Don’t Say ‘Squash’ When You Mean ‘Quash’
There is a word that is little-used and very misunderstood and I want to do my part to help English speakers sound smarter. The word is ‘quash’. It is pronounced like ’squash’ but without the ‘S’. Quash is defined: To put down or suppress forcibly and completely.
Yet a lot of people say ’squash’.
A Lindsay Lohan fan site is quick to squash the rumors about its favorite star.
Over at Angelina Jolie Watch, they [were] busy squashing Jolie/Brad Pitt breakup rumors [last summer].
I’m not surprised that some bloggers get this wrong. Bloggers aren’t necessarily experienced writers. But People magazine!? In a People.com post callled “Kelly Ripa: No, It Wasn’t Morning Sickness”:
Kelly Ripa, 37, was quick to squash that rumor. “No, no,” she said. “That would be nice, though.”
How smart is Smart Business: The Management Journal for Corporate Growth when it publishes this:
Bharat Desai, Syntel’s co-founder, chairman and CEO: “You can’t squash every rumor,” he says. “You just have to be clear and consistent and honest with communication.”
Over at Leadership Turn, which counsels corporate leaders on improving their abilities, they write:
Rumors/myths in the workplace sap productivity, destroy morale, send attrition rates skyrocketing and make it more difficult to attract new talent….Have you ever tried to squash a rumor or disabuse a friend about a cultural or political myth?
And newspapers do it, too.
In a report on ” Learning how to prevent a tragedy” in a school, the Conshohocken (Pa.) Recorder writes:
Students are encouraged to confront and squash racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism and hate in any form.
Sounds silly, huh? Grammar lesson over.
December 14th, 2007 at 11:20 am
I find the same wonderment over the mix up between “your” and “you’re”.
December 14th, 2007 at 11:55 am
For years I’ve been fighting a losing battle on “irony” (people use it as a synonym for “coincidence”) and “literally” (which people seem to use just for emphasis.)
I hope you have better luck than I have!
December 14th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Thanks for catching my error at Leadership Turn, it’s been corrected.
As to “drive me nuts” errors “it’s” and “its” are high on the list, but the top spot goes to all those who write about how they hate loosing to another team and how upset they are to loose. Grrrr.
I’ll be sure eat my squash from now on and to quash everything else:)
December 14th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
In all fairness, they are using squash as a verb, which is okay if weren’t so overused.
squash (verb with an object)
-to press into a flat mass or pulp; crush
-to suppress or put down; quash
-to silence or disconcert (someone), as with a crushing retort or emotional or psychological pressure.
-to press forcibly against or cram into a small space; squeeze
They may as well use “quash” since it’s more precise. OTOH, maybe Kelly Ripa really does mean to press that rumor into a flat mass or pulp.
December 14th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Miki: Thanks for being a good sport about my pointing out the error. I agree. The ‘its’ thing is everywhere!
Ell: I suppose.
December 14th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
The language changes, and squash seems to make some sense to me. Maybe it’s a hybrid between quash and squelch.
December 14th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Anvilcloud: It does make some sense and I think that’s why it happens so often. I do think it happens enough that dictionaries will be altered to reflect this. As you say, language changes.
December 14th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
I was actually using “squash” as a verb and I wasn’t “busy” doing it because I wrote about it in August.
December 14th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
The usual arena that I see the word “quash” is in a legal setting – to quash a subpoena.
My pet grammatical error is the misuse of fewer and less. I can remember the nuns drilling the difference into our heads. And yet everyday on tv I hear these words misused.
And then I think, who cares? Why is correct grammar important? Why is in not okay to eat with your elbows on the table?
December 14th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
So, are we talking about butternut, acorn, or summer squash here?!?
