Voilà, a Word Confusion!

Posted December 31, 2018 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
16 April 2021

Et voilà! Well, you could also have voila, the anglicized version of voilà, especially if you’re not sure how to reproduce that a grave diacritic or if your character isn’t French.

Then again, perhaps your character is, ahem, a dumbass, a hick, or perhaps a total loser, then go ahead, use those misspellings to help enhance your reader’s view of them.

And as a book reviewer, such misuse only makes me more critical of the book . . . Lord knows how it affects your other readers.

Create a Grave Accent

Pronounced “grahv”, you can create a grave diactric on either a Mac or a PC by typing à for à and À for À. Worst case scenario, you can find an example of the letter you want and copy-paste it.

For a more specific solution on your particular computer . . .

On a Mac

There are three ways to type an à on a Macintosh:

The easiest is to hold down the letter key for which you need an accent. A brief context menu will pop up with images of the different diacritic accents available for that letter. To choose:
1. Type the number below the option, or
2. Click your choice
Type a keystroke combination: OPTION + the tilde key to the left of the “1” (the grave accent is part of this key) > immediately type the letter for which you want the accent
1. For an accented uppercase letter: OPTION + tilde key > SHIFT + letter
Edit > Emoji & Symbols > when the window pops open, type “grave” in the search bar > choose your letter

In Windows

To type an à on a PC:

Use the numeric pad on your keyboard: Turn on Num Lock > hold down ALT + type "0224" (on the numeric keyboard) for a lowercase à or ALT + 0192 for an uppercase À.

What you need to know is that voilà is borrowed from the French, and our problem is that while it retains its French pronunciation, it has taken on those American misspellings. And it’s only going to reinforce the idea that we’re idiots.

On the plus side, at least American writers know it’s meant to be an exclamation of there it is or there we are.

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 “Voilà” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Voilà, Voila	Vwa-Lah Wa la, Wa-la, Wah-la, Wah-lah Walla, Wa-lah, Wallah
Voilà ce que nous devons faire by Cate Storymoon is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via VisualHunt.
Part of Grammar:
Exclamation	Incorrect
An expression of satisfaction Used to call attention, to express satisfaction or approval, or to suggest an appearance as if by magic Used when showing to other people something that you have just made or got and are pleased with	No . . . just no . . . Unless the plan is to portray your character as an idiot.
Examples:
Need a personal gift? Voilà! Find that edition of the book she’s been seeking — it shows you’ve been paying attention. After we realized no one was paying attention to the plight of the geese around the neighborhood pond, we created a blog that focused on the wonders of our local environment. Voilà, Mallard Pond.org came to life. Lost? Download “You are Here” to your smartphone, and voilà, you’ll always be able to find your way home. Laura, if we buy our new TV at Appliances R’US, we get a gift certificate equal to another TV! And voilà, your dad’s Christmas gift is paid for. A two-fer! “Voila!” she said, producing a pair of strappy white sandals. On completing her turn for Paul to admire her new outfit, Marie snapped a pose and murmured a sexy “Voilà!”
History of the Word:
1825–35, from the French and equivalent to voi meaning see! It is the second person singular imperative of voir (meaning to see) + la (there).	Decades of writers not taking the time to check the dictionary or google the correct spelling.

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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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