Versus

“… wait for you …” vs. “… wait on you …”

Common English Blunders, Prepositions, Verbs, Versus

I often hear one of these expressions when the other one is required.

Problem:
These two expressions are not synonyms.

Explanation:
My wife recently heard a man say, “I will wait on you in the car.”

The preposition “on” bothered her, and we discussed how frequently each of us has heard “wait on” when “wait for” was required.

The common English blunder seems to be to use a form of “wait on” when a form of “wait for” is required.

Someone who “waits on” someone else is acting as a waiter or waitress.

So “I will wait on you in the car.” literally means “I will act as your waiter (or waitress) in the car.”

The man whom my wife heard should have said “I will wait for you in the car.” because that person was not saying that he would act as a waiter in “the car”.

Solution:
Use “… wait on you …” when you are a waiter or waitress; otherwise use “… wait for you …”.

“Hypothesis” vs. “Theory”

Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Nouns, Versus

I often hear people use one word when they mean the other.

Problem:
These two nouns are not synonyms.

Explanation:
I often hear people say something like “I have a theory about …”, such as “about why Janey stays out late” or “about why Jim does not like his boss” or “about why women generally have more close friends than do men”.

The primary definition of the noun “theory” is a substantiated group of statements that explain a set of phenomena.

In contrast, the primary meaning of the noun “hypothesis” is a proposed, tentative explanation for an observation or phenomenon.

As noted at Wikipedia, “A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.”

So one starts with observations, then formulates hypotheses to explain those observations, and then tests those hypotheses. Once those hypotheses have been validated, one can create a theory.

I believe that the common English blunder of using the word “theory” where the word “hypothesis” is required is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” linguistic hypothesis. (Note that I call this a hypothesis, not a theory!)

It is simpler to say or write the two-syllable, six-letter “theory” than it is to say or write the four-syllable, ten-letter “hypothesis”.

Solution:
Use “hypothesis” for a proposition to explain an observation. Use “theory” to refer to an analysis of a collection of facts and their relation to each other.

“baklava” vs. “baklawa” vs. “balaclava” vs. “Balaclava” vs. “Balaklava”

Nouns, Versus

A personal confusion the other day about some of these words prompted this blog post.

Problem:
These nouns sound similar but are not all synonyms.

Explanation:
My wife bought a “balaclava” — with a “c” in the middle — to stay warm for her half-marathon last Sunday.

I have lived in the southwest U.S. my entire life and am not fluent in the names for cold-weather clothing.

So I thought that my wife said “baklava”, which is a word that she and I heard during our visit to Turkey two summers ago.

I researched both words and learned the following:

  • A “baklava” — spelled B-A-K-L-A-V-A — is a sweet pastry that is popular in Turkey and is made from filo dough, nuts, and honey or syrup.
  • A “baklawa” — spelled B-A-K-L-A-W-A — is the same sweet pastry, simply spelled with a “w” instead of a “v”.
  • A “balaclava” — spelled B-A-L-A-C-L-A-V-A — is a knitted cap that fits closely around the head and neck and sometimes shoulders in order to keep the wearer warm.
  • “Balaklava” — spelled CAPITAL-B-A-L-A-K-L-A-V-A — is a seaport on the Black Sea in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol.
  • “Balaclava” — spelled CAPITAL-B-A-L-A-C-L-A-V-A — is the same seaport, simply spelled with a “c” instead of a “k”.

The lowercase-“b” “balaclava” garment dates back to the 1880s and is named after the capital-“B” “Balaklava” seaport.

If you have eaten both a “bear claw” and a “baklawa” or “baklava”, then you know that these two pastries do not even look alike, let alone have the same ingredients or taste alike.

However, in case you are wondering, the name “bear claw” is not related to “baklawa” (or “baklava”), even though they sound similar.

Instead, the name “bear claw” refers to a yeast-raised, almond-paste-flavored pastry that is prepared such that its shape evokes the image of a bear’s claw.

Wikipedia says that a “bear claw” is chiefly popular in the western states of the USA.

Adding to possible linguistic confusion, the U.S.-based “bear claw” is different than the Dutch “berenklauw”, which means “bear’s claw” — with a possessive apostrophe-“s” — in English.

Wikipedia says that a “berenklauw” — spelled B-E-R-E-N-K-L-A-U-W — is a Dutch snack on a wooden skewer and made with meatballs, fried onion rings, and peanut sauce.

To summarize, one conceivably could wear a balaclava in Balaclava while consuming a baklawa, a bear claw, and a berenklauw.

Solution:
Remember that the capital-“B” word for the Ukrainian seaport can be spelled with a “k” or a “c”, that the seaport is cold, and that the small-“b” “balaclava” is named after the seaport and is for keeping warm. Remember that the shorter “baklava” is the pastry and can be spelled with a “w” instead of a “v”.