Discover when to bare it

I simply can’t bear being asked to bare with you any longer without saying something. We all have our ‘pet peeves’ and these two are laid bare more frequently than most people are aware of.

I read a lot of documents, especially EBooks, and the number of times I’m absorbed in the information and then they ask me to ‘bare’ with them. I don’t mean they show all, I mean they are talking about bearing with them.

If I could, I might but I simply cannot. Not only because they are too far away (even though many webcams these days are doing just that rather frequently, I might add) but I simply can’t bear the misspellings.

I mean, if any of my contractors wrote to their clients talking about a load baring beam I doubt many husbands would leave their wives at home all day with them.

So please bear with me while I add the concise Oxford Dictionary 1964 meaning to the two words so we are clear about what this article is all about ~ apart from my gripe. Yes it is an old dictionary but it has stood the test of the English language over the decades.

By understanding the basics of the English language, it allows the language to expand as it has done over the years.

We have no confusion whatsoever over the Bear animal. Nobody sticks around long enough when they are on the scene to bare anything.

Another bear is a word with four major differences of meaning and within those four groups are another assortment of meanings; but here we are concerned with ‘bear (2) ~ Sustain (weight, responsibility, cost; bear a part in, share); stand (test etc.)endure (grin and bear it) Tolerate, put up with(cannot bear him),whence bearable a.; be capable of upholding weight (ice bears); be fit for(his language won’t bear repeating); bear with, treat forbearingly; bear up, (trans.) uphold, (intro.) not despair; borne on the books of, paid by.

The other bare is defined as “unclothed, undisguised, uncovered, bald, unfurnished, unprotected, threadbare, unsheathed, ill-provided, empty, unadorned, scanty, mere;” ~ and we won’t worry too much about whether the meaning is a noun, adverb or whatever at this point.

Once understanding the difference in meaning of two totally different words, spelt differently but both pronounced the same way yet have widely different meanings and outcomes, you can see why I always suggest to my contractors that they spell THAT particular word with great care. As I said previously, no right thinking husband is going to leave their wife at home with a man who is working with a load ‘baring’ beam.

So next time you want your readers to bear with you on details in your EBook, please don’t ask them to bare with you. Your partner wouldn’t like it, your spell-checker rarely picks it up and it’s simply not possible. Besides, your Mother probably wouldn’t approve either.