Peak vs. Pique

Here's another writing pet peeve -- when folks confuse peak (or peek), and pique. Here's an example of proper usage: I live in Denver, Colorado, so I have a lovely view of the mountain peaks when I look to the West, but my interest is piqued when I find a good book about world history.

Instead, what I see most commonly is "this really peaked my interest," or "I thought this would peek your interest."

This doesn't trouble me too much when I see it on blogs, mailing lists, and so forth. I'm used to seeing language atrocities there... but it's just a different story when it's something from a communications professional, i.e., from a PR person.

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46 Comments

  1. Tristan
    Posted 2/26/2007 at 11:30 AM | Permalink

    I wasn't aware of this one, thanks!

  2. Posted 2/27/2007 at 7:57 PM | Permalink

    Tristan: probably because you didn't have an anal retentive step mother who busted you on it when you were 12.

    Speaking of American vocab, what's up with "glib?" You hear it everywhere these days.

  3. Sam
    Posted 9/27/2007 at 11:52 AM | Permalink

    Thanks for this one; I almost wrote "peaked my interest" on a very important application!

  4. Saz
    Posted 10/26/2007 at 8:57 PM | Permalink

    haha, for me it was the opposite! just wrote it in a sentence before and spelt it right...but then i wasn't sure if i'd spelt it right and thought it might be peeked/peaked!

    iv said that something has "piqued my interest" quite a number of times, but iv never really had to spell it!

  5. Theresa
    Posted 10/15/2008 at 10:34 PM | Permalink

    FYI--Spelt is not a word--it is spelled. Yikes!

  6. Posted 10/20/2008 at 6:43 PM | Permalink

    Also, Saz... "iv" isn't a word. Not unless you're referring to a needle in your skin. But that would be "I.V." at any rate. I think you meant to use "I've", as in the conjunction of "I" and "have".

  7. TJHooker
    Posted 11/11/2008 at 9:45 AM | Permalink

    As long as the red pen is out: Spelt is a word (the name of a grain), but it is not used in the proper context.

  8. Posted 11/20/2008 at 11:30 PM | Permalink

    Everyone--SPELT is British English past of spell. Please let's not forget that the Internet is an international stage. Unless you know FOR CERTAIN that the person using 'spelt' isn't British--or from any other country that prefers BE to AE--then don't correct them on variant spelling.

    Same goes for:
    burnt OR burned
    dreamt OR dreamed
    leant OR leaned
    learnt OR learned
    smelt OR smelled
    spilt OR spilled
    spoilt OR spoiled

    If you see one of these forms, you'd do well to think before you speak.

  9. M.J. Parker
    Posted 12/29/2008 at 11:57 AM | Permalink

    Re: "glib," perhaps its prevalence is due to more and more people behaving in a glib manner these days... ; )

  10. Lauren
    Posted 12/30/2008 at 10:38 PM | Permalink

    Well done Zonker for pointing out the difference between pique and peak. It drives me nuts when I see someone write "it peaked my interest". I'm sorry to say it does seem to be Americans who get it wrong more often than other English speakers.

    Well done also Brandon for pointing out that past tense versions such as spelt, burnt, dreamt etc. are perfectly correct in British English.

    One other error that drives me nuts is when I see someone write "I could care less" when they mean "I couldn't care less" or "I could not care less". "I could care less" doesn't make sense in the context in which they're using it! If you could care less, then you're communicating that you do in fact care, quite the reverse of what those who use this phrase incorrectly are intending to communicate!

  11. me
    Posted 1/8/2009 at 1:39 PM | Permalink

    critical spirits! (god I hope I spelled that right) ;)

  12. Posted 1/11/2009 at 3:10 PM | Permalink

    Yes! I just had a talent agency tell me my look 'Peaked their interest' and I was second guessing myself, because I know it's 'Piqued' as I'm anal retentive w/r/t grammar/vocab as well. Thanks!

  13. Michael Mahon
    Posted 1/14/2009 at 12:41 PM | Permalink

    Has anyone seen the word "perked" used instead of "peaked" or "piqued?" I know "perked my interested" is entirely incorrect but I can't definitively prove it to be so. Can anyone explain why it would be incorrect?

  14. Randy K
    Posted 1/17/2009 at 1:49 PM | Permalink

    "spelt" for "spelled" isn't even so much incorrect in American English as it is archaic. Even 75 years ago, nobody would have blinked if you wrote "spelt" and it was interchangeable with "spelled".

