Blog: Words For Thought |
Blog: Words For Thought |
Welcome to this edition of Words For Thought, the blog on wordrefiner.com. Like many of the previous blogs we are looking at homophones. Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.
I understand how important it is to have an error free manuscript. With over 40 years of experience, I have found that homophones give almost every writer fits and difficulties. Because we sound words out in our mind, it is easy to write the wrong word. Let’s not forget typographical errors also, a slip of the finger on the keyboard can create a different word that may not be caught by a spell-checker. There are many groups of words that vary by only one letter, such as vary and very, or must, mist and most. The correctly spelled word in the wrong context will not be flagged by most spell-checkers. Word Refiner is dedicated to uprooting all of these hidden errors and providing your document free of spelling errors that you want and deserve. Now, onto today’s episode! These three words are hundreds of years old. They have roots in old Germanic languages and Old English. These three words have much in common in the past, but have diverged from each other in interesting ways. Weather everyone talks about it, not many can do anything about it! A word with multiple meanings, depending on context. Primarily it has to do with the state of the atmosphere at all levels: heat, wet, cold, dry, wind or calm. Sometimes the effects are moderate or temperate, other times we have extremes such as drought, deluges, tornadoes or hurricanes. In yachting, the weather side of the boat refers to the side the wind is coming from. Weathervanes point to the direction the wind is coming from also. As a verb it refers to the erosion of material. In falconry, weathering means allowing a hawk to sit on a perch in the open air. Weathering can also mean to come safely through a storm or great difficulty. Weather has seen a slight decline in usage in the last 80 years or so. Whether is an opposite word in a couple ways, it is used as a conjunction. We use it to express doubt about choices available. “I am going to eat this whether you like it or not.” We also use it as an expression in an investigation. “Would you go see whether Dad is in the barn?” It is a plain and simple word, but utilization has changed very little over the centuries. Wether is a very specialized term in animal husbandry, if you raised sheep there is a good chance you know that it refers to a ram that has been castrated. If you hang a bell on this ram he becomes known as the bellwether. The other members of the flock follow him around, and therefore the flock is more easily located. The usage of this word has dropped dramatically and steadily over the last 200 years. There they are, three words with identical sounds and a somewhat related history. If you use the wrong word the reader might think they hit an unknown speed bump and lose the momentum you worked so hard to build. Use every tool available to prevent that from happening, do not give your readers a reason to not finish your story. Use beta readers, critique partners, proofreaders and editors to ensure that your work is error free and as smooth as possible. Word Refiner is prepared to help also. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing on Words For Thought. Follow me on twitter: @wordrefiner, for more alerts about hazardous homophones search for #HomophonesHurtYourWriting or #TyposHurtYourWriting on twitter. Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on our website. Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz
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Welcome to this edition of Words For Thought, the blog on wordrefiner.com. Like many of the previous blogs we are looking at homophones. Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.
I understand how important it is to have an error free manuscript. With over 40 years of experience, I have found that homonyms give almost every writer fits and difficulties. Because we sound words out in our mind, it is easy to write the wrong word. The correctly spelled word in the wrong context will not be flagged by most spell-checkers. Word Refiner is dedicated to uprooting all of these hidden errors and providing your document free of spelling errors that you want and deserve. Now, onto today’s episode! These three words have a widely divergent history, the first and third are rooted in Latin, travel to us through Old French and into Middle English. The second word starts in Germanic, goes through Middle English and lands in our figurative laps also. They are all very old and have many miles on the tires. Vain is a word we are all familiar with. The primary definition is having an excessively high opinion of one’s self, abilities or appearance. I once saw a bumper sticker: “people who think they are know-it-alls are a real pain for those of us that do.” Many of us have been cautioned by elders to not think too highly of ourselves, to refrain from egotism and narcissism. Sometimes that is good advice but not always. The word was highly popularized in the Carly Simon Song “You’re so Vain”, released in 1972. Modesty is the opposite of vanity. The secondary definition is producing no results, or having no fulfillment. The attempt by the seven year old child to clean the room was in vain. Vane is very practical, it has nothing to do with the concept of self-worth. Many of us are familiar with weathervanes, they show the direction the wind is blowing from. They are characterized by broad flat surfaces, mounted on a rotating rod, and are usually decorative in nature. A related definition is one of a series of flat blades attached to a shaft or wheel that is spun by the passage of air, water, or some other gas or liquid. Pumps, turbines, and generators all land within this functional definition. Lastly, the flat side of the feathers on an arrow are described with this word. Vein is another word very familiar to people in healthcare and vampires. A major part of our circulatory system, veins carry the oxygen-depleted blood back to the lungs. We frequently use the term blood vessel, rather than distinguish between arteries and veins. This word also has somewhat similar usage in describing a part of the leaf of a plant, and an insect’s wing. Geologists, miners and rock hounds also use this word to refer to a fracture in rock that is filled with a particular mineral such as quartz or gold. It can be a layer or a seam and is frequently sought after for gaining wealth. There they are, three words with identical sounds, unrelated history and definitions. If you choose the wrong word the reader will feel like they hit a section of uncharted rapids in the river of your book. Do all in your power to prevent that from happening, do not give your readers a reason to close your story. Use beta readers, critique partners, proofreaders, editors and Word Refiner to ensure that your work is error free and as smooth as possible. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing on Words For Thought. Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/wordrefiner , for more alerts about hazardous homophones search for #HomophonesHurtYourWriting on twitter. Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on our website. Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz Welcome to this edition of Words For Thought, the blog on wordrefiner.com. Like many of the previous blogs we are looking at homophones. Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.
