2022-03-28
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – F – flounder & founder
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Dictionary.com:
ออกเสียง flounder = “FLOUN-der”
ออกเสียง founder = “FOUN-der”
Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary:
flounder
As a verb, “founder” means “to fill with water andsink.”
It is also used metaphorically of various kinds
of equally catastrophic failures.
In contrast, to flounder is to thrash about in the water
(like a flounder), struggling to stay alive.
“Flounder” is also often used metaphorically to indicate
various sorts of desperate struggle.
If you’re sunk, you’ve foundered.
If you’re still struggling, you’re floundering.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree:
flounder
= to struggle clumsily:
He floundered helplessly on the first day of his new job.;
= falter; waver; flop about;
a marine flatfish
Not to be confused with:
founder
= to fall or sink down;
= to become wrecked;
= to stumble; collapse; succumb:
The project foundered because public support was lacking.
Dictionary.com:
ORIGIN OF FOUNDER 1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English found(o)ur,
foundere, fundre “original builder of a city, church, castle, or city;
founder of a country,” from Anglo-French fundur,
from Old French fondeor, from Latin fundātōr-,
stem of fundātor; see origin at found1;see also -er1
ORIGIN OF FOUNDER 2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English foundren, funder, fonder,
from Old French fondrer “to plunge to the bottom, submerge,”
from Vulgar Latin fundorāre (unattested), derivative of fundor-,
an s-stem noun interpreted as stem of Latin fundus,
actually an o-stem noun (stem fund- ) “bottom”
ORIGIN OF FOUNDER 3
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English foundour, founder,
from Old French fondeur, from fondre “to melt, cast”;
BRITISH DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS FOR FOUNDER (3 OF 3)
USAGE FOR FOUNDER
Founder is sometimes wrongly used where flounder is meant:
this unexpected turn of events left him floundering (not foundering)
Collins English Dictionary:
Usage:
Flounder is sometimes wrongly used where founder is meant:
the project foundered (not floundered) because of a lack of funds
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
History and Etymology for founder
Noun (1)
Middle English foundour, borrowed from Anglo-French fundur, foundour, going back to Latin fundātor, from fundāre
"to FOUND entry 4" + -tor, agent suffix
Verb
Middle English fondrer "to fall to the ground, stumble, sink,"
borrowed from Anglo-French fundrer "to destroy,"
probably back-formation from enfondrer, esfondrer, affondrer
"to sink, send to the bottom," prefixed forms based on Old French
-fondrer, going back to Vulgar Latin *-fundorāre,
verbal derivative of Late Latin fundor-, variantstem of Latin fundus "bottom, base" — more at BOTTOM entry 1
NOTE: The simple verb fundrer (as opposed to prefixed forms)
is marginally attested in Anglo-French, its senses partially merged with fondre going back to Latin fundere (see FOUND entry 5),
which in addition to its basic meanings "to pour, cast" had already
in Classical Latin the extended meanings "to scatter, disperse, rout"
and "to lay low, slay."
Noun (2)
derivative of FOUNDER entry 2
Noun (3)
Middle English foundour, borrowed from Anglo-French foundur, foundour, from fondre "to melt, cast,
FOUND entry 5" + -ur, -our -ER entry 2
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Did you know?
Flounder is a relatively common verb
that current evidence dates to the late 16th century,
when it was likely born by means of an alteration
of an older verb, founder.
The two have been confused ever since.
Today, founder is most often used as a synonym of fail,
or, in the case of a waterborne vessel,
as a word meaning "to fill with water and sink."
Formerly, it was also frequently applied
when a horse stumbled badly
and was unable to keep walking.
It's likely this sense of founder
led to the original and now-obsolete
meaning of flounder: "to stumble."
In modern use, flounder typically
means "to struggle" or "to act clumsily";
the word lacks the finality of founder,
which usually denotescomplete collapse or failure,
as that of a sunken ship.
Did you know?
Founder is related to Latin fundus,
meaning "bottom" or "base."
When something "founders,"
it usually hits the bottom in one sense or another.
When a ship founders, it sinks to the bottom of the sea,
for example,
and if your endeavor is foundering,
it isn't doing well and is therefore headed downward.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Usage Notes
Can a Ship 'Flounder'?
The difference between 'flounder' and 'founder'
The English language does not care if you are happy or sad.
It is oblivious to your shrill entreaties for an orderly
and sensible vocabulary.
As proof of this supreme indifference
we need look no further than the words founder and flounder,
for no language that cares about its speakers would ever allow
this kind of semantic cruelty to exist.
'Founder' means "to sink" or "to collapse" or "to fail." 'Flounder' means "to struggle to move" or "to proceed clumsily."
"What is so hard about founder and flounder?"
some of you are asking, perhaps
with a supercilious cast to your voice (we can hear you, by the way); "ships founder and people flounder ... easy peasy lemon squeezy."
The English language scoffs at your feeble attempts
to interject a rhyming Briticism
into a discussion on usage.
Putting aside the fact that
both of these words function as nouns
(founder as “one who establishes” and flounder as “flatfish”),
let’s look at how the verb senses have come to be often confused.
Founder is the older of these two, dating back to the 14th century,
and has a useful etymology:
it can be traced to the Vulgar Latin fundus, meaning “bottom.”
The reason that this is useful is that
one of the main contemporary senses of founder
is “to send (a ship) to the bottom.”
No one is entirely certain where flounder comes from,
although there is speculation that the word,
which began to be used at the end of the 16th century,
came about as an alteration of founder.
The earliest senses of these words were somewhat related;
founder was first used with the meaning of “to become disabled,”
and flounder was first used to mean “stumble.”
The problem is that these words look and sound almost identical,
and each one has meanings that would work quite well in an essay titled
“Things That Did Not Go the Way That I Had Hoped.”
The difference that is observed by most usage guides
is that founder carries a stronger sense of completed failure
(its synonyms are sink, collapse, and fail)
whereas flounder has more of a meaning
of “struggle” or “act clumsily.”
One way to look at it is that you can flounder for a while
and then eventually founder,
but you cannot founder for a while and then flounder.
But can a ship flounder?
There are certainly many instances
in which writers have used this word
to describe the actions of a seaborne vessel
where they would have been better off using founder:
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Flounder & Founder
Question:
If your ship fills with water and sinks, does it flounder or founder?
Answer:
founder
How to remember it:
When something founders, it loses its foundation. (Founder and foundation have the same root.)
To founder is to collapse, sink, or fail.
One source of confusion here is that
the meaning of the verb flounder is similar:
to flounder is to struggle to move or get one's footing,
or to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually.
People can flounder, but ships founder.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language:
Usage Note:
The verbs founder and flounder are often confused.
Founder comes from a Latin word
meaning "bottom" (as in foundation)
and originally referred to knocking enemies down;
it is now also used to mean "to fail utterly, collapse."
Flounder means "to move clumsily, thrash about,"
and hence "to proceed in confusion."
If John is foundering in Chemistry 101, he had better drop the course;
if he is floundering, he may yet pull through.
