Tail has many definitions, including (1) the elongated appendage on the posterior part of some animals, (2) the hindmost part of something, (3) to follow, and (4) to provide with a tail. Tale means (1) a recital of events, (2) a story, or (3) a lie.
Examples
Tail and tale are familiar to most English speakers, but the words are just rare enough to engender occasional confusion—for example:
It was at the tale end of the 1970s … [Irish Echo]
Or is its mandate to perpetuate overblown fairy tails? [comment on Science Blogs]
And here are a few examples of the words used well:
He offers the example of peacocks’ tails, which grow larger and more colorful on healthy, parasite-free males … [WSJ Real Time Economics]
The Wild Bride tells the tale of a child won by the devil in a drunken pact with her father. [Irish Times]
I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. [Montreal Gazette]
Sanders has been performing for children for years as the Sourdough Cowboy, singing songs and telling tales. [Houston Chronicle]
The secret agents sought the truth in tailing suspected communist insurgents … [The Age]
