Words I'm Looking Up (One in an occasional cleverly named series on words I'm looking up)
hurdle / hurtle
You’re running like the wind, hauling tail Indian Jones-style through some busy marketplace. You’re shoving things out of the way, colliding into people, and leaping displays of merchandise with a single bound. So are you hurdling or hurtling?
Answer: both.
The running part can be called hurtling. The leaping part is hurdling.
Per American Heritage online.
hurtle: 1. to rush violently; move with great speed: ‘The car hurtled down the highway.’
2. to move or go noisily or resoundingly
hurdle (the verb form): 1. to leap over (a barrier) in or as if in a race. 2. to overcome or deal with successfully; surmount: ‘hurdle a problem.’
Keywords:
About June
June Casagrande was born in March and lives in a small house. She wrote a grammar/humor book called "Mortal Syntax" and, before that, one called "Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies." She sincerely hopes you buy a million copies of each.
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Hurdle this, please!
Thanks for that explanation.
But I'm confused dot com. Can you, with your pellucid grasp of etymology, explain the difference between mold and mould because it's making me nervous? I used to think I knew the answer - that mold meant nasty fungi and that mould meant pliable or capable of being shaped by a cavity. One dictionary I've consulted suggests it's the difference between American English and British English. If so, are they both the same word with different meanings?
Hi, Rosy!
Americans don't really use "mould." American Heritage dictionary calls it a variant, chiefly British spelling of "mold."
So for the gunk in the grout we say "mold" and for shaping plastics or Jell-O (think blancmange, just not so blanc) we say "mold."
Hope that simplifies it!
Yes, it does, thanks, June...
I hadn't associated the different spellings with whether a book is written by an English or American author, so I keep thinking I'm getting it wrong. Guess I'll have to plump for the English, along with 'ise' instead of 'ize' which is American but which I grew up with (in England).
Cheers!
Glad you looked that up!
I was recently critiquing a friend's manuscript and this exact subject came up (use of hurtle vs hurdle) and I'm glad you posted about it. This is a help :) -- KC
How funny!
I've pretty much never had occasion to think about it before. I guess neither "hurdle" nor "hurtle" comes up in my little world very often. If I hadn't come across this issue while copy editing the other day, I would have never thought to mention it.
It just struck me as interesting. But I'm very glad to hear that the topic has some relevance for someone! So thanks for the comment.
I used to run high hurdles
I used to run high hurdles in high school, and believe me, when I missed one, it really HURTled! :)
eric
Wow.
Yeah, that sport seems to have something bad at its core -- something akin to the base desire to watch a train wreck (or attend a Nascar event).
Glad you survived!