Word Confusion: One versus Won

Posted June 6, 2016 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
8 July 2023

She one the first prize for baked goods at the County Fair. Now, I’m not sure if the writer missed a few words, such as “she was the one who won the first prize” or if the writer didn’t realize that to have won something is pretty special and may result in a first place ribbon.

What I do know is that it threw me off my reading stride.

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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One	Won
Gdansk PGE Arena is Andrzej Otrębski’s own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — He’s Number One!	Tara, Miss Virginia 2008 is Dworlando’s own work and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — Tara Wheeler won the crown as Miss Virginia 2008.
Part of Grammar:
Cardinal Number ¹; Determiner ¹; Pronoun ¹; Suffix ²	Morpheme: win Noun ¹ Plural for the noun: wins, won [Archaic] Gerund: winning, wonning [Archaic] Verb ², intransitive ³ & transitive Third person present verb: wins, wons [Archaic] ³ Past participle: won, wonned [Archaic] ³ Present participle: winning, wonning [Archaic] ³
Cardinal Number: The lowest cardinal number ¹ Half of two 1 [Roman numeral] i, I A single person or thing, viewed as taking the place of a group Single [Used for emphasis] Just one as opposed to any more or to none at all Denoting a particular item of a pair or number of items Denoting a particular but unspecified occasion or period Used before a name to denote a person who is not familiar or has not been previously mentioned A certain __ [Informal; chiefly North American and used for emphasis] A noteworthy example of __ Identical The same one-year-old one o’clock, one years old [Informal; US] A one-dollar bill [Informal] An alcoholic drink [Informal] A joke or story A size of garment or other merchandise denoted by one A domino or dice with one spot Determiner: Single ¹ Lone Not two or more [As pronoun] [As combined form] Distinct from all others Only Unique [As pronoun] A specified person, item, etc., as distinct from another or others of its kind [As pronoun] Pronoun: Referring to a person or thing previously mentioned or easily identified ¹ A person of a specified kind A person who is remarkable or extraordinary in some way [Third person singular] Used to refer to the speaker, or any person, as representing people in general Suffix: -one [Chemistry] Forming nouns denoting various compounds, especially ketones ²	Noun: The basic monetary unit of North and South Korea ¹ Verb, intransitive: Be successful or victorious in a contest or conflict ² [win someone over] Gain the support or favor of someone by action or persuasion [win out] Manage to succeed or achieve something by effort [Archaic] To dwell ³ Abide Stay Verb, transitive: Be successful or victorious in a contest or conflict ² Acquire or secure as a result of a contest, conflict, bet, or other endeavor Gain a person’s attention, support, or love, typically gradually or by effort [win someone over] Gain the support or favor of someone by action or persuasion [Archaic] Manage to reach a place by effort Obtain (ore) from a mine
Examples:
Cardinal Number: There’s only room for one person. Two could live as cheaply as one. It’s only another one hundred miles. World War I was referred to as the War to End All Wars. I need a one-bedroom apartment. They would straggle home in ones and twos. Her one concern is to save her daughter. Electronics is one of his hobbies. He put one hand over her shoulder and one around her waist. It looks like a glass tube closed at one end. It happened one afternoon in late October. He worked as a clerk for one Mr. Ming. The actor was one smart-mouthed troublemaker. He was one hell of a snappy dresser. All types of training meet one common standard. He’s a one-year-old. What can one expect? It’s half past one. I’ll be there at one. I’ll want a cool one after a day on the water. Did you hear the one about the chicken farmer and the spaceship? Yeah, right. She wears a one. Determiner: I only see one car. One is enough for now. Come in one at a time. Have you seen a one-eyed dog? He’s a one-legged man. She’s one girl in a million. That boy is one of a kind. Raise one hand and then the other . . . Which one is correct? Pronoun: Her mood changed from one of moroseness to one of joy. It was her best apron, the white one. Do you want one? You’re the one who ruined her life! Eleanor was never one to be trifled with. My friends and loved ones were there for my birthday party. You never saw such a one for figures. One must admire him for his willingness. One gets the impression that he is ahead of the game. Suffix: She hated the smell of acetone. “Quinones often serve as indicators that change in physical appearance, e.g., color, at or approaching the end point of a chemical titration, e.g., on the passage between acidity and alkalinity as are some chemical indicators of acidity or alkalinity and various dyes used to color certain types of fabrics” (Devi). “High ketone levels make your blood too acidic” (Ketones).	Noun: A won is equal to 100 jun in North Korea and 100 jeon in South Korea. Verb, intransitive: He was determined to have won. Talent won out over bureaucracy. “Here advantage is that they lerneth hir grammer in lasse tyme, than children were wonned to doo” (Webster). Verb, transitive: The Mets have won four games in a row. The Pirates won 2–1. There are hundreds of prizes to be won. It was the sort of play that won them the World Cup. He won back their attention. Her sense of humor had won him over at once. Many had strived, but only one won the great contest.
Derivatives:
Adjective: one-armed, one-click, one-dimensional, one-down, one-handed, one-horse, one-legged, one-man, one-off, one-parent, one-party, one-piece, one-pub, one-shot, one-sided, one-size-fits-all, one-star, one-step, one-stop, one-tailed, one-time, one-touch, one-way, one-woman, one-world, onefold Adverb: one-handed, one-sidedly Noun: one-design, one-dimensionality, one-eighty, one-liner, one-lunger, one-nighter, one-off, one-on-one, one-piece, one-step, one-teacher, one-to-one, one-track mind, one-trick pony, one-two, one-upmanship, one-worlder, one-worldism, oneness, oner, onesie Pronoun: oneself Verb: one-up, one-upped, one-upping	Adjective: winless, winnable
History of the Word:
From Old English ān is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch een and the German ein, from an Indo-European root shared by the Latin unus. The initial w sound developed before the 15th century and was occasionally represented in the spelling. It was not accepted into standard English until the late 17th century. From the Greek patronymic -ōnē.	From the Korean wån. From Old English winnan meaning strive, contend, subdue and take possession of, or acquire is of Germanic origin. Before 900, Early Old English wunian became the Middle English wonen and is cognate with the German wohnen.

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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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Resources for One versus Won

Apple Dictionary.com

Devi, S.S. and H.M. Mehendale. “Quinone.” Encyclopedia of Toxicology, ed. 3 Science Direct. 2014. Web. 11 Dec 2022. <https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/quinone>. PDF.

Dictionary.com: won

Harbeck, James. “I Only Wanted to Explain This.” Sesquiotic. 16 Apr 2014. Web. n.d. <http://sesquiotic.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/i-only-wanted-to-explain-this/>.

“Ketones in Blood.” Medical Tests. MedlinePlus. n.d. Web. 11 Dec 2022. <https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/ketones-in-blood/>.

Webster, Noah. Dissertations on the English Language. Boston: Isaiah Thomas and Company, 1783. Project Gutenberg, 2014. <https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45738/45738-h/45738-h.htm>. PDF.

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