Monday, March 9, 2015

humus/hummus: Common Errors in English Usage Entry for Monday, March 9, 2015

humus/hummus
The rotted plant matter you spread on your garden to enrich it is humus.

The chickpea spread you dip your pita into is hummus (or hoummos). Turks call it humus, but that spelling of the word is better avoided in English: your guests might suspect you are serving them dirt.


___________
This is the ten-year anniversary of the Common Errors in English Usage calendar. To celebrate, we are bringing back some of our favorite interesting, funny, but sometimes merely silly entries through the years before going on hiatus in 2016.

Enjoy the calendar? Buy the book!

No comments:

Post a Comment