    There's an interesting article in Scientific American about how verb forms have regularized over time: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=use-it-or-lose-it-why-lan

  15. Mu Girl
    Posted 2/24/2009 at 5:07 PM | Permalink

    Thanks! I had to look this up because I wasnt Sure

  16. Katy
    Posted 4/6/2009 at 10:50 AM | Permalink

    I had a horrendous literature teacher this year who still sends me class assignments via email (she does not know how to take me off the list), and her most recent assignment included the phrase "peaked your interest." Thanks to this post, I can feel more secure in my indignation at her continued employment. This is the kind of person who doesn't know how to pronounce her own job title (she says "litature") and clings to cringe-worthy phrases like "betwixt and between," trying to force them into normal conversation over and over again. Why are such people employed to teach at a college level? This is one of the great mysteries of the universe.

  17. Anonymous
    Posted 5/4/2009 at 2:10 AM | Permalink

    I had a history teacher who pronounced "Luftwaffe" "Looft-wayfe", and "blitzkrieg" "blitz-craig".

  18. Me
    Posted 6/10/2009 at 1:02 PM | Permalink

    Ugh, I've seen it used incorrectly twice today from two different sources, including a pop news article. I hate that!

  19. crt
    Posted 7/14/2009 at 7:49 AM | Permalink

    Your comments were so fun!

  20. crt
    Posted 7/14/2009 at 11:40 AM | Permalink

    This discussion has really wetted my appetite and peeked my interest for more grammar stories.

  21. pat lichty
    Posted 8/2/2009 at 9:32 PM | Permalink

    Amen to that, Thanks.

  22. Timothy
    Posted 8/4/2009 at 12:14 AM | Permalink

    crt,
    the word is "whet" not "wetted."

  23. B
    Posted 8/4/2009 at 6:47 PM | Permalink

    Sarcasm, ftw!

  24. Anonymous
    Posted 8/11/2009 at 9:02 AM | Permalink

    Tyler, please note it should be "anally retentive" not "anal retentive".

  25. Posted 8/11/2009 at 4:25 PM | Permalink

    The one that really bugs me is:

    "I felt really bad for him." Correct
    "I felt really badly for him." Incorrect!

  26. Posted 8/11/2009 at 4:28 PM | Permalink

    When did it become common to singularize the word "Media"? Everyone knows it's plural, yet it's oft-misued by journalists/ news peeps.

    The media are everywhere. Correct
    The media is everywhere. Incorrect

  27. Totally Piqued
    Posted 8/13/2009 at 12:04 PM | Permalink

    Thank you Zonker! I came a googling to see whether I should use 'peeked' or 'peaked' (thinking the latter), only to find out that it's 'piqued'! It is a grand day when I learn something "new".

  28. Anonymous
    Posted 8/16/2009 at 7:55 AM | Permalink

    Tyler, it's "anally retentive", not "anal retentive".

  29. T Faye
    Posted 9/10/2009 at 9:58 AM | Permalink

    crt, please tell me you were being facetious when you wrote "so fun." That is one of my biggest pet peeves.
    And what about "If I would of known" - I hear this on tv ALL the time! When did the word "had" disappear from our vocabularies? I am even reading it in works of fiction!

  30. Anonymous
    Posted 9/23/2009 at 2:49 AM | Permalink

    Successful crt is successful.

  31. maxwellthedog
    Posted 10/5/2009 at 2:50 PM | Permalink

    Actually, it is "anal-retentive".

    Which brings to mind the old joke:
    "Is anal-retentive hyphenated?"

  32. Ralph
    Posted 10/14/2009 at 8:23 PM | Permalink

    Peak is a noun

    Pique is a verb

    THAT is why...ok?

  33. Ralph
    Posted 10/14/2009 at 8:38 PM | Permalink

    Seventh grade grammar usually covers these items or Peak and Pique.

    Anal retentive is perfectly acceptable in the world of psychology as it is a TERM in common useage; In particular, Freudian psychology.

    English is not a very precise language and there are many European words in it and the rules of grammar are many, varied, and confusing. It is, in fact, a "living language" as it is changing with the times. Pronouns are especially interesting as both He and She are equally now correct, in all situations! In times past, it was considered bad form to use she rather than he denoting gender, as it is also frowned upon to begin a sentence with a preposition!

