Word Confusion: Chute versus Shoot

Posted June 19, 2013 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
29 June 2023

The following sentence is a great example of Microsoft Word — to be fair, any wordprocessing or editing software — missing the context when it runs a spellcheck.

The horse was eating juicy chutes.

Now, it’s always possible that the horse is meandering through a chute recently built with really fresh wood that’s still oozing sap, but, somehow, I don’t think so.

“If you are a shipper of Chinese groceries you could shoot cans of bamboo shoots down a chute to the loading dock” (Brians).

The alternative spellings for chute and shoot are accepted by some dictionaries, but . . . please don’t with this pair of heterographs (a subset of homophone).

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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Chute	Shoot
Mosul Dam Chute Spillway is courtesy of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.	Cucumber Leaf by sa_ku_ra, who cropped the image to make it square. It was uploaded by ExplicitImplicity and is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — A plant shoot is so promising.
Part of Grammar:
Noun ¹, ²; Verb ³, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun chutes Third person present verb: chutes Past tense or past participle: chuted Present participle: chuting Alternative spellings: shoot or shute	Exclamation; Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: shoots Gerund: shooting Third person present verb: shoots Past tense or past participle: shot Present participle: shooting Alternative spelling for chute Variant spelling of chute ¹
Noun: A fall ¹ Quick descent as in a river Inclined plane, sloping channel, passage, or slide for conveying things to a lower level Narrow enclosed path down which cattle, horses, sheep are driven Parachute ² [Sailing, informal] Spinnaker Verb, intransitive: Convey by an inclined plane, sloping channel, passage, or slide ³ Verb, transitive: To go in OR as if in an inclined plane, sloping channel, passage, or slide ³ Utilize a slide as by passing ore down it	Exclamation: [Informal] As a euphemism for shit Noun: Young branch or sucker springing from the main stock of a tree or other plant Occasion when a group of people hunt and shoot game for sport [British] Land used for shooting game Occasion when a professional photographer takes photographs or when a film or video is being made Rapid in a stream Verb, intransitive: Fire a bullet from a gun or discharge an arrow from a bow Cause a gun to fire Hunt game with a gun [shoot over] Shoot game over an estate or other area of countryside Move suddenly and rapidly in a particular direction Used to invite a comment or question [Of a pain; may also be figurative] Move with a sharp stabbing sensation [Soccer, hockey, basketball, etc.] Kick, hit, or throw the ball or puck in an attempt to score a goal ⁴ Film or photograph a scene, film, etc. [Of a plant or seed] Send out buds or shoots Germinate [Of a bud or shoot] Appear Sprout Verb, transitive: Kill or wound a person or animal with a bullet or arrow Damage or remove something with a bullet or missile Cause to move suddenly and rapidly in a particular direction Direct a glance, question, or remark at someone [Of a boat] Sweep swiftly down or under rapids, a waterfall, or a bridge [Informal, of a motor vehicle] Pass a traffic light at red Extend sharply in a particular direction Move a door bolt to fasten or unfasten a door [Informal] Make a specified score for a round of golf [Informal] Play a game of pool or dice Film or photograph a scene, film, etc. [Informal] Inject oneself or another person with a narcotic drug Plane the edge of a board accurately
Examples:
Noun: Rig up the debris chute. Did you see that movie where they escaped through the chute? Icy water came rushing down the chute. Dump it down the laundry chute. Send it down the chute. Verb, intransitive: Chute them doggies in. Verb, transitive: We’ll chute them in. The dock had facilities for chuting grain directly into the hold of a vessel. Supplies were chuted to the snowbound mountain climbers.	Exclamation: Shoot, it was a great day to be alive. Well, shoot, I guess we’ll have to put him down. Noun: Better cut those shoots down lest it weaken the tree. They have a grouse shoot scheduled for tomorrow. I’ve scheduled a photo shoot for my artwork. Follow the portages that skirt all nine shoots of whitewater. Verb, intransitive: He shot at me twice. The troops were ordered to shoot to kill. We go to Scotland to shoot every autumn. The car shot forward. Ward’s hand shot out, grabbing his arm. “May I just ask you one more question?” “Shoot.” Claudia felt a shaft of pain shoot through her chest. A pang of regret shot through her. He shot the bolt. Williams twice shot wide. Point the camera and just shoot . . . nothing could be easier. Verb, transitive: I hear they’re shooting a movie the next street over. He was shot in the leg during an armed robbery. Troops shot dead 29 people. They shot a volley of arrows into the village. Guy, shoot their hats off. He would have fallen if Marc hadn’t shot out a hand to stop him. Beauchamp shot United into the lead. Luke shot her a quick glance. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” she shot back. A road that seemed to just shoot upward at a terrifying angle. In the second round he shot a 65. After school, we’d go straight out in the alley to shoot baskets. She has just been commissioned to shoot a video. He’s just gonna shoot dope into his arm.
Derivatives:
Noun: chutist, chute-the-chute, chute-the-chutes Verb: chute the chute, chute the chutes	Adjective: shootable, shooting Noun: shooter, shootist
Phrasal Verb
	shoot-down shoot-’em-up shoot-out shoot-the-chute shoot someone down shoot something down shoot through shoot up shoot someone up shoot something up shootaround
History of the Word:
1805 from the French for fall of water or rocks which is from the Old French cheoite, a feminine past participle of cheoir for to fall which is from the Latin cadere. Influenced by shoot. 1920s as a shortened form. 1884	Old English scēotan is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch scieten and the German schiessen. Related to sheet in its primary sense of to shoot or project.

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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 Chute versus Shoot

Apple Dictionary.com

Brians, Prof. Paul. “chute / shoot.” <https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/31/chute-shoot/>.

“Chute vs Shoot. “Spelling. Grammarist.com. n.d. Web. 6 Sept 2022. <https://grammarist.com/spelling/chute-shoot/>.

Thanks to Lorinda J. Taylor for calling this one to my attention!

Merriam-Webster: chute

O’Connor, Patricia T. and Stewart Kellerman. “A Trash ‘Chute’ or ‘Shoot’?” Grammarphobia.com. 3 June 2014. Web. 6 Sept 2022. <https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2014/06/chute-or-shoot.html>.

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