Word Confusion: Expanse versus Expense

Posted December 20, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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It’s rather depressing reading the news these days. They’re so anxious to get their text out there, that no one is doing any proofreading . . . at least that’s how it appears. I’ve caught so many word confusion in the news . . . sigh . . .

This particular word confusion expanse versus expense as at the “expanse of [a group of people]”.

Expanse is a wide, continuous space, that can be enlarged or become more extensive.

Expense is all about the cost. It’s mostly about money, but there are other costs in life, from the loss of pride, of a loved one, and more.

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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Expanse	Expense
Cumulus Clouds Over Yellow Prairie by Wing-Chi Poon with colors adjusted by Kjetil r is under the CC BY-SA 2.5 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — That prairie is a wide expanse.	RHC Annual Expense Pie Chart by Rachelhope32 is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: expanses	Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: expenses Gerund: expensing Third person present verb: expenses Past tense or past participle: expensed Present participle: expensing
An area of something, typically land or sea, presenting a wide continuous surface The distance to which something becomes or makes larger or more extensive or can be enlarged or extended Extension An uninterrupted space or area The arch of the sky Firmament	Noun: The cost required for something The money spent to attain a goal or accomplish a purpose [expenses] The costs incurred in the performance of one’s job or a specific task, especially one undertaken for another person [Informal] Money allotted for payment of such charges A thing on which one is required to spend money A cost A loss for the sake of something gained A sacrifice [Archaic] The act of expending [Plural noun] Incidental money spent in the performance of a job, commission, etc, usually reimbursed by an employer or allowable against tax Verb, intransitive: To be expensed Verb, transitive: [Usually be expensed] Offset (an item of expenditure) as an expense against taxable income [US and Canadian; Accounting; Book-keeping] To treat as an expense for book-keeping or tax purposes To charge with expenses To write off as an expense
Examples:
She looked out over the green expanse of the forest. The moth has a wing expanse of 20 to 24 mm. I was terrified looking out over that expanse of water. The pioneers looked out over the vast expanse of grasses. “The carriage lamps shed a yellow light on a rough-looking road which seemed to be cut through bushes and low-growing things which ended in the great expanse of dark apparently spread out before and around them” (Burnett, chapt 3).	Noun: We had ordered suits at great expense. The committee does not expect members to be put to any expense. He expected the company would cover his hotel and travel expenses. Tolls are a daily expense. They expended an expense of time and energy on the project. The company achieved speed at the expense of accuracy. It was an improvement that was well worth the expense. It was a trip with all expenses paid. She was reimbursed for her travel expenses. Redecorating the house will be a considerable expense. He was telling jokes at my expense. A car can be a great expense. The annual fee is simply an expense of doing business. Verb, intransitive: The accounting rule allows research-and-development costs to be instantly expensed or deducted from profits. Borrowing is not the only way to shield income against tax. Investment in many intangible assets can be expensed immediately. Research and development expenditures, including engineering costs, are expensed when incurred and amounted to $258.6 million in 2010. Verb, transitive: Up to $17,500 in capital expenditures can be expensed in the year they were incurred. If you expense an item, you treat it as an expense for bookkeeping or tax purposes. “They need but it expense education for poor the best education at this age if they are to succeed” (Sun).
Derivatives:
Noun: expansion	Adjective: expenseless, expensive Noun: expenditure, preexpense
History of the Word:
Mid-17th century, from the modern Latin expansum meaning something expanded, a neuter past participle of expandere.	Late Middle English from the Anglo-Norman French, an alteration of the Old French espense, from the late Latin expensa (pecunia) meaning (money) spent, from the Latin expendere meaning pay out.

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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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