I understand how important it is to have an error free manuscript. With over 40 years of experience, I have found that homophones give almost every writer fits and difficulties. The correctly spelled word in the wrong context will not be flagged by most spell-checkers. Thus creating a hidden error that your reader will find if you don’t. Word Refiner is dedicated to uprooting all of these concealed mistakes and providing the document free of spelling errors that you want and deserve. I find these errors in 95% of published books. Now onto the new episode! Yore is a word with very narrow usage. It is seen primarily in literary works to describe a time long ago. It is frequently associated with the age of Knights and Quests; with a few distressed Damsels and an occasional Dragon thrown in for good measure. It saw a lot of usage in the latter half of the Nineteenth and the first half of the Twentieth centuries, but not so much now. It comes to us from Old English, and from long ago. Your, on the other hand, is a word with a lot of usage and different uses as well. Firstly, it is a possessive pronoun and can be used specifically towards one person or many at the same time. Second, it is used in a general way, referring to something that is a common experience or knowledge of many people. Third, it is used with certain titles such as “your Holiness”. This word has seen an increased amount of usage in the last half century. It has come to us from Germanic and Old English. You’re is a mashup or contraction of two words, you and are. There are a lot of words like this. It is used in several ways, such as when we want to describe a feature of a person that is good or bad, it can be used to instruct or cajole and it can be used in relation to space and time. It is a very versatile word. We hope you enjoyed your visit to times of yore, and of course you’re welcome. There they are, three words with identical sounds, a rather dull history and somewhat related definitions for two of them. If you choose the wrong word the reader will feel like they drove into a pothole and might drive off your road. Do all in your power to prevent that from happening. Use Word Refiner, beta readers, critique partners, proofreaders and editors to ensure that your work is error free. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing on Words For Thought. Follow us on twitter: @wordrefiner, for more alerts about hazardous homophones #HomophonesHurtYourWriting, and for common typographical errors #TyposHurtYourWriting. Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on our website. Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz Welcome to this edition of Words For Thought, the blog on wordrefiner.com. Like many of the previous blogs we are looking at homophones. Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.
I understand how important it is to have an error free manuscript. With over 40 years of experience, I have found that homonyms give almost every writer fits and difficulties. The correctly spelled word in the wrong context will not be flagged by most spell-checkers. Word Refiner is dedicated to uprooting all of these hidden errors and providing the document free of spelling errors that you want and deserve. I find these errors in 95% of published books. Now onto today’s episode! Fifth in the series about quadruple homophones. High score! These four words present an interesting group. They are related by sound only, true homophones. Two are English and one has multiple meanings, one is Oriental, and one is French. They are all from the last half of the previous millennia, and two have been in use in the English language for less than 200 years. Peak is a widely used word, it functions as a noun, verb and an adjective. It has a history going back several hundred years in the English language. It is also an archaic word with a rather startling twist, as we shall see later. At the core, it means top or point, like a mountain or a career. It also can refer to a person’s or group’s abilities or popularity. It has many synonyms such as summit, climax, acme, and zenith to name a few. It can refer to facial features such as a widow’s peak or the peak of a beard. In the United Kingdom it can mean the stiff brim of a cap. It can also refer to an extension of a sail on a sailing vessel. In one sense perhaps, peak is its own antonym, an opposite meaning in health. In the early 17th century it was part of a phrase “peak and pine” that meant to shrivel or waste away. We have William Shakespeare to thank for that. Perhaps, he was making a joke, and we are simply too removed in space, time and culture to appreciate it. Peek has a multi-century history as part of the English language, as does the previous word. It is a slightly sneaky word, it means to take a quick or furtive look. We can peek around a tree, we can peek into someone’s background (the internet has made that easier than ever in a number of ways), and play peek-a-boo with a child. It is a singular word in usage and definition. Peke is our word from the Orient, it is the youngest word of this group in the English language. It is an abbreviation of Pekingese, a small dog with long hair, short legs and a pushed in nose. This lapdog was introduced in the 1860’s to Europe from Pekin, China; now known as Beijing. It was a very popular dog with the aristocracy of both civilizations. It is common for Pekes to have difficulties with breathing. Pique is one of many words that have dual citizenship in both the English and French language. It actually has a split personality because it can be pronounced two different ways, more on that later. Primarily, from the middle of the 16th century, it means to feel resentful or irritated because of a perceived insult. Some synonyms are petulance, indignation and vexation. It can also be a verb and means to stimulate or irritate, it can be either positive or negative. The second pronunciation is not a homonym to the others: “peekay”. It is from the same time approximately as Pekingese, and it means a stiff fabric woven in a raised or ribbed pattern. The literal translation of the French is "backstitched". There they are, four words with identical sounds, an entangled history and rather unrelated definitions. If you choose the wrong word the reader will feel like they hit a speed bump and might drive off your road. Do all in your power to prevent that from happening. Use Word Refiner, beta readers, critique partners, proofreaders and editors to ensure that your work is error free. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing on "Words For Thought". Follow me on twitter: @wordrefiner, for more alerts about hazardous homophones search #HomophonesHurtYourWriting. Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on our website. Quadruple homophones Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz Welcome to Words For Thought, the blog on wordrefiner.com. Like many of the previous blogs we are taking a look at homophones. Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.
