Word Confusion: Summary versus Summery

Posted March 2, 2023 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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This result from a typo on my part when I was writing up a summary, hmmm, actually an excerpt, for the post “Abstract vs Summary“.

This word confusion summary vs summery, a pair of heterographs that sound the same are two different things.

Summary, a noun, is related to the law or as a brief summing up.

Summery, with its one letter change, is an adjective that is breezy, warm, and brings happiness to most in summer weather.

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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Summary	Summery
Summary Judgment by Nick Youngson is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Pix4free.	A Beach in Hammamet During the Summer is Faresbenrayana‘s own work and is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — This gives me summery feelings.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective; Noun Plural for the noun: summaries	Adjective
Adjective: Dispensing with needless details or formalities Brief and comprehensive Concise Direct and prompt Unceremoniously fast [Law; of a judicial process] Conducted without the customary legal formalities [Of a conviction] Made by a judge or magistrate without a jury Noun: A brief statement or account of the main points of something	Characteristic of or suitable for summer
Examples:
Adjective: We need summary financial statements. He made a summary arrest. She was treated with summary dispatch. “An accused convicted under summary conviction is eligible for a pardon after five years, provided the accused is not convicted of any further offenses during that period” (Summary). Obviously a one-volume encyclopedia can offer only a very summary account of the American Civil War. Noun: For your homework, do a summary of chapter three. In summary, there is no clear case for one tax system compared to another. He concluded the report with a brief summary. They gave a summary of their progress in building the bridge.	We were blessed with summery weather. The girls were everywhere in their light summery dresses. It’s feeling so summery today!
Derivatives:
Adjective: summerizable Noun: summariness, summarization, summarizer, summarist Verb: summarise [British], summarize	Adjective: unsunmmery Noun: summeriness
History of the Word:
Late Middle English as an adjective, from the Latin summarius, from summa (sum total).	First recorded in 1815–25, as summer + -y.

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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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