Moot vs. Mute
Jul. 5th, 2011 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobriqueSo, one of the things I've been running into more and more lately, is people who are unaware of the distinction between 'moot' and 'mute'.
Mute means to silence or quieten.
Moot on the other hand, means something quite different.
A 'moot point' is something which may be effectively irrelevant, or perhaps remains open to debate.
Wikipedia expands on this more than I could:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moot_point
But essentially, Moot is an old word, meaning meeting, or discussion. A moot point originally meant one that was 'for discussion'. More recently, it has evolved, thanks mostly to law students holding a 'moot court' - in which hypothetical cases are debated, which in turn has lead the word to shift from 'for debate' to 'practically irrelevant'. Indeed, that's now become - legally speaking: "Mootness, a legal concept that a case cannot be decided because a decision would no longer have real consequences."
A 'mute point' or to - as I saw in an email just recently - "... let me know if you will be willing to do any of the days muted."
Doesn't really mean the same thing at all.
The problem is, that you _can_ apply 'mute' to a discussion. A muted discussion will be one that's done quietly.
If you 'mute' someone, then you silence them.
There is, however, quite a large divergence of meaning.
Here's a bit more on the subject:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-moo1.htm
Mute means to silence or quieten.
Moot on the other hand, means something quite different.
A 'moot point' is something which may be effectively irrelevant, or perhaps remains open to debate.
Wikipedia expands on this more than I could:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moot_point
But essentially, Moot is an old word, meaning meeting, or discussion. A moot point originally meant one that was 'for discussion'. More recently, it has evolved, thanks mostly to law students holding a 'moot court' - in which hypothetical cases are debated, which in turn has lead the word to shift from 'for debate' to 'practically irrelevant'. Indeed, that's now become - legally speaking: "Mootness, a legal concept that a case cannot be decided because a decision would no longer have real consequences."
A 'mute point' or to - as I saw in an email just recently - "... let me know if you will be willing to do any of the days muted."
Doesn't really mean the same thing at all.
The problem is, that you _can_ apply 'mute' to a discussion. A muted discussion will be one that's done quietly.
If you 'mute' someone, then you silence them.
There is, however, quite a large divergence of meaning.
Here's a bit more on the subject:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-moo1.htm
