Revised as of
14 Dec 2022
This was not an expected Word Confusion. Okay, okay, no word confusions are expected. This one, however, parkour vs parquet, is comprised of two words that are not commonly used in writing.
So, when I read of a character who parqueted across two buildings, down a wall, and over a dumpster, well I could only admire how gorgeous all that wood mosaic must have appeared. I was even more impressed at how quickly this character created such a huge swath of parquet. Outdoors.
Ahem. Not to mention that parkour is a noun only.
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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| Parkour | Parquet |
|---|---|
Traceur, Portsmouth, England, is by geishaboy500 in a derivative work by Lošmi and is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — A young man engaging in parkour. |
Diagram of Seating in a Theater, 1912, der Königgrätzer Straße 57-58, Berlin SW, is by an unknown author and in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — Shows the parquet seating location. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: parkour Alternative spelling: parcour |
Noun; Verb, transitive
Plural for the noun: parquets Third person present verb: parquets |
| The activity or sport of moving rapidly through an area, typically in an urban environment, negotiating obstacles by running, jumping, and climbing | Noun: [Also parquet flooring] Flooring composed of wooden blocks arranged in a geometric pattern [North American] The ground floor of a theater or auditorium [In France and French-speaking countries: the Parquet] The branch of the administration of the law that deals with the prosecution of crime Verb, transitive: To make of parquetry |
| Examples: | |
| He has the most amazing parkour skills.
Verity incorporates parkour to get around New York City. Parkour is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. The concept of parkour, moving in the fastest and most efficient way possible in a complex environment, sounds fascinating. |
Noun: The main floor is entirely parquet. The entire table is covered in parquet. I can’t believe they covered the parquet floor with a rug! From there an archway leads to the south parlor, with parquet flooring and a period fireplace and mantel. All we could get were seats in the parquet. “In France, the parquet général is the public prosecutor’s office of the appellate court (cour d’appel) or the Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation)” (Parquet). Verb, transitive: It takes great delicacy to parquet such small boxes. They specialize in parqueting tabletops. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Noun: parquetry | |
| History of the Word: | |
| Early 21st century French, as an alteration of parcours meaning route, course. | |
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.
Resources for Parkour versus Parquet
Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: parquet
“Parquet (Legal).” Wikipedia. 24 July 2019. Web. 17 March 2020. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parquet_(legal)>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Its background removed in Photoshop, Collosul Jump by Lorin is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license. De Notelaer by Donar Reiskoffer is under the CC BY 3.0 license. Both are via Wikimedia Commons.
