Word Confusion: Packed versus Pact

Posted December 14, 2017 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
12 Dec 2022

Holy cats! That pact is packed with details!

And I’ll just bet that every pact between countries, unions, etc., are packed really tight with who can do what and with which and to whom!

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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Packed	Pact
FCC Lattice 1 by Thierry Dugnolle under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons. — Tightly packed ball bearings form this gleaming pyramid.	Yusuf Zafar, Yukiya Amano, & Khursid Anwa by IAEA Imagebank is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via VisualHunt. — A pact is made to study how to handle cancer concerns in Pakistan.
Part of Grammar:
Morpheme: pack Adjective ¹ Verb ² intransitive & transitive ³ Third person present verb: packs Past tense or past participle: packed Present participle: packing	Noun Plural for noun: pacts
Adjective: Filled to capacity ¹ Full Pressed together Dense Compressed [Used in combination] Abundantly supplied with a specified element Verb, intransitive: Fill a suitcase or bag, especially with clothes and other items needed when away from home ² Be capable of being folded up for transportation or storage [Often followed by up] To pack goods in compact form, as for transportation or storage To be capable of or suitable for compact storage or packing for transportation [Rugby; of players] Form or take their places in a scrum To crowd together, as persons To become compacted To collect into a group Verb, transitive: Fill a suitcase or bag, especially with clothes and other items needed when away from home ² Place (something) in a container, especially for transportation or storage Store (something perishable) in a specified substance in order to preserve it Cram a large number of things into a container or space [Often as the adjective packed; of a large number of people] Crowd into and fill (a room, building, or place) Cover, surround, or fill something Make into a pack or bundle To fill with anything compactly arranged To prepare for marketing by putting into containers or packages To make airtight, vaportight, or watertight by stuffing [Informal] Carry a gun Fill a jury, committee, etc., with people likely to support a particular verdict or decision ³ To choose, collect, arrange, or manipulate (cards, persons, facts, etc.) so as to serve one’s own purposes	A formal agreement between individuals or parties for mutual advantage, usually to either end fighting or to help each other An agreement, covenant, or compact An agreement or treaty between two or more nations An employment contract A promise between two people
Examples:
Adjective: They’ve had a packed theater for every performance. It’s a packed snow and will be a bugger to shovel. That was some action-packed movie. No, I always take a a packed lunch. Verb, intransitive: She had packed and checked out of the hotel. These silver foil blankets pack into a small area. We often packed down with only seven men. We’re all packed up in here. With all the travel that Henry does, I picked up toiletries that packed well. The audience packed into the auditorium. They really packed that snow to make that snowman so dense. The grouse had packed early. Verb, transitive: I packed a bag with a few of my favorite clothes. I packed up my stuff and drove to Detroit. The organs were packed in ice. It was a large room, packed with beds jammed side by side. The waiting room was packed. He packed the wounds with healing malaguetta. The sixteen-year-old had made a fortune selling drugs and had packed a gun in the process. Helen packed it in when she discovered Jeff was cheating on her. His efforts packed the Supreme Court with men who shared his ideology. We learned that he had packed the deck. John and Carl packed the fruit for shipping. Jenny was determined to stay warmer this winter, so she packed in the insulation and caulked the windows. Jeez, he packed a wicked punch!	Jesse and Frank formed a pact when they were young. We made a pact not to argue any more. Hitler and Mussolini made a pact between Germany and Italy. It was a result of the settlement of his Metro pact. “The pact covered two months, September and October, but ‘may be extended by the parties’ the filing states” (Conroy). “At the same time, the Warsaw pact threat was disintegrating” (Sweetman). “On the left, they are hemmed in by the pact of solidarity among self-identified oppressed groups” (Poulos). The conference will be an opportunity to discuss a trade pact and a fishing-rights pact.
Derivatives:
Adjective: packable, mispacked, well-packed Noun: packing
Phrasal Verb
packed someone off packed something in packed something out
History of the Word:
First recorded in 1770–80, as pack + –ed. Middle English from the Middle Dutch, the Middle Low German pak (noun), pakken (verb). The verb appears early in Anglo-Latin and Anglo-Norman French in connection with the wool trade; trade in English wool was chiefly with the Low Countries. Early 16th century in the sense of enter into a private agreement, which is probably from the obsolete verb pact meaning enter into an agreement with, the final -t being interpreted as an inflection of the past tense.	Late Middle English from the Old French, which is from the Latin pactum meaning something agreed, a neuter past participle of paciscere meaning agree.

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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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