Usage guide writers, seeing some confusion afoot, tell us to be wary about the distinction between "wary” and “weary.”
This confusion was brought to our attention this week by David Frye, a colleague of Professor Ann Curzan.
Frye said, “One particular usage that has drawn my attention for several years is the use of ‘weary of,’ as illustrated in this MLive article:
A contentious short-term rental ban is looming over one of Michigan’s most popular beach towns. Park Township, home to Holland State Park beach, is still in litigation over enforcing a ban on short-term rentals. As it lingers in court, current rental owners are weary of the future of their investments.
Frye continued, “My guess is that ‘weary’ here comes from combining the words ‘leery’ and ‘wary,’ but that's just a guess.”
As noted, usage guide writers have also noticed this confusion, including Bryan Garner. Like Frye, Garner attributes the misuse of “weary” to mean “wary” as people probably conflating “wary” and “leery.”
“Wary” means “given to caution” or “on guard against.” You can be wary of something or about something. You can also be wary in doing something, but there’s a difference between being wary of and being wary in.
For example, “I’m wary of approaching that topic with her” vs. “I will be wary in approaching that topic with her.”
The first sentence suggests that since you’re wary, you’re not sure if you’ll actually discuss the topic with her. In the second sentence, you’re going to approach the topic with her, but you’re going to be really careful about it.
“Weary” means “feeling a loss of strength” or “needing to rest.” It can also mean “having one’s patience exhausted.”
If you have trouble remembering the difference between “weary” and “wary,” it might help to remember that “wary” is related to “aware” and “beware.”
To hear about how "leery" fits in with these confusing words, listen to the audio above.
