Revised as of 21 February 2018
It’s not so much wae, although I do feel quite waeful about writers who put too much faith in their spellcheckers. For, aye, way and weigh are simply not in the same league.
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 noir for you from either end.
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| Wae | Way | Weigh |
|---|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: wae | ||
Lonely Guy with Shadow as Friend is Welleman’s own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Oh wae is me… |
The Galactic Centre Above the ESO 3.6-metre Telescope by S. Brunier/ESO is under the CC BY 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — I’ve never seen the Milky Way so clearly. |
Vagner Rocha by Peter Gordon (Flickr: Vagner Rocha) is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — A fighter weighing in for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Noun Plural for noun: waes |
Adverb; Noun Plural: ways |
Noun 1 Verb, intransitive & transitive 2 Plural for noun: weigh |
| [Scotland and North England] Woe, sorrow | Adverb: Informal At or to a considerable distance or extent
Noun:
A road, track, path, or street for traveling along
[In singular with modifier or possessive; informal] A particular area or locality A particular aspect of something
[In singular with adjective] A specified condition or state [Ways] A sloping structure down which a new ship is launched Suffix: |
Noun: Verb, intransitive:
Assess the nature or importance of, especially with a view to a decision or action
Verb, transitive:
Assess the nature or importance of, especially with a view to a decision or action
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| Examples: | ||
| “There was an honest farmer that had kept up a sore struggle, my own very heart was wae for him when I put his bill in the packet.” – Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant, A Widow’s Tale and Other Stories
“But, wae’s me, what did she see as she went to the castle door to welcome them?” – Margaret Bruce Clarke, Hunter’s Marjory “He fell in a rain of tears, fearing nor death nor hardship, I knew, but wae at the abandonment of his home.” – Neil Munro, John Splendid It’s wae sad we are at not being able to visit ye more often. Wae is me. |
Adverb: His understanding of what constitutes good writing is way off target. My grandchildren are way ahead of others their age. I was cycling way too fast. The guys behind the bar were way cool. Noun: There are two ways of approaching this problem. It was not his way to wait passively for things to happen. They be foreigners who adopt French ways. He was showing off, as is the way with adolescent boys. I know the way to No. 3, Church Way. It’s just across the way. Can you tell me the way to Duffy Square? We’re going in by way of the back way. They still had a long way ahead of them. The area’s wine industry still has some way to go to full maturity. September was a long way off. Christine tried to follow but Martin blocked her way. We just missed another car coming the other way. The national vote split three ways. We’ll have to find a way to tighten that up. By the way, it ended up being a five-way bidding war. I shouldered my way to the bar. The dinghy lost way and drifted toward the shore. I’ve got a sick cousin over Fayetteville way. I swear. I have changed in every way. The family was in a poor way. They’ll be letting her slip down the ways as soon as they break that bottle. Suffix: It’s the byways about which you need to be concerned. Take the motorway. It’ll be faster. |
Verb, intransitive: His unhappiness would weigh on my mind so much. The evidence weighed heavily against him. Verb, transitive: The vendor weighed the vegetables. When the twins were born, they weighed ten pounds. She picked up the brick and weighed it in her right hand. She weighed out two ounces of loose tobacco. The consequences of the move would need to be very carefully weighed. They need to weigh benefit against risk. The evidence weighed heavily against him. Tell the men to weigh anchor. I suggest you weigh your words before you speak. |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: wayless Noun: waeful |
Adjective: unweighable, weighable, weighty, weightier, weightiest, well-weighed Adverb: weightlessly, weightily Noun: weighbridge, weigher, weigh-in, weight, weightbelt, weightiness, weighting, weight-lifter, weightlessness, weightloss, weight-watcher Verb: weight |
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| Phrasal Verb | ||
| weigh someone down weigh in weigh in at weigh in with weigh into weigh out weigh someone up weigh something up |
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| History of the Word: | ||
| Old English weg is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch weg and German Weg, from a base meaning move, carry. | 1 Late 18th century from an erroneous association with weigh anchor.
2 Old English wegan is of Germanic origin and related to wagon and wain, and to the Dutch wegen meaning weigh |
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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves?
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Bloody Mary, On a Bed of Nails by Caros Ostos Sabugal (Circus Divas Illustrations Gallery) is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license and Desserts by Peggy Greb, USDA ARS, and King Olaf and the Little People by George Pearson are in the public domain. All three are via Wikimedia Commons.
