Picky, Picky

Time to put an end to a word usage error I've seen all over the place lately.

peak - As a verb, this means to hit a high point; as a noun, it's the high point itself.

For some reason, weekly traffic to my blog peaks on Tuesdays.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

peek - As a verb, this means to take a quick, secretive look; as a noun, it's the quick, secretive look itself.

I sometimes peek through my fingers at scary movies.

I like to take a peek at my kids when they're sleeping.

pique - As a verb, this means either to irritate or annoy or to provoke an emotion; as a noun, it's a feeling of  irritation or annoyance.

It piques me to no end when able people take handicapped-only parking spots.

Any mention of word usage or grammar piques my interest.

My kids occasionally suffer from brief but intense fits of pique, complete with sulking and sullen looks.

These words are all pronounced the same way ("peek"); devotees of the Lands' End catalog will also be familiar with pique/piqué (pronounced "pickay" or "peekay"), which is the fabric that polo shirts are often made of.

Comments

[Going Like Sixty]

Thank you. I usually don't have trouble with those. But will you do: lie lay laid layed? Seriously!

[Karen]

Gotta go back to the Archives for that one:
http://verbatim.blogs.com/verbatim/2004/06/let_it_lie.html

[Karan]

Did I do it? I used peek recently and I meant a wee glance, but now my interest in piqued near the peak of piqueness.

[Florinda]

Thank you! This sets off my "grammar police" sirens every time. It's an example of the fact that spell-check is no substitute for proofreading, but if grammar isn't taught correctly in the first place, proofreading won't help either.

[Bonnie Jacobs]

I can say this myself, "Any mention of word usage or grammar piques my interest." The misuse of affect and effect is my biggest grammar-related frustration lately.

[Kelly]

Regardless - Good word choice!
Irregardless - Double negative, no?

Just one of the many things that will cause my inner grammar police to come out and play.

[Karen]

I did affect/effect here: http://verbatim.blogs.com/verbatim/2004/05/word_usage_erro.html

[Karen]

Yep, I mentioned "irregardless" here: http://verbatim.blogs.com/verbatim/2004/06/taint_necessari.html. I think it might be time for me to collect all my grammar/usage posts together, perhaps in a sidebar link if I can!

[Di]

This, my dear, is why I love you. Unfortunately, those who use these words incorrectly are not reading your blog. My husband has a sticky note on his computer screen with "their, there and they're" with the explanations of what each one means.