Revised as of
30 Sept 2022
I read about the woman who sacheted into the room, just as I’d taken a gulp of my lemonade . . . and promptly spewed it out. Considering that sachet is a noun, there is no way anyone could sachet. You can use a sachet, make a sachet, give ’em away as gifts, but since it is not a verb, there is no way someone can sachet as a movement.
I suppose one could sashay over to someone to hand them a sachet or six, but it’s still not sacheting.
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. Consider sharing this Word Confusion with friends by tweeting it.
| Sachet | Sashay |
|---|---|
Lavender Sachets by Hans is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay. |
Walk on By . . . Cultural Crossing by indigo_girl is under the CC BY-SA-2.0 license, via Flickr. — She just sashays on by. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: sachets |
Noun; Verb, intransitive
Plural for the noun: sashays Third person present verb: sashays |
A small perfumed bag used to scent clothes
[British] A small sealed envelope, usually made of plastic or paper, for containing sugar, salt, shampoo, etc. |
Noun: [In American square dancing] A figure in which partners circle each other by taking sideways steps Verb, intransitive:
Perform the sashay |
| Examples: | |
| I like to tuck a lavender sachet under my bed pillows.
Instead of mothballs, consider a sachet of lavender, rosemary, cedar, and/or bay leaves to put in with your woolen sweaters. George always takes the soap and shampoo sachets in every hotel he stays in. |
Noun: They performed the sashay and then the half sashay like champions. He called for a Half Sashay, a sideways DoSaDo to end back where you started. “Promenade a full 3/4, Grand Square, Half Sashay, Roll Away with a Half Sashay, Ladies In, Men Sashay . . .” Verb, intransitive: Helen just sashayed in as if she belonged there. We sashayed left in a counter-clockwise maneuver. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Noun: sachet powder | |
| History of the Word: | |
| 1475-85 from the Middle French and equivalent to |
Mid-19th century as an alteration of chassé. |
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 Sachet versus Sashay
Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: sachet, sashay
Pinterest Photo Credits
Sashay by Thomas Quine while Sachet Azúl by ana ortiz de valles is gorgeous and oh-so-fragrant. Both are via Flickr and under the CC BY 2.0 license. Both backgrounds were removed in Photoshop.
