QT 6 – Video Transcript and Bonus Info
Welcome to 2-Minute Tuesday and QuickTakes with Cate.
Today we look at a pair of commonly confused words, the words while and wile—two words I almost stumbled over as I wrote about my novel’s main character. Eden is sitting on an upturned bucket on the pier, whiling away the hours fishing. But wait, is it “whiling away,” spelled w-h-i-l-e? Or is it “wiling away,” spelled without an “h”?
The answer lies in the history of these two words: The phrase “while away” with an “h” dates from the early 1600s and remains current today. It means to “spend time idly.”
“Wile away” began as a corrupt form two hundred years later. You’ll find that spelling in the writings of Charles Dickens. Even though dictionaries often allow both spellings, Garner’s Modern American Usage says “wile away” is the inferior form for this meaning. Charles Dickens might have settled for the inferior form, but you shouldn’t!
The noun “wile” means “a stratagem of deceit” or “trickery.” As a verb, “wile” means “to lure or entice.”
These two words are homophones, words that are pronounced the same but differ in meaning. If you have trouble keeping them straight, just think about Wile E. Coyote. How do you think he got his name? That old rascal is full of deadly schemes as he chases the Road Runner.
So while both spellings are acceptable and while my character Eden can be wily, in that particular sentence, she is “whiling away the hours—w-h-i-l-e—” while fishing on the pier.
For the rest of the story, go to catetouryan.com/quicktakes. Check back next Tuesday for another QuickTake with Cate. Like, comment, and share!
The rest of the story:
Homophones may be spelled alike, such as “bark” (on a tree trunk) and “bark” (a dog’s voice) or differently, such as palate, pallet, and palette and lay (to place) and lei (a garland of flowers).
Merriam-Webster includes this note about the difference between homonyms, homophones, and homographs:
“Homonym can be troublesome because it may refer to three distinct classes of words. Homonyms may be words with identical pronunciations but different spellings and meanings, such as to, too, and two. Or they may be words with both identical pronunciations and identical spellings but different meanings, such as quail (the bird) and quail (to cringe). Finally, they may be words that are spelled alike but are different in pronunciation and meaning, such as the bow of a ship and bow that shoots arrows. The first and second types are sometimes called homophones, and the second and third types are sometimes called homographs—which makes naming the second type a bit confusing. Some language scholars prefer to limit homonym to the third type.”
We can’t even talk about confusing words without using confusing words!
Other QuickTake episodes will examine other troublesome words, but if their are any you’d like me to cover, your invited to let me know in the comments. Its quite common to struggle with the write word, even happening to me to.
Wait, I think I see five words that need double checking! Can you find them? Leave your answers in the comments!