Revised as of
17 Dec 2022
This particular word confusion, pore versus pour, makes me insane, and I most commonly see it confused when the author wants a character to be looking at something intently, you know, poring . . . and they use pouring. Yeah. The graphic image it always conjures up for me is wet. Really wet. I suppose it could be a dry pour, as in someone could pour sand or dirt over something, but I always imagine liquid.
I’ve experienced enough flooding whether it was in my books or my studio materials that I can imagine all too easily the loss and mess. All that water gushing over a book or pile of papers, it is simply depressing and such a job to dry out. So you can imagine how reading about someone pouring over a book takes me right out of the story. Sob . . . poor me . . . *more sobbing ensues* . . .
During the research, poor cropped up. Poor me, all this poring over the pouring floodwaters . . .
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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| Poor | Pore | Pour |
|---|---|---|
Migrant Agricultural Worker’s Family, 1936, Nipomo, California, by Dorothea Lange is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — This is the best this poor family can do. |
Kalymnos Sponges is kallerna’s own work under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Sponges have pores. |
Mercury Pour by an Environmental Protection Agency employee is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Adjective; Noun
Plural for the noun: poor |
Noun 1; Verb, intransitive 2 Plural for the noun: pores Third person present verb: pores |
Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: pours Third person present verb: pours |
| Adjective: Lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society
[Law] Dependent upon charity or public support Worse than is usual, expected, or desirable
[Predic.; poor in] Deficient or lacking in something specified
[Attrib.; of a person] Considered to be deserving of pity or sympathy [Of a country, institution, etc.] Meagerly supplied or endowed with resources or funds Characterized by or showing poverty Deficient in desirable ingredients, qualities, or the like Noun: |
Noun: Minute opening in a surface, especially skin 1 Verb, intransitive: [Archaic] Think intently, ponder |
Noun: The act of pouring An abundant or continuous flow or stream A heavy fall of rain Verb, intransitive: Rain falls heavily Verb, transitive: Serve a drink in this way Donate something in large amounts Express one’s feelings or thoughts in a full and unrestrained way [Humorous] Dress oneself in a tight-fitting piece of clothing |
| Examples: | ||
| Adjective: There are actually people who are too poor to afford a telephone. The gap between the rich and the poor has widened. Breckenville is a poor area with run-down movie theaters and overcrowded schools. Many people are eating a very poor diet. What can I say? Her work was poor. The water is poor in nutrients. He is, in my poor opinion, a more handsome young man. They inquired after poor Dorothy’s broken hip. The region was poor in mineral deposits. Noun: But will the tax bill help the poor? The poor have poor representation. |
Noun: Cold water will tighten the pores. There was dirt in the pores around his nose. Water seeped into the pores of the rock. Verb, intransitive: She has pored over those books for days. He loves poring over old manuscripts. The lieutenant pored over the case files. |
Noun: It was a pour of invective from the angry woman. It was a pour of insults. Our waiter recited a list of the best pours. Verb, intransitive: The rain poured down. Water poured over the dam. It has been pouring for an hour. Verb, transitive: She poured out a cup of tea. It’s pouring rain. The letters poured in. Janie poured out her hopes and fears. Man, she must have poured herself into that dress! |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: poorer, poorest, quasi-poor Adverb: poorly, quasi-poorly Noun: nonpoor, poorness |
Adjective: porelike | Adjective: pourable Adverb: pouringly Noun: pourability, pourer Verb, transitive: interpour |
| History of the Word: | ||
| Middle English from the Old French poure, which is from the Latin pauper. |
|
Middle English of unknown origin. |
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 Poor vs Pore vs Pour
Apple Dictionary.com
The Free Dictionary: pore, pour
Pinterest Photo Credits
Back Blackheads by Dr. Vikram Yadav is a still from his video at YouTube.com.
I have never heard of ” pore” being spelled that way. Is that a british spelling? I am used to poor and pour.
I hadn’t thought of the slang version of pore meaning poor. It will be a good amendment to this confusion, lol. Thanks for the catch! Kathy
No problem!