Topic: Sea change

We were tickled by the letter pleading for our support for the spelling S-E-E change rather than S-E-A change.

Our correspondent knew the modern metaphoric meaning of sea change: a marked transformation, as to something richer or finer. He knew the phrase originated in The Tempest, Shakespeare's play of shipwrecks, desert islands, lovers, and intrigue, and he was familiar with the notion that a sea change is traditionally spelled S-E-A.

But what he had somehow gotten lodged into his head was this: that long ago leadership changes at the Holy See (the central government, or Holy Seat, of the Roman Catholic Church) instituted reforms so broad and far-reaching that they were known as a See—S-E-E—change.

Nope. In fact, we've come across various punning references to the sort of See Change our questioner started with, but since at least as long ago as the early 17th century, when Shakespeare used the term, sea change has been spelled with an A. In fact, the original (now archaic) sea change was literal; it named "a change brought about by the sea."

So what's a wordlover to do? We suspect any efforts to make a sea change in the spelling of that long-established phrase would drown in waves of disapproval. If our correspondent can't bring himself to spell S-E-A, our advice is that he simply speak, and not write, the term.

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and Web sites including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.