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mahatmakanejeeves

(69,507 posts)

5. Now that there are no more standards, of course it is.

Tue Mar 17, 2026, 10:42 AM

Tuesday

Grammar & Usage > Usage Notes

Can a ship 'flounder'?

The difference between 'flounder' and 'founder'

The English language does not care if you are happy or sad. It is oblivious to your shrill entreaties for an orderly and sensible vocabulary. As proof of this supreme indifference we need look no further than the words founder and flounder, for no language that cares about its speakers would ever allow this kind of semantic cruelty to exist.

{snip}

M-W allows it now, but I suspect my 1938 Second International Dictionary tells a different story.

And good morning.

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Highlight:

Jury finds Utah mom Kouri Richins guilty of fatally poisoning husband with fentanyl [View all] mahatmakanejeeves Tuesday OP

Could be either floundering or foundering. Scrivener7 Tuesday #1

I hadn't been watching any of this, just catching a glimpse every now and then wolfie001 Tuesday #2

Already has been snowybirdie Tuesday #3

I'm thinking a Hollywood thing with someone like Natalie Portman wolfie001 Tuesday #10

"floundering" is correct, Miguelito Loveless Tuesday #4

Now that there are no more standards, of course it is. mahatmakanejeeves Tuesday #5

flounder as a verb dates back in English to 1592 muriel_volestrangler Tuesday #8

It looks as if a lot of things go back fsrther than I had thought. mahatmakanejeeves Tuesday #9

With that last name, she should have used Ricin ... TomWilm Tuesday #6

And she made several tries! tonekat Tuesday #7