Plough or Plow? Strictly nautical

[neonlyte]

We had this yonks ago - but I'm too arsed to look up, mainly because it requires changing alt.

It is a ship, boat, yacht plowing or ploughing through the water - my instinct is to go for plowing (for water) and ploughing (for land) - but neither looks correct. Is it simply UK v's USA spelling?

The dictionary doesn't help. Plough - see plow (Eng) when I always thought it was the other way round.

 

[cantdog]

We had this yonks ago - but I'm too arsed to look up, mainly because it requires changing alt.

It is a ship, boat, yacht plowing or ploughing through the water - my instinct is to go for plowing (for water) and ploughing (for land) - but neither looks correct. Is it simply UK v's USA spelling?

The dictionary doesn't help. Plough - see plow (Eng) when I always thought it was the other way round.

Brit -ough
USA -ow

I know of no conventional distinction, land to water, which uses the distinction. The only time I ever see -ough is in Brit and Commonwealth sources.

 

[neonlyte]

Brit -ough
USA -ow

I know of no conventional distinction, land to water, which uses the distinction. The only time I ever see -ough is in Brit and Commonwealth sources.

Thanks Cant - I think it is that simple and my duff dictionary serves only to confuse by switching the UK/USA usage.

 

[Xelebes]

Now is it slough or slow?

 

[Stella_Omega]

She sloughs off her clothes- then we take it slow...

 

[dr_mabeuse]

And don't forget that it's the prow that does the plowing. (Or is it the prough that does the ploughing?)

But hey, never mind that now. I just learned that discrete and discreet are two different words! The first means distinct or separate. The second means subtly or with discretion. And all this time I never knew!

 

[Stella_Omega]

And don't forget that it's the prow that does the plowing. (Or is it the prough that does the ploughing?)

But hey, never mind that now. I just learned that discrete and discreet are two different words! The first means distinct or separate. The second means subtly or with discretion. And all this time I never knew!

My marketing guy kept talking about "Parody product" I finally figured out he meant "parity product" meaning closely comparable

 

[carsonshepherd]

And don't forget that it's the prow that does the plowing. (Or is it the prough that does the ploughing?)

But hey, never mind that now. I just learned that discrete and discreet are two different words! The first means distinct or separate. The second means subtly or with discretion. And all this time I never knew!

I knew they were two separate words, but I didn't know what discrete meant....

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I knew they were two separate words, but I didn't know what discrete meant....

As long as you know what the other one means. Otherwise I'd never take you to the movies.

 

[carsonshepherd]

As long as you know what the other one means. Otherwise I'd never take you to the movies.

I could pick them out on the SATs if I had to.

 

[cantdog]

I see the two (discrete and discreet) misused a lot. I think most of the speakers of English do not have both words in their vocabulary.

 

[Boxlicker101]

She sloughs off her clothes- then we take it slow...

Or: She sloughs off her clothes next to the slough. Then we take it slow.

 

[MzDeviancy]

And don't forget that it's the prow that does the plowing. (Or is it the prough that does the ploughing?)

But hey, never mind that now. I just learned that discrete and discreet are two different words! The first means distinct or separate. The second means subtly or with discretion. And all this time I never knew!

Oh my God. That drives me NUTS when people misuse 'discrete'. I'm not anal-retentive about spelling errors and stuff in general, but the whole discrete vs. discreet thing just bothers me because you see professional authors - whose books supposedly went through editing - misuse discrete.


Good news about the plough/plow thing though. I thought I'd just decided that it was spelled plough and made up a word myself ;op A couple of people told me I'd misspelled 'plowed' in a story, and then the whole self-doubt thing started, and Microsoft Word with its Yankee spelling concurred that 'plough' was not a word. And before anyone points it out, yes I know that you can switch Word to British spelling, but my computer is possessed or something because when I try to use that feature it doesn't work.

 

[gauchecritic]

But hey, never mind that now. I just learned that discrete and discreet are two different words! The first means distinct or separate. The second means subtly or with discretion. And all this time I never knew!

The main problem with that is in the usage, as in; Maintaining a discrete distance. You wouldn't know that was the first instance by context alone.

They slept in discrete compartments.

They were discreet about this arrangement.

 

[Xelebes]

Or: She sloughs off her clothes next to the slough. Then we take it slow.

Just remember, slough is pronounced like slew, not whatever bastardisations you Easteners use.

 

[MzDeviancy]

Just remember, slough is pronounced like slew, not whatever bastardisations you Easteners use.

Hey, you live so close to me I could stalk you with almost no effort at all. Pop by on my way home from work or something.

 

[Guest]

 

[Boxlicker101]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xelebes
Just remember, slough is pronounced like slew, not whatever bastardisations you Easteners use.

I thought it was "sluff," as in to slough off one's chores.

You are both right. There are two different pronounciations and two different meanings. Slew is a marshy body of water and sluff is to remove or discard or disregard.