An Adages PSA: Entitled vs. Titled

That Word Does Not Mean What You Think It Means

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 04.02.08 @ 02:14 PM

Dear PR people, potential freelancers and yes, even you professional writers and bloggers,
The next one of you who uses the word "entitled" to refer to the title of a book, composition, movie, magazine or whatever -- I'm going to come after you with a baseball bat.

Such items are TITLED, not ENTITLED. Entitled means you have the right to do something or that you're owed something. It has nothing to do with the names of things. Got it?

EXAMPLE: The book is titled, "1,001 Things That Piss Me Off."
EXAMPLE: You're entitled to an old-fashioned bat-beating.

See the difference? You may be entitled to use the wrong words for the wrong situations, but I'm entitled to a) either ignore your writing from that point on or b) start posting your material as is and making fun of it.

Other words that will earn you the Wrath of Wheaton: concepting, conversate and irregardless. (Unlike entitled, those aren't even real words.)

3 Comments

By jswofford | Highland Park, IL April 2, 2008 04:09:06 pm:

Regarding irregardless, unfortunately it is considered a word and has been used for nearly 100 years. But even Merriam-Webster agrees that it's bad, bad, bad.

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By CristinaS | Toronto, ON April 4, 2008 01:57:22 pm:

What about "task" as a verb? As in: I'm tasking you with this. Add "gift", "reference" and "sale", as verbs, to that too. These things make my head explode.

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By JimColucci | New York, NY April 9, 2008 11:16:56 am:

I hear you, Ken -- and no one has more linguistic pet peeves than I do. "Forte" pronounced "forTAY." People spelling out supposed words like "alright." The misplaced use of "only." I could go on and on.

But I had never heard of a difference between "titled" and "entitled," and when I read your column, I feared I had been guilty of making this mistake often in print. (A quick search in Microsoft Word through all my writing of the word "entitled" shows that I have used it, as you say, incorrectly many times.)

But what do you make of #2 below, from dictionary.com citing the Random House Dictionary:

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
en�ti�tle Audio Help /ɛnˈtaɪtl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[en-tahyt-l] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–verb (used with object), -tled, -tling. 1. to give (a person or thing) a title, right, or claim to something; furnish with grounds for laying claim: His executive position entitled him to certain courtesies rarely accorded others.
2. to call by a particular title or name: What was the book entitled?
3. to designate (a person) by an honorary title.

Also, intitle.

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[Origin: 1350–1400; ME entitlen < AF entitler, var. of MF entituler < LL intitulāre. See en-1, title]

—Synonyms authorize, qualify.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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