Gauntlet or gantlet

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Run the gauntlet, err, gantlet

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I had been using the words anxious and eager at the wrong times. (They are not interchangeable)   Well, here is another set of words I have not used correctly.

I always would say run the gauntlet but it looks like I should say run the gantlet.

Here are the definitions of the two words:

Gauntlet   A French word meaning a heavy glove usually worn by a knight. It was often armored and had a heavy cuff that covered the wrist or part of the arm.

 To throw down the gauntlet means to issue a challenge or defy someone. To pick up the gauntlet (glove) is to accept someone’s challenge like the knights used to do.

Green with envy

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(This is a humorous column I wrote for the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor newspaper. It appeared in the July 8, 2010 edition)

I like colorful clothing, within reason. Surprisingly, even as a guy, I am able to pick out most of my own clothes and feel reasonably certain they combinations match when I step out the door.

I was somewhat befuddled about colors of shirts when I was leafing through a clothing mail-order catalog that found its way to our mailbox recently. Green is not my favorite color but I noticed a wide array of men’s shirts in the catalog that had some variation of the color green. This is confusing to me and many of my male counterparts.

Are you disparate or desperate?

 

Disparate or desperate?

Many people get these two words mixed up.  Others don’t even know the word disparate exists.

The English language is so tricky, I thought I would point out the difference between these two words that some similar.

DISPARATE:  If something is disparate, it is distinct, unlike another or different in quality or character.

The population of New York City could be thought of as disparate.

DESPERATE:  Most know that desperate means having little or no hope or extreme/extensive.

I hope this blog is not making a desperate attempt at being disparate.