Word Confusion: Tide versus Tied

Posted September 25, 2017 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
5 Jan 2023

It’s a tide of words tied tightly together to create a story, and sometimes, okay, most times, writers allow a spellcheck to do all the work.

Easy enough for a spellcheck program to accept tide or tied, since it only checks the actual spelling and not the context in which the word is used, but it’s as hard for writers and proofreaders since it’s a case of two measly letters switched around. And sometimes . . . those tired eyes get all tied up against the tide of time.

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.

If you found this post on “Tide versus Tied” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

Return to top

Tide	Tied
	Model in Stringent Hogtie was originally uploaded by Jbc01 at English Wikipedia (JBC Productions / Aussie Rope Works issued from private original collection) and transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons under the GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0 licenses, via Wikimedia Commons. — Yep, I’d say she’s all tied up.
White Boat High Tide (top) and White Boat Low Tide (bottom) are Peter J. Restivo’s own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — The tides in Chester Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada, often run up to 20 feet with the upper photo at high tide and the lower at low tide.
Part of Grammar:
Combined Form ¹; Noun ²; Verb ², intransitive ³ & transitive Plural for the noun: tides Gerund: tiding Third person present verb: tides Past tense or past participle: tided Present participle: tiding	Morpheme: tie Adjective; Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: ties Gerund: tying Third person present verb: ties Past tense or past participle: tied Present participle: tying
Combined Form: -tide ¹ Noun: The alternate rising and falling of the sea, usually twice in each lunar day at a particular place, due to the attraction of the moon and sun ² The water as affected by this A powerful surge of feeling or trend of events The inflow, outflow, or current of water at any given place resulting from the waves of tides A stream or current Anything that alternately rises and falls, increases and decreases, etc. Current, tendency, or drift, as of events or ideas Any extreme or critical period or condition Verb, intransitive: [Archaic] Drift with or as if with the tide ² [Of a ship] Float or drift in or out of a harbor by taking advantage of favoring tides To flow as the tide Flow to and fro To float or drift with the tide [Archaic] To happen or befall ³ Verb, transitive: To carry, as the tide does ² [Archaic] To betide Happen	Adjective: Fastened or attached with string or similar cord [Music; of two or more notes] United by a tie and performed as one unbroken note [Of a game or contest] With both or more competitors or teams achieving the same score [British] Restricted or limited in some way [Of a house] Occupied subject to the tenant’s working for its owner [Of a pub] Owned by a brewery and bound to supply the products produced or specified by that brewery [Of aid or an international loan] Given subject to the condition that it should be spent on goods or services from the donor or lender Noun: As tied does not have a noun form, I’m not including its definition or examples. Verb, intransitive: To make a tie, bond, or connection To make or be the same score Be equal in a contest Verb, transitive: To bind, fasten, or attach with a cord, string, or the like, drawn together and knotted To draw together the parts of with a knotted string or the like To fasten by tightening and knotting the string or strings of To draw or fasten together into a knot, as a cord To form by looping and interlacing, as a knot or bow To fasten, join, or connect in any way [Angling] To design and make an artificial fly
Examples:
Combined Form: Shrovetide is approaching, and we’ll be needing to go to Confession. He rose on the springtide of prosperity. “As there is now in the earth, so there is always in human souls a springtide ready to burst forth into beautiful living.” – Florence Hobart Perin There’s a strong riptide out there. Noun: They were driven on by wind and tide. We’d better hurry, the tide is coming in. The rising tide covered the wharf. The trickle of tourists has become a flood tide. The doctor’s no good this tide. He drifted into sleep on a tide of euphoria. We must reverse the growing tide of racism sweeping the country. The tide of her illness is at its height. Verb, intransitive: The ocean tided most impressively, even frightening. Verb, transitive: Could you lend me $50 to tide me over until payday? They finally tided off the reef. He’ll be tiding up the Hudson by now. My parents lent us some money to tide us over for a while. He had a snack to tide himself over until dinner.	Adjective: It was a neatly tied package. It was the first tied match in the league. As a tied vote, it would have to go back into committee. It’s unfair for agricultural workers to be living in tied accommodation. Tied houses now have guest beers. The donation is tied to aiding runaways under thirteen years of age. Verb, intransitive: We tied. The teams tied for first place in the league. I am absolutely fit to be tied, John Jameson. Verb, transitive: The paperback book is tied in with the movie of the same title. Ma, Ma, Randy tied a tin can on Petey’s tail. They sure tied this bundle tight. Has she tied her shoes yet? She tied the strips of sheet together to make her escape. Aye, yup, Miller tied all his own flies. Ol’ Hanson tied the knot last week. We really tied one on last night.
Derivatives:
Adjective: tidal, tideful, tideless, tidelike Adverb: tidally Noun: tideland, tidelessness, tideline, tidemark, tidewaiter, tidewater, tideway Verb: betide	Adjective: well-tied Noun: tie, tie-down, tying, undertie Verb: retied, undertied
Phrasal Verb
tide someone over	tied down tied in tied into tied off tied something in tied up tied someone up tied something up
History of the Word:
Unknown. Old English tīd meaning time, period, era is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch tijd and the German Zeit, also to time. The sense relating to the sea dates from late Middle English. Middle English (before 1000) tiden, from the Old English tīdan.	Old English tīgan is of Germanic origin.

Return to top

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.

Return to top