Tip number one.  Do not trust the labels when buying marjoram or oregano.

To put it bluntly, the only way you will know if you are using marjoram or oregano is if you grow the two herbs in your home herb garden.   They are often confused in nurseries and in retail establishments. So if you buy a starter plant you need to recognize its smell or buy from a nursery that sells both plants.

The reason for the  confusion is carvacrol, a creosote-scented phenol which exists in many of the oregano plants, in marjoram and also in plants from other families leading them to be named oreganos in error.  This is one time we need to use the Latin names to avoid confusion.

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