Word Confusion: Pool vs Seep vs Spring vs Tinaja

I wanted a word confusion that was an Independence Day thing, but . . . I got nothin’. So instead I’m’a gonna torture y’all with more water explorations . In this case, we’ll explore pool vs seep vs spring vs tinaja.

Pool we usually think of as a swimming pool, and yet for those of us who love the mysteries and forensics, we also think of blood pooling. Moms, of course, are thinking of all the milk, juice, and soda that has spilled and pooled on the floor. No matter we first think of a pool, it will be a small body of fluid, either artificial or natural.

Seep is an exceptionally small body of fluid from underground that does not always reach the surface.

Spring is a reliable perennial source of water where groundwater naturally flows up to the earth’s surface.

Tinaja is a new one to me and cropped up in the research. It definitely fits in here, as it’s a small pool in a rocky hollow. Originally, it was a large porous water jar for storing water and/or cooling water by evaporation. And an environmentally “correct” way to cool down the inside of a building.

In the case of the last three, seeps, springs, and tinajas are an especially useful part of the ecosystem in arid lands because they support a substantial number of aquatic, riparian, and terrestrial species. Many of these plants and animals depend on the aquatic ecosystem and are unique to that location.

Source: Springs

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Exploring Later . . .

You may want to explore “Anchorage, Haven, Moorage, and Roadstead“, “Arroyo vs Coulee vs Wadi vs Wash“, “Bay vs Bight vs Cove“, “Bayou vs Bog vs Marsh vs Swamp“, “Beach vs Coast vs Shore“, “Born vs Borne vs Bourn“, “Brook vs Burn vs Draw vs Lick“, “Canal vs Impoundment vs Moat vs Reservoir“, “Cay vs Key vs Quay“, “Channel vs Dyke vs Rill“, “Creak versus Creek“, “Dam versus Damn“, “Delta vs Estuary vs Rapids vs Source“, “Dock vs Pier vs Wharf“, “Firth vs Fjord vs Gulf“, “Harbor vs Marina vs Port vs Quay“, “Lakes: Kettle, Loch, Mere, and Oxbow“, “Ocean versus Sea“, “Peer versus Pier“, “River vs Stream vs Tributary“, “Rivulet vs Runnel vs Sike“, “Sea versus See“, “Slew versus Slough“, and “Straight versus Strait“.

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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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Pool	Seep	Spring	Tinaja
	Korna Natural Oil Seep is PetrS‘s own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.	Spring Water at Fulking, West Sussex, England, by Dave Spicer is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Geograph.org.uk.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective; Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: pools Gerund: pooling Third person present verb: pools Past tense or past participle: pooled Present participle: pooling NOTE: There’s a whole category of non-waterish pool definitions that are not addressed in this post.	Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: seeps Gerund: seeping Third person present verb: seeps Past tense or past participle: seeped Present participle: seeping	Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: springs Gerund: springing Third person present verb: springs Past tense: sprang, sprung [North American] Past participle: sprung Present participle: springing NOTE: There’s a whole category of non-waterish spring definitions that are not addressed in this post, although I am stretching it with the intransitive verb.	Noun Plural: tinajas
Adjective: Of or for a pool Taking place or occurring around or near a pool Noun: A small area of still water, typically one formed naturally [Figurative] A small, shallow patch of liquid lying on a surface A pond A swimming pool A deep place in a river or stream [vernal pool] Seasonal depressional wetlands that occur under the Mediterranean climate conditions of the West Coast and in glaciated areas of northeastern and midwestern states [Geology] A subterranean accumulation of oil or gas held in porous and permeable sedimentary rock reservoir Verb, intransitive: [Of water or another liquid] To form a pool on the ground or another surface [Of blood] Accumulate in parts of the venous system Verb, transitive: To cause pools to form in To cause (blood) to form pools	Noun: [North American English] A place where petroleum or water oozes slowly out of the ground Verb, intransitive: [With adverbial of direction; of a liquid] To flow or leak slowly through porous material or small holes To ooze To enter, depart, permeate, or become diffused gradually Verb, transitive: To cause to seep To filter	Noun: Short for spring tide A place where water or oil wells up from an underground source, or the basin or flow formed in such a way The origin or a source of something Verb, intransitive: [spring from] To originate or arise from To appear suddenly or unexpectedly from [spring up] To suddenly develop or appear	Noun: [American Southwest] Surface pocket (depression) formed in bedrock that occurs below waterfalls, that is carved out by spring flow or seepage or that is caused by sand and gravel scouring in intermittent streams (arroyos) Pocket Pothole
Examples:
Adjective: You need to change the pool filters. The Browns are having a pool party. Get the pool toys out and into storage before the hurricane hits. Noun: It was a small pool but large enough to hold fish. He was lying there in a pool of blood. The lamps cast pools of light on the wet streets. I spent all my time lounging around the pool. We soon reached the pool at the foot of the waterfall. “Beneath vernal pools lies either bedrock or a hard clay layer in the soil that helps keep water in the pool” (Vernal). “An oil field can consist of one or more oil pools or distinct reservoirs within a single large trap” (Oil). Verb, intransitive: The oil pooled behind the quay walls, escaping slowly into the river. The blood had pooled in the body’s back. The receding tide pooled in hollows along the shore. It was preventing blood from pooling in the limbs. Verb, transitive: “Hurt pooled in his eyes, reflecting a skyline so foreign to him where the sun had just been” (Randall). “Let sit until the zucchini’s liquid starts to pool at the bottom of the bowl, about 10 minutes” (Galarza). “Officers were dispatched to the scene and found Stephen deceased in the roadway, blood pooling around his head” (Steele).	Noun: An oil seep was discovered in his backyard. “A second species of Yeti crab was discovered on cold seeps on the deep-sea floor near Costa Rica” (Henderson, p 356). They were determined to firm up the seep by pressing rocks into the moist surface. “It showed that some of the seeps are freeing ancient methane” (Doughty). Verb, intransitive: Water began to seep through the soles of his boots. Radioactive water had seeped into underground reservoirs. All his confidence seeped away. The new ideas finally seeped down to the lower echelons. Fog seeped through the trees, obliterating everything. Verb, transitive: The vodka is seeped through charcoal to purify it. “As daylight seeped through thick curtains of haze, a new pain arrived and gradually worsened until it could not be ignored” (Mikaelsen). The crack is seeping water.	Noun: “A perigean spring tide occurs when the moon is either new or full and closest to Earth” (NOAA). There’s a mineral springs up that way. To the north are the hot springs. We came upon a cool spring of water. There is a wide range of springs from a variety of artesian to contact, depression to gravity, fracture and tubular, and thermal. Verb, intransitive: Both ponds sprang from the same source. Tears sprang from his eyes. A terrible storm sprang up. Oil sprang from the well.	Noun: “The horse limped down to the edge of the water and stood and he stood in the dark tinaja with the rifle over his shoulder holding the brand above him till it burned out and then he stood holding the crooked orange ember of it, still talking to the horse” (McCarthy). “Water sourced from the Pasig River was the cheapest at only 2.50 cents per tinaja” (Villafuerte). “Smaller tinajas may dry out, but larger tinajas can retain water year-round” (Albright). Some larger tinajas can support riparian plants.
Derivatives:
	Adjective: seepy Noun: seepage	Adjective: springless	Adjective: tinajero Noun: tinajería
History of the Word:
Old English pōl is of West Germanic origin and related to the Dutch poel and the German Pfuhl.	Late 18th century, perhaps a dialect form of the Old English sīpian meaning to soak.	Old English spring (noun), springan (verb) is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch and the German springen. Early use in the senses head of a well and rush out in a stream gave rise to the figurative use originate.	American Spanish from the Spanish meaning large earthenware jar from the Old Spanish, which is from the Vulgar Latin tīnacula (diminutive of the Latin tīna meaning wine jar) is of unknown origin.

