Pour vs. Pore vs. Poor
Come on! We take three “words” our, ore, and oor (okay not a
very popular word) with three distinct sounds, but then we add a “P” and
suddenly they magically transform and all sound exactly the bloody same!
Pore should sound like pore.
Pour should sound like power
Poor should sound like pooh with an r at the end.
And don’t get me started on pause and pores.
Anyhoo, they do sound
the same so let’s use them right.
Pore means “to
read or study with great attention.” You pore over books.
Pour, on the
other hand, means “to send flowing or falling,” as in she poured a cup of
coffee.
Pore can also
refer to a minute opening, like the pores on your skin.
Finally, poor
means one is inadequate or impoverished.
Interestingly enough, pore
as in minute opening and pore as in gaze intently, have different etymological
roots. A minute opening comes from the 14th century French word pore— a passage way. Pore, as in to gaze
intently was first used in the 13th century but the origin is unknown.
