Word Confusion: Furry versus Fury

Posted May 28, 2024 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

I know it’s a typo, and yet this word confusion furry vs fury — “. . . off with such furry that his temple had smacked . . .” — does point up how important it is to proofread, carefully.

Furry is generally considered a soft surface, while it has also come to refer to a subculture of people fascinated by anthropomorphized animals. My favorite is Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Okay, it’s actually, the houses, but ya gotta admit that Peter is quite cute in his jacket.

Fury is anger as well as those vengeance goddesses known as the Furies.

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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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Furry	Fury
Furry Parade @ Eurofurence 19 by Torsten Maue is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.	Anger by Emery Way is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — He seems to be in a fury.
Part of Grammar:
Morpheme: fur Adjective ¹, ²; Noun ¹, ² Plural for the noun: furries	Noun Plural for the noun: furies
Adjective: Covered with fur ¹ Having a soft surface like fur Consisting of or resembling fur Obstructed or coated as if with fur [Slang] Terrifying Hair-raising Of, relating to, or characteristic of the furry fandom ² Noun: A small fur-covered animal, typically a rodent ¹ [Informal] An enthusiast for animal characters with human characteristics, in particular a person who dresses up in costume as such a character or uses one as an avatar online ² A subculture of people who happen to be captivated by animals that resemble humans in some way or anthropomorphic animals or creatures. This can include fictional creatures like werewolves and dragons as well as cartoon or comic book characters that resemble animals but have human traits like talking, standing on two legs, or dressing up.	Noun: Wild or violent anger [a fury] A surge of violent anger or other feeling Violence or energy displayed in natural phenomena or in someone’s actions [Roman mythology; Fury] A spirit of punishment, often represented as one of three goddesses who executed the curses pronounced upon criminals, tortured the guilty with stings of conscience, and inflicted famines and pestilences
Examples:
Adjective: There are furry creatures everywhere in the fields! It has soft and furry apple-green leaves. I had plans for that deep, furry rug in front of the fireplace. There was such a furry undergrowth in the forest. Oh man, my tongue is all furry. Oh, I just love his voice — it’s so furry. There were some pretty furry moments in the movie last night. Furry art commissions are often well-paid. Noun: Many furry animals are in danger of becoming extinct. The cats get more cuddles, and the small furries get extra treats too. The COVID lockdown saw an increase in the adoption of furry friends. There is a growing community of furries. Furries are focused on creativity, culture, and a collective community centered around their love for anthro characters. Furries are fans of anthropomorphic animals, like Mickey Mouse, Sonic the Hedgehog, and many mascots for sports teams. Being a furry is not a sexual orientation.	Noun: Tears of fury and frustration streaked down her face. Rachel shouted, beside herself with fury. She fought like fury in his arms. In a fury, he lashed the horse on. The fury of a gathering storm was apparent in the still air. She was paddling with a new fury. “In Greek mythology, the ocean furies attend upon fickle Poseidon” (Mackenzie). The Furies were fearsome entities thought to personify curses or ghosts of those who had been murdered. The Roman Furies were Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera. The Greek version of the Furies are the Eumenides, a.k.a. the Erinyes. Furies were always seen as cruel, but at the same time fair in their punishments.
Derivatives:
Adjective: furrier, furriest Adverb: furrily Noun: furriness, fursona	Adjective: furious Adverb: furiously Noun: furiousness
History of the Word:
First recorded in 1590–1600, fur + -y. In 1980, fans of Steve Gallacci, an artist who drew anthro characters, came together at a sci-fi convention called Noreascon II, leading to more informal gatherings around anthro characters in sci-fi, comics, and animation. In 1986, the term furry party was used at Westercon, a “science fantasy” convention.	Late Middle English from the Old French furie, from the Latin furia, from furiosus meaning furious, which is from furere meaning be mad, rage.

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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!

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