Как правильно imposter или impostor
Как правильно imposter или impostor
Imposter and impostor are both correct. Although, you’ll see impostor in dictionaries and offical word documents. They both mean the same thing, like adviser / advisor and
adapter / adaptor.
Imposter and impostor are both correct. Although, you’ll see impostor in dictionaries and offical word documents. They both mean the same thing, like adviser / advisor and
adapter / adaptor.
Символ показывает уровень знания интересующего вас языка и вашу подготовку. Выбирая ваш уровень знания языка, вы говорите пользователям как им нужно писать, чтобы вы могли их понять.
Мне трудно понимать даже короткие ответы на данном языке.
Могу задавать простые вопросы и понимаю простые ответы.
Могу формулировать все виды общих вопросов. Понимаю ответы средней длины и сложности.
Понимаю ответы любой длины и сложности.
Решайте свои проблемы проще в приложении!
( 30 698 )
Imposter or Impostor – Which Spelling is Correct?
Home » Imposter or Impostor – Which Spelling is Correct?
English has many words for people who pretend to be other people.
If the person does so as a professional entertainer, he could be an actor or an impersonator. If she merely says one thing but does another, she could be a hypocrite or a liar. People who pretend to be other people for the good of their countries are called spies or undercover agents.
Someone who pretends to be someone else for illegal reasons or for illicit personal gain is called an impostor. Or should we spell the word imposter? Some word processors do not flag either version as a misspelling.
Do these words mean different things, or are the different versions of the same word?
What’s the Difference Between Imposter and Impostor?
In this article, I will compare impostor vs. imposter. I will use each of these words in several example sentences, to give you an idea of how they should appear in context.
I will also show you a memory tool that will make choosing either impostor or imposter easier in your own writing.
When to Use Impostor
What does impostor mean? Impostor is a noun that means a person who pretends to be someone else. This pretending is usually done for fraudulent gain, in contrast to an actor or an impersonator, who do so as part of an honest profession.
Impostor is a Latin loanword. It was first used in English in the 16th century and exists today unchanged from its original spelling.
When to Use Imposter
What does imposter mean? Imposter is an alternative spelling of the same noun. Impostor is the proper spelling of this word, but imposter has also appeared frequently for several centuries.
The chart below shows the relative use of imposter vs. impostor in English books since 1800. As you can see, both forms of the word have been part of English since at least 1800:
Though imposter has maintained a steady presence in English for at least two centuries, impostor has always been used more frequently and most modern style guides prescribe this spelling alone.
For example, The AP Stylebook lists the word to be spelled impostor. Similarly, both sides of the Atlantic seem to agree on this spelling, as impostor is the more common spelling in both American and British English.
The popular American English usage guide Garner’s Modern English Usage lists impostor as preferred spelling, as does the popular British English usage guide Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage.
This preference is corroborated by usage date on the spelling of each word.
American English:
British English:
The above charts graph impostor vs. imposter in American English and British English, respectively, and as you can see, both sides of the Atlantic have a preference for impostor.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Though these variants are equivalent in meaning, impostor is the proper version. It also appears more frequently in English books, so it will be more familiar to readers.
Since impostor ends in -or, like related nouns actor and impersonator, you should easily remember to spell all of these words with the -or ending.
Another trick you can use is to think of the “e” in imposter as standing for error.
Summary
Is it imposter or impostor? An impostor is someone who pretends to be someone else for nefarious purposes.
Despite their equivalent meanings, impostor is preferable to imposter in all contexts.
Imposter vs. impostor
The noun referring to one who takes an assumed identity in order to deceive is variously spelled imposter and impostor. Impostor has the edge, and it is the form recommended by most English reference sources, but imposter is not wrong. Not only is it nearly as common as impostor, but it is also nearly as old. Impostor came to English from the French imposteur in the late 16th century, 1 and imposter first appeared almost immediately thereafter. 2 And though the -or spelling has always been more common, imposter has always been present to some degree.
Related
In fact, imposter is more common than impostor in some areas of English. In a search covering a few dozen of the most popular blogs in the English-speaking world, for instance, the ratio of imposter to impostor is about 6:5. Imposter is also a little more common than impostor in 21st-century Australian and New Zealand news publications that make content available online. The two forms are neck and neck in British and American news publications from this century. Meanwhile, in a Google Books search—which covers millions books, journals, and magazines—limited to 2000 to the present, impostor remains about three times more common than imposter.
If you came here looking for a simple answer, go with impostor, but only because that’s the spelling you’ll find recommended in dictionaries, usage guides, and such, which makes it the safer choice.
Examples
Instances of both spellings are easy to find in all sorts of writing from around the English-speaking world—for example:
Far from being an expression of humour, confidence or even friendliness, the smile seemed false, an imposter at a funeral. [The Australian]
I felt something of an impostor being treated as a “victim.” [Independent]
False acceptance probability is the area to the right of the threshold under the imposter distribution. [Encyclopedia of Biometrics, Stan Z. Li (2009)]
She felt the prince’s gaze on her back, burning through her clothing, branding her, seeming to call her out for the impostor she was. [Wicked in Your Arms, Sophie Jordan (2011)]
At any rate, at least we have a face to put to the name, even if it’s an imposter. [Mashable (2012)]
For instance, we would expect a subject with Capgras delusion, convinced that his wife has been replaced by an impostor, to look for his real wife, and show hostile behaviour to the alleged impostor. [Neuroethics (2012)]