I don’t like to metal in meddling and the giving thereof, nor do I want to test my medals with mettling, er, wait, that’s not coming out right.
What I meant was I don’t like to medal in metal and the giving thereof, nor do I want to test my meddle with mettle. No, wait, that’s not right either *scratches head*
How’s about: I don’t like to meddle in medals and the giving thereof, nor do I want to test my mettle with metal?
Phew, that’s about right, well, as right as one can be when attempting to use all four words in one sentence, lol. You may well be asking at this point just what that sentence is supposed to mean. A reasonable question, and this is how I interpret it:
I don’t want to busy myself with giving out disks that commemorate an event or achievement, and I think I would be afraid to work with hot, molten minerals.
It’s not surprising that as rarely used as meddle and mettle are, that writers would become confused between them. Although, if they read enough, I suspect it wouldn’t be such a problem. When it comes to confusing medal and metal, I am surprised, shocked even. Enough so that I feel the need to meddle with text, at least to make the author aware of their word confusion. What I suspect happens is that the author is relying upon editing software or Word’s spellcheck. Ya gotta remember that software does not judge context. At best, it merely verifies that the particular word is spelled correctly.
A writer can easily end up with He earned his metal on the battlefront or The blacksmith worked the medal to make the wrought iron gate.
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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| Medal | Meddle | Metal | Mettle |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 — |
 — |
 — |
| Part of Grammar: | |||
| Adjective; Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive
Plural for the noun: medals Third person present verb: medals |
Verb, intransitive
Third person present verb: meddles |
Adjective; Noun; Verb, transitive
Plural for the noun: metals Third person present verb: metals |
Noun
Plural: mettles An alteration of metal |
| Noun: A metal disk with an inscription or design, made to commemorate an event or awarded as a distinction to someone such as a soldier, athlete, or scholar
Verb, intransitive: Verb, transitive: |
Interfere in or busy oneself unduly with something that is not one’s concern
|
Adjective: Made of metal [Slang] Intense, tough, awesome Noun:
[British; also road metal] Broken stone for use in making roads Molten glass before it is blown or cast Heavy metal or similar rock music Printing type metal Matter set in metal type Verb, transitive: [British] Make or mend a road with road metal |
A person’s ability to cope well with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way
|
| Examples: | |||
| Noun: Russian athletes won 13 gold medals during the Sochi Olympics. The first portrait medal in history was created by Pisanello of the Emperor John VIII Palaiologos during his visit to Florence (List). She always wore her St. Christopher’s medal. Verb, intransitive: He medaled in three of four races. “We were the first Americans to medal.” – Jill Watson Verb, transitive: Yep, “medaled” can work both ways, as an adjective or a transitive verb. He medaled in three of four races. |
I don’t want him meddling in our affairs.
It’s just more of that bureaucratic meddling. Stop meddling in your sister’s marriage! You have no right to come in here and meddle with my things. |
Adjective: We’ll need metal detectors. He was one of the founders of the German metal scene. Ingrid is so metal, I mean, she accidentally burned down her best friend’s house after her friend was proposed to by the guy Ingrid liked. Raaawwwrrr!! Tyrannosaurus Rexes are so metal, yeah? Noun: Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, and Uriah Heep are heavy metal bands. Put the pedal to the metal, baby. Nobody can metal like Blue Oyster Cult. They had to metal the road. Verb, transitive: The engineers metalled the road. Several miles of the old road had been metaled with crushed stone. |
The team showed their true mettle in the second half.
The tension of test taking can put someone on their mettle. “You are gentlemen of brave mettle” (Shakespeare). He is a man of mettle. When Reid came up on his right, it put him on his mettle to win the race. |
| Derivatives: | |||
| Adjective: medaled, medallic Noun: medalist |
Adjective: unmeddled, unmeddling Adverb: meddlingly Noun: meddler, meddling Verb, intransitive: overmeddle, overmeddled, overmeddling |
Adjective: metallic, metalled, metallike, unmetaled, unmetalled | Adjective: mettled, mettlesome |
| History of the Word: | |||
| Its first known use was circa 1578.
Late 16th century from the French médaille, from the Italian medaglia, from the medieval Latin medalia meaning half a denarius, from the Latin medialis which means medial. |
Its first known use was in the 14th century.
Middle English in the sense of mingle, mix and from the Old French medler, a variant of mesler, based on the Latin miscere meaning to mix. |
Its first known use was as a:
From Middle English from the Old French metal or Latin metallum, from the Greek metallon meaning mine, quarry, or metal. |
Its first known use was in 1581.
Mid-16th century as a specialized spelling used for figurative senses of metal. |
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.
Resources for Medal v Meddle v Metal v Mettle
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Apple Dictionary.com
The Free Dictionary: medal
“List of Medallists.” Wikipedia.org. 8 Sept 2022. Web. 20 Sept 2022. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medallists>.
Macmillan: metal
Merriam-Webster: medal, meddle, metal, mettle
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. 2020. Print. <https://amzn.to/3qTcYm7>, Act 2, Scene 1.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Simone Biles at the 2016 Olympics All-Around Gold Medal Podium was originally posted to Flickr <https://flickr.com/photos/129729681@N06/28262782114> by Agência Brasil and is confirmed to be under the CC-BY-2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Revised as of 16 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie