Eggcorn Forum

I have been puzzling over the word spare . I’ve run across some usages that hit me as weird, and I haven’t done very well at explaining the weirdness satisfactorily to myself.
.
What is spare (adj.) is a bit extra. Often it is extra that is retained in case it is needed, like a spare tire or a spare key to the house, but other times it is extra that is available to be shared with others or even wasted. Sometimes the emphasis seems to be on it being extra and sometimes on it only being a bit. There may be some despection or degrading implied, either towards the negligible bit or towards those who might be recipients of it.
.
A spare thing, then, is something that you have, that you might not need, but then you might, since you don’t have a great supply of them. When you have them to spare (an adjectival use of a verbal infinitive—the mental gymnastics involved are impressive), you do have plenty, however. So having spare cash is not the same thing as having cash to spare . Yet having some spare time and having some time to spare don’t feel nearly so contradictory. (You can have extra cash or extra time , but not time/cash to extra . I don’t think I use extra as a verb at all.)
.
The adjectival spare of a spare, lean figure or a spare prose style is related, but not very predictably; the idea of having little or no extra fat, or of barely being fat enough, is close to the idea of being spare in this sense. (Having an extra figure would not awaken anything like the same meaning.)
.
A spare (n) is basically a spare thing, usually something you have in case of need. A spare tire or a spare key are things I readily call spares, or a second son who can inherit (heir and spare). I don’t suppose a spare in bowling is related at all, but maybe I’m not inventive or perceptive enough to see the connection. (Not quite in the same league as a strike, a little on the lean side? Or did you spare the untumbled pin, not subjecting it to death or ignominy?)
.
In the verbs it gets complicated. Sometimes it means to use or give what is spare in the sense of superfluous or extra. (“Can you spare a couple of bucks”?). There may be nuances of grudgery in the mix: you are giving up, begrudgingly, something you might well need. Sometimes it means not to use or give what might be needed elsewhere or at least is not needed here. (“Spare the rod.” “Go sparingly on the salt.”) Ditransitives (where an indirect object is represented explicitly or at least understood) complicate things. If I spare you a couple of cups of flour I give them to you; if I spare you the bother I avoid giving it to you. This last meaning is related to a usage of spare with a human object which means something like “refrain from inflicting”. “Spare me!” by itself does not mean give me something (good), but rather don’t give me something (bad). Yet if you specify the direct object, thereby clarifying whether it should be seen as good or bad, it can go either way. “Spare me a minute of your time” means give me a minute, but “Spare me the details” means don’t give me the details.
.
(“Spare me your tears!”, says he. “Sure,” she replies, “I have plenty of them that I can spare you.”)
.
So with all that in mind …

You were right in your decision to not give her your name or place of residence, for fear she would leave if you spared her that information.

I.e. if you gave / divulged /vouchsafed to her/shared with her that information (which you should hold in reserve)? Like sparing her a cup of flour? Gave reluctantly, against your instincts?

McCauley spared no hesitation when asked why she thought the Fairfax school board pushed the FLE vote to June.

That is, she showed no hesitation, had no hesitation (to spare) in responding, spared no one in her response, did it with no hesitation ? Wasted no hesitation?

Statisticians spare no quarter in attempts to improve data

They are merciless/give no quarter in the pursuit of improving data. Sparing (not giving) quarter or mercy to people is the opposite of sparing them, but if you spare them a little quarter or mercy that’s different; you are letting them have it. So is sparing no quarter or mercy being nice, or not? And then when you spare quarter to the data, is it different?

[His men, British soldiers in the Sepoy rebellion, had killed and dismembered their defeated enemies.] He had tried to stop it, but it was futile. Had he not, in fact, encouraged it? He had shouted “No quarter!” when they came on them, for he could spare no quarter until the last barge was destroyed. […] War was fury, not sport ? victory the only consideration, was it not?

He could afford to give no quarter (could not afford to give any quarter) that early in the battle. Quarter or mercy, however, are not, or at least are not clearly, the sort of things you have less of if you give them away. So there is no need to spare them on that account. And they are good things, not bad ones, from the prospective recipients’ perspective at least: they presumably have neither the need nor the desire to be spared them.

They are very rascist towards Caucasian races, and will spare no mercy if you are not Native.

They will show or give no mercy, they will have no mercy to spare (for the likes of Caucasians). [You wonder if what Hitler and Himmler were should be pronounced as face-ists, like the race-ist attitude referenced above. Being rascist somehow looks even more evil than being racist, does it not?]

I won’t spare you all the details of what went on that day and the next night. If you want to know go watch the excellent movie or read the book.

I won’t give you or subject you to, I will spare you, won’t bore you with, won’t inflict upon you, the details. I am sparing you all the details by sparing them in your case, or giving them to you sparingly at best (or is it at worst?).
.
As I said above, I am having a hard time satisfying myself with my analyses and explanations for these examples.
.
Small wonder that English is hard to learn for those used to other, more logical languages. (Those languages have their illogicalities too, of course.)
.
De pilón (as we say in Mexico, the extra bit on top of your purchase)

He’s a real spare shooter.

(A square shooter, no doubt, but why not: a judicious shooter, one who doesn’t waste his shots?”)

[Good, real-life advice:] Spare no expense to save money.

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2022-07-27 20:08:46)