Word Confusion: Lo versus Low

Posted August 29, 2013 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

I ran across this particular confusion when reading a Digital Book World post and the author used “low and behold these are the kids”. I wasn’t sure if cattle were mooing, if the reader was supposed to moo or if the kids were goats . . .?

This one is really simple to get right. Almost always, a lo will be biblical and usually it’s an angel proclaiming something. It’s not hard to figure out. Think behold, hey, or look as in Lo, the burning bush.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Lo	Low
Meditating Angels Pray by Artie_Navarre. — And lo and behold, it’s working.	Low Battery Charging Mobile Battery by beegraphicsstudio is in the public domain, via Pixabay.
Part of Grammar:
Abbreviation; Interjection	Adjective ¹; Adverb ¹; Noun ¹, ²; Verb ², intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: lows Gerund: lowing Third person present verb: lows Past tense or past participle: lowed Present participle: lowing
Abbreviation: Liaison officer Interjection: Calls attention or expresses wonder or surprise	Adjective: Of less than average height from top to bottom or to the top from the ground ¹ Below average in amount, extent, or intensity Small Ranking below other people or things in importance or class Depressed or lacking in energy Adverb: In or into a low position or state ¹ Quietly At or to a low pitch Noun: A low point, level, or figure ¹ A particularly bad or difficult moment [Informal] A state of depression or low spirits An area of low atmospheric pressure Depression A sound made by cattle ² A moo Verb, intransitive: [Of a cow] Make a characteristic deep sound ² Verb, transitive: To utter by or as by mooing ²
Examples:
Abbreviation: Get the LO to see to that. He’s the school’s police LO. She acted as the LO between the FBI and the police department. Interjection: Lo these many years ago. Lo and behold . . . And lo, the angels sing.	Adjective: The table was too low to use as a dining table. They are surviving on a low income. Be sure to cook it over low heat. Ammunition’s getting low, sarge. Third world countries have a lower standard of living. Graffiti is considered a low art form. He has a low cunning. I was feeling low. Adverb: She pressed on, bent low to protect her face. We were talking low so we wouldn’t wake Dean. The sopranos have to sing rather low. Noun: His popularity ratings are at an all-time low. The highs and lows of an actor’s life. In the distance, we heard the low of a distant herd. “The lowing of a cow or the voice of a ploughman could scarcely be heard from Cashel to the farthest point of Kerry” (How). “At evening, the distant lowing of some cow in the horizon brought a sense of peace to the farmhouse” (How). Verb, intransitive: The cattle are lowing. “In the fields the other side of the bridge, cattle were lowing” (Haines). The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes. Verb, transitive: A cow lows when she needs to be milked. Cows lowing at the bull indicate a readiness to mate.
Derivatives:
	Adjective: low-alcohol, low-altitude, low-born, low-budget, low-cal, low-carb, low-carbon, low-class, low-cost, low-cut, low-density, low-down, low-fi, low-flying, low-grade, low-heeled, low-impact, low-income, lowish, low-key, low-level, low-lying, low-maintenance, low-minded, low-necked, low-nicotine, lowball, lowbrow, lowdown, lower, lowest, well, you get the idea . . . Adverb: lower, lowest Noun: low-angle shot, low-fi, low-hanging fruit, low-loader, lowball, lowbrow, lowdown, lowing, lowlife, lowlight, lowness, overlowness Verb, transitive: lowball
History of the Word:
From Middle English from the Old English, lā, before the 12th century.	From Middle English from the Old Norse lágr which is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch laag; it is also related to lie low. From Old English hlōwan is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch loeien which is from an Indo-European root shared by Latin clamare meaning to shout.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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