December 14th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
You have done the field of Journalism (and writers, in general) a great service, Rhea. The “squash/quash” thing has ALWAYS driven me right bats. Like “irregardless”, it’s an unforgivable error. I think it’s contagious, too, – I’ve caught myself doing at times, when I know better. At least it’s only embarrassing in my own head when it happens, as I don’t think anyone that’s heard me say it (not WRITE it, thank God!) has known the difference.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
I have to jump in again in agreement with ThomasLB on “literally”. AUGH! The “irony” crap, I blame on Alanis Morrisette. Bad, BAD, fellow Canuckian. Shameful.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Grammatical errors always irritate the high heck out of me! There/Their and Your/You’re bug me the most of all!
December 14th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
I agree with ALL of you on ALL of this.
The other thing that gets me is people mix up “lead” for “led,” as in the past tense of “lead.” Just because the past tense of “read” is “read” (not “red”) doesn’t mean the past tense of “lead” is “lead.” This is English, it’s not supposed to be logical.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
We are becoming less literate as a society.
December 15th, 2007 at 7:02 am
What? No Bush example?
I agree with Mr. Fabulous, we’re becoming less literate. I watch old movies in amazement of the style of speaking in them – so formal and proper compared to today’s manner. It’s becoming a lost “art” just like good handwriting. As for overused words, the one that gets my hair raised is “clearly” when it’s used to preface a statement.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I’m with June. To digress for a moment, not only has good handwriting become a lost art, but according to my nieces in elementary school (didn’t that used be be called “grammar school”?) cursive writing has been replaced with “keyboarding” on the curriculum. We’re raising a new generation of squash-heads!
December 15th, 2007 at 11:17 am
I immediately searched my blog for both words, and I’m happy to quash those fears right now, as I have never written about squash.
I never misuse “your” or “you’re,” and I never confuse “its” or “it’s.” I also am fussy about “there,” “they’re” and “their.” However, I type about 80 to 100 words a minute, and my fingers sometimes betray me, and my boomer eyes don’t always pick up the mistake. (Unless of course they’re reading someone else’s comments or posts and I notice them immediately.
Cheers.
December 15th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
good to see clarity of language promoted here. thanks, rhea. enjoyed the exchanges within/among commenters: so thoughtful.
December 15th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Naomi: Me, too.
December 15th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
thank you for the lesson.
December 15th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Quash does not do much for me as a word. I like “crush.” As in, “Let’s crush the Repubicans in ‘08.”
The it’s and its quandry never gets worked out for many, but I just ignore it.
I think the plural apostrophe (as: it’s raining cat’s and dog’s) is more serious, because it indicates that the writer does not know the parts of speech.
December 15th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
I’m in agreement with everyone. In one of my previous incarnations (about 12 years ago) I taught college English. It became 8th grade grammar because these students could barely write their own names, much less complete sentences. I will add “whether/weather” and “would of” instead of “would have” to the aforementioned examples.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Well, there’s also tump (tip/dump) which would be like squash (squish/quash) and I think these new combinations are very pictorial and can, with two combined meanings, be more descriptive than one or the other with the limitations.
Maybe it is because of a Western influence in my upbringing, being creative can be more enlightening sometimes than trying to be an exact rule-follower. I’m all for new words. There’s a new word for new made-up words, as I have described, I just flost it (forgot/lost).
December 16th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Hey Rhea,
Maybe people are using it as a transitive verb as with “stone”:
Squash:
to throw squash at somebody or something, especially as a form of punishment, execution, or vandalism
Here’s a BIG pet peeve that seems to come from North Shore Boston area:
“So don’t I”, “So didn’t I”,
and one more…. “For God sakes”
December 16th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I also enjoyed reading this here post. (trying to be funny, maybe it didn’t work)
There are many people who put a possessive ” ’s” at the end of the names of some of the area’s biggest employers. And that drives me and Ralph up a wall. And makes us cringe.
~
Thanks for playing along with my mystery photo, Rhea.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
I’m so smart. I misspelled quandary! That’s the problem with being a know it all!
December 16th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
I, of course, with my legal education would never eat squash when my palate was craving some quash.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:11 am
That annoys me too. As does the your and you’re mixup.
It also drives me insane when people write CD’s as the plural of CD. ITS CDs!! No apostrophe!!!! ARrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhh
December 17th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Who knew grammar would cause people’s emotions to run so high!? Cool.