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 noire for you from either end.
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| Wae | Way | Weigh |
|---|---|---|
 — |
 — |
 — |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Noun
Plural: waes |
Adverb; Noun; Suffix
Plural for noun: ways |
Noun 1; Verb 2, intransitive & transitive Plural for noun: weigh Third person present verb: weighs |
| [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
[Informal; in singular noun with modifier or possessive] A particular area or locality A particular aspect of something
[In singular noun with adjective] A specified condition or state [ways] A sloping structure down which a new ship is launched Suffix: |
Noun: [Nautical] Another way of saying under way 1 (See the post, “Under Way vs Underway vs Under Weigh“.) 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” (Oliphant).
“But, wae’s me, what did she see as she went to the castle door to welcome them?” (Clarke). “He fell in a rain of tears, fearing nor death nor hardship, I knew, but wae at the abandonment of his home” (Munro). 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. The men weighed anchor. He weighed his words before he spoke. |
| 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: | ||
| Unknown. | Old English weg is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch weg and the German Weg, from a base meaning move, carry. |
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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.
Resources for Wae vs Way vs Weigh
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
Clarke, Margaret Bruce. Hunter’s Marjory. 2011. Originally published 1923. <https://amzn.to/3g6qukl>.
Dictionary.com: wae
Munro, Neil. John Splendid. Good Press, 2019. Originally published 1898. <https://amzn.to/3emfa33>.
Oliphant, Margaret. A Widow’s Tale and Other Stories. Otbebookpublishing, 2018. Originally published 1898. <https://amzn.to/3rMNDLb>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Bloody Mary, On a Bed of Nails by Carlos Ostos Sabugal (Circus Divas Illustrations Gallery) is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Oddities Bizarre; Desserts by Peggy Greb, USDA ARS, and King Olaf and the Little People by George Pearson are in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Revised as of 21 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie