Revised as of
19 Jan 2023
When shall we three meat again? For it is meet that we mete.
Er, that just doesn’t sound right, does it? Maybe we could mete instead. Then again, sounds like we’re making a judgment, deciding what’s fitting or proper.
Perhaps we should meet to decide what is mete. Then we could have a lovely meat sandwich, as we contemplate this trio of heterographs.
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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Meat | Meet | Mete |
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Part of Grammar: | ||
Noun
Plural: meats |
Adjective 1; Noun 2; Verb 2, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: meets Third person present verb: meets |
Noun 1; Verb, transitive 2 Plural for the noun: metes Third person present verb: metes |
The flesh of an animal (especially a mammal) as food
[Archaic] Food of any kind |
Adjective: [Archaic] Suitable 1
Noun: Those assembled The place of such an assembling [Mathematics] Intersection, i.e., the set of elements that two or more sets have in common
Verb, intransitive:
Touch
Verb, transitive:
Touch
Fulfill or satisfy (a need, requirement, or condition)
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Noun: [Historical; usually metes and bounds] A boundary or boundary stone 1 A limiting mark Verb, transitive:
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Examples: | ||
The idiots sat there like pieces of meat.
Always place meat and poultry in the refrigerator immediately. I do like the meat sandwiches at that deli in Florida. We should order assorted meats for the party. This’ll put meat on your bones! We’ll need nut meats for the cake. He did the meat of the climb on the first day. We sit down to meat! This life is meat and drink to me. He’s a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. You know what they say, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. |
Adjective: It is a theater meet for great events. It is meet that you greet me. It is only meet that she should be seated first. Noun: Are you going to the track meet tomorrow? We’re set up for a meet-and-greet this afternoon. Verb, intransitive: We can meet at the office party. The committee meets once a week. He will meet with the president on September 16. The Twins and Mariners will not meet again until September. We do expect to meet with a slight setback. I’m sorry if it doesn’t meet with your approval. The curtains failed to meet in the middle. Verb, transitive: I offered to meet their train. In the final match, the U.S. will meet Brazil. The Oracle had prophesied that he will meet his death. The announcement will meet with widespread protests. This policy is doing nothing to meet the needs of women. They failed to meet the noon deadline. You will have to meet all your household expenses. |
Noun: “In my opinion any part of a building which is defined by metes and bounds is premises in respect of which a licence can be granted, provided it is in the justices’ opinion structurally adapted for the sale of liquor.” “I would gladly be moral and keep due metes and bounds, which I dearly love, and allow the most to the will of man; but I have set my heart on honesty in this chapter, and I can see nothing at last, in success or failure, than more or less of vital force supplied from the Eternal” (Emerson). “The master’s domain was wide and complex, yet it had its metes and bounds” (London). Verb, transitive: With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. “Let them live or die as luck will have it, and let Jove mete out his judgements upon the Trojans and Danaans according to his own pleasure” (Homer). “So I ask your advice how to act in this matter, and what fate I should mete out to these captives” (Baum). “But this crude outlaw was not satisfied with merely rescuing the girl, he must needs mete out justice to her noble abductor and collect in full the toll of blood which alone can atone for the insult and violence done her” (Burroughs). |
Derivatives: | ||
Adjective: meat-eating, meatier, meatiest, meatless, meaty Adverb: meatily Noun: meathead, meathook, meatiness, meatloaf, meatspace, meatball |
Adverb: meetly Noun: meet-and-greet, meet-cute, meeter, meeting, meetinghouse, meetness, meetup Verb: met-cute |
Adjective: unmeted |
History of the Word: | ||
Old English mete meaning food or article of food (as in sweetmeat) is of Germanic origin. |
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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!
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Resources for Meat vs Meet vs Mete
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
Baum, L Frank. The Emerald City of Oz. Digireads.com Publishing, 2020. EBook. <https://amzn.to/3xDt9aW7gt;.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. The Outlaw of Torn. 2012. Ebook. <https://amzn.to/3R0TNBg>.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Experience.” Essays — Second Series. 2011. <https://amzn.to/3S1iWNB>.
The Free Dictionary: mete
Homer. The Iliad. Penguin Classics, 1998. Print. ISBN-13: 978-0140275360. <https://amzn.to/3y0ZZTx>.
London, Jack. White Fang. SeaWolf Press, 2020. Print. ISBN-13 : 978-1953649546. <https://amzn.to/3drQJRd>.
Oxford Dictionary. mete
Vocabulary.com: meet
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Meet Shop is Masum-al-hasan’s own work under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.