Straight can mean “no bend”, “heterosexual” and “fair”, while strait means “narrow, strict, or limited.” This is why “strait” is the original spelling of “straitjacket” and “straitlaced.” Given that the images of a tight coat and a person tied up reflect standing upright or following a narrow path, they are often referred to collectively as “straight coats” and “straight coats”.
We know straight means “without curves, bends or angles”, “heterosexual” and “shows honesty and fairness”, among other things. We also know that strait refers to a narrow stream of water between two land masses, and also to a “perplexing or distressing situation”, such as the phrase in a very dire situation (“in a bad or difficult situation”):
hammer is in a very dire situationaccording to San Francisco Chronicles. Article says Hammer’s year long tour to support Too legal to quit lost money, and construction of Hammer’s multimillion-dollar home in Fremont, California, “stagnated while Hammer paid the contractors.” —Michael Goldberg, Rolling StoneNovember 26, 1992
So why are they often confused in words like tight shirt And tight?
Wait, is it ‘waist and narrow’ or ‘straight and narrow’?
The strait is confusing and straight
strait also serves as an adjective with archaic meanings, including “strict or narrow”, “strict” and “close or restrained”. These words are derived from the “fit or tight” meaning of straitbut they are spelled straight jacket And straight often enough that these spellings are listed as variations at their respective entries in the dictionary.
One reason for the variant spellings could be due to interpretation. A person wearing a tight shirt is essentially forced to stay upright, and straight discipline—not deviating from a path, as opposed to wandering astray—can encourage writing straight jacket And straight.
Another example of this combination appears in the phrase straight and narrow, defined as “the right and righteous path.” Phrases derived from the Bible; specifically, King James Version, Matthew 7:13-14:
Enter by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it: for narrow is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and few will find it.
The gospel is referring to a small opening into the narrow “way”. But the final interpretation turned to straight and narrowwith straight implies a mode of purity of life:
Edgar Robbins drank too much and was a jerk to women, but Ward and Gertrude took him around and confided in each other that they wanted him straight. Then one day Robbins brushed Ward aside and told him he had syphilis and would have to be monitored for treatment. straight and narrow. —John Dos Passos, Latitude 421930
Surprisingly, the words are etymologically unrelated. Straight finally derived from Old English streccanan ancestor of our word lengthen. straitmeanwhile, derives from Middle English and Anglo-French from the Latin verb guitar string, which means “draw or fasten.” From guitar string we also get the words Strict And strict.
And that’s the simplest explanation we can give you.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