I understand how important it is to have an error free manuscript. With over 40 years of experience, I have found that homophones give almost every writer fits and difficulties. The incorrectly chosen word will not be flagged by most spell-checkers. Word Refiner is dedicated to uprooting all of these hidden errors and providing the spelling-error-free document that you want and deserve. I find these invisible spelling errors in 95% of published books. Onto todays episode! These three words are deceptively simple on the surface, but two have multiple and varied uses as we shall see. The first and third words are rooted in the first millennia AD, the second word is only a few hundred years younger. They all have roots in Middle and Old English with some influence from Latin, Old Saxon, Greek, Dutch and Low German. For is an amazing word, according to Dictionary.com it has over 30 different meanings. First and foremost as a preposition, and when combined with other words; like bid becomes forbid, it has a dark and sinister side. Among its many meanings is with purpose of, intended to, appropriate to the needs of, attempting to gain or acquire, a wish and many more. For is also used to describe a mathematical ratio, the batter was 2 for 4. Fore is the Leatherman Multi-Tool of the trio, it functions as an adjective, adverb, noun, and preposition. It can mean close or near the front, first in place or time; it has multiple uses in the nautical world when combined with other words such as boom, mast, sail, and yard. It can also mean forward or before, and in golf it is used as a warning before initiating a drive. Four is more like a butter knife, it was built with a single purpose in mind and can do little more. It is a cardinal number and has symbols to represent itself 4, IV, and IIII. It can refer to a playing card, one face of a die (singular of dice). It has a musical definition also - the guitar and piano traded four bar passages in the jazz ensemble. There they are, three words with identical sounds, an entangled history and rather unrelated definitions. If you choose the wrong word in your work the reader is likely to notice the discrepancy and might lose the flow of your magic. Do all in your power to prevent that from happening. Use Word Refiner, beta readers, critique partners, proofreaders and editors to ensure that your work is as smooth as possible. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing on Words For Thought. Follow me on twitter: @wordrefiner , for more alerts about hazardous homophones search #HomophonesHurtYourWriting. Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on our website. Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz Welcome to Words For Thought, the blog on wordrefiner.com. We are dealing with homophones today. Three words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. Every writer is likely to miss one or more misplaced words in their writings. We define a misplaced word as a correctly spelled word in the wrong context, typographical errors are included in this definition as well. That is why a writer needs beta readers, critique readers, an editor and a proofreader or two. Writers can also find help in a writers’ group. Many pairs of fresh eyes are needed to root out all of those errors in their many forms.
Onto today’s episode! These three words have their roots in Latin, have traveled through Late Middle English and French. The 2nd and 3rd are more closely related of the three words, they have a common Latin root meaning spade or shovel. Yes, we know, sometimes the route a word travels from one meaning to another is obscure. Palate is a noun and has two primary meanings in Modern English. First is medical, it means the roof of the mouth that separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavities. Second is an appreciation of differing taste and flavors, usually in a sophisticated and discriminating fashion. Connoisseurs and Foodies sometimes use these words in their descriptions. It is easy to see how these two related definitions came to be, since they have to do with taste and smell. Palette is a noun that finds use in the fine arts. It refers to a thin board or slab of hard material a painter uses to hold and mix small amounts of colors while painting. During his open-studio, the artist walks up to a person admiring a particular painting and says, “If you like these colors you can take them home for free because you sat on my palette.” This term can also include the range and variety of sounds in a musical composition. Pallet is another noun that first means a crude bed covered with straw or a mattress made of straw. This is not quite modern for most of us, because it seems to predate the inner spring mattress. Secondly, the definition that many of us might be more familiar with is a portable platform for storing and moving goods with the aid of a forklift or pallet jack. Three words with identical sound and very different meanings. By choosing the wrong word for your context your reader is quite likely to stumble in their reading and maybe even close the book. Do not let that happen, do all in your power to ensure your millions of readers a smooth ride to the end. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing on Words For Thought. Follow me on twitter: @wordrefiner for more alerts about hazardous homophones search #HomophonesHurtYourWriting. Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on our website. Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz |
AuthorAn avid reader and hyper speller. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. Archives
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