Is the Principal Really Your “Pal?”

I’ve addressed some fuzzy, obscure or debatable grammatical issues so far. But some rules just can’t be broken – word usage, for instance. One particular homophone sent me running for to www.dictionary.com the other day, so I decided it was time to address it.

To take you back to second grade for a moment, a homophone is (according to www.dictionary.com) “a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not…”

On the other hand, a homonym is a word that sounds the same and is spelled the same, but has a different meaning. All homonyms are homophones, but not all homophones are homonyms. (Got that? Now we’re talking 9^th grade logic, or thereabouts.) Otherwise, we wouldn’t worry about how to spell specific homophones and I wouldn’t be writing this post.

So which words confused me the other day?

Principle/Principal

These two words actually have three meanings between them, and that’s where my confusion came in. That old mnemonic device, “The school principal is your pal,” made it easy to remember how to spell that one.

And I knew “He is a man of principle” is spelled the other way, because… well, I knew it wasn’t spelled “principal.”

Upon further research, I’ve discovered a never-fail rule — er, principle, to remember how to spell these words.

Not Just a Pal, but the “First”

What if you’re citing the principal (as in primary, first, most important) reason I write this blog? Or you’re writing about making mortgage payments, which are made up of principal (the main or primary loan amount) and interest?

Think of it this way: The school principal is first in rank within his school, the main leader, the head honcho. Therefore, use “principal” to describe anything that is first, main, or primary. Forget the pal thing. The principal isn’t meant to be your kid’s pal. He’s the guy in charge, the one at the top.

When you’re paying off a loan, you want to pay off the principal first. In fact, there’d be no interest without the principal.

The Rule of Principle

Principle, on the other hand, is a rule, canon, or basic law. It can be a natural law, a man-made law, or simply a deep-held belief that we support so strongly, we consider it a rule of conduct. We can remember this because rule and principle both end in “le.”

Easy, right?

Let’s play with the words a bit:

According to Strunk & White, the principal (main) principle (rule) of good writing is to cut unnecessary words.

The principal (most important) reason I write this blog is to teach the principles (rules) of writing.

I toss a few extra dollars toward the principal (main amount) on my loan because that’s a principle (tenet, rule) of good financial management.

And finally…

The principal (main leader) enforces the principles (rules) of the school.

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