Word Confusion: Bus versus Buss

Posted November 16, 2012 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

I gotta admit, I’m prejudiced about this word confusion. And rather embarrassed about how wrong I am. I’m so accustomed to seeing a buss as a kiss, that I simply can’t reconcile myself to busses being multiple city or school buses. It just ain’t right.

And, I’m wrong. Technically.

It’s just that mental image I get every time I see a sign posted on the freeway, pointing to a pull-out lot for busses. I keep thinking that I can either get a kiss for a buck, or there are buses necking in there! Ooh, baby!

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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Bus	Buss
Triple School Buses by -Maik- is under the CC BY-ND 2.0 license, via VisualHunt.	Reese Kisses Sage by Donnie Ray Jones is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — A sweet buss on the head . . .
Part of Grammar:
Noun Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: buses ¹, busses Gerund: busing ¹, bussing Third person present verb: buses ¹, busses Past tense or past participle: bused ¹, bussed Present participle: busing ¹, bussing ¹ Intelligently, Canada prefers the single “s”. Formal name: omnibus Alternative name: motorbus	Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: busses Gerund: bussing Third person present verb: busses Past tense or past participle: bussed Present participle: bussing
Noun: Large motor vehicle carrying passengers by road [Computers] Distinct set of conductors carrying data and control signals within a computer system, to which pieces of equipment may be connected in parallel A car or vehicle that is old and/or unreliable Verb, intransitive: To travel on or by means of a bus Verb, transitive: Travel or move by bus To transport pupils to school by bus, especially as a means of achieving socioeconomic or racial diversity among students in a public school Remove dirty dishes and cutlery from a table in a cafeteria or restaurant	Noun [Archaic, informal] Kiss Verb, intransitive: [Archaic, dialect] Kiss Verb, transitive: [Archaic, dialect] Kiss [Archaic] To talk about Gossip over
Examples:
Noun: I’ll just take the bus. It’s connected using a serial bus. Does this town even have bus service? What? This old bus?? Verb, intransitive: We bused to New York on a theater trip. Verb, transitive: We’ll bus the hostages to a hotel. Busing pupils to school was the only way they could see to achieve socioeconomic or racial diversity among students in a public school. We’ll have to bus those tables to get ready for the next diners.	Noun: Oh, go on and give the lass a buss. “So compose yourself to-night, and I promise you, you shall have an opportunity of doing yourself justice.” Here he gave Jones a hearty buss, shook him by the hand, and took his leave” (Fielding). Verb, intransitive: They bussed. Verb, transitive: He bussed her. “Come, grin on me, and I will thinke thou smil’st, And busse thee as thy wife . . .” – Shakespeare, King John Quit bussin’ about my dress.
Derivatives:
Noun: busbar, busboy, busload, busman, busser
History of the Word:
Early 19th century.	Late 16th century and an alteration of the late Middle English bass, probably from the French baiser, which evolved from the Latin basiare.

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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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