Word Confusion: Hand Out versus Handout

Posted March 9, 2021 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Pinterest pin for Hand Out versus Handout

Would you ask Mandy to hand out these handouts?

Yep, they are two different words, er, I suppose I should say a verbal phrase and a noun.

Hand out will always be about giving out something. It could be Aunt Mabel handing out her unwelcome advice as well as that time Mom handed out the penalties for not doing your chores. It could also be someone on the street handing out leaflets. You see where I’m going, right? Verb. Something. Given away.

Now, a handout could be that leaflet that was handed to you. Maybe the food pantry supplied people with handouts. Hmmm, that stimulus check is certainly a handout… And those situations are all nouns.

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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Hand Out	Handout
Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Collins: handout; Dictionary.com: handout; The Free Dictionary: hand-out
National Guard Hand Out MREs, Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, by TSGT Jennifer C. Wallis, USAF, is in the public domain via the US National Archives. — It was nice of the National Guard to hand out food to those suffering due to the hurricane.	Handout on 3D Printing is courtesy of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission from Austin, Texas, United States, and is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Phrasal verb Third person present verb: hands out Past tense or past participle: handed out Gerund or present participle: handing out	Closed compound noun that is also a countable noun Plural: handouts Alternative spelling: hand-out, hand-outs
Give a share of something or one of a set of things to each of a number of people Distribute Impose or inflict a penalty or misfortune on someone	Something given free to a needy person, advertiser, or organization Printed, typed, mimeographed, or photocopied information provided free of charge, as a speech, to accompany a lecture, policy statement, advertise something, or fact sheet given to reporters, attendees at a meeting, or the like Press release ¹
Examples:
The huge increase in unemployment has caused the food pantries to hand out greater quantities of food. Stick your hand out and I’ll give you a handout. They handed out free drinks to everyone. Harsher punishments are being handed out to reckless drivers. Would you please hand out the balloons to the children?	Hundreds of thousands of refugees subsist on international handouts. She was shocked when she saw a one-page handout condemning her campaign. Ignore them. Those socialists are always looking for a handout. Each family is being given a cash handout of six thousand rupees. Many teachers are opting for group discussions instead of handouts.
History of the Word:
	First recorded in 1880–85 for a portion of food as a noun use of the verb phrase hand out. ¹ First recorded in 1905–10.

Hand Out

Handout

Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Collins: handout; Dictionary.com: handout; The Free Dictionary: hand-out

A line of soldiers facing a line of cars

National Guard Hand Out MREs, Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, by TSGT Jennifer C. Wallis, USAF, is in the public domain via the US National Archives.

—

It was nice of the National Guard to hand out food to those suffering due to the hurricane.

Handout on 3D Printing is courtesy of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission from Austin, Texas, United States, and is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

Part of Grammar:

Phrasal verb

Third person present verb: hands out
Past tense or past participle: handed out
Gerund or present participle: handing out

Closed compound noun that is also a countable noun

Plural: handouts

Alternative spelling: hand-out, hand-outs

Give a share of something or one of a set of things to each of a number of people

Distribute

Impose or inflict a penalty or misfortune on someone

Something given free to a needy person, advertiser, or organization

Printed, typed, mimeographed, or photocopied information provided free of charge, as a speech, to accompany a lecture, policy statement, advertise something, or fact sheet given to reporters, attendees at a meeting, or the like

Press release ¹

Examples:

The huge increase in unemployment has caused the food pantries to hand out greater quantities of food.

Stick your hand out and I’ll give you a handout.

They handed out free drinks to everyone.

Harsher punishments are being handed out to reckless drivers.

Would you please hand out the balloons to the children?

Hundreds of thousands of refugees subsist on international handouts.

She was shocked when she saw a one-page handout condemning her campaign.

Ignore them. Those socialists are always looking for a handout.

Each family is being given a cash handout of six thousand rupees.

Many teachers are opting for group discussions instead of handouts.

History of the Word:

First recorded in 1880–85 for a portion of food as a noun use of the verb phrase hand out.

¹ First recorded in 1905–10.

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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