Commonly confused words: crevasse and crevice

[mab-browne.livejournal.com]

When I saw this topic, I glommed it with both hands,in earnest desire to assist fan authors with keeping their readers in the right narrative mood. There are circumstances where using crevasse instead of crevice can be really quite distracting.

Crevice and crevasse look similar, sound somewhat similar, have the same derivation, and have related, sort-of-similar meanings. But similar is not the same, so let’s take a look, with assistance from Teyla Emmagan and John Sheppard from Stargate: Atlantis.

Definitions are taken from my New Zealand Oxford Dictionary:

Crevasse:
1. a deep open crack, especially in a glacier
2. In USA usage, a breach in a river levee

Crevice:
a narrow opening or fissure, especially in a rock or building

Both words enter English via the Old French word, crevace. For on the web definitions, and pronunciation information, we can turn to thefreedictionary.com.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/crevices

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/crevasse

Essentially, the difference in word usage here is one of scale. A crevice is more usually a smaller crack, gap or fissure than a crevasse. A mountain climber might be able to make use of a crevice; a crevasse would be rather an obstacle.

Teyla climbed nimbly down the cliff face, her strong, callused fingers finding easy hand and foot holds in the crevices of the rocks.

John eyed the crevasse that split the ground for what seemed like miles with a jaundiced expression. It was very nearly wide enough to pilot a puddlejumper along – if only the puddlejumper wasn't half-buried in snow after the crash landing.

How to remember these differences? Crevice is the shorter word by one letter. Crevasse, with the double ‘s’, is a more extensive looking word. And a word of advice – please, don’t use crevasse in relation to aspects of a character’s ass/arse/bottom/derriere or any other body part unless, of course, you actually want your reader to have visions of Brobdingnagian proportion. If it’s an ass, there’s no crevasse.

Comments

[tristancoyote.livejournal.com]

I always knew the differences, but wasn't ever positive. Thanks for clearin' that up. Now I'm going to clean the crevices of my teeth with a tooth brush before headin' to bed. I'll try not to fall into any authoritative crevasses.

[wanted-a-pony.livejournal.com]

Thank you for that last paragraph! I've seen cravasse used in fanfic in ways that were (I'm pretty sure) unintentionally sporfle-inducing.... :-D