I was listening to a newscast and was startled by the broadcaster saying that this politician was suffering percussions for her statements. Okay, well, I didn’t really think she was being that loud.
Now, I could understand the politician suffering REpercussions for her statements . . .
Percussion is all about loud noise made with some force. Hmmm, maybe there was percussion . . . No, no, no, she was suffering, and we know that repercussion is all about a usually negative feedback, an echo, or of being driven back.
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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| Percussion | Repercussion |
|---|---|
Caroline Shaw with Attacca Quartet and So Percussion at Miller Theater by Steven Pisano and Peter Matthews is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — A xylophone is a percussion instrument. |
Coal Mining In England is under the CC0 1.0 license, via RawPixel. — The Industrial Revolution caused repercussions throughout the world. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: percussion |
Noun 1, 2
Plural: repercussions |
[Music] Musical instruments played by striking with the hand or with a handheld or pedal-operated stick or beater, or by shaking, including drums, cymbals, xylophones, gongs, bells, and rattles
[Firearms, Gunnery, Ordnance, & Artillery] A sharp blow for detonating a percussion cap or the fuse of an artillery shell The striking of sound on the ear The striking of one solid object with or against another with some degree of force
The act of percussing |
[Usually repercussions] An unintended consequence occurring some time after an event or action, especially an unwelcome one 1
[Music; in a fugue] The point after the development of an episode at which the subject and answer appear again [Archaic] The recoil of something after impact 2
[Archaic] An echo or reverberation The state of being driven back by a resisting body [Medicine] The subsidence of a tumor or eruption by the action of a repellent |
| Examples: | |
| “An interlude of golden horns introduced the concerto’s bracing finish, a little ostinato passed between the percussion and the strings, a triumphant theme mounting across the brass, a heroic rumble of timpani” (Brodeur).
The percussion section has plenty of instruments for this piece. Most kids go through a phase when they love to “play” the drums, one of several loud percussion instruments. The clattering percussion of objects striking the walls and the shutters woke everyone up. “While we’re pushing forward, they’re shooting us with percussion grenades” (MacGillis). “The Indians have only old percussion-cap rifles, and not too many of them” (King). “A slow, dynamic swell, Sara Bareilles’ ‘City’ is one of those tracks where, as the percussion amplifies and the range expands, I find myself involuntarily swept up in it” (Ware). “Soon enough, subtle piano chords, percussion, and harmonies are added to the blend” (Benjamin). His chest sounded dull on percussion. “Lyrics and melody come first, but we definitely experimented a lot with the sounds — synths, percussion, layering vocals, etc.” (Sirisuk). |
The move would have grave repercussions for the entire region.
Dude, you don’t pay your rent, eviction will be the repercussion. “The name seemed to carry it to the farther corners of the room and send it back to them in long repercussions of sound” (Wharton). The wind had a tremendous effect in the repercussion of the waves from the rocks. This double view of the female has repercussions within the lives of Hindu women. “Since a statistically significant difference was found between the subjective sensation of tinnitus and the craniocervical posture with a correlation between tinnitus sensation and repercussion on the quality of life and craniocervical posture in teachers, these aspects should be considered in the assessment of teachers presented with tinnitus, as well as further studies with a population of teachers, healthy adults, in order to increase the knowledge on the subject” (Mendes). “We discussed the repercussion of certain maternal or pregnancy factors on the frequency of neonatal metrorrhagia” (Levy). Radiation caused a repercussion of his tumor. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: percussional, percussive Noun: percussionist Verb: percuss |
Adjective: repercussive |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late Middle English from the Latin percussio(n-), from the verb percutere meaning to strike forcibly. |
|
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!
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Resources for Percussion versus Repercussion
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Apple Dictionary.com
Benjamin, Jeff. “Jason Mraz’s ‘YES!’: Track-By-Track Review.” Billboard. 15 July 2014. Accessed 16 Mar 2024. <https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/jason-mraz-yes-album-review-6157642/>.
Brodeur, Michael Andor. “With a Powerhouse Program, NSO Limbers Up for the Road Ahead.” The Washington Post. 26 Jan 2024. Accessed 16 Mar 2024. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2024/01/26/nso-review-seong-jin-cho-carlos-simon/>.
Cambridge Dictionary: percussion
Dictionary.com: percussion, repercussion
The Free Dictionary: percussion
King, Generalis in the public domain, via NARA Charles. Warrior Gap. Originally published by The Hobart Company, 1898. Gutenberg, 2006. <https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20082/20082-h/20082-h.htm>. Ebook.
Levy, JM, P Dellenbach, and JP Pequenot. “Genital Crisis in the Newborn. Repercussion of Certain Maternal or Pregnancy Factors on the Frequency of Neonatal Metrorrhagia.” PubMed. vol 21. National Library of Medicine. Aug–Sept 1964. Accessed 16 Mar 2024. PMID: 14196700. <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14196700/>. p. 819–827.
The Longman Dictionary: repercussion
MacGillis, Alec. “Inside the Capitol Riot: What the Parler Videos Reveal.” ProPublica. 17 Jan 2021. Accessed 16 Mar 2024.
Mendes, Marina Stephany Bobroff, Marcelo Yugi Doi, Vitoria de Moraes Marchiori, Karina Couto Furlanetto, and Luciana Lozza de Moraes Marchiori. “Comparative Study of Sensation and Repercussion of Tinnitus on the Quality of Life and Craniocervical Posture in Teachers.” Revista Cefac. Scientific Electronic Library Online. 30 July 2020. Accessed 16 Mar 2024. <https://www.scielo.br/j/rcefac/a/33m3mb57KxFsyZsgQNs3znK/?lang=en&format=pdf>.
Merriam-Webster: percussion, repercussive
Sirisuk, JL. “All About Eve: An Interview with IAMEVE on the Release of Her Album, ‘The Everything Nothing’.” The Bloc. Huffington Post. 11 Apr 2012. Accessed 16 Mar 2024. <https://www.huffpost.com/entry/all-about-eve-an-interview_b_1416668>.
Ware, Tony. “JBL Live Free NC+ TWS Earbuds Review: Made for Active Listening.” Popular Science. 24 Aug 2021. Later updated by Andrew Waite in 8 Dec 2022. Accessed 16 Mar 2024. <https://www.popsci.com/reviews/jbl-live-free-review/>.
Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome. Originally published 1911. 2011. <https://amzn.to/4ai1ME8>. Ebook.
Wiktionary: repercussion
Pinterest Photo Credits
Military Percussion Pistol is courtesy of the National Museum in Krakow and is under the CC0 1.0 license, via Look and Learn.com. A Roleplaying Rioter Pulls a Riot Shield from a Slovenian and is in the public domain, via NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Archive.
