troublesome twin words 9

[flapeyre]

Therefore, if you flushed currency into your septic tank, you'd have affluent effluent?

-- Francis
The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning, and does not stop until you get to the office.
--Robert Frost

 

[SantaMufasa]

The troublesome twin (triplet) words that annoy me when they are interchanged are:[ul][li]Insure - To obtain or provide security against hurt, loss, or damage.[/li][li]Ensure - To make sure or certain.[/li][li]Assure - to give confidence to; convince.[/li][/ul]

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[IPGuru]

I think that Mirriam-Webster my not be correct( although the quoted text indicates that they are not 100% certain either).

You hone a chisel - this is the process of refining/sharpening the point, therefore to improve or sharpen ones skills is often described with this word.

To home in (homing) is what a pigeon does, it returns to home. therefore I would suggest that m-w's example of a Homing missile Honing in is a classic example of the miss use of this word.


Computers are like Air conditioners:-
Both stop working when you open Windows

 

[BadBigBen]

Common errors in English Usage

http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/hone.html

but the following is a lot more interesting to read, but adds more to the confusion:

"An issue looming on the usage horizon is the propriety of the phrase hone in on. George Bush's use of this phrase in the 1980 presidential campaign (he talked of 'honing in on the issues') ...

... Our first example of home in on is from 1951, in a context having to do with aviation. Our earliest record of its figurative use is from 1956. We did not encounter hone in on until George Bush used it in 1980. . . .

but, from the same source:

"hone in 1. To move or advance toward a target or goal: The missile honed in on the military installation. 2. To direct one's attention; focus. The lawyer honed in on the gist of the plaintiff's testimony.. . . . [Hone in, alteration of home in.]
(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

Source:
Home and Hone

http://grammar.about.com/od/alightersideofwriting/a/homehonegloss.htm

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[SantaMufasa]

We did not encounter hone in on until George Bush used it in 1980. . . .

Ben, could you provide either the link from which you encountered this citation, or the direct citation of George W. Bush in 1980?



I have in my written notes from a high school debate class on Wednesday, November 8, 1967, from our debate-team coach, Mr. Charles Somers:

Your best rebuttals come from your honing in on spurious or unsupported generalizations your opponent has made. Avoid generalizations yourself, which your opponent can use against you. Sharpely focus and fully support your assertions so that they become blades to use to slice up your opponent position.

Mr. Somers used the term "hone in on" (not "home in on") over and over again. He explained that "to hone in" meant to focus to a point like a finely sharpened knife.

At the time, Mr. Somers was about 60 years old. He had been using the same lecture notes since before my older-by-7-years brother took the same classes from Mr. Somers. (When I showed my class notes to my brother, my brother produced his class notes from Mr. Somers class, and the notes were virtually identical to mine.)

So, I'll assert that Mr. Somers used the term "honing in on" since before 1960, which would have placed George W. at well younger than age 14 by the time Mr. Somers had cemented "honing in on" firmly into his classroom schtick.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[flapeyre]

I've always used (and heard used) "hone in on", and I'd never seen "home in on" used until this thread.

I was born during the Eisenhower administration, by the way.

-- Francis
The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning, and does not stop until you get to the office.
--Robert Frost

 

[BadBigBen]

Santa,

the last link I provided, is the one that it was from....

but this link also talks about the "Grammar Police" @ about.com:

Homing in on Inaccuracy

http://sowellread.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/342/

PS: I tried to find a copy of the column that Mary McCrory wrote this or a copy of the speech by George H. W. Bush, alas with no luck...


Flapereye,

I am from the Space-Race era, and having attended a Military High-School, the term "home in" as pertaining to missiles was widely used... basically, if you hit something straight on, you hit "home"...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[IPGuru]

As I understand the two words

if you are firing a series of ranging shots then you could say that you are Honing in on the target as you are refining your aim.

if the missile is guiding itself then it is homeing in on the target.

As the Americans seem to use Ass & fanny interchangeably (and for the wrong item in both cases) I don't think common usage can be given too much weight ;-)

Computers are like Air conditioners:-
Both stop working when you open Windows

 

[N1GHTEYES]

Dictionary.com at:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homing

has:

21. (of guided missiles, aircraft, etc.) to proceed, especially under control of an automatic aiming mechanism, toward a specified target, as a plane, missile, or location (often followed by in on ): The missile homed in on the target.

It has no entry referring to "honing in".

The following link has quite an extended discussion which implies that, whilst "homing in" is the correct term, "honing in" has been used almost as long and is thus, simply by virtue of long usage, pretty much acceptable.

