Scrumptious Confusions

Hola Everyone!♥️

Thursday comes, and I sit with a squeezer to sqeeze out some creative ‘write ups’ for all of you.

As you all probably know, I love cooking! 🍳 I feel its therapeutic and very relaxing. 💆🏻‍♀️
I also love tavelling.✈️🧳
Another activity that I sincerely enjoy is putting aesthetic pictures of my creations and travel on Instagram (devyani_sriram) and then watch out 🧐eagerly for all my friends’ comments. 📸👍🏻

One of these days I got a comment from someone that my cake was looking *scrumptious* . Is it sumptuous or scrumptious? – I started wondering.🤔 I checked out the thesaurus to get the right answer.
And I actually had opened the Pandora’s box!
There are so many words in our dear English language which we confuse and misuse and are very, very ignorant about their meanings.

For example: very common – affect/effect, advice/advise, forward/foreward, ensure/insure.

Today we would be discussing about certain words (newer than the above examples) which are commonly confused for each other and utterly mistreated in their usage.
Lets start with the first two words which had me confused 😊

1. *sumptuous/scrumptious*

The word sumptuous derives from the Latin verb sūmĕre – to take, consume, spend. From the verb comes the Latin adjective sumptuosus meaning anything costly, expensive, luxurious, magnificent.
A sumptuous meal is an expensive meal but it may not necessarily mean a ‘palate-pleasing’ meal. It will have numerous courses made up of a wide variety of dishes and drinks. But these dishes may or may not be tasty! 🤨

*Scrumptious* is thought to be an altered form of sumptuous. It is used especially to mean *delicious* food.
Also means anything delightful, excellent.😋👌🏻
Initially, expensive or luxurious things were described as scrumptious as in “a scrumptious house.” Then, scrumptious became a general term of enthusiastic praise – “That portrait is really scrumptious!”
Finally, because it must have often been applied to food, scrumptious came to mean delicious.

2. *aisle/isle*

nouns
Pronunciation: “a-i-l”

*Aisle*
An aisle is a passageway between rows of seats, shelves, or other fixtures or obstacles that people need to move between.
Also used in the popular phrase ” to walk down the aisle” meaning “to get married”👰🤵
Here the aisle refers to the middle passage between the two sides of rows of seats in a church.

Example: “The musical had the audience dancing in the aisles”

*Isle*
An isle is an island- especially a small one.

Example: Robinson Crusoe was stranded on a desert isle.

3. *bated / baited*

*bated*
adjective
# in great suspense; very anxiously or excitedly
bate
# to reduce the force or intensity of, restrain.

The error with these words occurs in the idiom “with bated breath.” The error is to write ‘baited’ for ‘bated’. In the context of the idiom, bated means “in great suspense.”
Example: He waited for a reply to his offer with bated breath.

*baited*
verb
bait:
# to intentionally make a person angry by saying or doing things to annoy them,
# put bait on (a hook) or in (a trap, net, or fishing area) to entice fish or animals.
Example: The hook is baited with a worm.

4. *clench /clinch*

*Clench* : to close or hold something very tightly, often in a determined or angry way.

Example: The old man clenched his fist and waved it angrily at us.

*Clinch* quite simply means to finally get or win something.
It may also mean-
# grapple at close quarters, especially (of boxers)so as to be too closely engaged for full-arm blows.
# colloquially it means to embrace
# the position two people are in when they are holding each other tightly in their arms, when fighting or showing love.

Example: He finally clinched the deal to buy the land he wanted.

Although both words share their origin, in modern usage they are not interchangeable. You clench your fist or teeth, but clinch a deal or a victory.

5. *discreet / discrete*

*Discreet*

adjective
# careful and prudent in one’s speech or actions, especially in order to keep something confidential or to avoid embarrassment, judicious.
# intentionally unobtrusive.

Example:
A discreet friend can be trusted not to tell all he knows about your private affairs.
A discreet cough.

*Discrete* :
adjective
# individually separate and distinct
# not continuous
Example:
Charles Dickens published his novels in discrete parts that could later be fused as an uninterrupted whole.

6. *denote /connote*

*Denote*
verb
# be a sign of; indicate.
# stand as a name or symbol for.
( It indicates some fact)
Example:
A squiggly red line under a word in a corrected essay denotes a misspelled word.
The level of output per firm is denoted by X.

*Connote*
verb
# imply or suggest (an idea or feeling) in addition to the literal or primary meaning.
# (of a fact) imply as a consequence or condition.
(It implies a feeling)
Example:
Words like Mother and home connote warmth and comfort.👩‍👦‍👦🏡
To me, chocolate connotes pleasure and indulgence.😋🍫

There are many more such confused words in our heads. I have noted down a few and will continue on this subject once every month.

In the meantime lets get back to the beginning of this scrumptious conversation.😊
The next time you want to comment on your friend’s culinary expertise please do not limit yourself to the regular, mundane ‘yummy‘! Here is a list of adjectives which you can use to describe good, tasty food-

delicious
delectable
mouthwatering
appetizing
tasty
flavourful
toothsome
palatable
succulent
luscious
scrumptious
and many more 😍😋

See you next week!😊
Do treat yourself to some finger-licking food during the weekend!🍔🍕🌯🌮🍨🍦🍰

Adios!🙋🏻