I like to play online word games. I’m good at them. It is a point of pride that I usually accumulate thousands of “coins” – the currency these games use for hints – without having to buy them. In doing so, I come across words and variations I find curious. For example, in searching for a suitable name for this post, I considered “dips and dabs,” which I thought meant “odds and ends”, originating with the little pieces of dough that fall onto a cookie sheet when baking. However, according to various online slang dictionaries, “dab” can mean to “inhale the vapors of (a heated concentrate of cannabis)” or even less savory things. So, I moved to plan B for a title.
Fortunately, the colloquial meanings of “flotsam and jetsam” are more innocuous, and in this case, I am using the phrase in the sense of “jumbled sundry items.” The true meaning of “flotsam” and “jetsam” comes from maritime law – “flotsam” is “wreckage or cargo that remains afloat after a ship has sunk” and “jetsam” means “goods thrown overboard from a ship in danger of sinking to give it more buoyancy.”
Two words I came across that interested me are the words “hurdle” and “hurtle.” Silly me; I assumed one was the English spelling and one the American spelling of the same word. Not so; they have distinctive meanings.
“Hurdle” is both a noun and a verb. The most modern definitions as a noun are “an artificial barrier over which racers must leap,” and “barrier; obstacle.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurdle. As a verb, “hurdle” can mean either “to leap over especially while running (as in a sporting competition)” and “overcome, surmount.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurdle. By contrast, “hurtle” is solely a verb. As an intransitive verb, it means “to move rapidly or forcefully.” As a transitive verb, it means “hurl, fling.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurtle. I’ll save the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs for another post, which is another way of saying I can’t (yet) explain the difference between the two.
The two words don’t even have the same derivation. “Hurdle” comes from the Middle English “hurdel” from the Old English “hyrdel”, which referred to a frame or netting of intertwined twigs. In fact, one of the modern definitions of “hurdle” is “a portable panel usually of wattled withes and stakes used especially for enclosing land or livestock.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurdle. The fence in the picture below is an example of “hurdle” fencing.
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| Photo by Lucekbb, 5/1/2008. Wikipedia Commons. |
“Hurtle,” however, is derived from the Middle English “hurtlen,” which meant to collide. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurtle.
Confusing? Oh, yes. Hurdle and hurtle are two words I have to look up every time I use them. A good reason, perhaps, to pick a different word! Metal and medal are another pair. I know ladder and latter, but my fingers don't always get them right when typing.
ReplyDeleteI blame my fingers, too.
DeleteWhen I'm typing, I can miss lots of words - and then there's the words that spell check selects for me!
DeleteMy nemesis is "further" and "farther." I try to remember that distance has "far" in it.
ReplyDeleteI always thought it was "dibs and dabs;" dibs as in claiming ("Dibs on the front seat!") and dabs as in light touch (She dabs at her eyes with a handkerchief.)
"Dips" I understand to be partaking of smokeless tobacco; I have heard of dab meaning inhaling fumes without actually smoking, sometimes resulting in a "contact high."
I think transitive verbs take a direct object. Intransitive ones do not.
But maybe not. We often think we "know" things that we do not.
I'm willing to bet you have a better idea of transitive and intransitive than I do!
DeleteI know hurdles. I used to run them in high school. Flotsam and Jetsam are the Moray eels in the Little Mermaid movie.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, running hurdles is impressive! I never, ever could jump that high.
DeleteI love this! Thanks for the lessons, Nancy.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Kait! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI have frequently used a word, only to discover later that I didn't have the correct meaning of the word in mind. Hopefully, other people didn't know either.
ReplyDeleteGrace Topping