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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Criminal Sentence 79: "Heighth" Is Not a Word

Overheard on the Olympic broadcast:

"She reaches an incredible heighth."

I've heard this before. I cringed then and I cringed just now. Nevertheless, I can see why people think it's a word:
Adjective=Long; Noun=Length
Adjective=Wide; Noun=Width
Adjective=High; Noun does not equal Heighth

"Height" is the correct word.

At these Olympics, we've reached new heights, but we haven't invented a new word: "heighth."

7 comments:

Jon said...

Isn't "high" the adjective and "height" the noun?

The Sentence Sleuth said...

You're right. Sorry. I've fixed it.

Anonymous said...

At the risk of being a jerk, isn't "height" the correct word?

The Sentence Sleuth said...

Yes, Blair. I'm sorry that I made a mistake. Jon pointed out that I'm not perfect (Waaaaaaaaaaaah!).
Thanks for your input. I will endeavor to proofread myself more carefully!

Jon said...

Please don't cry. You're still perfect.

Doug and Amanda said...

I am so glad you spoke out against this. I can't stand when people use this non-word. Another peeve: the non-word, acrossed. Definitely not a word. Please tell my husband. :)

P.S. I'm glad you made a couple of typos. I'm always nervous about posting on your blog.

Anonymous said...

"Heighth" is one of my biggest pet peeves. I can't believe so many students in my math class say, "The width of the room is 10 feet and the "heighth" is 7 feet."