Beyond the Rhetoric

Several years back, I remember I was watching an episode of Friends when the Joey character made a variation on a very common mistake. You can watch the scene on YouTube, but here’s the gist of it:

Rachel asks Phoebe and Monica how much time she should wait before it is appropriate to “make a move” on someone who had just ended a relationship. Chiming in on the conversation, Joey asks whether the guy actually likes Rachel in the first place. If he doesn’t, then it’s a “moo point.” It would be “like a cow’s opinion: it just doesn’t matter. It’s moo.”

Many people probably know that the common term is not “moo point,” but they still make a mistake when choosing a correct term. As an adjective, moot refers to something that is of little or no practical value or meaning. Joey is right in saying that it’s something that “doesn’t matter.” For example, you could say that choosing between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini is a moot point if there is no way that you’ll be able to afford either car.

As is the case with word pairs like hoard and horde or then and than, I find that one of the most common misspellings of the term is “mute” point (rather than “moot” point). This is partly because it may seem like the meaning is correct: if something doesn’t matter, it’s not saying anything. It’s “mute.”

That is incorrect. In addition to having different meanings, “mute” and “moot” are pronounced slightly differently. Mute rhymes with newt and cute, whereas moot rhymes with loot and hoot. You can hear the difference when you hover your mouse over the respective words at Howjsay.com. That’s a great pronunciation website, by the way.

Just as you shouldn’t confuse metal with medal due to seemingly similar meanings, you should avoid confusing mute and moot too.

Do you have a suggestion for a future Grammar 101 post? Feel free to make your requests via the comment form in this post.

Tags: grammar, grammar tips, word choice

Filed under Freelance Writing.