Word Confusion: Bouillon versus Bullion

Posted March 3, 2020 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
3 Sept 2022

This particular Word Confusion arose when I ran out of chicken bouillon cubes…at the same time I was reading an historical romance where the prince wore lots of bouillon. . . .??

Oops, I’m sure the author meant his uniform was encrusted with bullion. ‘Cause, otherwise, that uniform would really stink!

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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Bouillon Bullion

3 wrapped and stacked bouillon cubes

Day 310: Night Cap by Tom Small is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr.

Bouillon cubes: a delicious way to keep the flu away.


Gold bars stacked on white background

Gold Ingots by Szaaman is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Gold bars, the starting form of bullion.

Part of Grammar:
Noun

Plural: bouillons

Noun

Plural: bullion

A broth made by stewing meat, fish, or vegetables in water

A clear, usually seasoned broth made by dissolving a commercially prepared bouillon cube or cubes in hot water

Gold or silver in bulk before coining, or valued by weight

Gold or silver in the form of bars or ingots

[Also bullion fringe] Ornamental braid or trimming made with twists of gold or silver thread, for decorating uniforms

Embroidery or lace worked with gold wire or gold or silver cords

Examples:
Combine the instant dashi or vegetable bouillon powder and boiling water in a saucepan, stirring well.

If you long for Markt’s ham hock in an oddly smoky pea-and-asparagus soup, the coriander-and-leek-infused bouillon with mussels should charm more.

Add 3 cups hot water and bouillon to taste (or instead, add 3 cups hot broth), and the cheese rind.

If you are nauseated, you could try taking sips of 7-up, ginger ale, fruit juice, tea, broth, tonic water, or bouillon.

He put a graph where he compared the value in weight of his degree with the corresponding value of gold bullion.

Employees at the gold bullion and precious metals firm Johnson Matthey began the first in a series of 24-hour strikes on September 23.

The air is so thick with pollution that the canvas surface fairly crackles with beads and bullion.

We carry a vast collection of tassels, curtain tie-back tassels, beaded fringe, bullion fringe, chainette fringe, tassel fringe, chair tie tassels, jacquard ribbon, lace, beaded appliqués, and many more at the best possible prices.

This pillow has a gorgeous raised peach-tone fabric with quality leopard inlay and bullion fringe.

Derivatives:
Noun: bullionist
History of the Word:
French, literally liquid in which something has boiled, from bouillir meaning to boil. Middle English from the Anglo-Norman French, in the sense a mint, variant of the Old French bouillon, based on the Latin bullire meaning to boil.

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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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Resources for Bouillon versus Bullion

Apple Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com: bouillon, bullion

Lexico.com: bouillon, bullion

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Pinterest Photo Credits:

Full Dress Uniform, Capt. Eason Rich, Royal Horse Artillery, 1890, Glenbow Museum, by Daderot is under the CC0 license. Maggi Bouillon gras boîte fer de 112 étuis (Maggi Bouillon in a Tin of 112 Cubes), Maggi, France, by Ltqphg is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Both are via Wikimedia Commons.

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