Revised as of
5 July 2023
I’ve done it again. Got all up in my own self-righteous belief that garnish and garnishee are two different critters. Turns out that in legal terms, you can garnish or garnishee, ya just can’t garnishee up that garnish order with flourishes and pretty scribbles. That’d be strictly garnish on a garnishee order.
Food, on the other hand, is strictly for garnish.
I gotta say, I do interpret garnish as strictly prettifying. When I read that his wages were garnished, I get to wondering what they were garnished with . . . a white paper frill? Or maybe with parsley . . . Now, on the other hand, if a couple of es got added in there to make it more of a his wages were garnisheed, I get to wondering how much is being taken out of the poor bastard’s pay.
And yes, part of me is looking for justification in this post for my own perceptions, aaand writers do need to take into account the most common word choices for word confusions like garnish and garnishee. Admittedly, it’s not a word choice one finds in most stories, which means that most of your reading audience won’t know the difference either, which makes it your choice.
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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| Garnish | Garnishee |
|---|---|
Deviled Eggs with a Garnish is in the public domain, via Pixnio. |
GARNISHEE ORDER
|
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun 1; Verb, transitive 1, 2
Plural for the noun: garnishes Third person present verb: garnishes |
Noun; Verb, transitive
Plural for the noun: garnishees Third person present verb: garnishees |
| Noun: A decoration or embellishment for something, especially food 1 [Obsolete] A fee, especially one formerly extorted from new prisoners by inmates of English jails or by the jailer Verb, transitive:
Decorate or embellish something, especially food 2 |
Noun: A third party who is served notice by a court to surrender money in settlement of a debt or claim [As a modifier] A garnishee order Verb, transitive:
|
| Examples: | |
| Noun: I do like using edible flowers as a garnish. The amount and style of garnish applied to clothing has varied throughout history. I do like a well-garnished joint of roast beef on a hot dish. Verb, transitive: The IRS garnished his earnings. During the Regency period, men wore knee breeches and jackets that were highly garnished for formal events. |
Noun: We need to serve this garnishee order. Oh yay! The judge issued a garnishee order. The payroll department handles garnishee orders. Verb, transitive: My ex is gonna get his wages garnisheed. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: garnishable Noun: garnisher, garnishment Verb, transitive: overgarnish, regarnish, undergarnish |
Noun: garnishment |
| History of the Word: | |
|
Middle English as a derivative word from garnish and from the Germanic warnjan meaning to guard through the Old French garnir. |
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 Garnish versus Garnishee
Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: garnish
Pinterest Photo Credits
Court Coat, 1790, is courtesy of History.org, via Historic Threads & Formal Wear.
