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I made a typo in a security report.
This is not a big deal, as I caught it before I sent it to the client, and even if I hadn't, it was fairly innocuous. Basically, I typed the word "within" as "withing". The odd thing is that I didn't get that little sqiggly little underline thing that is apparently the universal symbol for "you idiot, I know you can't spell, but do you have to show the whole world too?"
This puzzled me. There should have been a little squiggly line there, as I HAD made an error, and as far as I knew, "withing" wasn't a word... so I looked it up:
withing - To entwine, combine or bring together. Literally, to make something "with" something else.
withing - To bind or fasten with withes.
*blink*
"withes?" What's a "with"?
with - See Withe.
OK, I can do that.
withe - n 1: band or rope made of twisted twigs or stems. 2: strong flexible twig [syn: withy]
Withe - To bind or fasten with withes.
Withe - 1. A flexible, slender twig or branch used as a band; a willow or osier twig; a withy.
Withe - 2. A band consisting of a twig twisted.
Withe - 3. (Naut.) An iron attachment on one end of a mast or boom, with a ring, through which another mast or boom is rigged out and secured; a wythe. --R. H. Dana, Jr.
Withe - 4. (Arch.) A partition between flues in a chimney.
Neat, but..."withy", "wythe"?
withy - n : strong flexible twig [syn: withe]
Withy - 1. (Bot.) The osier willow (Salix viminalis). See Osier, n. (a) .
Withy - 2. A withe. See Withe, 1.
Withy - a. Made of withes; like a withe; flexible and tough; also, abounding in withes.
wythe - Same as Withe, n., 4.
So, what did we learn today?
1) I suck at spelling.
2) So, apparently, do middle English speakers.
3) There is a need for a word to mean "abounding in withes"
4) The Internet is really cool. I'm glad I have one.
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