Rain falls from the sky.
To rein in a horse--or, by extension, one's enthusiasm--means to hold it back. Giving "free rein," on the other hand, means letting it go.
Monarchs reign from thrones.
These words are homonyms. They sound the same but have very different meanings. Since horses are no longer part of everyday life for most English speakers, there is great confusion over rein and reign. Here's another case where Matthew's recommended study of Latin would help out a lot. Journalists, take note.
[This was originally and mistakenly posted on Books in Northport. I meant to post it here.]
2 comments:
The first time around, when I had this posted on my "Books in Northport" blog, dmarks left the following comment:
Were you aware of this book by any chance? Remembering it, I somehow thought it was by Shel Silverstein. Looking it up a few minutes ago, I was surprised to find it was by Fred Gwynne. Yes, Herman Munster. I also remember him for his delightful turn as a judge in the movie "My Cousin Vinnie": click here
("What is a yoot?")
From Wikipedia: "In addition to his acting career, Gwynne sang professionally, painted, and wrote and illustrated children's books, including It's Easy to See Why, A Chocolate Moose for Dinner, The King Who Rained, Best In Show, Pondlarker, The Battle of the Frogs and Mice, and A Little Pigeon Toad."
Michael from Wordmall also asked, on Facebook, "What about the reign in Spain?" and I guess that could work given the right context.
I began James Gleick's 'The Information' a couple nights back.
The theme is conversion and transmission of information by
digital bit, its impact, etc.
By way of introduction (and tempting the reader of such a
dreary topic) he spends a few
chapters on language, in particular the drum language
of the Congo. I'm sure it is not a homonym, but similar, is the use
of rising or falling tone to give meaning. His example:
alambaka boili(+-++---)
= he watched the riverbank.
Interestingly, the very same wording (Kele tongue) with different tonation becomes:
alambaka boili (++++-+-)
= he boiled his mother in law.
His chapters on the development of the Oxford English Dictionary are
just as informative, if not as
startling.
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