Reading another blogger's comments on a page about Jack Davis art work a few days ago, I finally reached a breaking point. I followed the commenter links back and found interesting photo blogs. That is until I got to misuse of the word “shear” again.
It ruined the experience for me.
Sheer and Shear: The meanings are NOT interchangeable.
Check your spelling, punctuation and WORD MEANINGS people! Every mistake you include in your ramblings makes you look STUPID or at the very least, reduces your credibility.
I assembled a small lesson for today so that you will NEVER AGAIN mix up the two words.
SHEER
adjective, -er, -est, adverb, noun
–adjective
1. transparently thin; diaphanous, as some fabrics: sheer stockings.
2. unmixed with anything else: We drilled a hundred feet through sheer rock.
3. unqualified; utter: sheer nonsense.
4. extending down or up very steeply; almost completely vertical: a sheer descent of rock.
5. British Obsolete . bright; shining.
–adverb
6. clear; completely; quite: ran sheer into the thick of battle.
7. perpendicularly; vertically; down or up very steeply.
–noun
8. a thin, diaphanous material, as chiffon or voile.
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SHEAR
verb, sheared, sheared or shorn, shear·ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to cut (something).
2. to remove by or as if by cutting or clipping with a sharp instrument: to shear wool from sheep.
3. to cut or clip the hair, fleece, wool, etc., from: to shear sheep.
4. to strip or deprive (usually fol. by of ): to shear someone of power.
5. Chiefly Scot. to reap with a sickle.
6. to travel through by or as if by cutting: Chimney swifts sheared the air.
–verb (used without object)
7. to cut or cut through something with a sharp instrument.
8. to progress by or as if by cutting: The cruiser sheared through the water.
9. Mechanics, Geology . to become fractured along a plane as a result of forces acting parallel to the plane.
10. Chiefly Scot. to reap crops with a sickle.
–noun
11. Usually, shears. ( sometimes used with a singular verb )
a. scissors of large size (usually used with pair of ).
b. any of various other cutting implements or machines having two blades that resemble or suggest those of scissors.
12. the act or process of shearing or being sheared.
13. a shearing of sheep (used in stating the age of sheep): a sheep of one shear.
14. the quantity, esp. of wool or fleece, cut off at one shearing.
15. one blade of a pair of large scissors.
16. Usually, shears. ( usually used with a plural verb ) Also, sheers. Also called shear legs, sheerlegs. a framework for hoisting heavy weights, consisting of two or more spars with their legs separated, fastened together near the top and steadied by guys, which support a tackle.
17. a machine for cutting rigid material, as metal in sheet or plate form, by moving the edge of a blade through it.
18. Mechanics, Geology . the tendency of forces to deform or fracture a member or a rock in a direction parallel to the force, as by sliding one section against another.
19. Physics . the lateral deformation produced in a body by an external force, expressed as the ratio of the lateral displacement between two points lying in parallel planes to the vertical distance between the planes.
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By ♥ Moa Maria
By Melifiscentgirl
By Center for Jewish History, NYC
By Powerhouse Museum Collection
1 Comments:
At Tuesday, October 12, 2010 11:05:00 AM,
Twilight said…
Ooooh! We're being particularly strict on this fine autumn morn, anyjazz!
My opinion (for what it's worth):
Errors of the shear/sheer variety are widespread in blogs and moreso in comments which are often written "on the run" without access to spellcheckers. As you know, I dislike spellcheckers and refuse to use them unless forced by some program or other. If I ever make accidental errors of this sort - to be honest dear anyjazz - I don't care! As long as the meaning is unambiguous, which it would be in the case of shear/sheer or hear/here or their/they're/there, or would of/would've, or....whatever, then it matters little. It's the spirit of the content that is most important.
I'd not take kindly to what I often see on comment strings - a school ma'am-ish individual going around correcting hapless commenters' spelling or grammar. That is a pathetic and narcissistic waste of time.
I think we should be a wee bit understanding and tolerant of bloggers' and commenters' small errors, which could even be typographical in nature. These people are, by and large, not paid hacks or professionals, but they are still entitled to hold views and express them. If some haven't had the advantage of good education, or their nature isn't inclined in the direction of literary excellence, they can still have excellent thoughts and insights to offer.
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