Friday, June 27, 2008

Bated v. baited

If you mean you're waiting with great nervousness or trepidation for news, please write the word "bated." It's a cousin of the word "abated," which means "lessened. " So "bated breath" means that you have less breath; you're holding your breath with anxiety or tension.

In this context, if you write "baited breath," I'm going to assume you have a worm on your tongue. And wonder why.

Obviously, this word pair isn't a problem in speaking, since the two words are pronounced the same way, but in writing, getting it wrong can make you look not so smart.

5 comments:

Bruce said...

Well, I was likely the culprit for this error (although I subsequently corrected it in my blog An Inconvenient Bruce). As I told the reader who brought the error to my attention, I was actually thinking of a particular reader who would be eagerly waiting for my next post while eating sushi.

Bruce Brittain

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