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Pry/Prise/Prize
October 13, 2011, 21:15
BobHalePry/Prise/Prize
In writing a blog entry today I used the word "prise" which was promptly underlined in red by the spell-checker.
Just to be certain, I popped it into onelook and this is what came back in the quick definitions.
▸ verb: to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open
▸ verb: make an uninvited or presumptuous inquiry
▸ verb: regard highly; think much of
The first definition here is the ONLY one that I think is valid and is the one that I intended. The second definition seems to me to be of "pry" and the third definition of "prize".
What does everyone else think?
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
October 14, 2011, 05:56
arnie Prise and
prize do seem to be variant spellings of the same word. Some dictionaries show the "s" spelling as obsolete in the "regard highly; think much of" sense. The "make an uninvited or presumptuous inquiry" definition does seem to fit
pry (or
pries) better, though.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
October 15, 2011, 19:55
KallehInteresting, Bob. I hadn't heard of
prise before, but it seems like it means the same as
pries, as in "she pries open the jar." How are they different? I checked Dictionary.com, and here is what they said for
prise:
1. to force open by levering
2. to extract or obtain with difficulty: they had to prise the news out of him
— n
3. rare , dialect or a tool involving leverage in its use or the leverage so employed
Now,
pry isn't a tool, though that was a rare use anyway. Otherwise, they seem to mean the same thing. Are they different words or just variants of the same word?
October 15, 2011, 20:27
BobHaleBecause I'd use it as "She prises open the jar" and in the past "prised" rather than "pried"
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
October 16, 2011, 07:53
zmježdInteresting. I've not seen or heard
prize (as a verb synonymous with
pry) in General American English. The OED1 (which gives 1686 as its earliest citation) says it is a denominal verb from
prize (noun entry 4) meaning "1. An instrument used for prizing; lever. 2. The act of prizing, ; leverage, purchase." This noun comes (via Middle English) from French
prise 'a taking hold'., which is ultimately from the verb
prendre 'to take'.
Pry, meaning "To raise or move by force or leverage; to force up" (chiefly US English, from the ealy 19th century, is given the origin: "shortened from prize, prise, [...] through confusing the final consonant with the -
s of the 3rd pers. sing. pres." Very interesting word history.
—Ceci n'est pas un seing.
October 17, 2011, 20:42
KallehI am thinking this might be an English/American difference? Arnie, would you say you "prised" open a jar?
October 18, 2011, 02:15
arnieYou may well be right that it's a British/American difference. I'd be more likely to
prise open a jar than
pry it open, although the second sense is also known and used.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
October 18, 2011, 20:06
KallehSince I've not heard of "prise," I'd do nothing else but "pry" it open. I learn something new here every day!