Friday, December 23, 2011

birth, berth

Birth or birth is a noun ( thing or idea ), meaning being born, or bearing a child--
He went to a hypnotist and now he believes that he can remember his own birth.
Christians believe that a virgin gave birth to a child 2011 years ago.

Berth or berth ( rhymes with birth ) means a sleeping compartment on a train, plane, or ship--
They took the train to the coast, and slept in a berth.
The plane did not have a berth available, so they slept in their seats.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"It was difficult, but she gave birth in the berth of a train."

Note--"berth" also means a ship's officer's cabin--
He got a berth on ship headed for home.
To "berth" a ship means something like to park it--
They couldn't berth the  ship until they found the pilot.
To give someone a "wide berth" means to keep a distance from him or her, or to let him or her alone--
The boss looks very annoyed. Let's give him a wide berth.

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