Mmm, a sundae with hot fudge, nuts, whipped cream, banana slices…
Then there’s Sunday. Morning mass, stopping off at the bakery for doughnuts to have with breakfast. Or maybe it will be a family lunch at Grandma’s.
Yep, sundae versus Sunday is quite a contrast.
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 noir for you from either end.
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| Sundae | Sunday |
|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: sundae; Oxford Dictionaries: Sunday | |
Chocolate Walnut Sundae at Bennett Bay Bistro by Ruth Hartnup is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. |
Easter Eggs by Tristan Schmurr is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr . — Easter is always on a Sunday. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun Plural: sundaes |
Adverb; Noun Plural for the noun: Sundays |
| A dish of ice cream with added ingredients such as fruit, nuts, syrup, and whipped cream | Adverb: [Chiefly North American] On Sunday
Noun: |
| Examples: | |
| I want a hot fudge sundae.
Helen loves whipped cream on her sundae. Sundaes are not on Marilyn’s diet plan. “One less Democrat in the Senate would make for a nice little cherry on their sundae.” – Michael Tomasky. “Behind the GOP Game on Rice.” The Daily Beast. 27 November 2012. |
Adverb: The concert will be held Sunday. The program is repeated Sundays at 9 p.m. Three players on the Air Force women’s tennis team wrapped up play Sunday at the CU Invitational in Boulder, Colorado. All festival events, activities and contests still will take place Sunday at the same times they had been scheduled for today. During the school year I work Saturdays, so I have to play Sundays. Services take place Sundays at 1:30 pm in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Noun: Many people work on Sundays. Sunday evening always comes too soon. I don’t know. I think it happened the Sunday before last. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: Sunday-go-to-meeting | |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late 19th century (originally US) is perhaps an alteration of Sunday, either because the dish was made with ice cream left over from Sunday and sold cheaply on the Monday, or because it was sold only on Sundays, a practice devised (according to some accounts) to circumvent Sunday legislation. | Old English Sunnandæg means day of the sun, a translation of the Latin dies solis. Compare with the Dutch zondag and the German Sonntag. |
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 by exploring the index. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, and/or the Properly Punctuated.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Ice Cream Sundaes is under the CC0 license, via MaxPixel.net.
