had grabbed as many valuables as I could and ran down many, many stairs to the lobby.

• 貴重品 (きちょうひん) (n) valuables; treasures; (P);

When I got there, there were roughly 30 firemen, several police officers, building staff, and residents around the building. I was amazed at the quick response.

• 略 (ほぼ) (adv) almost; roughly; approximately; (P);

As it turns out, one resident went to sleep with a pot on the stove. The burning contents inside produced a lot of smoke, triggering the smoke detector. Fortunately, there was no fire and there were no injuries.

• 誘発 (ゆうはつ) (n,vs) cause; induce; lead up to; (P); trigger?

Instead of destruction, it just turned out to be a big distraction from my Sunday activities.

• 潰滅 (かいめつ) (n,vs) destruction; annihilation;
• 憂さ晴らし (うさばらし) (n) diversion; distraction;

Notice that "destruction" and "distraction" have very similar spelling and pronunciation, but the meanings are really different.

As for the pronunciation, the "e" in "destruction" sounds like the "ee" in "see". The "i" in "distraction" sounds like the "i" in "pig" and "tip". The "u" in "destruction" sounds like the "u" in "truck". The "a" in "distraction" sounds like the "a" in "track". Be careful!