Word Confusion: Curser versus Cursor

Posted May 19, 2014 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

I can’t begin to count the number of times I have been a curser when I’m shoving my cursor around on my computer…

Curser is one of those infrequently used words that rarely appear in a story, so it’s quite disconcerting when I run across a curser in text. It immediately conjures up images of witch doctors shaking a bone rattle, perhaps stirring a cauldron of boiling…something…ick…

Now when I run across the word cursor, I’m expecting to see instructions on how to do something on my computer or something involving computers in a story, so you can imagine what a jerk it is on my imagination when someone tells me to use my curser to point to a link and click. Ahem.

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.

Curser	Cursor
Credit to: Free Dictionary; Merriam-Webster; Mighty Red Pen
Lassa Witch Doctors courtesy of CDC and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.	Black Cursor is Ort43v’s own work under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Noun	Noun
One who places a curse on another person or object	A mark on a computer screen that shows the place where information is being entered or read A movable item used to mark a position A transparent slide with a line attached to a slide rule A visual cue (as a flashing rectangle) on a video display that indicates position (as for data entry)
Examples:
The curser uttered imprecations under his breath while he waved his arms.	Click to place the cursor in the field before starting to type. Dang, where’s that cursor? When a cursor changes to a hand image, it indicates a hyperlink.
Derivatives:
Adjective: uncursing Noun: [Informal] cuss Verb: [Informal] cuss, outcursed, outcursing Verb, transitive: outcurse
History of the Word:
The word, curse, is Middle English, from the Old English curs.	First Known Use: 1594 From the Latin currere meaning runner.