Three widespread mistakes

When talking to people, quite often I have come across some expressions which have surprised me; the speakers surely did not know, but they were making a hilarious mistake. The three expressions are selfmade, handmade and homemade.

selfmade is someone who does not get help for it. For example, we talk about someone who is selftaught when he or she did not learn from another person but on his/her own. Equally, a self-proclaimed president would be one who takes power instead of receiving it from the people.

handmade and homemade are somehow related* to each other and highlight the manner in which something has been made, particularly the personal involvement of the maker or the use of traditional means. Thus, we would usually talk about a handmade puppet or a homemade cake.

*the only relevant distinction would be the denial of any especial machinary (for instance, a sewing machine) with "handmade"

So, what is the main mistake here? Most times (at least in reality) the "selfmade" construction only works with a person; a pie cannot be selfmade, as it cannot imagine itself into existence. On the other hand, a man could be handmade of homemade only if he was put together/created by another person.

Ever-present mistakes you should not make

I was just watching TV and I heard, for the millionth time, the expression "el oficial"; although of course this can be appropriate in some cases (namely in war films), it does not make any sense whenever it refers to a police officer. If I hear that ever again, I swear I will jump out of my window.