Word Confusion: Collage versus College

Posted June 29, 2015 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

A “collage student”? Really? I ran across this in an author’s book description, and I know she didn’t mean that the student was in art classes…

While collage is a mess of different objects and papers, just like college, it just ain’t the same. A collage gets hung up on a wall when it’s done…hmmm…you could say the same about that college diploma. No, no, sorry, it still doesn’t mean they’re the same.

You may also want to look in at “College versus University” and/or Dissertation versus Thesis“.

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 noir for you from either end. Consider sharing this Word Confusion with friends by tweeting it.

Collage	College
Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: collage
Holly Nails Mexican Food © Kathy Davie is courtesy of The Eye’s Delight. — Holly Nails Mexican Food is a collage of fabric, paint, clay, and threads.	Cardiff University: Main Building is Stan Zurek’s own work and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — A stately look for a college, although technically, this is a university.
Part of Grammar:
Noun; Verb, transitive Plural for the noun and third person present verb: collages Past tense or past participle: collaged Gerund or present participle: collaging	Noun (often attributive) Plural: colleges
Noun: A piece of art made by sticking various different materials such as photographs and pieces of paper or fabric onto a backing The art of making collages A combination or collection of various things Verb, transitive: Make a collage of	An educational institution or establishment, in particular: One providing higher education or specialized professional or vocational training [US; within a university] A school offering a general liberal arts curriculum leading only to a bachelor’s degree [Britain] Any of a number of independent institutions within certain universities, each having its own teaching staff, students, and buildings [British] A private secondary school The teaching staff and students of a college considered collectively An organized group of professional people with particular aims, duties, and privileges
Examples:
Noun: Hannah Höch, Man Ray, Kurt Schwitters, and Raoul Hausmann are some of the famous collage artists of the twentieth century. Eileen Agar has done some very funny collage pieces. Collage is a mixed media art form and can use absolutely anything in its creation. I often refer to my fiber art as representational fabric collage. Verb, transitive: The artist has collaged old photos, cartoon figures, and telephone numbers into a unique work of art.	My brother wanted to go to college. I’m at college studying graphic design. Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth started as schools offering a liberal arts degree. English colleges were initially set up to discipline lawless students by placing them in a more supervised environment (Trevelyan). Eton College is a private secondary school. The college was shocked by his death. The electoral college is responsible for actually electing the president of the United States.
Derivatives:
Noun: collagist	Adjective: collegial, collegiate, postcollege, postcollegiate, precollege, precollegiate, procollegiate Adverb: collegiately Noun: collegiateness, postcollege, precollege, subcollege Slang: joe college
History of the Word:
Early 20th century from the French and literally meaning gluing.	Late Middle English from the Old French, which is from the Latin collegium meaning partnership or associatio from collega meaning partner in office, which is from col- (together with) + legare (depute).