    So, an up to date grammar handbook can be useful to anyone that writes as the rules are always changing and few rules always apply.

    So tenses, complex and compound sentences, prepositions and participles, objects and even nouns and pronouns, verbs and adverbs, have their places!

    WRITE!!!! it RIGHT!!! if you can, and if you cannot, then write as right as you can! (some would say may instead of can)...I would say...that is not in common useage, and may or may not be correct. So do the best you CAN! LOL

  34. MeruFM
    Posted 10/18/2009 at 4:47 AM | Permalink

    I think peak and pique should be able to be used interchangeably.

    v. peaked, peak·ing, peaks
    2. To bring to a maximum of development, value, or intensity.

    "My interest is piqued when I find a good book about world history"
    "My interest is peaked when I find a good book about world history"
    "My interest is brought to maximum intensity when I find a good book about world history"

  35. Dethpickle
    Posted 10/20/2009 at 9:42 AM | Permalink

    @MeruFM,

    Sure, it might make sense, but it isn't the expression everyone knows. ...or thinks they know.

    Piqued, is the phrase that's been handed down. It's not much different than a friendly correction given to someone singing incorrect lyrics.

    For example, in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, substituting "the girl with collitis goes by" for "the girl with kaleidoscope eyes". They both make reasonable sense in the context of the song - the first even fits better in that its less of a sentence fragment. Yet, people always seem to correct me when I sing it wrong. And, don't even get me started singing some Manfred Mann...

    Really, its little different than champing at the bit and returning to your old stamping grounds. What people say now makes sense... but it ain't what it was.

    DP

  36. zambini
    Posted 10/22/2009 at 8:54 AM | Permalink

    Dethpickle, a little trivia for you. You're describing a mondegreen. Yet another example of English as a living language. Mondegreen was officially added to Merriam-Webster's dictionary last year.

    http://www.aolsvc.merriam-webster.aol.com/dictionary/mondegreen

  37. Dethpickle
    Posted 10/22/2009 at 10:13 AM | Permalink

    Mondegreen! Awesome.

    Yep, that's more or less what the whole thread is about. Well, maybe mondegreen's don't take homophones into account...

    Me? I take them for granite.

    Cool new word. Thanks!

  38. larry english
    Posted 11/14/2009 at 8:04 AM | Permalink

    there is a 'spelt'

    it refers to a type of wheat

    :)

    wle.

  39. Michael
    Posted 11/17/2009 at 7:05 PM | Permalink

    If you know what words mean you would find it odd to use the verb "peaked" about the subject interest. "Heightened" works, but "peaked" suggests there is a maximum level that is knowable, such as a mountain top or the loudest volume in decibels of an explosion on a chart. "Piqued" on the other hand works as well as other verbs like "caught" or "grabbed", for notions like interest, attention, or curiosity.

  40. Dan
    Posted 11/20/2009 at 12:24 PM | Permalink

    I think this discussion may have peaked.

  41. ktsmom9
    Posted 12/3/2009 at 9:51 AM | Permalink

    Yes, the conversation HAS peaked, but I thank you all for my first-thing-in-the-morning belly laughs.

    I'll be saving this and sharing it with other educators of my acquaintance.

  42. derrick
    Posted 12/9/2009 at 4:37 PM | Permalink

    thanks i almost sent out a cover saying peaked my interest in the first paragraph

  43. wrappeduplikeadouche
    Posted 12/20/2009 at 2:17 PM | Permalink

    @Ian Howie

    The Lion is a large cat which, unlike many other big cats, is extremely social . . .

    Using 'the . . .' often gives one a general term. Besides, if I was going to say your first sentence I'd feel I should say, "Media are everywhere' or, more accurately, "Communication media are everywhere' or 'Transportation media are . . ." not "The media are . . ."

  44. Posted 1/5/2010 at 6:10 PM | Permalink

    The "could care less" used as synonymous to "couldn't care less" drives me crazy as well. But I guess language is constantly changing and a phrase means what people understand it to mean.

  45. mona
    Posted 1/5/2010 at 11:08 PM | Permalink

    oh boy....

  46. Al
    Posted 1/18/2010 at 1:40 PM | Permalink

    I was also interested to find out in many places the terms homonym and homophone are now being used as synonyms... living language for sure.

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