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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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Resources for Pool vs Seep vs Spring vs Tinaja

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.

Albright J. and Others. “Water in the Rock: Tinajas in Glen Canyon.” National Park Service. n.d. Accessed 1 July 2024. <https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/nrca_glca_2021_tinajas.htm>. Summary article from Natural resource conditions at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: Findings & management considerations for selected resources. Natural Resource Report. 2022. NPS/SCPN/NRR—2022/2374. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2293112.

Apple Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com: pool, seep

Doughty, Bob and Shirley Griffith. “Tons of Methane Gas Could Be Trapped Under Antarctica.” Learning English. 17 Sept 2012. Accessed 30 June 2024. <https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/tons-of-methane-gas-could-be-trapped-under-antartica/1508252.html>.

The Free Dictionary: pool, seep, spring, tinaja

Galarza, G. Daniela. “Roasted Red Pepper and Zucchini Salad with Burrata.” The Washington Post. 18 Aug 2022. Accessed 30 June 2024. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/roasted-red-pepper-and-zucchini-salad-burrata/>.

Henderson, Caspar. The Book of Barely Imagined Beings. Originally published 2012. The University of Chicago Press, 2013. <https://amzn.to/3XMq0DA>. Ebook.

McCarthy, Cormac. All The Pretty Horses. Originally published 1992. Vintage, 2010. <https://amzn.to/4eFJ7Fv>. Ebook.

Merriam-Webster: pool, tinaja

Mikaelsen, Ben. Touching Spirit Bear. Originally published 2001. HarperCollins, 2010. <https://amzn.to/3VJEHol>. Ebook.

NOAA. “What is a Perigean Spring Tide?” National Ocean Service. 16 June 2024. Accessed 30 June 2024. <https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/perigean-spring-tide.html>.

“Oil Pool.” Energy Glossary. slb. n.d. Accessed 30 June 2024. <https://glossary.slb.com/en/terms/o/oil_pool>.

Randall, Cassidy. “The Road to Becoming Enough.” Longreads. 16 Feb 2023. Accessed 30 June 2024. <https://longreads.com/2023/02/16/the-drive-road-map-becoming-enough-love-acceptance-relationships/>.

“Springs, Seeps, and Tinajas.” National Park Service. n.d. Accessed 30 June 2024. <https://www.nps.gov/im/chdn/springs.htm>.

Steele, Emma. “Timeline: The mysterious death of Stephen Smith in Murdaugh country.” CBS News. Updated 26 Nov 2023. Accessed 30 June 2024. <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-smith-death-south-carolina-murdaugh-country-timeline-48-hours/>.

“Tinaja.” Wiktionary. 23 May 2023. Accessed 1 July 2024. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tinaja>.

“Vernal Pools.” EPA. Updated 15 May 2024. Accessed 30 June 2024. <https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/vernal-pools>.

Villafuerte, Din M. “Water Runs Deep at Museo El Deposito.” Philippine Daily Inquirer. 2 Mar 2019. Accessed 1 July 2024. <https://business.inquirer.net/265943/water-runs-deep-at-museo-el-deposito>.

YourDictionary.com: tinaja

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Pinterest Photo Credits

Winter Vernal Pool by the Oregon Department of Transportation is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. McKittrick Tar Seep, north of Highway 58 above the McKittrick Oil Field, Kern County, California, is Lldenke‘s own work and is under the CC BY 3.0 license. Sulphide Spring by James St. John is under the CC BY 2.0 license. Ernst Tinaja Trail, Big Bend National Park, by Todd Dwyer is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license. These last three are via Wikimedia Commons.