A Lighthearted Book of Common Errors

Born/Borne Getting “born” and “borne” mixed up is a common error. Let’s see if we can get these twin terms straightened out. Before you were born, you were borne—that is, carried by your mother. (Soon after birth you may have been borne, or carried, also in a baby carriage.) If you hadn’t first been borne, you would not have been born! (Aside: It’s good to be wellborn, but even better to be well-borne. And if you were the firstborn child, you were also the first one borne.) A bare little letter like an “e” can make quite a difference in meaning between two similar words, as we just saw. So it’s good to watch your “p’s,” “q’s,” and “e’s.” If you do, you’ll realize, for instance, that diseases born when water carries them are water-borne diseases! Should we play a little more (or barely more?) with “born” and “borne”? An author could begin a novel with a catchy sentence like this: “I was born to be borne on a magic carpet and transported as a born-again person from the Bering Sea to Melbourne, where dreams are born—almost like the magic dragon that lived by the sea and frolicked in Honah lee!” (If you’re in a creative writing class, try expanding on that bare opening.) A much-loved hymn opens with “I was there to hear your borning cry.” Bear with me now as we continue in this book to explore a number of “bornings” in the field of language—some carried out (or borne) in high style, and others, sadly, born out of inexperience or inattention. It barely bears repeating that if you watch out for and avoid such common errors as the one detailed here, you may very well develop an uncommon bearing in your personal carriage!