Is it just me?

[unedanseuse24]

Do compliment and complement mean the same thing to you?

I always understood that to compliment was to praise or give flattery. Whereas to complement was to make whole, or better, or when the addition of one thing makes the whole thing better. So, one may write, "Billy gave Sally a compliment," or  "Kelly complements this company," but not the

Comments

[liketohike]

That sounds right to me. Also, "A nice Chardonnay would complement this meal."

[embem30]

That's right! I remember learning the difference in 9th grade English, along with affect/effect, averse/adverse, imminent/eminent, etc.

[unedanseuse24]

well clearly Hope College graduates are a cut above the rest.

Yesterday in class I was watching another student give a presentation with powerpoint. One of his slides contrasted two database systems and asked whether they were "complimentary or competitive." I couldn't help snickering, and drew a funny little cartoon about 'complimentary databases.' Only, when I passed it to my classmate next to me, she smiled but clearly didn't think it was that funny. I brought it up after class with a few friends and nobody had ever heard the difference.

[burgundybeth]

Funny coincidence... Here was my "word of the day" I get delivered to my inbox each day.

Word of the Day for Sunday, December 16, 2007
complement \KOM-pluh-muhnt\, noun:

1. Something that fills up or completes.
2. The quantity or number required to make up a whole or to make something complete.
3. One of two parts that complete a whole or mutually complete each other; a counterpart.
4. To supply what is lacking; to serve as a complement to; to supplement.