Wether, Weather, Whether

Wether, Weather, Whether Wether, Weather, Whether Wether, Weather, Whether By Sharon Wether is a prime example of a word that will slip past the spell check. It is easily confused with two of its homonyms, whether and weather. Flying fingers find it easy to miss the single letter that separates them. Unless youre a farmer, you might not even know that wether is either a: male sheep or ram (the Oxford Dictionary of Etymology traces its roots to Old English, Old High German, Old Norse and Goth) or a: castrated ram or billy goat (according to A Word A Day). We all know that MS Word can be easily confused, but theres no need for us to face the same confusion. Weather, that stuff up there in the sky, is the condition of the atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, calm or storm, etc. Thats according to the Oxford Dictionary of Etymology. Interestingly, when it was first used in Old English in the 12th century, weather always had adverse implications. In the 14th century, the term also referred to the wind direction, and its roots lie in various terms meaning either wind or storm. Weathering, derived from weather, is the result of exposure to wind and weather. The frequently misspelled whether is used to introduce a question, often outlining a choice between options. Its roots lie in Old English and Old High German. Heres my attempt at using them all in a sentence. The farmer wondered whether the adverse weather had affected his wether. Video Recap Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Has vs. Had10 Techniques for More Precise WritingEnglish Grammar 101: Prepositions