Wednesday, December 7, 2011

bore, boar, boor

Bore or bore means to cut a round  hole into--
They needed to bore a hole through the mountain to construct the tunnel.
He tried to bore a hole through the wall.
The past tense ( yesterday, or some time ago ) form of "bore" is "bored".
Bore or bore is also a measure of the inside of the hole--
The bore is the measure of the inside of the barrel of a gun or cannon.

Bore or bore is also the past tense ( yesterday, or some time ago ) form of "bear", meaning to carry a load or burden, or to tolerate or put up with something--
Without his horse to help him, he bore the load alone.
He bore her nagging with patience for forty years.
Bore is also the past tense of "bear",  meaning to have a baby--as in to "bear a child"--
His wife bore him many sons.
She bore a child after several years of marriage.

Bore also means to fail to sustain the interest of an intended audience, by being dull and tiresome--as a verb ( action word ) or a noun ( thing or idea )--
Long lectures nearly.always bore students.
The new comedian was a bore.
The audience was bored.

Boar or boar ( rhymes with bore ) is a male pig or hog--
The coat of arms had a wild boar on it.
They went out to see the wild boar in the woods.

Boor or boor ( rhymes with bore )means a person with no social graces or manners--someone who says awkward and annoying things, and spills at parties--
They thought the new co-worker was a boor, and didn't invite him again.
Don't talk about money so personally. People will think you are a boor.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"They all found the speech on the wild boar a bore, and the speaker a boor."


Note--a "Boer" is a descendant of the Dutch settlers in South Africa--
The British fought the Dutch in the Boer War.

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