Verbs

“behoove”

Foreign Languages, Verbs

I overheard this verb used in a sentence the other day.

The sentence was something like “If you want to go to college, then it behooves you to do all your homework in high school.”

I had been intending to look up this verb, and I finally did.

You see, I was wondering whether “behoove” was somehow related to the noun “hoof”, the plural of which can be “hooves”.

In particular, I was wondering whether “behoove” in some way once meant to put hooves on (oneself) and had its meaning become a more generic to protect (oneself).

Okay, maybe that is a stretch.

And I should have known better, given my knowledge of Spanish-language false cognates for English speakers.

One of my favorite false cognates is the Spanish word “embarazada”, which looks to many Americans like the English word “embarrassed” but actually means pregnant instead.

But I learned when I looked up the verb “behoove” that it originated a millennium or so ago and is related to the noun “behoof”, which means behalf.

Lesson learned (again!): Check your assumption about the meaning of a word when it looks like another word that you know.

“flaunt” vs. “flout”

Verbs, Versus

I sometimes see or hear these verbs used interchangeably.

Problem:
The verbs “flaunt” and “flout” are not synonyms.

Explanation:
The verb “flaunt” — spelled F-L-A-U-N-T — dates back to the 1560s.

When used with an object, “flaunt” means to display ostentatiously.

When used without an object, “flaunt” means to parade oneself conspicuously.

The verb “flaunt” apparently comes from the Norwegian dialectical word “flanta”, which means to show off.

I first learned the verb “flaunt” from a Braniff Airlines TV ad, in which Braniff had stewardesses proclaim “If you’ve got it, flaunt it!” to brag about Braniff’s superiority over other airlines.

The verb “flout” — spelled F-L-O-U-T — dates back to the late 1300s.

When used with an object, “flout” means to scorn, scoff at, or mock.

When used without an object, “flout” means to show contempt or disdain.

The verb “flout” comes from the Dutch word “fluiten”, which means to play a flute. That word also means to jeer, which apparently was often accomplished hundreds of years ago by someone playing a simple flute or whistle around another person.

Solution:
To remember that “flout” is different than “flaunt”, notice that “flout” looks somewhat like “flute” to remember that “flout” means to mock or to show disdain, as if you were playing a flute in a mocking way around someone else.

“black” vs. “blacken”

Verbs, Versus

I started thinking about these two verbs the other day after seeing a reference to one of them in a technical document.

I saw a reference to the verb “black”, which dates back to the 1200s, in an IPTV technical document.

The document referred to a “blacked screen.”

The transitive verb “black” means to make black.

The intransitive verb “black” means to become black.

Now consider the verb “blacken”, which dates back to the 1300s.

The transitive verb “blacken” primarily means to make black or to darken and secondarily means to sully or defame.

The intransitive verb “blacken” means to become black or dark.

For example, “blackened chicken” and “blackened salmon” and “blackened tuna”, which are popular American menu items now, are not completely black.

So it seems that one can blacken the flesh of animals used as food and can black a TV screen, but not the other way around.