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flounder (v.) and founder (v.)
Oct. 12th, 2021 07:34 amBoth these words have other meanings, but I'm focusing here just on the senses that connect them:
flounder (FLOUN-der) - v., to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements; to move clumsily or ineffectually.
founder (FOUN-der) - v., (of a vessel) to fill with water and sink; to fall or sink down, to fail; (of a horse) to go lame.
These are frequently confused, and have been ever since the first was coined in the 1570s from the second (combined with flounce or blunder or some similar word). The basic idea, though, is that you flounder while you are struggling and you founder when you fall or sink or otherwise fail. Founder itself dates to the early 14th century, from Middle French fondrer, send to the bottom, from Latin fundus, bottom.
(And no, I'm not including a picture of the fish.)
---L.
flounder (FLOUN-der) - v., to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements; to move clumsily or ineffectually.
founder (FOUN-der) - v., (of a vessel) to fill with water and sink; to fall or sink down, to fail; (of a horse) to go lame.
These are frequently confused, and have been ever since the first was coined in the 1570s from the second (combined with flounce or blunder or some similar word). The basic idea, though, is that you flounder while you are struggling and you founder when you fall or sink or otherwise fail. Founder itself dates to the early 14th century, from Middle French fondrer, send to the bottom, from Latin fundus, bottom.
(And no, I'm not including a picture of the fish.)
---L.
