Here’s another pair of words where the mix-up seems to only go one way. I constantly see people write ‘boarder’ when they mean ‘border,’ but never the other way around. I wonder why that is?
Border: the edge or boundary that defines an area, that separates one country, state or other geo-political territory from another, or a decorative element designed to enclose an area.
Boarder: a person who is served meals as part of an arrangement, such as a lodger with meals included; or a member of a boarding party; or someone who rides a skateboard or surfboard.
Border comes from around 1350, from the Middle English bordure, which comes from the Old French bord meaning a ship’s side, edge.
Boarder is much older, from before 900; it’s also Middle English, from bord, meaning board, table, or shield.
If you talk about a decorative boarder, you are referring to renting a room to somebody who is pretty.
Jim MacQuarrie
When he's not arming children for the zombie apocalypse or coaching the USC Trojan Archery team, Jim is writing about "all the stuff that would have gotten you a wedgie in 1976" at AtomicJunkShop.com and serving as the President of CAPS, the Comic Art Professional Society. His kids are all grown up, and his wife is patiently waiting for him to do likewise.
