Word Confusion: Stent versus Stint

Posted July 11, 2024 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Oy, a character’s thought on his “stent in Maine” makes me wonder about proofreaders, unless . . . okay, maybe it was a really, really huge tube.

So, a stent is basically a tube inserted into a living body to enable flow. So, not a state. Another type of stent is more historical in nature, referring to taxation. Yeah, no. It was a contemporary story, so he wasn’t obsessing about his taxes.

A stint is primarily a limitation, a restriction, a frugality, and it can be a stretch of time spent in a particular way. It can also be a type of bird.

And both are nouns and verbs.

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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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Stent	Stint
Drug-eluting Stent is courtesy of Scientific Animations and is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.	“A” Boss Instructing a Transient Worker in Ditch Digging, October 1935, “Tugwelltown”, the government-owned project started in Maryland near the District of Columbia, by Harris & Ewing, is under the Public Domain Mark 1.0 license, via Picryl and courtesy of the Library of Congress. — This man is doing a stint as a ditch digger.
Part of Grammar:
Noun ¹, ²; Verb, transitive ² Plural for the noun: stents Third person present verb: stents Past tense or past participle: stented Present participle: stenting	Noun ¹, ²; Verb ², intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: stints Gerund: stinting Third person present verb: stints Past tense or past participle: stinted Present participle: stinting
Noun: [Medicine] A tubular support placed temporarily inside a blood vessel, canal, or duct to aid healing or relieve an obstruction ¹ An impression or cast of a part or body cavity, used to maintain pressure so as to promote healing, especially of a skin graft [Historical, mainly Scottish English] An assessment of property made for purposes of taxation ² Verb, transitive: To assess and charge (a person or a community) for purposes of taxation ²	Noun: A length of time spent in a particular way, especially doing a job or fulfilling a duty ¹ Limitation or restriction of supply or effort A small short-legged sandpiper of northern Eurasia and Alaska, with a brownish back and white underparts ² Verb, intransitive: [Often with negative] To be economical or frugal about spending or providing something ¹ Hold back [Archaic] To stop, desist, pause, or halt Verb, transitive: [Often with negative] To supply an ungenerous or inadequate amount of (something) ¹ To restrict (someone) in the amount of something, especially money, given or permitted To restrict (something supplied) To be sparing with [Archaic] To cause to stop
Examples:
Noun: The doctors had to insert three stents into his arteries to get around all the plaque. She had to have stents after that heart attack. In spite of the surgery trauma, he thinks that these stents mean he can still eat cheeseburgers and fries. She had to have a bile duct stent inserted. It was recorded in the stent book. These are the city’s businesses on the stent roll. The land tax on new properties was completed as part of the stent roll. “A stent of 100 merks Scots uplifted out of the Paroch for repairing the pulpit” (Greenshields, p 146). Verb, transitive: Stent the Parish of Kildaltan in the ascertained sum. Each is stented on their property valuations. Those businesses outside of town were stented less. They’re stenting us £5 this year!	Noun: His varied career included a stint as a magician. He was a collector with an eye for quality and the means to indulge it without stint. It was for a two-year stint in the military. She was working without stint. Stints love to go wading. Verb, intransitive: He doesn’t stint on wining and dining. He never stinted. He was stinted on food. Verb, transitive: At least stowage room hasn’t been stinted. Plan ahead to avoid having to stint yourself, budget in advance. “He found his living so expensive that he had to stint his family” (Marvel). He didn’t stint on the special effects. Don’t stint yourself. He did not stint his praises.
Derivatives:
	Adverb: stintingly Noun: stinter
History of the Word:
Late 19th century, from the name of Charles T. Stent (1807–85), an English dentist. The sense splint dates from the 1960s. Middle English from the Old French estente meaning valuation and related to the Anglo-Norman French extente, which is from the medieval Latin extenta, feminine past participle of the Latin extendere meaning stretch out, from ex- (out) + tendere (stretch).	Old English styntan meaning make blunt is of Germanic origin. Middle English and 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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