{"id":253,"date":"2007-07-19T19:21:18","date_gmt":"2007-07-20T02:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=253"},"modified":"2015-03-31T22:01:10","modified_gmt":"2015-04-01T05:01:10","slug":"gantlets-gauntlets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=253","title":{"rendered":"Gantlets & Gauntlets"},"content":{"rendered":"

These days I’m running the gauntlet of writers and publishers.<\/p>\n

Does running the gauntlet<\/em> make you cringe?\u00a0 God, it does me.\u00a0 But not the writers and publishers of One Bullet Away<\/a>\u00a0and Cobra II:\u00a0the Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq<\/a>.\u00a0 In the first, which I recently finished, the writer runs the gauntlet four times; in the second, only half read, I’ve counted eight gauntlets run.<\/p>\n

Why does this make me cringe?\u00a0\u00a0I was taught that one runs the gantlet<\/em>, not the gauntlet.\u00a0 You run the gantlet<\/em>; you throw down the gauntlet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The gantlet is a form of punishment, where you run between two lines of men who strike at you with sticks and such.\u00a0 The gauntlet is, literally, a glove, which a knight throws to the\u00a0ground at your feet to challenge you to a duel or contest of arms.<\/p>\n

C’mon, admit it . . . isn’t that what you learned in school too?<\/p>\n

Imagine my horror upon reading, in Merriam-Webster Online<\/a>, that gauntlet<\/em> is now an acceptable substitute for\u00a0gantlet<\/em>.\u00a0 Apparently, it’s now okay to use gauntlet for both punishment and challenge, as in “run the gauntlet” and “throw down the gauntlet.”\u00a0 I infer that it would\u00a0be also okay to say “run the gantlet” and “throw down the gantlet,” but only variants – second cousins of deviants – would do so.<\/p>\n

I say “now okay” because M-W Online is the 2007 edition, recently revised and updated.\u00a0 So that’s now.\u00a0 But what about then?\u00a0 In my 1984 hardcopy edition of the AP Stylebook<\/a>\u00a0(the most-used reference book on my shelf), I read this:<\/p>\n

A gantlet<\/em> is a flogging ordeal, literally or figuratively.<\/p>\n

A gauntlet<\/em> is a glove.\u00a0 To throw down the gauntlet<\/em> means to issue a challenge.\u00a0 To take up the gauntlet<\/em> means to accept a challenge.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, so I was<\/em> right!\u00a0 Two different words, two different things.\u00a0 The merging of gantlet and gauntlet must must have happened some time between 1984 and this year.<\/p>\n

Well, screw this post-1984 laxness!\u00a0 I’m having none of it.\u00a0 The only reason it’s now okay to use gauntlet for gantlet is because uneducated yokels do so, and their betters have given up in despair.<\/p>\n

Not in my house, people . . . in my house, you run the gantlet!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These days I’m running the gauntlet of writers and publishers. Does running the gauntlet make you cringe?\u00a0 God, it does me.\u00a0 But not the writers and publishers of One Bullet Away\u00a0and Cobra II:\u00a0the Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq.\u00a0 In the first, which I recently finished, the writer runs the gauntlet four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","category-words"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=253"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16407,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions\/16407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}