Word Confusion: Vice versus Vise

Posted February 27, 2013 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

Revised as of
13 July 2023

People! There is a distinct difference between “wicked behavior” and “a clamping hold”!

Of course, I suppose that a vice may well have a vise-like grip on a person, as addicting as that vice might be. However. It is no excuse to grab someone with a vice-like grip . . . hmmm . . . I may be wrong about that. A drug that could cause someone to become addicted could be considered to have a vice-like grip, I suppose . . . Unfortunately, vice is more of a metaphysical noun while vise is definitely physical. In America. If you are writing for a British audience, go ahead and swap ’em around.

I do like C.S. Lakin’s example: “I often see writers talk about being ‘squeezed in a vice grip’. But that makes me conjure up the image of a team of cops closing in on a criminal who has drugs hidden in his pocket” from her post, “Don’t Elicit Illicit Behavior“.

So pay attention: it is physically impossible (unless you’re writing for a British audience) to grip someone in a vice of any sort.

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.

If you found this post on “Vice versus Vise” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Vice Vise

Heating Up the Heroin, 2001, by Hendrike of Hamburg, Germany, is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikipedia Commons.

Looks like a nasty vice to me.


Bench Vise is Biser Todorov‘s own work under the CC BY 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

Part of Grammar:
Noun 1, Preposition 2, 3

Plural:

  • vices [US]
  • vises [British]

Alternate spelling: vise [British]

Noun

Plural:

  • vises [US]
  • vices [British]

Alternate spelling: vice [British]

Noun:
Bad, immoral, or wicked behavior 1

Weak character

Bad habit

[Informal] Short for vice president, vice admiral ++

Preposition:
As a substitute for 2

Acting as a deputy or substitute for

[Combination form; vice-] Next in rank modifying any noun it precedes indicating a deputy 3

A tool with movable jaws used to hold an object firmly in place while work is done on it, typically attached to a workbench

May denote a screw or winch

Examples:
Noun:
Chocolate is my vice.

That man has more vices than the devil!

Alcohol can be a vice, if you drink too much of it.

Preposition:
The president and the vice-president will be present for the meeting.

The letter was drafted by David Hunt, vice Bevin who was ill.

She’s the vice-admiral of the Solarian Navy.

The vice-president is scheduled to be here.

He was appointed vice regent to the Crown.

That dog grabs on like a vise!

Use the vise to hold the two pieces together.

He held on with a vise-like grip.

History of the Word:
  1. Middle English from the Old French from the Latin vitium.
  2. Latin, relating to vic- meaning change.
  3. From the Latin vice meaning in place of.
Middle English and denoting a screw or winch and from the Old French vis, which is from the Latin vitis meaning vine.

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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 Vice versus Vise

Apple Dictionary.com

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Pinterest Photo Credits

I resized and cropped the image, Red Clothespins BDSM by Diana Blackwell, which is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons, which depicts “a woman wearing a BDSM collar placing red clothespins on a man’s nipples and below his stomach, to emphasize the mini vises attached to the man’s nipple area. While this was obviously an activity he enjoyed, some people do see it as a vice . . . *grin* . . .

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