Nouns

“Anecdote” vs. “Antidote”

Common English Blunders, Mispronunciations, Nouns, Versus

I sometimes hear people mispronounce one of these words as if it were equivalent to the other word.

Problem:
These two nouns are not synonyms.

Explanation:
The noun “anecdote” means a short account of an incident as an unpublished narrative.

The noun “antidote” means a medicine for counteracting a poison.

Those who confuse these two nouns probably are distracted by the fact that both nouns have “dote” — D-O-T-E — in them, the fact that both nouns start with A-N, and the fact that both nouns are eight letters long.

The noun “antidote” is constructed from the prefix “anti-“, which means against, and “dote”, whose origin essentially means given. In other words, the roots of “antidote” when assembled mean given against.

The noun “anecdote” is constructed from the prefix “an-“, which means not, and “ecdote”. The “ecdote” part of “anecdote” is a combination of “ec”, which means out, and “dote”, whose origin, as just noted, means given.

So the “ecdote” part of “anecdote” essentially means published. In other words, the roots of “anecdote” when assembled mean not published.

Solution:
Use “anecdote” when referring to a spoken story; use “antidote” when referring to a remedy for poison.

“Restoral” vs. “Restoration”

Nouns, Versus

I saw the noun “restoral” on a plaque this morning and began wondering about these two nouns.

Problem:
The noun “restoral” has fallen out of use by many people.

Explanation:
The plaque honored a team of people who had restored some sort of service to a group of customers.

According to many dictionaries, the noun “restoral” first appeared in the early 1600s, and “restoration” is its only definition, where “restoration” means the act of restoring.

In contrast, the noun “restoration” first appeared around 1350, but the noun “restoration” has a different meaning when capitalized.

In particular, the phrase “the Restoration” with a capital R refers to King Charles the Second’s reestablishment of the monarchy in England.

I believe that this explains why some people favor “restoral” over “restoration” when referring to the act of restoring.

For fun, I searched Google for each of the following words (without the quotation marks) and got about the indicated numbers of matches:

  • “restoration” — 10,700,000 matches
  • “restoral” — 68,500 matches

This tells me that Web authors favor “restoration” over “restoral” by a ratio of 156:1. As I have explained, these two nouns are equivalent when referring to the act of restoring, but you have to choose one of them based on your audience and the likelihood of confusion.

For example, most people understand the noun “restoration” better than the noun “restoral” when they hear each noun — for example, over the telephone.

Solution:
When talking about restoring services and there is no likelihood of confusion with the Restoration with a capital R, use “restoration” in speech and in writing. Avoid using “restoral” in speech. Consider using “restoral” in writing for audiences that will recognize it and when there is likelihood of confusion with the Restoration with a capital R.

“Quote” vs. “Quotation”

Devolution toward Simpler, Nouns, Versus

I have been wondering about these two nouns for awhile.

Problem:
One of these nouns is less appropriate in more formal situations.

Explanation:
According to Dictionary.com, the noun “quote” has been accepted — at least informally — as a truncation of the noun “quotation” for more than a century.

However, most consider “quote” to be less formal than “quotation” and not appropriate in all situations.

For example, while many consider “quotes from the Three Stooges” to be acceptable, fewer consider “quotes from the Bible” to be acceptable.

I doubt that the phrase “price quote” will disappear from American English.

It’s valuable, though, to know that “quote” is a truncation of “quotation” and therefore is less formal.

Although using “quote” as a truncation of “quotation” does not lead to ambiguity (in contrast to “install” — a truncation of either “installer” or “installation”), I believe that this use is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” linguistic hypothesis. It’s simpler to say the one-syllable word than it is to say the three-syllable word.

Solution:
Use “quote” in informal situations; use “quotation” otherwise.