The graphic images that are aroused in me when an author confuses a yoke with a yolk are, well, messy.
Admittedly, the yoke being mentioned is usually the neck-and-shoulders portion of a shirt or dress — which tells you just how sticky it appears in my imagination! Nor can I see oxen pulling a plow with yolks, sunny, runny, yellow egg embryos, dripping down their shoulders . . . Nor do those runny yolks seem sturdy enough! Either scenario makes me want to run for some rags and a bucket of water!
Unfortunately (for me), yoke and yolk are considered alternative spellings for each other. And I suspect that the majority of readers out there would interpret the most common (and current) definitions.
In the meantime, can you imagine if these words were switched? Of someone confusing a yolk for a yoke?
I don’t care how long you boil that yoke or if you wanna fry it up in a pan, I ain’t never gonna eat it.
And, after all that whining, whichever spelling you choose, be consistent and remember your readers, especially if your book includes yokes and yolks.
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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| Yoke | Yolk |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun; Verb intransitive & transitive
Plural for the noun:
Gerund: yoking Third person present verb: yokes Alternative spelling: yolk |
Noun
Plural: yolks Alternative spelling: yoke Obsolete spelling: yelk |
| Noun: Wooden crosspiece fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to a plow or cart they are to pull
Something resembling or likened to a yoke, in particular:
[Irish; informal] A thing whose name one cannot recall, does not know, or does not wish to specify [Irish slang] Ecstasy pills Verb, intransitive: Verb, transitive:
[Slang] Rob or mug a person
[Obsolete] To bring into subjection or servitude |
The yellow internal part of a bird’s egg, which is surrounded by the white, is rich in protein and fat, and nourishes the developing embryo
[Embryology] The part of the contents of the egg of an animal that enters directly into the formation of the embryo, together with any material that nourishes the embryo during its formation The essential part
A natural grease exuded from the skin of sheep |
| Examples: | |
| Noun: Get the yoke on those oxen. Many Western-style shirts have a shaped yoke. We’ll only need a yoke of oxen to plow this yoke. It was so much easier to carry two pails of water with a yoke. It is the yoke of imperialism that has kept us down! Men frequently joke about the yoke of marriage. The pilot uses the yoke to control the attitude of the plane. How much did that yoke set you back? Verb, intransitive: The oxen were yoked together. “Believers are admonished not to allow themselves to be yoked together with unbelievers for the purpose of accomplishing an immoral task” (Kennedy, 21). Verb, transitive: Hong Kong’s dollar has been yoked to America’s. Yoke up those oxen! Two crackheads yoked this girl. They decided to yoke the old man with the hearing aid. |
Wow, these eggs have some pretty big yolks!
Controversy rages back and forth over whether yolks are good or bad for you. A yolk has 70 calories. Merino sheep are remarked for the quantity of yolk they exude. “The shell represents the earth’s 35-km (22 mile)- thick (or less) crust on which we walk and live. The egg white represents the 2,850- km (1770 mile)- thick mantle, the source of heat for Hawaiian and other hot spot volcanoes, and the yolk represents the 3,500-km (2172 mile) -thick core” (USGS). |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: yokeless, well-yoked | Adjective: yolked, yolkless, yolky |
| History of the Word: | |
| Old English geoc1, geocian3 is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch juk, the German Joch, from an Indo-European root shared by the Latin jugum and the Greek zugon, also by the Latin jungere meaning to join. | Old English geol(o)ca, from geolu meaning yellow. |
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.
Resources for Yoke versus Yolk
Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.
Apple Dictionary.com
Kennedy, James and Walter Kennedy. Nullifying Tyranny: Creating Moral Communities in an Immoral Society. Pelican Publishing, 2010. Paperback. <https://amzn.to/3rXJBjd>.
USGS: Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. <https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/usgs-hawaiian-volcano-observatory>.
Pinterest Photo Credits
Oxen Yoke, <https://visualhunt.com/f2/photo/8911386205/408f376fda/>, by BarbaraLN, <https://visualhunt.com/author/40b4ed>, is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via VisualHunt and Fried Egg, Sunny Side Up by David Benbennick, which is in the public domain, are via Wikimedia Commons.
Revised as of 21 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie