I don’t know about you, but I am so not worried about the “crochets of others”. Heck, I can’t even crochet except to cast on that first row, which explains why I do appreciate a lovely crocheted afghan.
Now, the crotchets of my neighbors . . . hmmm . . . those might be more difficult to cast out of my life seeing as they have just as much right to live there as I do here and everyone is entitled to their opinions. Just don’t foist it off on me. Well, unless they want to blog about it . . .
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 “Crochet versus Crotchet” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Crochet | Crotchet |
|---|---|
 |
,_after_C_Wellcome_V0009329ER.jpg) — |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for noun: crochet Third person present verb: : crochets |
Noun
Plural for noun: crotchets |
| Noun: A handicraft in which yarn is made up into a patterned fabric by looping yarn with a hooked needle
Verb, intransitive: Verb, transitive: |
[Music; chiefly British] A quarter note
A perverse or unfounded belief or notion [Zoology] A small notched or hooked process, as in an insect |
| Examples: | |
|
Noun: You’ll need a smaller crochet hook for this project. Crocheted vests were very popular when I was in high school. The bikini is tiny, three triangles of cotton crochet. Verb, intransitive: She likes to crochet. Jenny is learning how to crochet. Verb, transitive: She had crocheted the shawl herself. Madge crocheted golf club covers for herself. |
He exhibited all the natural crotchets of inveterate bachelors.
Ach, she’s a crotchety old woman. “Some fatalities come in certain shapes, and some in others — but this of which I speak has come in the shape of a crotchet” (Poe). In the order Diptera, they “have paired crotchet-bearing prolegs located ventrally on first and often second abdominal segments” (Order). |
| Derivatives: | |
| Noun: crocheter | |
| History of the Word: | |
| Mid-19th century in the sense of hook and from the Old French crochet, a diminutive of croc meaning hook from the Old Norse krókr. | Middle English in the sense of hook and from the Old French crochet, a diminutive of croc meaning hook from the Old Norse krókr. |
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 Crochet versus Crotchet
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
“Order Diptera.” Center for Freshwater Biology. University of New Hampshire. n.d. Web. 6 Nov 2022. <http://cfb.unh.edu/StreamKey/html/choices/Diptera/NEMATOCERA/09dp/09dp.html>.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherezade. CDED, 2018. <https://amzn.to/3WAGj3b>. Ebook.
Pinterest Photo Credits
Omodos Woman Crocheting, 2010, is Wknight94 talk’s own work under the GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Revised as of 9 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie