Word Confusion: Consolation versus Constellation

Posted June 27, 2024 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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Anyone else find this word confusion consolation vs constellation hysterically funny?

“The pheasant did come off worse in the collision, but that was no constellation for me.”

Does this mean he saw stars swirling around the pheasant’s head? A constellation?

I do suspect the writer meant consolation for their disappointment in hitting the bird.

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Exploring Later . . .

You may want to explore “Repining versus Repinning” for the sadness aspect or “Collision versus Collusion“.

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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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Consolation	Constellation
Teddy Snuggle is in the public domain, via PickPik. — They look as if they’re offering each other consolation.	Negative Map of Ursa Minor Constellation by Torsten Bronger is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Morpheme: console Noun Plural: consolations	Noun Plural: constellations
Noun: The comfort received by a person after a loss or disappointment A person or thing providing comfort to a person who has suffered [US English; in sports] A round or contest for tournament entrants who have been eliminated before the finals, often to determine third and fourth place	Noun: [Astronomy] A group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a mythological figure An area of the celestial sphere occupied by one of the 88 recognized constellations [Astrology] The configuration of planets at the time of one’s birth, regarded by astrologers as determining one’s character or fate A group, assemblage, or cluster, especially of prominent persons or things A set or configuration, as of related items, properties, ideas, or individuals [Psychoanalysis] A group of ideas felt to be related
Examples:
Noun: There was consolation in knowing that others were worse off. Your kindness was a consolation to me in my grief. After her husband’s death, she found great consolation in her children. The Church was the main consolation in a short and hard life. At least they won the consolation prize.	Noun: The Plough and Orion are constellations. No two patients ever show exactly the same constellation of symptoms. They presented a constellation of demands ranging from better food to improved health care. “I admired the strength, comeliness, and speed of the inhabitants; and such a constellation of virtues, in such amiable persons, produced in me the highest veneration” (Swift, ch 10). “As with gender, sexuality is a constellation of varying degrees of attractions on various planes and axes” (Eli).
Derivatives:
Adjective: consolable, consolatory Noun: consoler Verb: console	Adjective: constellational, constellatory Noun: subconstellation
History of the Word:
Late Middle English via the Old French from the Latin consolatio(n-), from the verb consolari meaning comfort (someone) at a time of grief or disappointment.	Middle English as an astrological term denoting the relative positions of the stars (planets), supposed to influence events, via the Old French from the late Latin constellatio(n-), based on the Latin stella meaning star.

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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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