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000378.html

This link also has quite an amusing exposition:

http://www.word-detective.com/2010/03/31/home-in-hone-in/

My view is that anything which can be refined can be "honed". When refining something to a final state, it can be described as "honing in". I think this is the same kind of usage as when something which is settled to its final resting position can be said to be "bedded in". Thus "honing in" can be said to be a perfectly valid usage, even without any confusion from "homing in" when describing the process of refining something to its final, perfect state.

However, the concept of guiding towards an external goal, requires the use of "homing in". There is, of course, the possibility that the "goal" one is metaphorically heading towards is the final state of the thing which is doing the honing - in which case, both expressions are perfectly valid.

Given that I've worked for over 30 years in a company which makes devices which are designed to home in on targets, I can say with some authority that we use "home" and its variants exclusively.

A missile may be said to...
home
home on
home onto
home in
home in on
home towards
home to
...depending on context etc.

I have never (to the best of my recollection) read of a missile "honing in" in any official company documentation.

Tony

 

[SantaMufasa]

C'mon folks, the only similarity between the words home and hone is their spelling ! The two words are no more similar in definitions than are these similary spelled words: come and cone, dome and done, rone and Rome, some and sone, tome and tone !

The fact that you can add to both home and hone the support words, " in on " and still make sense does not mean that the two words are synonymous. If I said, "I don't like your tome," and "I don't like your tone," the two sentences make sense, but the two similarly spelled words are certainly not synonymous (or even similar).

"To home" and "To hone" are, frankly, infinitives that are not close in meanings:

to home: [ul][li]to go or return home.[/li][li](of guided missiles, aircraft, etc.) to proceed, especially under control of an automatic aiming mechanism, toward a specified target, as a plane, missile, or location (often followed by in on ): The missile homed in on the target.[/li][li]to navigate toward a point by means of coordinates other than those given by altitudes.[/li][li]to have a home where specified; reside.[/li][/ul]

to hone: [ul][li]to sharpen on a hone: to hone a carving knife.[/li][li]to enlarge or finish (a hole) with a hone.[/li][li]to make more acute or effective; improve; perfect: to hone one's skills.[/li][/ul]

In our discussions, when we say "to home in on", we mean "to proceed...to a specified target"; when we say "to hone in on", we mean "to focus more acutely." The two uses are both valid, and different from one another.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

 

[cmeagan656]

do and due

patience and patients

Hope this helps.

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[SantaMufasa]

My wife and I still chuckle when we think of this wedding invitation from the happy couple:

Rich and Linda request your presents at a reception in their honour immediately following the ceremony.

(Emphasis mine.)

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[Annihilannic]

dessert and desert.

Annihilannic
[small]tgmlify - code syntax highlighting for your tek-tips posts[/small]

 

[BadBigBen]

descent and descend...

Shor and shore... (though this one could be a simple misspelling on the users part ;-) )



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[ChrisHirst]

C'mon folks, the only similarity between the words home and hone is their spelling ! The two words or no more similar in definitions than are these similary spelled words: come and cone, dome and done, rone and Rome, some and sone, tome and tone !

Mind you it probably doesn't help with 'm' & 'n' being keyboard neighbours



Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.
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[2ffat]

Bombast and Bomb Blast


James P. Cottingham
^{I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!}

 

[kwbMitel]

@ SantaMufasa re: Home and Hone

This is not the only discussion regarding these 2 words.

http://grammar.about.com/od/alightersideofwriting/a/homehonegloss.htm

http://www.word-detective.com/2010/03/31/home-in-hone-in/

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[Annihilannic]

sought and sort.

bought and brought.

whole and hole.

Damage: The luxury cruise liner lies virtually flat, its right-hand side submerged in the water. The huge [red]whole[/red] in the hull is clearly visible

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-Italy-Titanic-like-scene.html#ixzz1jRCDrrBY

Annihilannic
[small]tgmlify - code syntax highlighting for your tek-tips posts[/small]

 

[SQLScholar]

My son is only three. Its difficult to explain twin words to him.

So cute. I said to him

"i love you too bits"

however he saw this as

"i love you two bits"

So now he says things like

"i love you ten bits"

Bit young to try and explain it to really! So cute though!

----------------------------------------

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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind - Bernard Baruch

Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes - EW Dijkstra
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[N1GHTEYES]

Just to be picky...

"i love you too bits"

Is your son called "bits"?
Did he start the conversation by saying he loved you?

If so, the quote is lacking a comma.

If not, it has one "o" too many.

Tony