Eggcorn Forum

Discussions about eggcorns and related topics

You are not logged in.

Announcement

Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to if you wish to register.

The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.

Thanks for your understanding.

Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2007-10-14 18:02:00

sesquiotic
Member
Registered: 2007-02-20
Posts: 19

follow suit > follow suite

I’m surprised I haven’t seen this one posted. Perhaps it’s because its eggcorn status is slightly questionable, as it doesn’t make more sense per se. My cite for it is the Toronto Star, October 13, 2007, page L12, “Thinking outside the bowl” by David Rider: “In Canada, neither the federal nor provincial governments have followed suit.”

Offline

 

#2 2007-10-14 18:16:44

Mark Mandel
Member
Registered: 2006-09-20
Posts: 9

Re: follow suit > follow suite

Maybe because “follow suit” is the original phrase; it comes from card games like bridge in which the first player in a given round plays a card, and each of the other players must play another card of that same suit if they have any. “Follow suite” is the eggcorn, one that I hadn’t heard before.

googits:
56,400 for “follow suite”
1,870,000 for “follow suit”

Merriam-Webster Online at m-w.com:
— follow suit
1: to play a card of the same suit as the card led
2: to follow an example set
—Mark Mandel

Offline

 

#3 2007-10-14 18:42:01

sesquiotic
Member
Registered: 2007-02-20
Posts: 19

Re: follow suit > follow suite

Well, now, what do you know! I grew up with the “suite” spelling for sets of cards, even as they were always pronounced like “suit.” It didn’t occur to me even to check, as I was so familiar with that one. And when I’m playing cards, no one is writing it down! But now that you tell me, I see that it is so. Quite remarkable—it’s rare for me to make an error in spelling, because knowing correct spelling is my job. But cards don’t really come up in the text I work with.

Last edited by sesquiotic (2007-10-14 18:48:27)

Offline

 

#4 2007-10-14 18:46:48

Mark Mandel
Member
Registered: 2006-09-20
Posts: 9

Re: follow suit > follow suite

But obviously you’re not the only one, since Google says it has “about 56,400” hits for “follow suite”. So we do have an eggcorn here, but this thread is mistitled. How do we fix that?

Offline

 

#5 2007-10-14 18:49:42

sesquiotic
Member
Registered: 2007-02-20
Posts: 19

Re: follow suit > follow suite

Hm! I just tried and I don’t think I can. I think this forum software doesn’t allow it. I’ll poke around some more, but we might need an admin to do it.

Offline

 

#6 2007-10-15 11:00:25

patschwieterman
Administrator
From: California
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 1680

Re: follow suit > follow suite

Hi. I made the requested fix. —Pat

Offline

 

#7 2007-10-15 12:03:26

jorkel
Eggcornista
Registered: 2006-08-08
Posts: 1456

Re: follow suit > follow suite

We had a previous discussion on suit/suite. I didn’t get a chance to reread it to see if anything was really resolved, but here it is:

bedroom suite (vs. suit) by Lisa Contribute! 11 2007-05-09 09:44:35 by jorkel

Offline

 

#8 2020-01-28 13:42:12

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2712
Website

Re: follow suit > follow suite

Interesting discussion on this, which references this page:

Follow suit


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

Offline

 

Board footer

Powered by PunBB
PunBB is © 2002–2005 Rickard Andersson
Individual posters retain the copyright to their posts.

RSS feeds: active topicsall new posts