Why can't people spell "faint"?

[Cookerhood]

I keep seeing "feint" instead of "faint" on Covid test threads. Why? Surely "faint" is a simple word with "feint" being more unusual?
(I've now typed it so often that both look odd )

This explains why we see feint on notebooks:

www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/qa-faint-vs-feint/

"Q: So riddle me this… why does my notebook say that it has “feint ruled lines”? Is it a typo?
...
A: What you’ve stumbled upon is actually the other meaning of “feint”, retained by the printing industry and more closely aligned with the earlier days when both words came from the same place. In this context, a “feint” is the lightest weight line used in printing."

I wondered this since autocorrect is highly unlikely to correct to 'feint' as it's a pretty rare word, and there are more common words with similar spelling to 'faint' than 'feint' eg taint, paint, saint, quaint. In fact, just looking it up now, there are no common words apart from feint spelled like that. Of course you do have vein, skein and rein but none of them end in t.

No @newbiename but for a light line it's correct.

Feint has to be the wordle daily word sometime!

Can you link to a reputable dictionary saying that, Jane?

@JaneJeffer

No *@newbiename* but for a light line it's correct.

It's a printing term not a term for against line. Faint is being used as a description not a type of line in a book. I haven't seen anyone use it for a pregnancy test but then I don't frequent pregnancy threads. Would you say someone had a faint rash or a feint rash?

I think feint is correct, I’m going to be surprised if it isn’t.

It is an archaic spelling of faint and it isn't contemporary correct spelling for a faint line. A faint line is the same as a faint mark or a faint sensation of dread. Feint is literally only used in printing as an archaic hangover and it's really only used in the phrase 'feint ruled' or 'ruled feint'.

Ahhh…. so feint as an adjective can ONLY be used to describe the type of line printed on notebooks etc. I see!

But it’s still not correct to use ‘feint’ to describe something that is barely visible

@BlackLambAndGreyFalcon

Feint has to be the wordle daily word sometime!

Good point! Excellent starting guess as it has four very common letters in it.

A faint line, not "against line". The irony of an auto correct in pedant's corner.

From English grammar.org
www.englishgrammar.org/faint-vs-feint/

Yes it's "free rein" not "free reign" - it's referencing horses not monarchs!!!!!

This is where I fall down. In my head it's a king or queen doing whatever they like, having 'free reign' over their subjects. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Horses not monarchs. Horses not monarchs.

To be clear you cannot draw a ‘faint’ line on a piece of paper and then call it a ‘feint’ line.

‘Feint’ is used by the printing industry to name a specific depth of ink / fineness of line used in printed lined notebooks. It is the finest grade. Not sure what the other lines are called! Maybe they’re numbered!

@PearlclutchersInc

The once that gets me is faze/phase .... but there are a whole lot of others.

How could someone get them mixed up? #i get that they sound similar but the meanings are different

Why can't people spell "faint"
Why can't people spell faint?

Fixed it for you.

Seriously, I know there are people with dyslexia but the large number of people whose spelling, never mind grammar, is shit astounds me. Is it lack of teaching/spelling tests, laziness, too much reliance on auto correct?

Loose instead of lose
Serve instead of served (ie first come etc)
Of instead of have

are just 3 that drive me nuts.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g it says 'having faintly ruled lines' in my dictionary. I think they need to be more precise.

Pacific instead of specific To be fair I think that’s only a spoken error!

I was given a very simple way to deal with this question: just remove the other party and it's easy to see what is correct

Once people are taught the rules, they seem so simple. But I don't think they're taught them when young.

@BabyInTheJungle

I’ll let people off on discreet/discrete only because I have to look them up myself as I can never remember the right one!

Discrete = Crete is an island, therefore on its own. Discrete means a single point (or whatever).

Any other use use discreet.

That's how I remember it!

Oh that's clever! That might put an end to my fumbling over discreet/discrete.

It’s an archaic use and therefore was correct when I was a child. Language evolves and that means when everyone does it wrong it will eventually be declared to be right.

English Grammar org is just a blog.

Dictionary definitions are more reliable. Merriam-Webster has excellent detailed sections on etymology. Feint and faint both having the same origin in French and both meaning (adjectival) pretty much the same thing. Neither would be wrong if talking about lines. As other descriptivist posters have pointed out.

Pedants' Corner, incidentally. There are more than one of us.

I feel like my people are all here and you will all find this as funny as I did. Helps coping with people who think “a lot” is one word:

hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html?m=1

Both are words, feint means something slightly different.

But I don't blame people for using "feint" for lines, as it does mean a faint line in an exercise book. English is quite confusing.

@DustyMaiden

It’s an archaic use and therefore was correct when I was a child. Language evolves and that means when everyone does it wrong it will eventually be declared to be right.

That explains it then. I am also archaic