Revised as of
8 Jan 2023
Sometimes I feel like I’ll pop a vein with some of the word confusions I come across. Yeah, I know, it’s rather vain of me, but ya gotta know that my thoughts on word confusions in general don’t twist in the wind like the vanes of a weather vane.
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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| Vain | Vane | Vein |
|---|---|---|
Woman in Front of a Mirror by Mose Bianchi is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — “She’s so vain . . .” |
Rooster Weather Vane courtesy of User:Corcoran and photographed by Arne Koehler is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Oak Leaf Veins is Dvortygirl’s own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Adjective | Noun
Plural: vanes |
Noun; Verb, transitive Plural for the noun: veins Third person present verb: veins |
| Thinking very highly of yourself, your appearance
Useless effort |
A broad blade that, with other blades, is attached to a wheel which spins by the efforts of wind or water, producing energy
A projecting surface which guides the motion of a projectile such as the feather on an arrow, a fin on a torpedo |
[Medical] A thin tube found inside living beings that conveys blood
A rib running through a leaf or bract A streak or stripe in a rock, tree, cheese, marble, granite A distinctive quality, style, or tendency A below-ground channel of water Verb, transitive:
To mark with lines or streaks suggesting veins To extend over or through in the manner of veins |
| Examples: | ||
| He’s so vain.
Her efforts were in vain You should not be taking God’s name in vain. They waited in vain for a response. Their flattery made him vain. It was a vain attempt to tidy up. I had vain hopes of finding work. |
A weathervane or ceiling fan consists of such vanes.
Vane is another word for weathervane. His clan uses blue and grey feathers for the vanes of their arrows. The torpedo vanes had been streamlined. Vanes are incorporated into turbine engines. |
Noun: Blood courses through the veins of humans and animals. There’s a lovely vein of cream streaking through that red marble. Most of his work is in that vein of agony. I love holding a leaf up to the sun to see the intricacy of its veins. Didja hear about the vein of gold they found? Verb, transitive: “Companies are offering marble-look tile in unexpected hues like magenta and green, or with veining in gold or copper” (Cook). “Coming up, says Tien: Parker House rolls veined with scallions and shallots, a riff on Chinese scallion pancakes” (Sietsema). |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: vainer, vainest, vainglorious Adverb: vaingloriously, vainglory, vainly Noun: vaingloriousness, vanity, vanities, |
Adjective: vaned, vaneless, multivane | Adjective: interveinal, veinal, veinier, veiniest, veinless, veinlike, veiny Noun: veinlet Verb, transitive: intervein |
| History of the Word: | ||
| Middle English, in the sense of devoid of real worth, via the Old French from the Latin vanus meaning empty, without substance. | Late Middle English as a dialectical variant of the obsolete fane meaning banner and is of Germanic origin. | Middle English from the Old French veine, which is from the Latin vena.
The earliest senses were blood vessel and small natural underground channel of water. |
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 Vain v Vane v Vein
Apple Dictionary.com
Cook, Kim. “‘Like theater in tile form’: Tile’s patterns, designs expand.” The Seattle Times. 4 Dec 2019. Web. 8 Jan 2023. <https://www.seattletimes.com/explore/at-home/like-theater-in-tile-form-tiles-patterns-designs-expand/>. Article.
Merriam-Webster: veil
Sietsema, Tom. “At Emilie’s Chef Kevin Tien Wants to Throw a Dinner Party Every Night.” The Washington Post. 25 Oct 2019. Web. 8 Jan 2023. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/at-emilies-chef-kevin-tien-wants-to-throw-a-dinner-party-every-night/2019/10/24/2859e692-ef7a-11e9-8693-f487e46784aa_story.html>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
I Photoshopped three images to visualize the changing winds of fashion which are spread through the vanes of The Mill at Cassel Kasteel Meulen, which is Lion59’s own work under the GFDL or the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; the vanity of Heels, <“https://visualhunt.com/f2/photo/9176007648/77ddbc242b/>, by SimpleSkye, which is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via VisualHunt, which can result in a need for Recidiva Poststripping by Nini00 under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Ah, the vanity of [wo]man . . . The windmill and leg are via Wikimedia Commons.
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