I've heard both terms used for a ding I have in my car door. Which is the correct term, and are they both used for different things?? I'd never heard dint before this...
2007-03-17 18:27:45 · 6 answers · asked by Elle3 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
I reside in western Canada
2007-03-17 18:51:50 · update #1
Dent would be the correct formal word. 'Dint' is very likely a portmanteau (two words shoved together to form one word) of 'ding' and 'dent,' and has the vowel-tightening that's characteristic of Appalachian/Midwestern speech; my guess is that it stems from that area of the US or, if I'm wrong about the portmanteau, was the original word before it got elongated into 'dent.'
'Dint' is also a formal word used in 'by dint of...', meaning 'by the power of...' - but that's not the usage here.
Also, I would say that 'dint' has slightly less severe connotations than 'dent' and is more a scratch/ding than a hard, quite damaging impact, but that's only my impression of the word.
2007-03-17 18:34:46 · answer #1 · answered by Kate S 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dint Or Dent
2016-10-21 09:43:58 · answer #2 · answered by kawamura 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You would use dent, dint is a word and its similar to dent and it means 'a hollow made by a blow'.
2007-03-17 18:37:24 · answer #3 · answered by tarNZ 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
dent is short for indention.
dint means force; power; -- esp. in the phrase by dint of.
2007-03-17 18:38:46 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is dent, dint is not a word.
2007-03-17 18:31:27 · answer #5 · answered by ruth4526 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
DENT
2007-03-17 19:09:28 · answer #6 · answered by stlouis4urunowut 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