V.A. Editing

This word pair was recently brought to my attention in a manuscript I was proofreading where the actions of scalding and scolding happened to occur within the same scene.

I turned to the Cambridge Online Dictionary just to check that the spelling being used was correct for the intended meaning of each instance, and below is a summary of what the dictionary confirmed.

Scald as a verb means ‘to burn the skin with boiling liquid or steam’ and the resulting injury is a scald. A learning point for me was that scald can also mean ‘to heat a liquid until it almost boils’. As someone who isn’t into cooking this was new information for me, and this illustrates why it’s worth following up on queries as they arise.

When spelt with an ‘o’ scold means ‘to speak to someone angrily because you disapprove of their behaviour’. The noun form is a scolding, and two strong collocations in my mind are ‘to receive a scolding’ and ‘to be given a scolding’.

Cambridge includes a note that scold is an old-fashioned word, which is something worth bearing in mind. The manuscript I was proofreading is a fantasy set in a fictional world, and the term scold felt appropriate within both the scene and the overall story. However, if this word had popped up in a futuristic sci-fi, I might have raised it as a query with the author.

To summarise, if a person scalds someone with hot water they might receive a scolding.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!