Here’s another installment of Word Knots, where we look at common instances of words that are often confused or misused. 

Our source for this installment is The Dictionary of Disagreeable English by Robert Hartwell Fiske (Chicago: Writer’s Digest Books). This is a great book to browse: I highly recommend it.

We avoid taking a stern ‘grammar police’ approach: we always try to simply point out examples of semantic confusion that should be considered “must to avoid.”

From Fiske:

mute

Misused for moot.

As Fiske says:

Mute (MYOOT) means unable to speak; not speaking or not spoken; a silent or unpronounced letter in a word. Moot (MOOT), as an adjective, means open to discussion, debatable. It has also come to mean not worthy of discussion because the matter has been settled or is too hypothetical. 

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This error usually occurs when someone uses “mute” when they mean “moot,” such as “it’s a mute point.” The last usage Fiske mentions is the most common in current usage (“not worthy of discussion”).

Although AI might to catch it, the point should be moot: It’s best to understand the actual meaning of each word and use each of them properly.

Let’s look at the most relevant Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary definitions:

mute

adjective

1  : characterized by the inability to speak specifically : unable to utter articulate sounds 

2  : characterized by absence of speech

6 a of a written or printed character

(1) : contributing nothing to the pronunciation of a word (as b in plumb or the second e in every as it is usually pronounced)

(2) : contributing to the pronunciation of a word but not representing the nucleus of a syllable (as the e in mate which produces \māt\ instead of \mat\)

mute

noun

1 a : one that does not speak (as from physical inability or unwillingness)

3    : a device on a musical instrument serving to reduce, soften, or muffle its tone

moot

adjective

1  a : open to question : subject to discussion : debatable, unsettled

    b : subjected to discussion : controversial, disputed

2     : deprived of practical significance : made abstract or purely academic 

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Let’s look at examples of each.

After being scolded by his mother, the boy remained mute.

During the quieter passages, the trumpet player used a mute.

Since it still ran well, the fact that the car was old was moot.

We wanted to watch a movie; the fact that it was raining was moot.

Paying attention to spelling beyond relying on spellcheck is critical. This is another case where consulting a legitimate dictionary may be advisable to ensure that your intended meaning is clear.

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