Easily Confused Words: Curtsy Vs. Courtesy - Kathleen W Curry

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER 23, 2015

Curtsy and courtesy are easily confused words.

The spell-check application of most word processing software programs would not catch a slip-up of these two words. Spell-check is looking for words that aren’t in its dictionary, and words that resemble words in its dictionary but are possibly spelled wrong. Spell-check isn’t perfect. It doesn’t know and can’t guess what word you wanted or what word you meant, it can only judge the words on the page. If you used words that are all spelled correctly, it gives you a pass anyway.

Autocorrect suggests words that start with the same letters. It suggests what word you it anticipates you want to save time. Quite often, its suggestions are more humorous than useful.

Curtsy (pronounced “kurt-see”) is a noun. It means the bow women and girl subjects make towards a member of royalty.

Courtesy (pronounced “kurt-uh-see”) is a noun.

• It means a gesture done with consideration, showing good manners and respect.
• In the phrase “courtesy of,” usually means something was donated or loaned by a business for a special event

The following story uses both words correctly:

Courtney saw an absence of manners manifesting in her generation, so she created an etiquette school in response. Entry level classes started small with table manners and basic courtesies, while higher level classes dealt with meeting dignitaries and how to properly bow and curtsy for royalty. Her students were thrilled when small changes in their approach paid off in spades at work.

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