A New York City listener says he's reading lots of thrillers this summer. But a couple of words keep tripping him up. Does a speeding car careen or career? The hosts spell out the differences, and throw in the origin of the word carom for good measure.
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Martha!
I really don't understand your antipathy to "career". I will grant you that "careen" is probably more common now, but how can you be opposed to using the more historically correct word, "career"? And blaming it on spellcheck!!!??
Re "carom", there is a French word with the same origin (I imagine), "carambolage". It is generally used for car accidents, where several cars run into each other and bounce off each other, like balls bouncing off the sides of a billiards table. It's a horrible event, but a beautiful word.
I also found this, which was interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrom
>>>It's a horrible event, but a beautiful word.
Marc: Agreed!
But even if "career" is historically correct here, doesn't it stop you in your tracks when you read it, and make you think of the other kind of "career"? Maybe I'm just not a career woman?