Word Confusion: Manner versus Manor

Posted June 30, 2020 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Manner versus manor are a pair of heterographs (a subset of homophone) that too many people are getting wrong.

Initially I got interested in this with all the writers going on about to the manner born and to the manor born. Sometimes the phrase fit the context. Sometimes it didn’t. So I got curious.

Turns out they’re both right. In the right context.

To the manner born refers to an innate ability of any sort.

To the manor born refers to being born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth.

Where an astonishing number of people get it wrong was with the graphics. When I did a search for images to use, I came across so many that were houses, you know, manners. Oy.

I can definitely understand getting words mixed up. Thinking ya know what it means. But if if it’s a word you don’t commonly use, please look it up. Dictionaries are ubiquitous. Use ’em. Or, ahem, check in at KD Did It.com, *grin*

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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Manner	Manor
Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: manner, manor; Lexico.com: manor
Vintage Hospitality Manners courtesy of OpenClipArt and is in the public domain, via Free*SVG.	Plan of a Mediaeval Manor, 1923, William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, New York, Henry Holt and Company, is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: manners	Noun Plural: manors
A way in which a thing is done or happens A style in literature or art [Grammar] A semantic category of adverbs and adverbials that answer the question how? [Archaic; manner of] A kind or sort A person’s outward bearing or way of behaving toward others [manners] Polite or well-bred social behavior or habits The prevailing customs, ways of living, and habits of a people, class, period, etc. Mores Ways of behaving with reference to polite standards Social comportment The way a motor vehicle handles or performs Characteristic or customary way of doing, making, saying, etc. Air of distinction [Used with a singular or plural verb] Kind Sort [Obsolete] Nature Character Guise Fashion	[Also manor house] A large country house with lands The principal house of a landed estate [Chiefly historical; especially in England and Wales] A unit of land, originally a feudal lordship, consisting of a lord’s demesne and lands rented to tenants Any similar territorial unit in medieval Europe, as a feudal estate [Historical; in North America] An estate or district leased to tenants, especially one granted by royal charter in a British colony or by the Dutch governors of what is now New York State The main house or mansion on an estate, plantation, etc. [British; informal; one’s manor] The district covered by a police station One’s own neighborhood or area of operation
Examples:
The detective was taking notes in an unobtrusive manner. Paul had written a dramatic poem in the manner of Goethe. An adverb of manner modifies a clause expressing the attitude of the speaker on the content of the clause. What manner of man is he? His arrogance and pompous manner turned most of us off. His brother, however, had a shy and diffident manner. All manner of things were happening. Didn’t your mother teach you any manners? The novels of Jane Austen are concerned with the manners of her time. Tim apologized for his son’s bad manners. I have no complaints about the performance or road manners. The houses in this neighborhood were built in the 19th-century manner. That old gentleman had quite a manner. She was by no manner of means a frivolous person.	Agecroft Hall, a Tudor manor house, was shipped to the United States piece by piece and now draws 20,000 visitors each year. It is in a walled garden next to Sion Hill Hall, an elegant manor built in 1912 by the York architect Walter H Brierley. Before the first shaft was sunk in 1900, the only buildings on this sweep of coast were an ancient manor house and its barns. He held the right to mine ores within the manor of Little Langdale. A bailiff was in charge of supervising the cultivation of the manor. The manor of East Greenwich was granted to a trading company and did not require feudal service. I picked up this pocketbook outside the gates of the manor. They were the undisputed rulers of their manor. Grasslyn Manor is one of the more religious neighborhoods in the city of Milwaukee.
Derivatives:
Adjective: mannered, mannerless, mannerly, mannerist, manneristic Noun: mannerism, mannerist, mannerliness	Adjective: intermanorial, manorial Noun: manorialism, submanor
History of the Word:
Middle English from the Old French maniere, based on the Latin manuarius meaning of the hand, from manus meaning hand.	Middle English, from the Anglo-Norman French maner meaning dwelling, from the Latin manere meaning remain.

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.

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