Word Confusion: Dear versus Deer

Posted May 12, 2016 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Oh, the deer dear . . . oops, I meant the dear deer. Huh?

Funny how switching those two homophones around can make such a difference in understanding. It brought me up short when I saw the first pair.

Deer dear? What does that even mean? Once I put the story on “pause”, and re-read it after transposing the words, dear deer made more sense and continued that theme of sweetness and light in this children’s book on nature.

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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Dear	Deer
Letter from John Burdon Sanderson to Charles R. Darwin, 23 March 1874, by UBC Library Digitization Centre is under no restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons. — “Dear Sir” sounds so much better than “To Whom It May Concern”.	Mule Deer First Snow photographed by Dennis Fluman and uploaded by USFWS Mountain-Prairie is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective Alternative spelling: dere Adverb; Exclamation; Noun Plural for noun: dears Be sure to explore the rules on capitalization for dear as a noun.	Noun Plural: deer (most common), deers (rare)
Adjective: Regarded with deep affection Cherished by someone Used in speech as a way of addressing a person in a polite way Used as part of the polite introduction to a letter, especially in a formula denoting the degree of formality involved Endearing Sweet Expensive [Of money] Available as a loan only at a high rate of interest Adverb: At a high cost Exclamation: Used in expressions of surprise, dismay, or sympathy Noun: Used as an affectionate or friendly form of address A sweet or endearing person	[Family] Cervidae includes several genera and many species. A hoofed grazing or browsing animal, with branched bony antlers that are shed annually and typically borne only by the male [N. Canada] Another name for caribou
Examples:
Adjective: He is a dear friend. She is very dear to me. Martin, my dear fellow, I have some bad news for you. Dear Sir or Madam, Such a dear little puppy. What’s his name? Run for dear life!! It’s quite dear at the price. It was a wish dear to her heart. It’s a beautiful dress, but rather dear at the price. Adverb: They buy property cheaply and sell dear. That Ferrari cost me dear. Exclamation: Oh dear, I’ve upset you. Noun: Don’t you worry, dear. She is such a dear. You’re a dear to help me with my yardwork.	Yesterday a deer came through our yard with her fawn. You going deer hunting this fall, Paul? Be careful along this road, as a herd of deer like to cross just around the next curve.
Derivatives:
Adjective: dearer, dearest Adverb: dearly Noun: dearie, dearies, dearness, deary
History of the Word:
Old English dēore is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch dier meaning beloved, as well as to the Dutch duur and the German teuer meaning expensive.	Old English dēor, also originally denoting any quadruped, used in the (now archaic) phrase small deer meaning small creatures collectively. Of Germanic origin, it is related to the Dutch dier and the German Tier.

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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.

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