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This word confusion bellow vs below arose from a laugh I was having with a translator over a profusion of essays for a book.
The editor for the book had made so many contrary demands and insisted on a slew of $5 words and yet, when it came to it, the essays he had approved were so full of errors . . . including the statement that the “bellow footnotes were to be corrected immediately”.
Those footnotes weren’t really yelling. They were however at the bottom of the page(s), below the main text.
Exploring Later . . .
You may want to explore “Bellow versus Billow“.
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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| Bellow | Below |
|---|---|
Yell by Przemek Pietrak is under the CC BY 3.0 license, via Flickr. — A lot of bellows rising into the air. |
Rams Below an Apple Tree by Peter Janzen is under the CC0 1.0 license, via cc0.photo. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun 1, 2; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: bellows Third person present verb: bellows |
Adverb; Preposition |
| Noun: A deep roaring shout or sound, as of pain or anger 1 The characteristic noise of a bull A device with an air bag that emits a stream of air when squeezed together with two handles, used for blowing air into a fire 2 Verb, intransitive:
Verb, transitive: Sing (a song) loudly and tunelessly Bawl |
Adverb: At a lower level or layer
Preposition:
Extending underneath |
| Examples: | |
| Noun: “The comportment of Democrats and others disgusted by the Capitol riot was inconsistent with their present bellowing that Trump is a historically unique destructive force who cannot be allowed to retake power” (McCarthy). “But that’s only possible with the correct ocean conditions, when other sounds aren’t around to drown out blue whale bellows” (Walters). “Please hand me the bellows for my fire” (Nye). Verb, intransitive: He was bellowing into the phone, giving orders to one of his employees. If you constantly bellow at other drivers on the road, consider signing up for anger management classes. The bull bellowed. “Fuxi bellowed a sound of grief, a thunder that shook the heavens and four new mountains of the earth” (Lind). |
Adverb: He jumped from the window into the moat below. It’s the lot of all that dwells here below. Traitors gnash their teeth below. There’s a north wind blowing, and it’s 30 below. Our nutritionist is pictured below right. The most common methods are shown below. I’ll go below and fix us a drink. Preposition: She saw blistered skin below his collar. They rated its financial soundness below its competitor’s. Shuddering, she knew it was below freezing. I’m sorry, ma’am, be he is below average. We dove to below 60 feet. There! It’s the tunnel below the crags. There were cables running below the floorboards. You’ll find some hanging space below that top storage shelf. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: bellowing, bellowslike | |
| History of the Word: | |
|
Late Middle English (as an adverb) from be- meaning by + the adjective low meaning of less than average height from top to bottom or to the top from the ground.
As a preposition it became common in the 16th century and was frequent in Shakespeare. |
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.
Resources for Bellow versus Below
Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.
Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: bellows
Lin, Grace. When the Sea Turned to Silver. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016. <https://amzn.to/3SBCP0w>. Ebook.
Lind, Jennifer. “Japan’s Nuremberg: The Toyko Trial and the Birth of Postwar Liberalism.” Foreign Affairs. 20 Oct 2023. Accessed 29 Jan 2024. <https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/japans-nuremberg>.
McCarthy, Andrew C. National Review. 30 Dec 2023. Accessed 29 Jan 2023.
Merriam-Webster: bellow
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Habibi. FLIPHTML5. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, 1997. <https://fliphtml5.com/fr/xaoqo/ieyr/basic/151-166>. Ebook.
Walters, Sam. “What are the Loudest Animals in the World?” Discover Magazine. 17 Oct 2023. Accessed 29 Jan 2024. <https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/what-are-the-loudest-animals-in-the-world#>.
Pinterest Photo Credits
Two Guys, Yelling at Some Other Person Below by Billie Grace Ward is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
