Word Confusion: Civil versus Silver

Posted August 10, 2023 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

It was a post on Facebook about the Silver War. You know . . . that War Between the States? The, ahem, Civil War?

Civil can mean many things. Being polite. Not being military or religious. Being about community. Being about the law and how it relates to people.

Silver is primarily a metal, the color of which frequently describes hair — in a physical sense. Metaphorically, silver may also refer to a beautiful sound, a persuasive voice, the light of the moon . . . even a mirror.

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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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Civil	Silver
The 140th Wing Civil Engineering Commander, Lt Col William N Smith is under the Public Domain Mark 1.0 license, via the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. — A couple of civil engineers are civil to each other.	Burnished American Silver Eagle is under the CC BY 4.0 license, via First National Bullion.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective	Adjective; Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: silvers Gerund: silvering Third person present verb: silvers Past tense or past participle: silvered Present participle: silvering
[Attrib.] Relating to ordinary citizens and their concerns, as distinct from military or ecclesiastical matters [Of disorder or conflict] Occurring between citizens of the same country [Law] Relating to private relations between members of a community Noncriminal [Law] Relating to civil law Courteous and polite [Of time measurement or a point in time] Fixed by custom or law rather than being natural or astronomical	Adjective: Made of, plated with, or colored like silver Of or pertaining to silver Producing or yielding silver Of the color silver Silvery Clear, soft, and ringing Eloquent Persuasive Indicating the twenty-fifth event of a series Urging the use of silver as a currency standard Noun: A precious shiny grayish-white metal, the chemical element of atomic number 47 A shiny gray-white color or appearance like that of silver Silver dishes, containers, or cutlery Household cutlery of any material Coins made from silver or from a metal that resembles silver Mainly Scottish money Short for silver medal Verb, intransitive: To become a silvery color [Of a person’s hair] Turn gray or white Verb, transitive: Coat or plate with silver Provide (mirror glass) with a backing of a silver-colored material in order to make it reflective [Literary; especially of the moon] Give a silvery appearance to Turn (a person’s hair) gray or white
Examples:
Private and commercial flights are considered civil aviation. America is in the middle of civil strife. She brought a civil action against him. Civil law evolved from Roman law and promotes cooperation between human beings. We tried to be civil to him. Civil twilight starts at sunset.	Adjective: She wore a sterling silver necklace. The car was silver. The butter dish was sterling silver but the sugar bowl was silverplate. Silver mining is one of the three primary sources of silver. Shoals of silver fish swam by. We stopped to listen to the silver sounds. That man did possess a silver tongue, sigh. They’re celebrating their silver anniversary. As of January 2023, there are no world currencies on either the silver or gold standard. Noun: The chemical element silver is a solid at room temperature. Her dark hair was now highlighted with silver. Thieves stole $5,000 worth of silver. She inherited the family silver. It is important to wash table silver in hot soapy water immediately after each meal. George dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out some small silver. It’s thought that “the Birnie hoard of between 200–400 silver coins were deposited as votive offerings” (Scottish). She won three silvers. “Despite the growth in digital photography, silver-based film is still sometimes used for X-Rays, especially in developing countries” (Silver). Verb, intransitive: Alexia remained a young woman even as her hair silvered. She silvered beautifully. The mirror was silvered. Verb, transitive: He admitted silvering the coins. The whole sheet was silvered to produce a decorative mirror. The brilliant moon silvered the turf. Sorrow and anxiety had aged his father’s face and silvered his hair.
Derivatives:
Adverb: civilly Noun: civility Symbol: Ag Verb: civilise [British], civilize	Adverb: silver-haired, silver-tongued, silvered, silvern, silvery, silvery-haired Noun: silverer, silveriness, silvering, silversmith, silversmithing, silverware
History of the Word:
Late Middle English via the Old French from the Latin civilis, from civis meaning citizen.	Old English seolfor is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch zilver and the German Silber.

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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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